A weighty issue for parents and children to tackle


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Speaking in Virginia last week as part of the US government's anti-obesity campaign, the first lady, Michelle Obama, explained how her concerns over her daughters' weight led her to change their eating habits. This has sparked controversy, not about her suggested changes, which were wholly sensible, but over the fact that she used her daughters' weight "issues" as an example in front of the nation.

Ironically, given that her speech was televised and reported in the press, Obama explained that she "didn't make a big deal out of it", but made minor changes to their eating that, she suggested, were so simple that everyone could have a go. Sharing with the world that Malia's and Sasha's body mass indices (BMI) worried her was perhaps not the most sensitive approach Obama could have taken. She could just as easily have engaged with her audience by talking about the whole family's approach to healthy eating.

And it is not the first time the Obamas have spoken openly about concerns over their daughters' weight. In an interview with a parenting magazine in November, President Obama referred to Malia as having been a "bit chubby". These girls live their lives in a fish bowl, with heavy media scrutiny of their every move and appearance. Girls of Malia's and Sasha's age are just becoming aware of their bodies and how they may look different from their friends. At this age, their self-esteem is fragile. Questions such as "Mummy, am I fat?" need to be handled with care.

Children's correct BMI cannot be assessed by a standard BMI calculator. Children's growth hormones are released at different times, their growth spurts can be erratic, and their body fat and BMI will change as they grow. The last thing any parent would want to do is saddle their child with an unhealthy relationship with food and put them on the road to a potentially life-threatening condition such as anorexia nervosa or bulimia. But obesity is life-threatening as well. The first lady is spearheading the campaign to reduce obesity, which is defined as a BMI of 30 or more, in the US. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 30 per cent of adults in America are obese. These people are more likely to develop medical conditions including heart disease, diabetes and some cancers. Research has shown that more children are overweight and suffering from type-2 diabetes, previously thought of as an adult's disease.

Obama was trying to reach out to mothers across the United States and show that she is also concerned about her children's health. She was speaking from experience to illustrate that even small changes to a child's diet can reap huge rewards. Whether or not you agree with Obama using her daughters to publicise the campaign, what she did in relation to their eating habits was laudable. Obama explained that her children's paediatrician was concerned "that something was getting off balance" in respect to the girls' BMIs. At the time, she was working as well as supporting her husband's campaign, and, she explained, it was often easier at the end of a hard day to swing by the drive-through rather than cook a nutritious meal at home.

After the paediatrician's warning, Obama cut down the girls' midweek television time, encouraged Sasha and Malia to be more active, paid attention to portion sizes, replaced fizzy drinks with water in lunch boxes and introduced more fruit and vegetables at meal times. The improvements in their BMIs were "significant", she claimed. In the UAE, too, we face an obesity epidemic. Eating habits laid down with primary school-age children can shape their future lifestyles. Although we cannot always control what our children put into their mouths, we can educate them about healthy foods, pack them a nutritious lunch and ensure that they take regular exercise.

But perhaps the most important thing is to lead by example. If we encourage healthy eating and regular exercise across the family, we can show children that this is a sustainable way of life. Plan that family trip cycling along the Corniche or go to the park; walk when the weather permits or take up a sport with your child. Seeing that it is normal for families to eat healthily and be active is the best lesson they can learn.

For more information on healthy eating and ideas for nutritious lunch boxes, visit www.nutrition.org.uk, www.bbc.co.uk/food or www.eatwell.gov.uk. For a children's BMI calculator visit www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au.

War and the virus
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

TO ALL THE BOYS: ALWAYS AND FOREVER

Directed by: Michael Fimognari

Starring: Lana Condor and Noah Centineo

Two stars

Safety 'top priority' for rival hyperloop company

The chief operating officer of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, Andres de Leon, said his company's hyperloop technology is “ready” and safe.

He said the company prioritised safety throughout its development and, last year, Munich Re, one of the world's largest reinsurance companies, announced it was ready to insure their technology.

“Our levitation, propulsion, and vacuum technology have all been developed [...] over several decades and have been deployed and tested at full scale,” he said in a statement to The National.

“Only once the system has been certified and approved will it move people,” he said.

HyperloopTT has begun designing and engineering processes for its Abu Dhabi projects and hopes to break ground soon. 

With no delivery date yet announced, Mr de Leon said timelines had to be considered carefully, as government approval, permits, and regulations could create necessary delays.

Ain Issa camp:
  • Established in 2016
  • Houses 13,309 people, 2,092 families, 62 per cent children
  • Of the adult population, 49 per cent men, 51 per cent women (not including foreigners annexe)
  • Most from Deir Ezzor and Raqqa
  • 950 foreigners linked to ISIS and their families
  • NGO Blumont runs camp management for the UN
  • One of the nine official (UN recognised) camps in the region
Specs

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
SERIE A FIXTURES

Friday Sassuolo v Torino (Kick-off 10.45pm UAE)

Saturday Atalanta v Sampdoria (5pm),

Genoa v Inter Milan (8pm),

Lazio v Bologna (10.45pm)

Sunday Cagliari v Crotone (3.30pm) 

Benevento v Napoli (6pm) 

Parma v Spezia (6pm)

 Fiorentina v Udinese (9pm)

Juventus v Hellas Verona (11.45pm)

Monday AC Milan v AS Roma (11.45pm)

Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Global state-owned investor ranking by size

1.

United States

2.

China

3.

UAE

4.

Japan

5

Norway

6.

Canada

7.

Singapore

8.

Australia

9.

Saudi Arabia

10.

South Korea

Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
ESSENTIALS

The flights

Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.

The hotels

Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.

The tours

A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages. 

MATCH INFO

Rugby World Cup (all times UAE)

Final: England v South Africa, Saturday, 1pm

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How does ToTok work?

The calling app is available to download on Google Play and Apple App Store

To successfully install ToTok, users are asked to enter their phone number and then create a nickname.

The app then gives users the option add their existing phone contacts, allowing them to immediately contact people also using the application by video or voice call or via message.

Users can also invite other contacts to download ToTok to allow them to make contact through the app.

 

The specs

Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel

Power: 579hp

Torque: 859Nm

Transmission: Single-speed automatic

Price: From Dh825,900

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The specs: 2018 Ducati SuperSport S

Price, base / as tested: Dh74,900 / Dh85,900

Engine: 937cc

Transmission: Six-speed gearbox

Power: 110hp @ 9,000rpm

Torque: 93Nm @ 6,500rpm

Fuel economy, combined: 5.9L / 100km

Key recommendations
  • Fewer criminals put behind bars and more to serve sentences in the community, with short sentences scrapped and many inmates released earlier.
  • Greater use of curfews and exclusion zones to deliver tougher supervision than ever on criminals.
  • Explore wider powers for judges to punish offenders by blocking them from attending football matches, banning them from driving or travelling abroad through an expansion of ‘ancillary orders’.
  • More Intensive Supervision Courts to tackle the root causes of crime such as alcohol and drug abuse – forcing repeat offenders to take part in tough treatment programmes or face prison.
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AT4 Ultimate, as tested

Engine: 6.2-litre V8

Power: 420hp

Torque: 623Nm

Transmission: 10-speed automatic

Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)

On sale: Now