Patterns of Sedentary Behavior and Mortality in U.S. Middle-Aged and Older Adults: A National Cohort Study
Keith M. Diaz, PhD; Virginia J. Howard, PhD; Brent Hutto, MSPH; Natalie Colabianchi, PhD; John E. Vena, PhD; Monika M. Safford, MD; Steven N. Blair, PED; Steven P. Hooker, PhD
Abstract
Background:
Excessive sedentary time is ubiquitous in Western societies. Previous studies have relied on self-reporting to evaluate the total volume of sedentary time as a prognostic risk factor for mortality and have not examined whether the manner in which sedentary time is accrued (in short or long bouts) carries prognostic relevance.
Objective:
To examine the association between objectively measured sedentary behavior (its total volume and accrual in prolonged, uninterrupted bouts) and all-cause mortality.
Link
- wong chee tat :)
Showing posts with label wealth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wealth. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 13, 2017
Monday, August 1, 2016
Increase in number of flu cases at polyclinics: MOH
Increase in number of flu cases at polyclinics: MOH
By Monica Kotwani Posted 01 Aug 2016 16:56 Updated 01 Aug 2016 17:11
SINGAPORE: A recent spike in the number of flu cases is being caused by a strain that few in Singapore have immunity against.
Dr Leong Ho Nam, an infectious diseases expert at Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital, said this in an interview with Channel NewsAsia following the release of latest figures by the Health Ministry showing an increase in the number of acute upper respiratory infections (ARI) seen by polyclinics in July, compared to June.
Dr Leong said Singapore's flu season parallels that of countries in the southern hemisphere, such as Australia. He said people may have picked up the virus while travelling in Australia during the school holidays in June.
"We have a new strain of influenza H3N2, and this has taken in not just Singapore but also the whole world. We see a lot of it between the different countries, spreading around as travellers move from one place to another. This is also a new strain. A lot of people are naive to it, in that we have not experienced this before."
In a statement to Channel NewsAsia, the Health Ministry confirmed there is "evidence of increased influenza activity in recent weeks from the rise in the proportion of cases where influenza viruses have been isolated". It said the rise is consistent with what is typically seen during the flu season, which lasts between November and February and May and August each year.
SIX-MONTH HIGH IN ACUTE UPPER RESPIRATORY CASES
According to the Ministry's weekly infectious diseases bulletin, the number of people visiting polyclinics for acute upper respiratory infections, characterised by symptoms such as a cold, cough and sore throat, hit a 6-month high of 3,427 cases for the week ending Jul 23.
In early June, weekly ARI numbers hovered at around 2,600 cases, before increasing to about 3,000 for the week ending June and early July. Since then, figures have hovered in the 2,900 range, before peaking in the third week of July.
In contrast, the number of patients visiting polyclinics with such symptoms stood at between 2,300 and 2,400 cases for each week in July last year. More people also presented such symptoms last month compared to median July figures for the years 2011 to last year.
Despite the increase in flu activity, MOH said that influenza only accounts for less than 5 per cent of the total number of ARI cases. "Acute respiratory infections (ARI) are very common and are caused by a large number of different viruses, including influenza," the statement said.
Some general practitioners Channel NewsAsia spoke to confirmed they had seen an increase in the number of patients with such symptoms in the last two to three weeks. Dr Tan Tze Lee, a GP at the Edinburgh Clinic, said symptoms seem to be more "uncomfortable".
"We're seeing more cases of high fevers in patients - of 39 and 40 degrees Celsius. The typical runny nose, cough and sore throat are also more uncomfortable. And they're taking longer to clear," he said. Another GP Channel NewsAsia spoke with, who declined to be named, confirmed this trend at his clinic.
POOR 'HERD IMMUNITY' FOR H3N2
After a genetic mutation to the strain was discovered in 2014, H3N2 became the most prevalent strain for almost all of 2015 in Singapore. This year, H3N2 again emerged as the dominant strain among those who tested positive for the flu in June. MOH said that of specimens that tested positive for influenza that month, more than 80 per cent came back positive for the influenza A (H3N2) strain.
Dr Leong said despite the local population being exposed to the virus, it takes "a few years" for it to make its rounds, and for people to built up their herd immunity against it.
A vaccine for the strain has been available since October 2015, according to Dr Leong.
However, there has been a poor uptake, with less than five to 10 per cent of the population vaccinated. "For good protection, you need at the barest minimum 60 to 80 per cent of the population coverage and we are clearly not reaching that So in terms of herd immunity protection, it is very poor. One can pick it up, and in turn, spread it to colleagues and the risk of transmission of the influenza virus is very fast and very easy," he said.
GET VACCINATED
Dr Leong said he expects the number of flu infections to remain high throughout the rest of the year, mainly because of a lack of immunity against the virus, a low vaccination rate and the start of the flu season in the northern hemisphere.
MOH said most people with the flu recover with rest and "symptomatic treatment", but urged young children, pregnant women, the elderly and those with chronic illnesses to get vaccinated.
- CNA/mo
- wong chee tat :)
By Monica Kotwani Posted 01 Aug 2016 16:56 Updated 01 Aug 2016 17:11
SINGAPORE: A recent spike in the number of flu cases is being caused by a strain that few in Singapore have immunity against.
Dr Leong Ho Nam, an infectious diseases expert at Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital, said this in an interview with Channel NewsAsia following the release of latest figures by the Health Ministry showing an increase in the number of acute upper respiratory infections (ARI) seen by polyclinics in July, compared to June.
Dr Leong said Singapore's flu season parallels that of countries in the southern hemisphere, such as Australia. He said people may have picked up the virus while travelling in Australia during the school holidays in June.
"We have a new strain of influenza H3N2, and this has taken in not just Singapore but also the whole world. We see a lot of it between the different countries, spreading around as travellers move from one place to another. This is also a new strain. A lot of people are naive to it, in that we have not experienced this before."
In a statement to Channel NewsAsia, the Health Ministry confirmed there is "evidence of increased influenza activity in recent weeks from the rise in the proportion of cases where influenza viruses have been isolated". It said the rise is consistent with what is typically seen during the flu season, which lasts between November and February and May and August each year.
SIX-MONTH HIGH IN ACUTE UPPER RESPIRATORY CASES
According to the Ministry's weekly infectious diseases bulletin, the number of people visiting polyclinics for acute upper respiratory infections, characterised by symptoms such as a cold, cough and sore throat, hit a 6-month high of 3,427 cases for the week ending Jul 23.
In early June, weekly ARI numbers hovered at around 2,600 cases, before increasing to about 3,000 for the week ending June and early July. Since then, figures have hovered in the 2,900 range, before peaking in the third week of July.
In contrast, the number of patients visiting polyclinics with such symptoms stood at between 2,300 and 2,400 cases for each week in July last year. More people also presented such symptoms last month compared to median July figures for the years 2011 to last year.
Despite the increase in flu activity, MOH said that influenza only accounts for less than 5 per cent of the total number of ARI cases. "Acute respiratory infections (ARI) are very common and are caused by a large number of different viruses, including influenza," the statement said.
Some general practitioners Channel NewsAsia spoke to confirmed they had seen an increase in the number of patients with such symptoms in the last two to three weeks. Dr Tan Tze Lee, a GP at the Edinburgh Clinic, said symptoms seem to be more "uncomfortable".
"We're seeing more cases of high fevers in patients - of 39 and 40 degrees Celsius. The typical runny nose, cough and sore throat are also more uncomfortable. And they're taking longer to clear," he said. Another GP Channel NewsAsia spoke with, who declined to be named, confirmed this trend at his clinic.
POOR 'HERD IMMUNITY' FOR H3N2
After a genetic mutation to the strain was discovered in 2014, H3N2 became the most prevalent strain for almost all of 2015 in Singapore. This year, H3N2 again emerged as the dominant strain among those who tested positive for the flu in June. MOH said that of specimens that tested positive for influenza that month, more than 80 per cent came back positive for the influenza A (H3N2) strain.
Dr Leong said despite the local population being exposed to the virus, it takes "a few years" for it to make its rounds, and for people to built up their herd immunity against it.
A vaccine for the strain has been available since October 2015, according to Dr Leong.
However, there has been a poor uptake, with less than five to 10 per cent of the population vaccinated. "For good protection, you need at the barest minimum 60 to 80 per cent of the population coverage and we are clearly not reaching that So in terms of herd immunity protection, it is very poor. One can pick it up, and in turn, spread it to colleagues and the risk of transmission of the influenza virus is very fast and very easy," he said.
GET VACCINATED
Dr Leong said he expects the number of flu infections to remain high throughout the rest of the year, mainly because of a lack of immunity against the virus, a low vaccination rate and the start of the flu season in the northern hemisphere.
MOH said most people with the flu recover with rest and "symptomatic treatment", but urged young children, pregnant women, the elderly and those with chronic illnesses to get vaccinated.
- CNA/mo
- wong chee tat :)
Friday, January 16, 2015
Weather
Hot and sunny today!
And these few days, I'm coughing on & off. Why?
Chinese New Year is coming and I don't wanna fall sick.
- wong chee tat :)
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
China's richest man says wealth gap not a priority
China's richest man says wealth gap not a priority
POSTED: 17 Jul 2013 7:00 PM
China's yawning divide between rich and poor does not need to be tackled, the country's richest person said Wednesday -- as long as everyone can become wealthy.
BEIJING: China's yawning divide between rich and poor does not need to be tackled, the country's richest person said Wednesday -- as long as everyone can become wealthy.
"We don't need to solve the problem of the rich-poor gap, we need to solve the problem of common prosperity," said Zong Qinghou, whose family fortune is estimated at $12.6 billion.
Zong, founder of a huge soft-drinks conglomerate which has branched out into baby milk and children's clothing, said that "rich people should help everyone to become prosperous".
"If everyone is wealthy, society will be harmonious, and more comfortable," the 67-year old entrepreneur told reporters in Beijing at an event to mark the launch of a series of high-end shopping malls.
Zong only went into business in his 40s, selling fizzy drinks to children and reportedly being so short of cash that he slept under a bridge in Beijing because he could not afford a hotel.
But the company he launched, Wahaha, whose name means "Laughing Child" in Chinese, went on to become China's third largest soft drinks company, according to Euromonitor International.
Zong's fortune, as estimated by China-based luxury magazine publisher the Hurun Report, makes him the richest person in China and one of the wealthiest in Asia.
China's rich have become targets for public resentment as the gap between the country's richest and poorest grew following market reforms beginning in the late 1970s.
China's Gini coefficient, a measure of inequality with 0 representing total equality and 1 representing total inequality, stood at 0.47 in 2012, according to government statistics. That would put it close to the US, which had an index figure of 0.56 in 2009, according to the World Bank.
But a study last year by the Survey and Research Center for China Household Finance, a government-backed research group, said the figure was 0.61 in 2010. That would put China at the top of a list of 16 countries issued by the World Bank.
Nonetheless, Zong warned: "If we had egalitarianism... we wouldn't have enough to eat."
He called for lower taxes to stimulate investment. "It's best to encourage people to create wealth," he said.
- AFP/nd
- wong chee tat :)
POSTED: 17 Jul 2013 7:00 PM
China's yawning divide between rich and poor does not need to be tackled, the country's richest person said Wednesday -- as long as everyone can become wealthy.
BEIJING: China's yawning divide between rich and poor does not need to be tackled, the country's richest person said Wednesday -- as long as everyone can become wealthy.
"We don't need to solve the problem of the rich-poor gap, we need to solve the problem of common prosperity," said Zong Qinghou, whose family fortune is estimated at $12.6 billion.
Zong, founder of a huge soft-drinks conglomerate which has branched out into baby milk and children's clothing, said that "rich people should help everyone to become prosperous".
"If everyone is wealthy, society will be harmonious, and more comfortable," the 67-year old entrepreneur told reporters in Beijing at an event to mark the launch of a series of high-end shopping malls.
Zong only went into business in his 40s, selling fizzy drinks to children and reportedly being so short of cash that he slept under a bridge in Beijing because he could not afford a hotel.
But the company he launched, Wahaha, whose name means "Laughing Child" in Chinese, went on to become China's third largest soft drinks company, according to Euromonitor International.
Zong's fortune, as estimated by China-based luxury magazine publisher the Hurun Report, makes him the richest person in China and one of the wealthiest in Asia.
China's rich have become targets for public resentment as the gap between the country's richest and poorest grew following market reforms beginning in the late 1970s.
China's Gini coefficient, a measure of inequality with 0 representing total equality and 1 representing total inequality, stood at 0.47 in 2012, according to government statistics. That would put it close to the US, which had an index figure of 0.56 in 2009, according to the World Bank.
But a study last year by the Survey and Research Center for China Household Finance, a government-backed research group, said the figure was 0.61 in 2010. That would put China at the top of a list of 16 countries issued by the World Bank.
Nonetheless, Zong warned: "If we had egalitarianism... we wouldn't have enough to eat."
He called for lower taxes to stimulate investment. "It's best to encourage people to create wealth," he said.
- AFP/nd
- wong chee tat :)
Thursday, December 13, 2012
财富不断增加 促使中国人对奢侈品趋之若鹜
Updated: Wednesday, 12 December 2012 18:25
财富不断增加 促使中国人对奢侈品趋之若鹜
财富不断增加，促使中国人对奢侈品趋之若鹜。
全球管理咨询公司麦肯锡的调查显示，到了2015年，中国将占全球奢侈品市场的三分之一，相当于1千750亿美元。
中国人购买的奢侈品包括：名牌服饰、皮包、珠宝等。
另一份针对中国14个城市1千多家奢侈品购物场所进行的调查也显示，中国人今年的奢侈品消费已经占全球奢侈品市场的百分之27，约相等于1千450亿美元。
调查报告指出，中国消费者的奢侈品花费，已经超越其他国家，成为奢侈品行业发展的动力。
报告也说，中国的经济增长步伐放缓，加上政府严厉打击腐败行为，影响了当地的送礼习俗， 导致今年的奢侈品需求稍微下降。不过，不断扩大的富有中产阶级，将带动奢侈品行业的未来发展。
- wong chee tat :)
财富不断增加 促使中国人对奢侈品趋之若鹜
财富不断增加，促使中国人对奢侈品趋之若鹜。
全球管理咨询公司麦肯锡的调查显示，到了2015年，中国将占全球奢侈品市场的三分之一，相当于1千750亿美元。
中国人购买的奢侈品包括：名牌服饰、皮包、珠宝等。
另一份针对中国14个城市1千多家奢侈品购物场所进行的调查也显示，中国人今年的奢侈品消费已经占全球奢侈品市场的百分之27，约相等于1千450亿美元。
调查报告指出，中国消费者的奢侈品花费，已经超越其他国家，成为奢侈品行业发展的动力。
报告也说，中国的经济增长步伐放缓，加上政府严厉打击腐败行为，影响了当地的送礼习俗， 导致今年的奢侈品需求稍微下降。不过，不断扩大的富有中产阶级，将带动奢侈品行业的未来发展。
- wong chee tat :)
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Low-interest environment driving investors to seek higher yields
Low-interest environment driving investors to seek higher yields
By Thomas Cho | Posted: 10 December 2012 1959 hrs
SINGAPORE: The low-interest environment is driving investors to seek higher returns as global economic conditions improve.
Flushed with liquidity from major central banks' monetary easing, most analysts agreed that there is little upside left on safe assets like sovereign government debts.
Instead, analysts are seeing more investors investing in high yield bonds often classified as distressed that offer returns of over 6 percent per annum.
With the US Presidential election and China's leadership change out of the way, Asian investors are working up an appetite for riskier assets.
But this time, they are putting their money in fixed income products instead of Asian equities, which offer far better returns than bonds.
Thailand and Philippines stock indices have showed a over 30 percent return so far this year, while, bigger market like Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained some over 20 percent.
Schroder Investment Management's head of Asian Fixed Income, Rajeev De Mello, said: "Interest rates are going to remain close to zero. So for a lot of investors who need returns, they don't have too much choice -- it is either they buy bonds or buy equities.
"But for many types of investors, equities may be just too riskier and they may need a more predictable revenue stream."
In recent months, Asia has seen a growing number of corporate debt issues, which are oversubscribed.
Some investors are even drawn to beaten-down corporate bonds.
CreditSights' senior credit analyst, Sandra Chow, said: "In the past couple of weeks, we've seen a big shift into the high yield sector. A lot of bonds which was previously traded at double-digit yield are now coming to single-digit or even lower yields."
The credit quality of corporate bonds may not be improving, but analysts said bond funds face growing pressure from clients to deliver better-than-market returns of 9 to 10 percent.
Apart from market liquidity, French bank, Credit Agricole says wealthy individuals in Asia are also on the lookout for steady returns for their growing wealth.
Based on an estimated rate of growth 8 percent a year, China alone is expected to generate some US$560 billion of net new wealth every year.
- CNA/lp
- wong chee tat :)
By Thomas Cho | Posted: 10 December 2012 1959 hrs
SINGAPORE: The low-interest environment is driving investors to seek higher returns as global economic conditions improve.
Flushed with liquidity from major central banks' monetary easing, most analysts agreed that there is little upside left on safe assets like sovereign government debts.
Instead, analysts are seeing more investors investing in high yield bonds often classified as distressed that offer returns of over 6 percent per annum.
With the US Presidential election and China's leadership change out of the way, Asian investors are working up an appetite for riskier assets.
But this time, they are putting their money in fixed income products instead of Asian equities, which offer far better returns than bonds.
Thailand and Philippines stock indices have showed a over 30 percent return so far this year, while, bigger market like Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained some over 20 percent.
Schroder Investment Management's head of Asian Fixed Income, Rajeev De Mello, said: "Interest rates are going to remain close to zero. So for a lot of investors who need returns, they don't have too much choice -- it is either they buy bonds or buy equities.
"But for many types of investors, equities may be just too riskier and they may need a more predictable revenue stream."
In recent months, Asia has seen a growing number of corporate debt issues, which are oversubscribed.
Some investors are even drawn to beaten-down corporate bonds.
CreditSights' senior credit analyst, Sandra Chow, said: "In the past couple of weeks, we've seen a big shift into the high yield sector. A lot of bonds which was previously traded at double-digit yield are now coming to single-digit or even lower yields."
The credit quality of corporate bonds may not be improving, but analysts said bond funds face growing pressure from clients to deliver better-than-market returns of 9 to 10 percent.
Apart from market liquidity, French bank, Credit Agricole says wealthy individuals in Asia are also on the lookout for steady returns for their growing wealth.
Based on an estimated rate of growth 8 percent a year, China alone is expected to generate some US$560 billion of net new wealth every year.
- CNA/lp
- wong chee tat :)
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
One in six Australian kids living in poverty: report
One in six Australian kids living in poverty: report
Posted: 15 October 2012 1841 hrs
SYDNEY: Child poverty in Australia is increasing despite the nation's booming mining wealth, a welfare group said Monday, with new data showing one in six children are now living below the poverty line.
The Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) said that children, particularly in single parent families, were among the groups in society most at risk of poverty.
About 17.3 percent of all children in Australia were estimated to be living below the internationally accepted poverty line used to measure financial hardship in wealthy countries, according to ACOSS -- up from 12 percent in 2005.
That compares with 23.1 percent in the United States, 14.9 percent in Japan and 12.1 percent in Britain, according to United Nations data published in May, which had estimated Australia's child poverty rate at 10.9 percent.
Drawing the poverty line at incomes of 50 percent or less than the median income in the country, the ACOSS report found that as at 2010, one in eight people were surviving at that level of income or below.
"For a single person that works out to be about A$18,000 (US$18,390) a year to cover all of your costs, including housing," ACOSS chief executive Cassandra Goldie said.
"And most disturbingly we've got one in six children who are living in that circumstance."
About 12.8 percent of the population of Australia, which dodged recession during the global financial crisis and boasts economic growth of 3.7 percent and low unemployment, is affected by poverty, the report found.
Goldie said those particularly at risk of sinking into poverty were those on unemployment and other benefits which have not kept pace with the cost of living.
"Whilst the overall community levels of income have been improving over time, people on those low fixed incomes have been seriously left behind," she said.
- AFP/al
- wong chee tat :)
Posted: 15 October 2012 1841 hrs
SYDNEY: Child poverty in Australia is increasing despite the nation's booming mining wealth, a welfare group said Monday, with new data showing one in six children are now living below the poverty line.
The Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) said that children, particularly in single parent families, were among the groups in society most at risk of poverty.
About 17.3 percent of all children in Australia were estimated to be living below the internationally accepted poverty line used to measure financial hardship in wealthy countries, according to ACOSS -- up from 12 percent in 2005.
That compares with 23.1 percent in the United States, 14.9 percent in Japan and 12.1 percent in Britain, according to United Nations data published in May, which had estimated Australia's child poverty rate at 10.9 percent.
Drawing the poverty line at incomes of 50 percent or less than the median income in the country, the ACOSS report found that as at 2010, one in eight people were surviving at that level of income or below.
"For a single person that works out to be about A$18,000 (US$18,390) a year to cover all of your costs, including housing," ACOSS chief executive Cassandra Goldie said.
"And most disturbingly we've got one in six children who are living in that circumstance."
About 12.8 percent of the population of Australia, which dodged recession during the global financial crisis and boasts economic growth of 3.7 percent and low unemployment, is affected by poverty, the report found.
Goldie said those particularly at risk of sinking into poverty were those on unemployment and other benefits which have not kept pace with the cost of living.
"Whilst the overall community levels of income have been improving over time, people on those low fixed incomes have been seriously left behind," she said.
- AFP/al
- wong chee tat :)
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