Complete retirement 'bad for you'

BBC News

Giving up work completely on retirement could be bad for your health, US research suggests.

Keeping active after retirement may boost health

The study of 12,189 people found retirees who take on temporary or part-time work have fewer major diseases, and function better day to day.

The findings were significant even after considering people's physical and mental health before retirement.

The University of Maryland study appears in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology.

The researchers examined data on 12,189 people, who were aged 51-61 at the beginning of the study.

The participants were interviewed every two years over a six-year period beginning in 1992 about their health, finances, employment history and work or retirement life.

The researchers registered only medical conditions which had been clinically diagnosed, and took account of factors such as sex, education level and financial wealth.

Mental health

The participants also completed a basic mental health questionnaire.

The findings showed that people who took on post-retirement jobs that were related to their previous careers reported better mental health than those who fully retired.

However, no similar boost to mental health was found in people who worked in jobs outside their career speciality after retirement.

The researchers believe this may be because retirees who take jobs not related to their career field may need to adapt to a different work environment and, therefore, become more stressed.

Also, the results showed that retirees with financial problems were more likely to work in a different field after they officially retire.

Temporary or part-time work after retirement was defined as bridge work.

Researcher Dr Mo Wang said: "Rather than wanting to work in a different field, they may have to work.

"In such situations, it's difficult for retirees to enjoy the benefits that come with bridge employment."

The researchers suggest that, when possible, retirees carefully consider their choice of post-retirement employment.

Dr Kenneth Shultz, who also worked on the study, said: "Choosing a suitable type of bridge employment will help retirees transition better into full retirement and in good physical and mental health."

Professor Cary Cooper, an occupational health psychologist at the University of Lancaster, said: "All the evidence suggests that if your mental wellbeing is depleted it will affect you physically.

"Conversely, if you are more positive mentally you are going to be much more robust and active.

"And if you continue working after retirement often your status remains similar to that you experienced during your career, and as a result your self-esteem and sense of wellbeing will be enhanced."

However, Professor Cooper said that sometimes making a clean break from a stressful job could be a good thing.

In that instance, he said, the key was to ensure that you had hobbies to keep you active.

Child obesity 'is levelling off'

BBC News

Forecasts of a huge rise in obesity among children in England have been significantly downgraded following a new analysis of data.

Child obesity levels have been rising for decades

The National Heart Forum found evidence that the rate of increase in childhood obesity may be starting to slow.

Its figures suggest that by 2020 the proportion of boys aged 2-11 who will be overweight or obese will be 30% - not 42% as previously predicted.

For girls of the same age the revised prediction is now 27% - down from 48%.

The revised predictions also indicate a big drop in the number of overweight and obese young people aged 12-19.

They represent the first sign of encouraging news for decades, as obesity rates have been rising in England - as in most developed nations - since the 1970s.

A similar trend has been recorded in several other countries, including the US, France and Denmark.

There are currently 1.5 million children in England who are overweight or obese - leaving them at increased risk of health problems such as type 2 diabetes, cancer and heart disease.

The Department of Health has set a target of reducing the number of overweight and obese children to 2000 levels by 2020.

The National Heart Forum based its latest predictions on data collected for the Health Survey for England between 2000 and 2007.

Previous estimates were based on data collected for the same survey between 1993 and 2004.

The researchers said it was not clear why obesity levels might have levelled off, but said government interventions and media coverage may have played a role. Read more...

X-rays 'top scientific invention'

BBC NEWS

The public has voted the X-ray machine as the best invention, ahead of the Apollo 10 space capsule and Stephenson's Rocket.

X-rays revolutionised diagnosis

Out of nearly 50,000 votes cast, one in five people named it for having made the greatest impact on the past, present and future.

Ten of the most significant objects in science, engineering, technology and medicine were selected for the vote.

Information on all the items is found at the Science Museum in London.

The first three positions were filled by medical inventions or discoveries, the X-ray machine being followed by the discoveries of penicillin and the DNA double helix structure.

X-rays provided the first possibility of looking inside someone's body without cutting them open - a massive medical advance.

'Laying patients bare'

The particular X-ray machine in question - the Reynolds machine in the Museum's Making the Modern World Gallery - was a "do-it-youself" experiment by a father and son who were so inspired by news of the discovery of the X-ray that they set about building the equipment in their own home.

Museum curator Katie Maggs said: "It's very inspirational to budding scientists to learn that an invention now declared the most important in world history could be pioneered by enthusiastic amateur inventors."

Professor Andy Adam, president of the Royal College of Radiologists, was delighted to learn of the result.

He said the X-ray machine had revolutionised medical practice and that the technology had now advance so much that we are reaching the era of the "transparent patient".

Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw said: "Any competition that pits the Apollo 10 spacecraft against Stephenson's Rocket, and the DNA double helix against the Model T Ford, is bound to provide talking points aplenty.

"The public's choice of the X-ray machine as the winner is testament to our insatiable curiosity to find out how things work."

The poll was conducted as part of the Science Museum's events to mark its centenary. The 10 objects form a special Centenary Journey trail through the museum galleries.