Who is at risk?

1. Manufacturing workers: can be exposed to invisible hazards in the air, such as fumes and dust.

2. Construction workers: are often in contact with dust from concrete and fumes from welding.

3. Engineered stone workers: are exposed to silica dust in all parts of their work process – from preparing and working on the slab, to cleaning up the workplace and disposing of waste.

4. Agricultural workers: may come into contact with a range of hazards in the air, including pesticides, chemicals and fuels.

What can you do?

Workplace Health and Safety legislation means your employer must ensure that standards are in place to protect your lung health.

You can help by ensuring you use your PPE that is designed for the hazardous agent you’re working with. You may need training in how to use it, as well as undergo fit-testing.

Some recommendations:

• Quit smoking. Smoking or vaping of any kind increases your risk of many lung diseases.
• Practise good hygiene. Wash your hands and face before eating and drinking and put clothes in a separate wash basket.
• Talk to your doctor. Have regular check-ups with your doctor, even if you’re not experiencing symptoms.

This can be then used by your doctor, nutritionist, or your fitness instructor to assess if your weight is ‘normal’ or ‘healthy’ for your height or whether you are hovering close to being classified as ‘overweight’, ‘obese’ or ‘underweight’.

BMI is used around the world to measure obesity and give an estimate of our overall disease risk. There is an assumption that a normal BMI equates to good health, while scores in the ranges above or below suggest your health is at risk.

Is there a link between BMI and health?

BMI does have value. Being quick, simple and cheap, it can quickly identify people who may be at risk of conditions such as type 2 diabetes or heart disease and be a useful starting point for further investigations.

But many health professionals, backed by a growing body of evidence, are now questioning the reliability of BMI as a marker of health.

A 2016 study published in the International Journal of Obesity looked at BMI as an indicator of heart health. The research team checked individual BMI results against other indicators, including cholesterol levels, blood pressure and insulin resistance. What they found was surprising:

• 30 per cent of people in the normal BMI range were at above-average risk of heart disease.
• 48 per cent of ‘overweight’ and 29 per cent of ‘obese’ people were heart-healthy.

What else can’t BMI tell you?

• The amount of fat on your body

In adults who have stopped growing, an increase in BMI is usually caused by an increase in body fat, but there are many exceptions to this.

“Having a high ratio of muscle to fat is liable to put you into the ‘overweight’ category,” says Canadian dietician Abby Langer. “Muscle weighs more than fat, and if you’re solid and muscular – think athletes or weightlifters – BMI won’t recognise that; it will just categorise you as overweight when you’re not.”

Body composition, including your per cent body fat or muscle mass, can also vary by race and ethnic group.

• Where that fat is stored

Where you store your fat is critical to your health. Body fat stored around the abdomen (an ‘apple’ shape) is more dangerous than fat on your hips or thighs, but BMI won’t tell you where your fat is located. The ‘apple’ shape is associated with an increased risk of heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes, and you can have a BMI in the ‘normal’ range but carry risky amounts of belly fat.

• Your individual risk

Your risk of disease doesn’t automatically increase with weight. The normal ranges don’t work so well for predicting health risks in older adults, who don’t appear to have a greater risk of death when their BMI is in the ‘overweight’ category.

What are the alternatives?

Your waist circumference is a better predictor of health risk than BMI, because it can indicate how much fat is stored around your abdomen, where it is potentially more dangerous.

Both waist circumference and BMI can be good starting points, but other measurements will give a fuller picture of health risk. Lifestyle factors such as smoking, activity levels, diet and stress, along with blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol levels should all be considered.

The connection with back pain

A growing amount of evidence suggests back pain may be partly caused by weak core abdominal muscles over time.

At least 84 percent of us will experience back pain at some stage in our lives. By strengthening your core muscles, you can help protect and strengthen your back, and potentially reduce the risk of back pain.

How to strengthen your core

Forget the old sit-ups that your school Physical Education teacher made you do. There’s no single core exercise that’s ideal for everyone because we all have different issues and needs.

A good starting point is the plank. Or at least, to work up to the plank. It doesn’t require equipment and you can do it pretty much anywhere.

Here’s an easy explanation:

1. Plant hands directly under shoulders (slightly wider than shoulder width) like you’re about to do a push-up. A variation is placing your forearms on the floor instead, with your elbows is placing your forearms on the floor instead, with your elbows aligned below shoulders and your arms parallel to your body.
2. Ground your toes into the floor and squeeze your glutes to stabilise your body. Your legs should be working, too – be careful not to lock your knees.
3. Neutralise your neck and spine by looking at a spot on the floor about a foot beyond your hands. Your head should be in line with your back.
4. Hold the position for 20 seconds. As you get more comfortable with the move, hold your plank for as long as possible without compromising your form or breath.

Why women?

Biology can explain only some of the differences.

Hormonal changes across a woman’s life – during puberty, the menstrual cycle, pregnancy and menopause - have been linked to anxiety. Women also tend to be more prone to stress and to have different coping mechanisms than men. They are more likely to spend more time thinking about life stressors, which can increase anxiety, while men tend to engage more in active, problem-focused coping.

But there are certain life events that can particularly affect women. Beyond Blue and Jean Hailes have identified a number of factors that can impact women’s mental health, including:

• Caring for others. Women do most of the caregiving, whether for a partner, elderly parents, and/or children. While it can be a very positive experience for many, caring can affect your physical and mental health, financial security and independence, particularly if caring for people who are ill, frail or with a disability.
• Infertility and miscarriage. The grief and loss of infertility and miscarriage can be devastating for women and is often experienced privately, which can further impact mental health.
• Pregnancy, having a baby and becoming a mother. For some women, adjusting to the major life change and challenges of early motherhood leaves them more likely to experience depression and anxiety.
• Menopause. Hormone changes in the years leading to menopause can contribute to depression and anxiety. The physical changes of menopause – hot flushes, night sweats, interrupted sleep and weight gain – can also impact mental health.
• Relationships. Conflict at home, particularly physical and mental abuse, can cause great fear and anxiety. Women who are separated, divorced or widowed are more likely to experience mental health issues such as depression and anxiety. As well as feelings of loss and grief, the end of a relationship can affect financial security, social connections, housing and relationships with children.
• Money worries. Stress over money is common and can affect your mental wellbeing. According to a recent BlackRock study focusing on the relationship between wealth and wellbeing, money is a top worry amongst the 27,000 people they asked worldwide. In many of these cases, women indicated that finances caused higher levels of stress than men did.

If you’re feeling stressed, it’s not your fault

We’re seeing our old world-order destabilise. Our work, education and our economy – it’s all rocky and uncertain right now.

Robert Neimeyer, PhD, director of the Portland Institute for Loss and Transition and professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Memphis, says, “The losses include our sense of predictability, control, justice, and the belief that we can protect our children or elderly loved ones,”

Dr Neimeyer points out that the level of grief we feel is usually connected to our level of attachment to the thing we’ve lost.

“We’re capable of losing places, projects, possessions, professions and protections, all of which we may be powerfully attached to,” he says. “This pandemic forces us to confront the frailty of such attachments, whether it’s to our local bookstore or the routines that sustain us through our days. We’re talking about grieving a living loss – one that keeps going and going.

So what can we do about it?

You don’t have to suffer alone.

Here are ways to help manage this ambiguous grief and loss.

1. “Name and claim it,” says Dr Neimeyer. It can help to give this “wordless suffering” a name, and know that it’s a feeling shared by so many.
2. Understand it. It can help to understand that this kind of grief fluctuates. It’s perfectly normal to feel overwhelmed one day, and yet happy and grateful the next.
3. Keep social. Do what you can to maintain your social supports. Even if you can’t see someone and hug them, it can help to stay connected online and by phone. Talk to your friends and family about ambiguous loss – you might be surprised by how they open up about their own experience.
4. Stop doom-scrolling. When the news keeps updating with yet more suffering, it’s tempting to keep refreshing your news feed. It’s almost like we’re seeking control. Try to give yourself breaks from the news and limit yourself to a couple of checks a day for urgent updates.
5. Remember your strengths. Look back on those times when you made it through tough situations, and remind yourself how resilient you are.

1. Ask for permission to apologise

Inflammation has become a favourite topic of wellness bloggers and influencers. It’s a scary sounding condition that’s blamed for many common illnesses, often with justification but frequently without any strong evidence.

What is inflammation?

Inflammation is usually a good thing. Without it, wounds and infections would never heal, spelling bad news for your survival.

An inflammatory response is the natural response of your immune system to any foreign invader or perceived threat, whether that’s bacteria, viruses, parasites, fungi, or an injury.

You’ll see acute inflammation in action if you cut or burn yourself. An influx of white blood cells and chemicals trigger redness and swelling – all part of your body’s response that begins the healing process. Inflammation is also in action out of sight, fighting off disease, including the rogue cells that cause cancer. After the initial reaction, inflammation calms down to allow your body to heal.

Can inflammation work against us?

Yes, it can. Inflammation becomes a problem when it can’t be turned off and your body continues to react to something it sees as a threat.

Persistent, invisible, low levels of inflammation (known as chronic inflammation) can damage your body. It’s linked to many long-term diseases including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s and some cancers. It plays a role in inflammatory bowel disease and is even believed to contribute to certain types of depression.

Inflammation is serious, but you can do something about it. It all starts with understanding what can cause it.

What causes chronic inflammation?

Viruses, autoimmune disease like lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, and pathogens the body can’t get rid of can all cause inflammation. So too can:

• ageing
• smoking
• poor diet
• stress
• lack of sleep
• being overweight, particularly carrying weight around your middle.

What you can do

Your diet and lifestyle can go a long way to calming down chronic inflammation. Getting active for as little as 20 minutes every day can reduce chronic inflammation. So too can quitting smoking, getting adequate sleep, losing weight and reducing stress.

One of the most powerful tools you have to combat inflammation is your choice of food. Pick the wrong ones and you can accelerate inflammation. But choose the right foods and you can reduce your risk of illness.

“A pretty poor typical Western diet high in highly processed convenience foods and added sugar and low in minimally processed plant foods has been implicated in inflammation,” says nutrition research scientist Dr Tim Crowe on his blog Thinking Nutrition.

“What is widely considered an anti-inflammatory diet” is one high in fruits, vegetables, healthy fats, legumes, and wholegrains,” explains Dr Crowe. The Mediterranean style diet is a good example, especially if you include fish and olive oil, as it is rich in antioxidants and other inflammation-fighting nutrients.

What do we mean by slips, trips and falls?

A slip: is when your foot loses traction with the ground surface. This can be due to inappropriate footwear or walking on slippery surfaces that are highly polished, wet or greasy.

A trip: can occur when you catch your foot on an object or surface and lose your balance. Most commonly, people trip on low obstacles that are difficult to spot, such as uneven edges in flooring, loose mats, open drawers, and poorly stored materials such as untidy tools or electrical cables.

How to prevent injury

• Report any inadequate or broken lighting, which can prevent someone noticing slip or trip hazards.
• Avoid and/or report trailing cables or other low obstacles such as open drawers, loose mats or carpet tiles, or wrinkled carpeting.
• Keep walking areas clear of clutter or obstructions.
• Clean up or report any contaminants immediately. Contaminants can be wet, such as water, oil or grease; or dry, such as dust, metal shavings, plastic bags or off-cuts.
• Wear appropriate footwear for your role. It should be suitable for your type of work and work environment, comfortable, and with an adequate non-slip sole and appropriate tread pattern.
• Always take your time and pay attention to where you are going.
• If you are carrying or pushing anything, make sure it doesn’t prevent you from seeing any obstructions.

It’s boring, but your best options are tap water or milk. Most of us have access to fluoridated drinking water, which helps to protect and strengthen teeth. If your local tap water is unsuitable for drinking, bottled plain water is also a good option.

If you do drink fizzy drinks, or other acidic drinks such as hot water and lemon, kombucha or apple cider vinegar drinks, follow these with a glass of clear tap water or plain bottled water and avoid brushing your teeth for at least 30 minutes. Any form of acid will soften your tooth enamel and if you brush too soon you risk adding to the erosion.

FACT: Exercise alone can’t create a big energy deficit.

The process should be fairly straightforward. Exercise more, burn kilojoules, develop an energy deficit and lose weight.

Except it isn’t quite that simple.

While your food intake accounts for 100 per cent of the energy that goes into your body, exercise only burns off less than 10 to 30 per cent of it. Your basal metabolic rate (energy needed for basic body functions) accounts for 60 to 80 per cent of total energy expenditure.

If a 90-kilogram man added 60 minutes of medium-intensity running four days per week while keeping his kilojoule intake the same, and he did this for 30 days, he’d lose just over kilograms, calculated Dr Kevin Hall of the US National Institutes of Health.

“If this person then decided to increase his food intake, or relax more to recover from the added activity, then even less weight would be lost,” says Dr Hall.

If you are overweight or obese and trying to lose a large amount of weight, it would take lots of time, effort and willpower to make a real impact on kilojoule deficit through exercise alone.

FACT: You can’t outrun a bad diet.

For many years we’ve believed that lack of exercise and excess kilojoules are equally to blame for the current obesity crisis. Many researchers disagree, with some claiming in the British Medical Journal that “you can’t outrun a bad diet.” They blame our expanding waistlines primarily on our food choices, stressing that where the kilojoules come from is as important as the number.

Poor diet does more than add weight. According to The Lancet global burden of disease reports, poor diet is responsible for more disease than physical inactivity, alcohol and smoking combined. You can be active every day, but it won’t negate the effects of an unhealthy diet.

FACT: Exercise is the world’s best drug.

This doesn’t mean you should give up exercise. There are many reasons to move more beyond weight loss. “It’s probably the single best thing you can do, other than stopping smoking, to improve your health,” says Dr Hall.

Upping your activity levels will reduce your risk for chronic diseases including heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, dementia and certain cancers. It will support your immune system so you can better fight off illness; improve your sleep quality, fitness and mood; and protect against depression, anxiety and stress.

And while exercise may not help us lose a lot of weight on the scales unless we address diet too, studies have shown it’s essential for keeping weight off and preventing weight regain.

As a bonus, regular exercise changes our dietary habits, which means we’ll have an easier time making healthier food choices.