A WEEKLY ROUND-UP OF NEWS AFFECTING YOUR HEALTH.
SALT
Most Australian kids are still eating too much salt, a new study has found.
The Deakin University report found there has been a small reduction in overall salt intake over the past nine years.
However 80 per cent of the 6000 primary school-aged children involved in the study were consuming more salt than was recommended for good health.
Children aged four to eight should eat no more than 3.5 grams of salt per day, according nutrition guidelines.
VicHealth CEO Jerril Rechter said it's alarming young children are consuming excess salt on a regular basis.
"It's concerning that 80 per cent of our kids are eating too much salt, putting them at risk of high blood pressure, which can lead to stroke and heart disease in adulthood," Ms Rechter said.
"Not only are we putting our kids at risk of a future of poor health, we're setting them up to like the taste of salty food," she said.
MIGRAINE
Having been dealt a genetic 'bad hand' is the reason why many people suffer debilitating migraines.
A new study published in journal Neuron has shed new light on why some families are susceptible to migraines and how genetics may influence the type of migraine they get.
Researchers at the Institute for Molecular Medicine, Finland analysed the medical history and genetic data of 1589 families - made up of more than 8000 individuals - of known migraine sufferers.
They found 'polygenic' genetic variants were driving migraine risk the most.
If a trait is polygenic, that means that a group of genes collectively influence that characteristic. Like being dealt a bad hand in a card game, each common genetic variant may have only a small individual effect, but the collection of common variants builds up to influence the trait - or disease risk a person inherits.
"This really shows, in a very big sample set, that common variants are very important factors in aggregation of migraines in the family," said lead researcher Aarno Palotie of the Institute for Molecular Medicine
It's hoped the improved understanding of the genetics of migraine will lead to better drug treatments in the future.
"This is of special interest for drug development," said Palotie.
DEPRESSION
Physical activity can protect against depression, regardless of age and where a person lives.
A research review of 49 published studies that took in a total of 266,939 people found the more active a person was the less likely they were to develop depression.
"We found that higher levels of physical activity were protective from future depression in children, adults and older adults, across every continent and after taking into account other important factors such as body mass index, smoking and physical health conditions," said co-author Dr Brendon Stubbs from King's College London.
"Given the multitude of other health benefits of physical activity, our data adds to the pressing calls to prioritise physical activity across the lifespan," he said.
The findings are published in The American Journal of Psychiatry.
