World Obesity Day - 4 March

4 March is World Obesity Day. Globally, the number of people affected by overweight and obesity has almost tripled since 1975.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) "13% of the world's adult population is now obese, and 17% of children are overweight or obese.

Overweight and obesity, a global epidemic

Although overweight and obesity were once thought to be exclusive to high-income countries, they are now rapidly increasing in low- and middle-income countries, especially in urban areas. As a result, the WHO now considers obesity to be a global epidemic. It is predicted that by 2030 almost 40% of the world's population will be overweight and one in five will be obese. Obesity is a major risk factor for a number of diseases. Its increasing prevalence is a major health problem worldwide, including in most European and industrialised countries (WHO 2018). The root cause leading to weight gain is an energy imbalance between calories consumed and calories expended. Overweight and obesity, and the associated non-communicable diseases, are thus largely preventable.

Our environment shapes individual choices

However, obesity is a complex and multifactorial disease. Its onset and establishment are the result of individual factors, but also of the wider environment - built environment (housing), school, work, advertising, etc. - which conditions our eating habits and our levels of physical activity and sedentary behaviour.

Recent developments in our societies have made our environments unhealthy because they encourage low levels of physical activity, high levels of sedentary behaviour and excessive consumption of energy-dense foods. They are therefore described as obesogenic.

The emergence and development of the obesity epidemic has coincided with:

• a sharp increase in the proportion of high-calorie foods and beverages rich in fat, simple sugars and salts in the food supply;
• and, in parallel, changes in our lifestyles (rapid urbanisation, changes in the world of work) have led to a decrease in physical activity levels and an increase in sedentary lifestyles.

Making the healthiest choice the easiest choice

In the face of the current obesity epidemic, there is an urgent need to make our environment healthier to help each individual make the healthiest and most sustainable choices. The involvement of all sectors of society is key to changing our environments and making the healthiest choice the easiest in terms of accessibility, availability and price. This challenge relies primarily on political and societal choices in health, agriculture and education.

Healthy eating and regular physical activity to prevent overweight and obesity

Overweight and obesity and the associated non-communicable diseases can be largely prevented by

• limiting the consumption of energy-dense, high-fat and/or high-sugar foods (e.g. sugary drinks, highly processed foods);
• increasing the consumption of fruit and vegetables (F&V), pulses, whole grains and nuts;
• regular physical activity (30 minutes per day for adults).

A recent review confirms the hypothesis that Mediterranean-type diets reduce the risk of obesity in adults.

Key figures :

Globally (WHO):

• In 2016, more than 1.9 billion adults (39% of the population) were overweight, of whom 650 million were obese (13%). More than 340 million children and adolescents (5-19 years) were overweight or obese
• In 2019, 38 million children under 5 were overweight or obese.

What is obesity?

Overweight and obesity is an abnormal or excessive accumulation of fat in the body that poses a health risk. They are major risk factors for several diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, musculoskeletal disorders and some cancers. Obesity-related diseases cause the death of at least 2.8 million people each year (WHO). Obesity is thus a complex and multifactorial disease. Among the risk factors identified: genetic predisposition, perinatal exposure, socio-economic determinants, behaviour, but also environment.

The fundamental cause of weight gain is an energy imbalance between calories consumed and expended. This energy balance is influenced by behaviour via a whole series of determinants:

• It can vary according to the accessibility of various foods in different distribution and catering venues.
• The level of physical activity can be influenced by the accessibility of sports facilities, green spaces, and transport and land-use infrastructure.

How to celebrate World Obesity Day?

You could have a general check-up with a nutritionist, attend a sporting event, learn much healthier food recipes or create a daily workout routine that can benefit you during the week.

You can also motivate others to have a healthier lifestyle by posting photos on your social media with messages that motivate them to stay on the healthy path and using the hashtag #WorldObesityDay.

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Fathers Are Wonderful People - Father’s Day poems

Poesías en inglés día del padre - Recursos Educativos en Inglés - Poems in English

Fathers Are Wonderful People!

Fathers are wonderful people,
Too little understood,
We do not sing their praises,
As often as we should.

A father struggles every day,
To live up to his image.
As protector and provider,
The hero of the scrimmage.

Perhaps that is the reason,
We sometimes get the notion.
That fathers are not subject,
To the thing, we call emotion.

If you look inside a father’s heart,
Where no one else can see.
You’ll find he’s sentimental,
And soft as he can be.

Fathers are just wonderful,
In a million different ways.
They merit loving compliments,
And accolades of praise.

The only reason Dad aspires,
To fortune and success.
Is to make his family proud of him,
And bring them happiness.

Just like our heavenly Father,
He’s a guardian and a guide,
The person we can count on,
To always take our side.

Thanks so much to Marina. for sending in this poem

Recursos y materiales gratis en inglés, para el día del padre.

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Boy and Father - Carl Sandburg - Father’s Day poems

Poesías en inglés día del padre - Recursos Educativos en Inglés - Poems in English

Boy and Father

The boy Alexander understands his father to be a famous lawyer.
The leather law books of Alexander’s father fill a room like hay in a barn.
Alexander has asked his father to let him build a house like bricklayers build, a house with walls and roofs made of big leather law books.

The rain beats on the windows
And the raindrops run down the window glass
And the raindrops slide off the green blinds down the siding.

The boy Alexander dreams of Napoleon in John C. Abbott’s history, Napoleon the grand and lonely man wronged, Napoleon in his life wronged and in his memory wronged.
The boy Alexander dreams of the cat Alice saw, the cat fading off into the dark and leaving the teeth of its Cheshire smile lighting the gloom.

Buffaloes, blizzards, way down in Texas, in the panhandle of Texas snuggling close to New Mexico,
These creep into Alexander’s dreaming by the window when his father talks with strange men about land down in Deaf Smith County.
Alexander’s father tells the strange men: Five years ago we ran a Ford out on the prairie and chased antelopes.

Only once or twice in a long while has Alexander heard his father say ‘my first wife’ so-and-so and such-and-such.
A few times softly the father has told Alexander, ‘Your mother . . . was a beautiful woman . . . but we won’t talk about her.’
Always Alexander listens with a keen listen when he hears his father mention ‘my first wife’ or ‘Alexander’s mother.’

Alexander’s father smokes a cigar and the Episcopal rector smokes a cigar, and the words come often: mystery of life, mystery of life.
These two come into Alexander’s head blurry and grey while the rain beats on the windows and the raindrops run down the window glass and the raindrops slide off the green blinds and down the siding.
These and: There is a God, there must be a God, how can there be rain or sun unless there is a God?

So from the wrongs of Napoleon and the Cheshire cat smile on to the buffaloes and blizzards of Texas and on to his mother and to God, so the blurry grey rain dreams of Alexander have gone on five minutes, maybe ten, keeping slow easy time to the raindrops on the window glass and the raindrops sliding off the green blinds and down the siding.

By Carl Sandburg

Recursos y materiales gratis en inglés, para el día del padre.

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World Wildlife Day - 3 March

What is World Wildlife Day?

World Wildlife Day is an international day that was established by the UN in 2014 and every year on 3 March is dedicated to raising public awareness about wildlife and the dangers of global wildlife trafficking.

Why is this day so important?

World Wildlife Day is an opportunity to celebrate the diversity of wildlife and to raise awareness of the many benefits that its conservation brings to people. It also raises awareness of the need to combat the decline in wildlife numbers which has economic, social and environmental impacts.

What is the theme of World Wildlife Day?

The theme changes every year. The 2018 theme was big cats, the 2019 theme was aquatic life and the 2022 theme was sustaining all life on earth.

Year 2022 "Recovering Keystone Species for Ecosystem Restoration": aimed at raising awareness of the current status of endangered and critically endangered wildlife species.

How to celebrate World Wildlife Day?

Learn more about wildlife and see how you can help. This can include raising awareness, participating in events, organising campaigns and using the World Wildlife Day logo wherever possible.

Main threats to wildlife

There are currently multiple factors that threaten the conservation of various species of wild flora and fauna, most of which are caused by human activity and climate change. This generates negative and high-impact economic, environmental and social consequences.

Some of the threats to the planet's wildlife are the following:

• Poaching, overfishing and species trafficking.
• Degradation, fragmentation and destruction of wildlife habitats.
• climate change
• Greenhouse emissions.
• Exploitation and overexploitation of natural resources.
• Indiscriminate felling of trees.
• Disappearance of ecosystems.
• Use of chemical treatments to increase the growth of conifers.
• Proliferation of invasive species in habitats other than their original geographical distribution.

#ForestPeoplePlanet; #WorldWildlifeDay; #WWD2021

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International Hearing Day - 3 March

Every 3rd March is International Hearing Day. This day is all about hearing loss and focuses on its causes, consequences, prevention and harmful noise levels. Here are some clarifications and explanations.

What is International Hearing Day?

International Hearing Day puts the spotlight on hearing loss. This issue needs to be addressed in order to better prevent damage and combat its effects. Hearing is the most important sense for all communication. It enables, for example, participation in general conversations and daily activities. Hearing loss or deterioration therefore has an impact on everyday life. On International Hearing Day, a large number of organisations concerned with the subject are devoting even more time to hearing loss and hearing protection worldwide.

The causes of hearing loss

People experience hearing problems at three points in their lives: when they are born, when they are exposed to loud noises and when they grow old. About 10% of the Belgian population suffers from tinnitus, a permanent ringing in the ear. This problem frequently occurs in young people, usually when they are exposed to noises that exceed 80 decibels, for example when listening to music with headphones or at parties or festivals.

But it is not only young people who are affected. The passing of a high-speed train, the taking off of an aeroplane or the hustle and bustle of a classroom can also cause hearing damage. However, the most common hearing problems are related to old age. People are often unaware that they have hearing problems, or have been living with them for too long. On average, people with hearing loss wait 7 years before seeking help, which is very harmful to hearing. This is why it is very important to have your ears checked regularly, especially from the age of 50 onwards... From this age onwards, you should have your hearing tested every year.

World Hearing Day is a reminder of the following:

• Good hearing and communication are important at all stages of life.
• Hearing loss (and associated ear diseases) can be prevented through preventive measures such as protection from loud sounds, good ear care practices and immunisation.
• Hearing loss (and associated ear diseases) can be treated when detected at the right time and appropriate care is obtained.
• People who are at risk of hearing loss should have their hearing checked regularly.
• People with hearing loss (or related ear diseases) should seek the care of a health care professional.

In 2022, the campaign slogan is "For a lifetime of hearing, listen carefully! The aim is to educate about the importance of taking care of your hearing and not exposing it to loud noise, which is one of the causes of hearing loss. Related hashtags to post on social media are: #safelistening #worldhearingday #hearingcare.

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Friendly disappointment: how to deal with it?

A friendship break-up is similar to a love break-up, as the ties established can be so strong and resonate within us in a powerful way. When a friendship runs out of steam, when we are faced with a clash that upsets or destabilises us, certain steps must be observed in order to avoid this end of the relationship hurting us too much. How to deal with a friendly disappointment?

What is at stake in a friendship break-up?

The strength and resonance of a friendship is often underestimated. It is only when the bond is broken, sometimes with great drama, that we realise the passion with which we had invested the friendship. Friendships between women are particularly strong, since they unconsciously involve the bond of mother and child that was experienced at a young age.

This is why these female friendships can be so fusional, passionate, vital, and can lead to disarray and sometimes depression if betrayed, disappointed or abandoned. Strong friendships are important because they build us up and have seen us through key stages of our lives. With a very good friend, we grew up, experienced strong moments, forged a bond that we sometimes thought was indestructible, and yet. From then on, our relationship with others can be changed: how can we trust again, when we have been betrayed or disappointed?

As in a couple's relationship, it is necessary to go through a period of mourning when we have to say goodbye to a friend. And it can be just as painful as in a couple relationship, which is not so different.

Steps for moving on after a friendship break-up

When a friendship breaks up, if you didn't start it, you feel disappointed, abandoned and betrayed. Sometimes, if you are fragile, you can fall into depression and it can take a long time to get over it. Here are a few steps to take to avoid being overwhelmed by the sadness of disappointment.

Accept

When you have been intimate with someone for months or years, it can be upsetting to no longer have them in your life overnight. First of all, you have to work on acceptance. Accepting that the page is turning, that you will not see this person again, that your habits will have to change, that your reference points will change, but that this can leave room for other future links.

Challenging yourself

There is never only one "culprit" when a relationship breaks down. Everyone, in their own way, may have contributed to the break-up or disappointment. It is therefore necessary to identify our responsibility in this disappointment, in order to avoid repeating possible relationship errors in the future. Finally, forgive yourself, so that you do not carry all the guilt on your shoulders.

Expressing our feelings

With the help of a confidant or a psychologist (if the discomfort is too strong), it is important to express what you feel during this friendship break-up, and not to minimise the impact that it has on you. Crying, shouting out your anger, your sadness, talking about the past: anything goes, as long as it comes out.

Remembering the good things

This goes hand in hand with acceptance. Remembering the good memories with the lost friend helps to bring closure and stay on a positive note before letting him/her go for good.

Moving towards change

We have evolved differently and this has led to clashes or estrangement and disappointment. Life changes and so do people. Moving forward on your path and accepting that the other person will do the same is part of the remission of a friendship break-up. Change is also about meeting new people and learning to trust others again.

Changing your mind

There is nothing like seeing other people who have nothing to do with the friend in question to take your mind off your disappointment. You can also do things on your own that make you feel good: sport, cinema, reading, or taking on a project that is close to your heart.

Ask for forgiveness

Even without expecting to repair the broken relationship, asking for forgiveness from the person (or forgiving oneself) allows us to free ourselves from the past of this lost friendship and to move forward. This will make peace with the person concerned and make you feel better about yourself.

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March - Dibujos Meses del año para Colorear en Inglés

Recursos Educativos en inglés - Coloring Pages Months of the Year

Láminas para Colorear en Inglés
Meses del año

03. March - Marzo

Para Imprimir la lámina, se recomienda, guardarla primero en el PC.

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