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"Not good enough": Karl takes aim at airline cancellation

Karl Stefanovic has ripped into Aussie airline Bonza, who cancelled all their flights at the last minute and left people stranded all across the country. One of the travellers who were left abandoned was Tracy Hilbert, who was due to fly out of Melbourne on Tuesday morning to see her family after her father suddenly died on Monday night. However, instead of being with her mother and brother, she instead spent the day stuck inside the airport after a fellow passenger informed her their flight had been cancelled with no warning. Tracy spoke to Karl Stefanovic and Sarah Abo on Today to share how let down she felt by the airline, as they failed to communicate the cancellation with their customers. “I text my husband. He said, ‘yes, it’s been cancelled’ and sent me all the details,” Ms Hilbert told Today. “Then the crew came in and about a 5.45am they said that it’s been cancelled.” Ms Hilbert fought back tears as she told Karl and Sarah the heartbreaking reason why she was so desperate to make her flight. “I’ve actually had my father pass away last night, so I needed to get up there because my brother text me and said that he’s not in a good way.” Ms Hilbert’s husband quickly booked her a flight with the budget airline last night, not realising that as of this morning, services will be “temporarily suspended”. “I’ve never had this problem with them before,” Ms Hilbert said. “It’s only a two-hour flight but now it’s going to take me all day to get up there.” Thankfully for Ms Hilbert, along with thousands of other stranded passengers, Virgin and Jetstar said those who were affected by the cancellation would be assisted to get to their destination. “We are aware of the temporary suspension of Bonza flights,” Virgin posted on X. “We will immediately support any passengers stranded mid-journey by offering complimentary seats on Virgin Australia-operated flights to the airport nearest to their final planned Bonza destination.” While wondering if she would receive a refund for her cancelled flight, Ms Hilbert said she was frustrated with the lack of communication with Bonza, saying, "You can’t talk to anybody, it’s all through emails.” Ms Hilbert said it’s all been “very hard” as she should have been with her mother, brother and other family now. “Oh, sweetheart. Hey, Tracy, we’ll let you go,” Karl quickly responded as Ms Hilbert continued to break down in tears. “Obviously there’s going to be a lot of people who are inconvenienced. You’re inconvenienced in a whole lot more emotional away. And it’s such a big thing for you to be handling right now. And we’re so sorry for your loss.” Karl hit out at the airline saying the very least they can do is communicate with travellers who have been left in the lurch. “It’s not good enough just to say something is cancelled. They might be going through the most, you know, horrible business morning of their lives, but that shouldn’t stop you from communicating with people." “It’s just a basic human necessity. And especially for people like Tracy.” On Tuesday, Bonza CEO Tim Jordan said services will be “temporarily suspended” while discussions surrounding the “viability of the business” take place. Image credits: Today

Travel Trouble

Could not getting enough sleep increase your risk of type 2 diabetes?

<div class="theconversation-article-body"> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/giuliana-murfet-1517219">Giuliana Murfet</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-technology-sydney-936">University of Technology Sydney</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/shanshan-lin-1005236">ShanShan Lin</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-technology-sydney-936">University of Technology Sydney</a> Not getting enough sleep is a common affliction in the modern age. If you don’t always get as many hours of shut-eye as you’d like, perhaps you were concerned by news of a <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2815684">recent study</a> that found people who sleep less than six hours a night are at higher risk of type 2 diabetes. So what can we make of these findings? It turns out the relationship between sleep and diabetes is complex. <h2>The study</h2> Researchers analysed data from the <a href="https://www.ukbiobank.ac.uk/">UK Biobank</a>, a large biomedical database which serves as a global resource for health and medical research. They looked at information from 247,867 adults, following their health outcomes for more than a decade. The researchers wanted to understand the associations between sleep duration and type 2 diabetes, and whether a healthy diet reduced the effects of short sleep on diabetes risk. As part of their involvement in the UK Biobank, participants had been asked roughly how much sleep they get in 24 hours. Seven to eight hours was the average and considered normal sleep. Short sleep duration was broken up into three categories: mild (six hours), moderate (five hours) and extreme (three to four hours). The researchers analysed sleep data alongside information about people’s diets. Some 3.2% of participants were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes during the follow-up period. Although healthy eating habits were associated with a lower overall risk of diabetes, when people ate healthily but slept less than six hours a day, their risk of type 2 diabetes increased compared to people in the normal sleep category. The researchers found sleep duration of five hours was linked with a 16% higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes, while the risk for people who slept three to four hours was 41% higher, compared to people who slept seven to eight hours. One limitation is the study defined a healthy diet based on the number of servings of fruit, vegetables, red meat and fish a person consumed over a day or a week. In doing so, it didn’t consider how dietary patterns such as time-restricted eating or the Mediterranean diet may modify the risk of diabetes among those who slept less. Also, information on participants’ sleep quantity and diet was only captured at recruitment and may have changed over the course of the study. The authors acknowledge these limitations. <h2>Why might short sleep increase diabetes risk?</h2> In people with <a href="https://www.diabetesaustralia.com.au/about-diabetes/type-2-diabetes/">type 2 diabetes</a>, the body becomes resistant to the effects of a hormone called insulin, and slowly loses the capacity to produce enough of it in the pancreas. Insulin is important because it regulates glucose (sugar) in our blood that comes from the food we eat by helping move it to cells throughout the body. We don’t know the precise reasons why people who sleep less may be at higher risk of type 2 diabetes. But <a href="https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.23501">previous research</a> has shown sleep-deprived people often have increased <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/1476-511X-9-125">inflammatory markers</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s00125-015-3500-4">free fatty acids</a> in their blood, which <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11892-018-1055-8">impair insulin sensitivity</a>, leading to <a href="https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.23501">insulin resistance</a>. This means the body struggles to use insulin properly to regulate blood glucose levels, and therefore increases the risk of type 2 diabetes. Further, people who don’t sleep enough, as well as people who sleep in irregular patterns (such as shift workers), experience disruptions to their body’s natural rhythm, known as the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5995632/">circadian rhythm</a>. This can interfere with the release of hormones like <a href="https://doi.org/10.1210/edrv.18.5.0317">cortisol, glucagon and growth hormones</a>. These hormones are released through the day to meet the body’s changing energy needs, and normally keep blood glucose levels nicely balanced. If they’re compromised, this may reduce the body’s ability to handle glucose as the day progresses. These factors, and <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aar8590">others</a>, may contribute to the increased risk of type 2 diabetes seen among people sleeping less than six hours. While this study primarily focused on people who sleep eight hours or less, it’s possible longer sleepers may also face an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. Research has previously shown a U-shaped correlation between sleep duration and type 2 diabetes risk. A <a href="https://doi.org/10.2337/dc14-2073">review</a> of multiple studies found getting between seven to eight hours of sleep daily was associated with the lowest risk. When people got less than seven hours sleep, or more than eight hours, the risk began to increase. The reason sleeping longer is associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes may be linked to <a href="https://doi.org/10.2337/dc15-0186">weight gain</a>, which is also correlated with longer sleep. Likewise, people who don’t sleep enough are more likely to be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleh.2017.07.013">overweight or obese</a>. <h2>Good sleep, healthy diet</h2> Getting enough sleep is an important part of a healthy lifestyle and may reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. Based on this study and other evidence, it seems that when it comes to diabetes risk, seven to eight hours of sleep may be the sweet spot. However, other factors could influence the relationship between sleep duration and diabetes risk, such as individual differences in sleep quality and lifestyle. While this study’s findings question whether a healthy diet can mitigate the effects of a lack of sleep on diabetes risk, a wide range of evidence points to the benefits of <a href="https://www.who.int/initiatives/behealthy/healthy-diet">healthy eating</a> for overall health. The <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2815684">authors of the study</a> acknowledge it’s not always possible to get enough sleep, and suggest doing <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33137489/">high-intensity interval exercise</a> during the day may offset some of the potential effects of short sleep on diabetes risk. In fact, exercise <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jshs.2023.03.001">at any intensity</a> can improve blood glucose levels.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225179/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/giuliana-murfet-1517219">Giuliana Murfet</a>, Casual Academic, Faculty of Health, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-technology-sydney-936">University of Technology Sydney</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/shanshan-lin-1005236">ShanShan Lin</a>, Senior Lecturer, School of Public Health, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-technology-sydney-936">University of Technology Sydney</a> Image credits: Getty Images This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/could-not-getting-enough-sleep-increase-your-risk-of-type-2-diabetes-225179">original article</a>. </div>

Body

What does a building need to call itself ‘accessible’ – and is that enough?

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ilan-wiesel-303040">Ilan Wiesel</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/rebecca-bentley-173502">Rebecca Bentley</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a> The <a href="https://www.ndisreview.gov.au/resources/reports/working-together-deliver-ndis">National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) review</a> and the disability royal commission’s <a href="https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/system/files/2023-09/Final%20Report%20-%20Volume%207%2C%20Inclusive%20education%2C%20employment%20and%20housing%20-%20Part%20C.pdf">final report</a> both highlighted the crucial role of accessible buildings and homes in ensuring the inclusion of people with disabilities. But the experiences of people with disability show Australia is a very long way from achieving this. There are the stories from people with disability who <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-06-25/taylor-swift-concert-disability-access-concerns/102520088">can’t enjoy events</a> or <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-09/harry-styles-concert-disability-tickets-consumer-rights/102060698">venues</a>. And researchers say even <a href="https://www.unsw.edu.au/arts-design-architecture/our-research/research-impact/case-studies/are-our-accessible-bathrooms-inaccessible-to-people-in-wheelchairs">accessible bathrooms are not usable</a> for half the people with disability. What can be called an accessible building or home? And should standards be improved? <h2>What is accessibility?</h2> The <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-rights-persons-disabilities">Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability</a> includes the right to accessibility. Australia’s 1992 <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/disability-rights/frequently-asked-questions-access-premises">Disability Discrimination Act</a> includes premises standards to ensure people with disability have “dignified, equitable, cost-effective and reasonably achievable access to buildings, facilities and services”. However, a building is exempt if the owners can demonstrate modifying a building would cause them “unjustifiable hardship”. The burden of making a complaint about an inaccessible building falls on people with disability and the act also does not apply to private homes. Although experts follow different definitions of accessibility, they generally include some key principles: <ul> <li> easy entry and exit into a building </li> <li> easy navigation and functionality in and around the building </li> <li> potential for easy adaptation in response to changing needs of occupants. </li> </ul> An accessible building is one where people of all abilities are able move and carry out activities independently, safely, in comfort and with dignity. For people with disabilities <a href="https://disability.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/3969109/Accessible-Housing-Research-Report-22-October-2020.pdf">many buildings are inaccessible</a>. In these buildings, basic everyday activities such as taking a shower or preparing breakfast becomes difficult, tiring, uncomfortable and sometimes dangerous. Some people have been <a href="https://disability.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/3969109/Accessible-Housing-Research-Report-22-October-2020.pdf">injured</a> repeatedly in inaccessible homes, for example falling down a staircase. Such injuries may compound their disability. Many people with disabilities worry that if they’re injured at home, they will be forced to move permanently into a nursing home. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016718523001525">Studies</a> have found living in inaccessible homes severely harms the dignity, independence, social inclusion, employment, health and wellbeing of people with disabilities. People become more reliant on family members for support, putting strain on their relationships. Difficulty getting in and out of the house for social activities worsens social isolation. A sense of fatigue also reduces the motivation and capacity to work. <h2>Access through the front door</h2> Dignity is a crucial aspect of accessibility but it is often forgotten. For example, many buildings’ front entry has stairs that make it inaccessible for wheelchair users. There may be an accessible ramp entry in the back of the building. The building is then considered accessible, since wheelchair users can enter and exit. But such a “backdoor treatment” can be experienced as an indignity and discrimination. Accessible toilets are sometimes used for <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/most-public-toilets-inaccessible-to-people-with-disabilities/adsx7cnr8">storage, locked or out of order</a>. Again, although the design meets accessibility standards, in practice the building is inaccessible because of poor management. And accessibility is not exclusively about physical disabilities and physical barriers. People with cognitive disabilities, for example, might struggle to find their way in a building if way-finding signs are difficult to understand. <a href="https://theconversation.com/for-people-with-communication-disability-complaining-about-their-treatment-isnt-so-simple-214717">Communication accessibility</a> in building is achieved when the information needed to navigate and use the building is understood by everyone, no matter how they communicate. <h2>Silver, gold and platinum standards</h2> There are different levels of accessibility. In Australia, housing accessibility is most often assessed according to <a href="https://livablehousingaustralia.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/SLLHA_GuidelinesJuly2017FINAL4.pdf">Livable Housing Australia</a>’s (LHA) three standards of silver, gold and platinum. Silver-level homes have minimal accessibility features, but are designed in a way that enables easy home modifications over time. The silver standard of accessibility requires seven features: • a step-free path of travel from the street or parking area • at least one step-free entrance • internal doors and corridors that allow comfortable movement, including for people using wheelchairs • a toilet on the entry level with easy access • a bathroom with a hobless shower recess, so there isn’t a step-over barrier to entry • reinforced walls around the toilet, shower and bath. These allow installation of grabrails later if needed • stairways designed to reduce the risk of injury and also enable future adaptation. Gold-level homes have additional accessibility features. Platinum homes are designed for people with higher mobility needs and to allow ageing at home. <h2>A patchwork of standards and what the NDIS review says</h2> In 2021 Australian housing ministers <a href="https://www.industry.gov.au/news/building-ministers-meeting-communique-april-2021">agreed for the first time</a> to introduce minimum accessibility standards in the National Construction Code. It followed decades of campaigning by activist groups such as the <a href="https://anuhd.org/">Australian Network for Universal Housing Design</a>, <a href="https://riaustralia.org/">Rights and Inclusion Australia</a> and the <a href="https://www.summerfoundation.org.au/">Summer Foundation</a>. The code requires all new homes be built to silver standards. It does not apply to existing homes and exemptions will apply for some newly built homes because of site restrictions. When the code was introduced, New South Wales and Western Australia announced they would not adopt the new code. Both the NDIS review and the disability royal commission recommended all states and territories <a href="https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/system/files/2023-09/Final%20Report%20-%20Volume%207%2C%20Inclusive%20education%2C%20employment%20and%20housing%20-%20Part%20C.pdf">immediately adopt</a> the code’s new accessibility standards. A consistent application of the code’s new standards across Australia is a good start. But the code provides only the minimum standard of accessibility. To make buildings and homes truly accessible, we need to improve education on accessibility for designers, operators and consumers. <h2>An urgent national priority</h2> With Australia’s ageing population, most people will experience disability – or have a household member with disability – at some point. Accessible homes and buildings can reduce pressure on the health system and improve quality of life. A consistent national construction code is just the first step urgently needed to improve building accessibility and inclusion so people with disability have autonomy and flourish.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/217278/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ilan-wiesel-303040">Ilan Wiesel</a>, Associate Professor in Urban Geography, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/rebecca-bentley-173502">Rebecca Bentley</a>, Professor of Social Epidemiology and Director of the Centre of Research Excellence in Healthy Housing at the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a> Image credits: Getty Images This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-does-a-building-need-to-call-itself-accessible-and-is-that-enough-217278">original article</a>.

Caring

How much protein do I need as I get older? And do I need supplements to get enough?

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/evangeline-mantzioris-153250">Evangeline Mantzioris</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-south-australia-1180">University of South Australia</a> If you are a woman around 50, you might have seen advice on social media or <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CyVwOSzucnh">from influencers</a> telling you protein requirements increase dramatically in midlife. Such recommendations suggest a 70 kilogram woman needs around 150 grams of protein each day. That’s the equivalent of 25 boiled eggs at 6 grams of protein each. Can that be right? Firstly let’s have a look at what protein is and where you get it. <a href="https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/protein">Protein</a> is an essential macro-nutrient in our diet. It provides us with energy and is used to repair and make muscle, bones, soft tissues and hormones and enzymes. Mostly we associate animal foods (dairy, meat and eggs) as being rich in protein. Plant foods such as bread, grains and legumes provide valuable sources of protein too. But what happens to our requirements as we get older? <h2>Ages and stages</h2> Protein requirements change <a href="https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/nutrient-reference-values/nutrients/protein">through different life stages</a>. This reflects changes in growth, especially from babies through to young adulthood. The estimated average requirements by age are: <ul> <li> 1.43g protein per kg of body weight at birth </li> <li> 1.6g per kg of body weight at 6–12 months (when protein requirements are at their highest point) </li> <li> protein needs decline from 0.92g down to 0.62g per kg of body weight from 6–18 years. </li> </ul> When we reach adulthood, protein requirements differ for men and women, which reflects the higher muscle mass in men compared to women: <ul> <li> 0.68g per kg of body weight for men </li> <li> 0.6g per kg of body weight for women. </li> </ul> Australian recommendations for people over 70 reflect the increased need for tissue repair and muscle maintenance: <ul> <li> 0.86g per kg of bodyweight for men </li> <li> 0.75g per kg of bodyweight for women. </li> </ul> For a 70kg man this is a difference of 12.6g/protein per day. For a 70kg woman this is an increase of 10.5g per day. You can add 10g of protein by consuming an extra 300ml milk, 60g cheese, 35g chicken, 140g lentils, or 3–4 slices of bread. There is emerging evidence <a href="https://www.scopus.com/record/display.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85124835199&origin=resultslist&sort=plf-f&cite=2-s2.0-84881254292&src=s&nlo=&nlr=&nls=&imp=t&sid=c07c9e014577c86ab8cf85c62d9764cd&sot=cite&sdt=a&sl=0&relpos=39&citeCnt=6&searchTerm=">higher intakes</a> for people over 70 (up to 0.94–1.3g per kg of bodyweight per day) might reduce age-related decline in muscle mass (known as sarcopenia). But this must be accompanied with increased resistance-based exercise, such as using weights or stretchy bands. As yet these have not been included in any national nutrient guidelines. <h2>But what about in midlife?</h2> So, part of a push for higher protein in midlife might be due to wanting to prevent age-related muscle loss. And it might also be part of a common desire to prevent weight gain that may come with <a href="https://obgyn.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1471-0528.17290?af=R">hormonal changes</a>. There have been relatively few studies specifically looking at protein intake in middle-aged women. One large 2017 observational study (where researchers look for patterns in a population sample) of over 85,000 middle-aged nurses found higher intake of vegetable protein – but not animal protein or total protein – was linked to a <a href="https://academic.oup.com/aje/article/187/2/270/3886033">lower incidence of early menopause</a>. In the same group of women another study found higher intake of vegetable protein was linked to a <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/jcsm.12972">lower risk of frailty</a> (meaning a lower risk of falls, disability, hospitalisation and death). Higher intake of animal protein was linked to higher risk of frailty, but total intake of protein had no impact. Another <a href="https://journals.lww.com/menopausejournal/abstract/2017/05000/skeletal_muscle_mass_is_associated_with_higher.9.aspx">smaller observational study</a> of 103 postmenopausal women found higher lean muscle mass in middle-aged women with higher protein intake. Yet an <a href="https://journals.lww.com/menopausejournal/abstract/2021/03000/effects_of_high_protein,_low_glycemic_index_diet.11.aspx">intervention study</a> (where researchers test out a specific change) showed no effect of higher protein intake on lean body mass in late post-menopasual women. <a href="https://obgyn.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1471-0528.17290?af=R">Some researchers</a> are theorising that higher dietary protein intake, along with a reduction in kilojoules, could reduce weight gain in menopause. But this has not been tested in clinical trials. Increasing <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7539343/">protein intake</a>, improves satiety (feeling full), which may be responsible for reducing body weight and maintaining muscle mass. The protein intake to improve satiety in studies has been about 1.0–1.6g per kg of bodyweight per day. However such studies have not been specific to middle-aged women, but across all ages and in both men and women. <h2>What are we actually eating?</h2> If we look at what the <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/health/health-conditions-and-risks/australian-health-survey-usual-nutrient-intakes/latest-release">average daily intake of protein is</a>, we can see 99% of Australians under the age of 70 meet their protein requirements from food. So most adults won’t need supplements. Only 14% of men over 70 and 4% of women over 70 do not meet their estimated average protein requirements. This could be for many reasons, including a decline in overall health or an illness or injury which leads to reduced appetite, reduced ability to prepare foods for themselves and also the cost of animal sources of protein. While they may benefit from increased protein from supplements, opting for a food-first approach is preferable. As well as being more familiar and delicious, it comes with other essential nutrients. For example, red meat also has iron and zinc in it, fish has omega-3 fats, and eggs have vitamin A and D, some iron and omega-3 fats and dairy has calcium. <h2>So what should I do?</h2> Symptoms of <a href="https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/protein#getting-too-little-protein-protein-deficiency">protein deficiency</a> include muscle wasting, poor wound healing, oedema (fluid build-up) and anaemia (when blood doesn’t provide enough oxygen to cells). But the amount of protein in the average Australian diet means deficiency is rare. The <a href="https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/guidelines/australian-guide-healthy-eating">Australian dietary guidelines</a> provide information on the number of serves you need from each food group to achieve a balanced diet that will meet your nutrient requirements. If you are concerned about your protein intake due to poor health, increased demand because of the sports you’re doing or because you are a vegan or vegetarian, talk to your GP or an accredited practising dietitian.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/215695/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/evangeline-mantzioris-153250">Evangeline Mantzioris</a>, Program Director of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Accredited Practising Dietitian, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-south-australia-1180">University of South Australia</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-much-protein-do-i-need-as-i-get-older-and-do-i-need-supplements-to-get-enough-215695">original article</a>.

Body

An entry fee may not be enough to save Venice from 20 million tourists

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/sameer-hosany-292658">Sameer Hosany</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/royal-holloway-university-of-london-795">Royal Holloway University of London</a> Venice’s history, art and architecture attract an estimated <a href="https://www.responsibletravel.com/copy/overtourism-in-venice">20 million</a> visitors every year. The city, a <a href="https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=ac36ced945412121372dc892cc31498fb268247c">Unesco World Heritage site</a>, is often crammed with tourists in search of special <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/mar.21665">memories</a>. But for the people who actually live there, this level of tourism has become unsustainable. So from 2024, day-trippers will be charged a €5 (£4.31) fee as part of an <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/12/world/europe/venice-tourist-fee-italy.html#:%7E:text=The%20City%20Council%20passed%20an,popular%20but%20equally%20fragile%20place.&text=Starting%20next%20spring%2C%20day%2Dtrippers,5%20euros%20for%20the%20privilege.">attempt</a> to better manage the flow of visitors. The city’s mayor has <a href="https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/tourism/controversial-e5-venice-tourist-tax-finally-approved">described the charge</a> – which will be implemented on 30 particularly busy days in the spring and summer – as an attempt to “protect the city from mass tourism”. It comes after cruise ships were banned from entering the fragile Venice lagoon in 2021. Both policies are designed to respond to the particular problem facing Venice, which is that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jul/02/venice-day-trippers-will-have-to-make-reservations-and-pay-fee">around 80%</a> of its tourists come just for the day. Research has shown that such a high proportion of day-trippers – who tend to spend little – <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0160738395000658">pushes</a> a tourist destination <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1541-0064.1980.tb00970.x">towards decline</a>. So from next year, all travellers to Venice will have to register their visit in advance and obtain a QR code online. Day trippers will then have to pay the fee; visitors staying overnight will not. Other exemptions include children under 14, as well as people who travel to the city for work and study, or to visit family members. To enforce the policy, the municipal police and authorised inspectors will carry out random checks. Anyone without the proper QR code will face a fine of up to €300 (£261). But some have expressed doubts about whether the €5 fee – the price of a coffee or an ice cream – will be enough to dissuade tourists from travelling to this iconic ancient city. One city politician <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/12/world/europe/venice-tourist-fee-italy.html">commented</a> that the charge means Venice has become “a theme park, a Disneyland,” where “you get in by paying an entrance fee.” Certainly the charge is a lot less than Bhutan’s (recently reduced) “sustainable development fee” of <a href="https://globetrender.com/2023/09/17/bhutan-woos-more-tourists-reduced-entry-tax/">US$100 (£82) per night</a>, which applies to all tourists, and was introduced to encourage “high value, low impact” tourism. Research also indicates that strategies aiming at persuading tourists to come at less crowded times <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/book/9780080436746/seasonality-in-tourism">do not reduce numbers</a> at peak periods, but actually end up increasing overall demand. <h2>‘Veniceland’</h2> But Venice has to try something. For <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/24/6937">researchers</a>, Venice is the embodiment of <a href="https://www.cabidigitallibrary.org/doi/book/10.1079/9781786399823.0000">overtourism</a>, and residents clearly suffer from the consequences – living with the congestion, environmental damage and affects on their lifestyle and culture that 20 million visitors can cause. This can then lead to a negative response, known as “<a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/348605007_Overtourism_and_Tourismphobia_A_Journey_Through_Five_Decades_of_Tourism_Development_Planning_and_Local_Concerns">tourismphobia</a>”.Another term, “<a href="https://dokufest.com/en/festival/2013/cities-beyond-borders/das-venedig-prinzip-the-venice-syndrome#:%7E:text=The%20film%20shows%20what%20remains,municipal%20council%20with%20scorn%3B%20a">Venice Syndrome</a>” has been used to describe the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264275123001816#:%7E:text=It%20explains%20the%20data%2Dgathering,between%20urban%20form%20conditions%20and">decline of the city’s</a> permanent population, as citizens feel forced to leave. Venice’s population is around 50,000 and has been consistently falling, from a peak of <a href="https://www.blueguides.com/venice-in-peril/">175,000</a>. If the population falls below 40,000, there is concern that Venice will cease to be a <a href="https://www.responsibletravel.com/copy/overtourism-in-venice">viable living city</a>. Those who remain have often expressed their discontent. Well publicised protests have included the “<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venice-funeral-idUKTRE5AD1DQ20091114">Funeral of Venice</a>” in 2009, a mock funeral to mourn the sharp drop in population, and “<a href="https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1065&context=anthro_theses">Welcome to Veniceland</a>” in 2010, which claimed that Venice was becoming more of a theme park. And while “tourist taxes” <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14616688.2019.1669070">remain popular strategies</a> to address overtourism, their effectiveness remains debatable. Instead, research suggests that a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14616688.2019.1669070">combination</a> of specific economic measures (like fees and variable pricing) and non-economic policies (such as educating visitors) is the best option. That combination needs to be specially designed for each destination. There can be no one-size-fits-all solution. A <a href="https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/pdf/10.18111/9789284420070">report</a> by the World Tourism Organisation on overtourism identifies 11 different strategies and 68 measures to manage visitors’ growth in urban destinations. Barcelona, often seen as a city which has done well in handling mass tourism, has successfully used a <a href="https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/216242/1/CESifo-Forum-2019-03-p20-24.pdf">well targeted approach</a>. This has included harnessing new technology to develop a data driven management system to control visitor flows and overcrowding. It also deliberately engaged with the public when deciding on policies, and came up with specific strategies like limiting the number of new souvenir shops. But it did not resort to charging an entrance fee. Venice will be the first city in the world to do so – and other locations struggling with mass tourism will be keeping a close eye on whether such a bold move turns out to be a success.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213703/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/sameer-hosany-292658">Sameer Hosany</a>, Professor of Marketing, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/royal-holloway-university-of-london-795">Royal Holloway University of London</a> Image credits: Getty Images This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/an-entry-fee-may-not-be-enough-to-save-venice-from-20-million-tourists-213703">original article</a>.

International Travel

Even in a housing crisis, Australians can’t get enough of renovation stories on TV. Why?

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ella-jeffery-1459839">Ella Jeffery</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a> The Block has begun its 19th season this month, <a href="https://9now.nine.com.au/the-block/2023-season-block-confirmed-location-details-scott-cam-season-19-explainer/b4d5fa4e-690f-4755-90da-caba77925836">billed as</a> “a Block that’s entirely relatable to people right around Australia”. This year, contestants renovate five “authentic ’50s dream homes” in “the perfectly named Charming Street, in Melbourne’s Hampton East”. But if the median price for a four-bedroom house in Hampton East is <a href="https://www.domain.com.au/suburb-profile/hampton-east-vic-3188">around A$1.6 million</a> and the nation’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/aug/03/more-than-1600-australians-pushed-into-homelessness-each-month-as-housing-crisis-deepens-report-finds">housing crisis</a> shows no signs of easing, who is The Block relatable to? And why do audiences keep coming back to renovation stories? Home ownership is becoming <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/BriefingBook46p/HomeOwnership">less accessible</a> and more people than ever are renting, but stories about renovation on TV, in film and in literature continue to have a powerful effect on us. Why? One reason they can be so captivating is that they invoke the idea of the dream home. <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KadU7z8GHoE?wmode=transparent&start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe><figcaption>Season 19 of The Block promises to ‘transform these little time capsules into two-storey mansions’.</figcaption></figure> <h2>Home makeovers are ultimately about us too</h2> Ask anyone you know about their dream home – something I did regularly when I was <a href="https://eprints.qut.edu.au/122955/">writing my PhD</a> on renovation stories – and you’ll get an incredible array of different styles, sizes, locations. Maybe it overlooks the ocean, maybe it has the newest appliances, maybe it has a pool, maybe it’s just a house without a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/apr/29/this-isnt-safe-nsw-renters-fight-twin-battles-against-mould-and-landlords">mould problem</a>. The idea of the dream home is deeply rooted in our shared imagination. The philosopher Gaston Bachelard wrote in <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13269.The_Poetics_of_Space">The Poetics of Space</a> (1958) that our houses – both the ones we live in and the ones we dream of – “move in both directions: they are in us as much as we are in them”. Bachelard suggests that in even “the humblest dwelling” our memories, desires and dreams are gathered, and this is why houses are so central to who we are. If houses can be expressions of self, our dream houses say a lot about our desires. While it might no longer look like a <a href="https://www.domain.com.au/news/is-the-aussie-dream-of-a-quarter-acre-block-dead-1221913/">house on a quarter-acre block</a>, the dream still exists. Renovation stories are so compelling because in them, as <a href="https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/ordinary-television/book205099#contents">researchers</a> have noted, home improvement often represents self-improvement – a dream life, not just a dream house. This is especially important in programs like <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0388595/">Extreme Makeover: Home Edition</a> (2003–20) and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0243688/">Backyard Blitz</a> (2000–), which often focus on people presented as hard-done-by whose lives are changed by renovations that solve their day-to-day problems. <h2>Better house, better life</h2> Reality TV isn’t the only place we find this type of story about transformation and self-improvement. In Frances Mayes’ bestselling memoir Under the Tuscan Sun (1996), Mayes travels to Italy and buys an abandoned villa, Bramasole, which she renovates. In the process, she gains a new outlook on life. There’s a similar story in Peter Mayle’s A Year in Provence (1989). Mayle, a UK advertising executive, buys a 200-year-old farmhouse in France and renovates it. Both books were exceptionally successful, inspiring an entire genre of renovation memoirs about wealthy middle-class people able to travel abroad, buy charmingly rundown properties in beautiful locations, and renovate them while enjoying the local lifestyle. In them, renovation is a clear symbol of self-transformation, if only for people rich enough to afford it: renovating houses leads to a greater appreciation of life’s pleasures and a new way of seeing the world. This idea of the renovated life can be especially compelling in a world that increasingly feels <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-doomsday-clock-is-now-at-90-seconds-to-midnight-the-closest-we-have-ever-been-to-global-catastrophe-198457">frightening and overwhelming</a>. Researchers like <a href="https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/catalog/4273551">Fiona Allon</a> argue that renovation stories allow us to turn away from the alarming outside world – with its violence, looming recessions, pandemics, climate crises – and focus on the smaller, more controllable world of the home. Maggie Smith’s viral poem <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/89897/good-bones">Good Bones</a> (2016) plays with this idea. The poem is about a mother trying to convince her children (and herself) that despite being a scary place, the world can be improved. To do this, she uses the analogy of a real estate agent selling a fixer-upper. The poem ends with lines that present renovation as an opportunity for change: "This place could be beautiful, Right? You could make this place beautiful." This optimism is what makes renovation excellent fodder for love stories. In the Nancy Meyers rom-com It’s Complicated (2009), Meryl Streep plays a divorcee looking for a fresh start, who renovates her home and falls in love with her architect, Adam. In The Notebook (2004), Ryan Gosling’s Noah transforms an old plantation estate into his lover Allie’s dream home, a gesture that reveals his enduring love. Renovation stories are always about change (although in <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5109784/">some</a> the change doesn’t last). Even if, as may be the case for the increasing number of people who are renting, having a house of our own is itself a fantasy. <h2>Renovate? In this economy?</h2> Many renovation stories can be seen as escapist media that trade on the image of the dream home to sell ideas about wealth, taste and style to audiences unable to afford such things. The Block may involve contestants from a range of backgrounds, but few people can afford the multimillion-dollar houses they build. The Block’s viewership has had ups and downs in its two-decade history, but the show (and many others) continues because, despite being about <a href="https://thenewdaily.com.au/entertainment/2023/03/29/the-block-controversy-grand-designs/">profiting from the housing market</a>, it sells the idea of transformation and change, not just in our houses but in our lives. Renovation stories invite audiences to indulge in a fantasy where we become our best selves living in dream homes that protect us from a volatile and threatening world. The dream home might remain a dream, but in renovation stories we escape reality and envision life in a Tuscan villa, or having a butler’s pantry or plunge pool, or simply owning a house of our own.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211334/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ella-jeffery-1459839">Ella Jeffery</a>, Lecturer in Creative Writing, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a> Image credits: Instagram - The Block This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/even-in-a-housing-crisis-australians-cant-get-enough-of-renovation-stories-on-tv-why-211334">original article</a>.

“Enough is enough”: Karl's crime wave plea after family targeted

A number of Aussies are resorting to hiring their own private security to watch over their properties while they sleep as the country faces a major crime wave. Within 24 hours, a teenager was stabbed to death in Melbourne’s northwest and three young offenders have been charged over Facebook Marketplace robberies in Queensland. As the crime problem continues to worsen, Today co-host Karl Stefanovic revealed his own family have been targeted. “Enough is enough,” he demanded. "This has happened to me, it's happened to my family, I've had kids come to my house, doing things and I've got them on tape," a disgruntled Stefanovic continued. "It is only relatively minor offences, but if it is getting to that level for me, it is getting to that level across the country - we keep having to talk about it, keeping saying we've got to do something about it and nothing happens.” Stefanovic also emphasised the colossal impact these targeted attacks have on families, regardless of whether it’s a home invasion, car theft or robbery on the street. “Whenever the crime comes to their doorstep, whenever someone breaks into their car, whenever something happens that's close to home, it has a tremendous psychological impact,” he said. He agreed with authorities discouraging vigilante activities as a solution, however, noted that the problem is only getting worse. "That's my big concern, that's the big concern for a lot of authorities in various states," he said. "I don't understand how authorities can't see how significant an impact this is having on the day-to-day life of people, law-abiding citizens at home. "It's not stopping and that's the problem." Image credit: 9News / Today

Legal

"I've done enough": Hero tradie slams raising of retirement age

Thousands of Australians are rallying behind one hard-working tradie, who is standing up in opposition to the proposed rising of the retirement age. On July 1st, the Aussie pension eligibility age will rise from 65 to 67, with research suggesting that it will rise again to the age of 70 by 2050. The tradie shared a photo holding a sign that reads, "Only a bloke who's worked in an office his whole life would think you can work until you're 70." Many have echoed his statement, particularly blue-collar workers who say it is asking too much of people approaching 70 to keep up physically demanding labour. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> The LNP has been working for years to oppress & dumb down the Australian population so that it has more power & control over us. But insisting that the retirement age should be 70 is just wrong. This isn’t about ‘left’ or ‘right’ any more. It’s about the elite vs the rest of us <a href="https://t.co/yxIuAL75rm">pic.twitter.com/yxIuAL75rm</a> — Bethany Williams 💙🇺🇦💛 (@BethanyinCBR) <a href="https://twitter.com/BethanyinCBR/status/1332236229077659651?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 27, 2020</a></blockquote> "My body is just tired, as is my husband's, who is 66. We both need to just rest now. We had planned on retirement at 65. Then they changed the goal posts," one person shared in replying to the image. "I've worked 43 years as a butcher. I'm almost 65 yrs old, I think I've done enough, and my body agrees," a second added. "I spent many years in a quarry as well as a coal mine, my body is physically worn out, so I 110 per cent agree with his poster," a third agreed. Others shared that they thought it was simply unfair to ask older Aussies to keep working in manual labour in order to provide for their families, during a time when they should be resting and starting to plan their retirement years without stressing about finances. Many angered Aussies spoke out about the politicians who are responsible for raising the age pension number, saying they have no idea how physically taxing manual labour jobs can be. "The politicians all need to get out of their chairs and do a tradies' job for a week or two then they will know what a bad back is and realise that the body won't let you work until you are 70," one person wrote. A second added added, "I would like to see all politicians work a week as a bricklayer, a boilermaker, a plumber, or a builder - doing what we did to 65, they couldn't for a week." Currently, Australians are able to access a pension wage at 65 years and 6 months as long as they were born between July 1st 1952 and December 31st 1953. Those born after that date will be able to access their pension from the age of 66. However, from July 1st anyone born after January 1st 1957 will have to work even longer with the pension age increasing to 67-years-old. Image credits: Facebook

Retirement Life

What are the long-term effects of quitting social media? Almost nobody can log off long enough to find out

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/john-malouff-313652">John Malouff</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-new-england-919">University of New England</a> Being on social media has become synonymous with living in the 21st century. Year after year, we see new platforms and smarter algorithms roping us into highly addictive online worlds. Now, a growing number of people have noticed this trend and are actively making an effort to resist it. Anecdotally, a case can be made for quitting social media, and there are myriad reasons why someone might want to. But is there evidence that doing so is good for you in the long term? <h2>Drivers for quitting</h2> Although there are too many social media platforms to name, most people tend to think of the “big five”: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok. Research has found people have various reasons for quitting one or more of these apps. Many quit over concerns about negative impacts on their mental and physical health. For example, studies have shown adolescent girls in particular can experience negative body image as a result of viewing manipulated <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-have-all-heard-social-media-can-impact-womens-body-image-but-it-isnt-all-bad-205214">selfies on Instagram</a>. People also <a href="https://www.qscience.com/content/journals/10.5339/connect.2023.spt.3?crawler=true">choose to quit</a> due to disliking ads, feeling like they’re wasting time, or if they’re worried about their privacy. The question then is: does quitting social media resolve these concerns? <h2>Mixed research outcomes</h2> It’s difficult to determine whether there are clear and lasting benefits to quitting social media – and a look at the research explains why. <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17459435.2020.1817140">One 2020 study</a> found people who had quit social media saw improvements in their close relationships, and were pleased to be free of comparison with others. But some also said they <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17459435.2020.1817140">missed</a> the informational and entertainment aspects of it. In a <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328838624_No_More_FOMO_Limiting_Social_Media_Decreases_Loneliness_and_Depression">2018 study</a>, researchers assessed the psychological state of 143 American undergraduates before randomly assigning one group a daily ten-minute limit for Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat, per platform. Three weeks later, those who limited their social media use showed significantly lower levels of loneliness and depression. However, there was no significant effect on anxiety, self-esteem or wellbeing. And in <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0217743&fbclid=IwAR1oLvPyeJDwMhD4WlODKU1A360ttIcaV_tManJs1_qEr-VAVZPsD0xQjq0">one 2019 study</a> with 78 participants, half were asked to take a one-week break from Facebook and Instagram. To the researchers’ surprise, the users in this group who were generally active on social media experienced less positive psychological effects than those in the control group. With research findings painting several different pictures, it’s safe to say our relationship with social media – and how it affects us – is very complex. <h2>Research constraints</h2> There appear to be no published studies that have assessed the long-term impacts of permanently quitting social media. This is probably because it’s difficult to find participants who will agree to be randomly assigned the task of dropping social media forever. One important consideration is that a percentage of individuals who quit social media will eventually <a href="https://cyberleninka.org/article/n/992039/viewer">go back</a>. Reasons for returning include feeling left out, fearing loss of connections, wanting to regain access to interesting or useful information, feeling social pressure to rejoin, or simply feeling that quitting wasn’t the right choice. Even if researchers do find a large enough group of people willing to quit social media for good, conducting long-term follow-ups would be highly resource-intensive. Beyond that, it would be difficult to figure out how much of a participant’s increase (or decrease) in life satisfaction is due to quitting social media, and not other factors. As such, there’s currently no evidence that quitting social media comes with concrete long-term benefits. And in the short term, results are mixed. <h2>To quit, or not to quit?</h2> However, that doesn’t mean quitting (for a short or long period) wouldn’t be beneficial for some people. It’s likely that any potential benefits will depend on the individual doing the quitting, and why they’re doing it. For instance, consensus that does emerge from the research is that <a href="https://theconversation.com/does-social-media-make-us-more-or-less-lonely-depends-on-how-you-use-it-128468">the way you use</a> social media plays a significant role in how negative or positive your experience is. By <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2056305120919105">using social media mindfully</a>, users can minimise potential harms while retaining the benefits. For some, it may only be one platform causing unease. If you strongly dislike Instagram’s tendency to be hyper-focused on people’s private lives, then you could simply stop using Instagram. Another technique is to curate your social media feeds by engaging only with content you find useful and positive. For instance, many young women take steps to avoid seeing <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-have-all-heard-social-media-can-impact-womens-body-image-but-it-isnt-all-bad-205214?fbclid=IwAR3cX7l116GAj0nnKDAk16x6GP6iRCxH_VutjIbxOiCij1yCqWmeOK0s0f0">perfect bodies all day</a> on their social media. If you’re still wondering whether quitting might be good for you, the simplest way to find out is to <a href="https://hbr.org/2018/10/i-ran-4-experiments-to-break-my-social-media-addiction-heres-what-worked">experiment</a> and do it. Take a break from one or more types of social media. After some time ask yourself whether the benefits seem worth it to you. If the answer is “yes”, make the break permanent. <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/john-malouff-313652">John Malouff</a>, Associate Professor, School of Behavioural, Cognitive and Social Sciences, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-new-england-919">University of New England</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-are-the-long-term-effects-of-quitting-social-media-almost-nobody-can-log-off-long-enough-to-find-out-205478">original article</a>. Images: Getty

Technology

8 sneaky ways not getting enough sleep affects your looks

Your skin cells don't have time to repair themselves “The evening is a time of rest and repair, when the skin heals itself from daily damage,” says dermatologist Dr Joshua Zeichner. “If you are not sleeping, then your skin will not be able to heal itself and may increase your likelihood of premature ageing.” Breakouts can - and probably will - pop up Your levels of cortisol (the stress hormone) naturally drop at night. But when you stay up late and disrupt your sleep cycle, cortisol levels remain high. This means your oil glands are continually stimulated, which can make you more likely to get an acne breakout, explains Dr Zeichner. Your pores will look bigger Another side effect of increased oil production brought on by lack of sleep is clogged and dilated pores. Your risk of sun damage increases “Normal sleep is needed for production of your body’s natural antioxidant stores,” says Dr Zeichner. “It has been shown that sleep deprivation results in a decrease in antioxidant production, which interferes with your skin’s ability to protect itself from environmental stressors the next day, including UV light, pollution, and exposure to cigarette smoke.” Your risk of skin infection goes up “Sleep deprivation has been shown to affect your immune system, lowering your white blood cells,” Dr Zeichner says, “so a lack of sleep may increase your risk of skin infections.” A few of these infections can include the fungal variety (athlete’s foot and ring worm) as well as cellulitis and folliculitis (a big word for an ingrown hair). Your under-eye bags get deeper and darker Your lymph system is like your waste disposal system, helping to filter excess fluid and toxins and, according to Dr Zeichner, there is some data that suggests a lack of sleep does interfere with your lymphatic drainage. “If the fluid is not drained away, it may accumulate, leading to puffiness and increase your under-eye bags.” Also, keep your diet low in sodium, to prevent fluid accumulation. Sallow complexion much? “Lack of sleep interferes with the normal circadian patterns in your skin, including night time skin repair,” tells Zeichner. “This may interfere with normal skin cell turnover, leading to the accumulation of cells on the skin’s surface and a dull complexion.” That means your skin may look dull or grey. A good exfoliation treatment will help brighten your skin right up. Your psoriasis and eczema may flare up Stress is a common trigger for chronic skin conditions including psoriasis and eczema. When you don’t get enough sleep the chances are good that your stress levels will go up, along with your production of cortisol. An early study has shown a connection between sleep and psoriasis and other studies have shown that lack of sleep damages your skin barrier, making an eczema flare-up more likely. Image credits: Getty Images This article originally appeared on <a href="https://www.readersdigest.com.au/healthsmart/beauty/8-sneaky-ways-not-getting-enough-sleep-affects-your-looks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reader's Digest</a>.

Beauty & Style

"I've had enough": Karl hits back at "fat-shaming" Bluey detractors

Karl Stefanovic has called out the influencers claiming that the one of latest Bluey episodes titled “Exercise” is ‘fatphobic’. The episode addresses the challenges parents face around exercise and taking care of themselves around work and their kid. In one scene, parents Bandit and Chili were seen weighing themselves, followed by Bandit saying "Aw man," before touching his stomach. Some parents and influencers were offended at this scene and accused the show of body shaming, which led to Stefanovic’s defence that it was an accurate depiction of something that could play out in an Aussie household. "Can you believe this, I think that is just fantastic, I mean, it is a bit of Australiana," the Today host said. "It plays out in households across Australia and all of these influencers are coming out now going, 'Oh, Bluey is fat-shaming, it's disgusting', give it a rest! Come on!" Stefanovic added that it was “a really good message”. "I've had enough of these influencers,” he said, to which co-host Sarah Abo agreed. Abo also added that the scene is something that happens in every bathroom across Australia. "You can't say anything or do anything any more," she added. Image: Today Show/ Nine

Body

6 things that can happen to your body when you don’t drink enough water

While there is much talk about how much water one should drink per day (most experts suggest around two litres) have you ever thought what would actually happen to your body if you don’t get enough H2O? Here we chart six things that can go wrong if you don’t hit the recommended daily intake. 1. You're more likely to have health problems. Higher water intake has been linked to decreased chances of kidney stones, urinary and colon cancer, and heart attacks. 2. Your metabolism stagnates. In independent studies for his 2010 book The Water Secret (Wiley), Dr. Howard Murad found that a person's basal metabolic rate (the calories burned while at rest) speeds up as the body becomes more hydrated. 3. You'll have to think harder to complete the same tasks. At the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London in 2011, scientists found that the brains of dehydrated teenagers had shrunk away from their skulls, and that when asked to play a problem-solving game, they performed just as well as those who drank enough, but engaged more of their brains to do so. (Drinking water restores the brain to its normal size.) 4. You eat more. A study of 45 adults funded by the Institute for Public Health and Water Research found that those who drank two eight-ounce glasses of water before each meal consumed 75 to 90 fewer calories while eating. (Over three months, water-drinkers lost an average of five pounds more than the dieters who were parched.) 5. You look more wrinkled. In researching his book, Dr. Murad also found that water plumps skin, fills in fine lines and wrinkles, and enlivens a dull complexion. 6. You're in a bad mood. In 2009, researchers at Tufts University in Medford, MA, asked members of the men's and women's crew teams to engage in 60 to 75 minutes of high-impact aerobic exercise without drinking enough water first. Others were properly hydrated. The dehydrated group was more likely to report feeling fatigued, confused, angry, depressed or tense. Image credits: Getty Images

Body

Labelling ‘fake art’ isn’t enough. Australia needs to recognise and protect First Nations cultural and intellectual property

The latest <a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/current/indigenous-arts/draft">draft report</a> from the Productivity Commission on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander visual arts and crafts confirms what First Nations artists have known for decades: fake art harms culture. Released last week, the report details how two in three Indigenous-style products, souvenirs or digital imagery sold in Australia are fake, with no connection to – or benefit for – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This is a long-standing problem. As Aboriginal Elder Gawirrin Gumana (Yolngu) <a href="https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/1133887?from=list">explained</a> in 1996, "When that [white] man does that it is like cutting off our skin." The Productivity Commission has proposed all inauthentic Indigenous art should be labelled as such. But we think a much bolder conversation needs to happen around protecting the cultural and intellectual property of Indigenous artists. Australia has no national licensing or production guidelines to protect Indigenous cultural and intellectual property within commercial design and digital spaces. Our work hopes to see this change. <h2>‘This is storytelling’</h2> <a href="https://apo.org.au/node/318268">Our research</a> focuses on supporting and representing First Nations artists within design and commercial spaces, understanding how to ensure cultural safety and appropriate payment and combat exploitation. Many First Nations artists we spoke to told us stories of exploitative business models. They were blindly led into licensing agreements and client relations that were not culturally safe. Clients thought commissioning a design equated to “owning” the copyright to First Nations art, culture and knowledge. Gudanji/Wakaja artist and winner of the 2022 NAIDOC poster competition <a href="https://nardurna.com/">Ryhia Dank</a> told us, "We need clear recognition, structures and licensing guidelines to protect all of what First Nations ‘art’ represents. I know a lot of us, as we are starting out don’t know how to licence our work […]" "One of my first designs was for a fabric company and I didn’t licence the design correctly, so that company is still using my design and I only once charged them $350 and that was it. Having legal support from the start is critical." Arrernte and Anmatyerre graphic novelist <a href="https://www.stickmobstudio.com.au/">Declan Miller</a> explained how many clients and businesses are misguided in thinking commissioning a design equates to owning the copyright to First Nations knowledges. “Our art is not just art,” he said. "Clients need to be aware this is storytelling. This is culture. We will always own that. But we are happy for clients to work with us, and use our art and pay us for it, but we have to keep that integrity. This is our story, this is where we are from, this is who we are and you can’t buy that or take that from us." <h2>Protecting property</h2> Transparent labelling of inauthentic art is a great start, but there is more work needed. Intellectual property laws and processes should adequately protect First Nations art. “Indigenous cultural and intellectual property” refers to the rights First Nations people have – and want to have – to protect their traditional arts, heritage and culture. This can include communally owned cultural practices, traditional knowledge and resources and knowledge systems developed by First Nations people as part of their First Nations identity. First Nations products should be supplied by a First Nations business that protects Indigenous cultural and intellectual property, with direct benefits to First Nations communities. The outcomes of our research have resulted in the recent launch of <a href="https://solidlines.agency/">Solid Lines</a> – Australia’s only First Nations illustration agency to be led by First Nations people. An integral part of this agency is the Indigenous cultural and intellectual property policy designed specifically for the design and commercial art industry. The agency hopes this policy, created with <a href="http://marrawahlaw.com.au/">Marrawah Law</a>, will help create and support culturally safe and supportive pathways for First Nations creatives. For First Nations artists represented by Solid Lines, our policy also means obtaining culturally appropriate approval to use family or community stories, and knowledges and symbols that are communally owned. <h2>Recognition and protection</h2> The report from the Productivity commission focuses on fake art coming in from overseas, but fake art also happens in our own backyard. In our research, we have spoken to Elders, traditional custodians, and community leaders who are concerned that Western and Central Desert designs, symbols and iconography are now used by other First Nations across Australia. This work often undermines customary laws and limits economic benefits flowing back to communities. Community designs, symbols and iconography are part of a cultural connection to a specific land or country of First Nations people. Embracing Indigenous cultural and intellectual property policies will mean designs, symbols and iconography can only be used by the communities they belong to. The Productivity Commission calculated the value of authentic Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts, crafts, and designs sold in Australia in 2019-2020 at A$250 million. This will only continue to grow as Australia’s design and commercial industries continue to draw upon the oldest continuing culture in the world. Visible recognition and protection of First Nations cultural and intellectual property will allow for new creative voices to respectfully and safely emerge within Australian art and design industries. Through embracing guidelines around Indigenous cultural and intellectual property, First Nations artists will be supported in cultural safety, appropriate payment and combat exploitation. This is the next step beyond labelling inauthentic art. Image credits: Getty Images This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/labelling-fake-art-isnt-enough-australia-needs-to-recognise-and-protect-first-nations-cultural-and-intellectual-property-187426" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.

Art

7 signs you might not be eating enough protein

<h2>You constantly feel weak and hungry</h2> Cookbook author, Terry Hope Romero noticed that her vegan diet left her unsatisfied and lacking energy throughout the day. “When you work full time and have a long commute, and you regularly work out or you have a lot of errands to run, it can be easy to fill up on processed carbs,” says Romero. “To feel full every day, especially when you’re working out to build muscle, it’s not really the best approach.” Protein takes longer to digest, which makes you feel full and energised. When Romero started consuming more protein (by adding natural protein powders like hemp protein and brown rice protein to everyday foods), she started feeling stronger and more satisfied. <h2>Your muscles look MIA</h2> It takes more than daily gym visits to look and feel strong. You need to eat enough protein to fuel your body’s tissues with the necessary amount of amino acids (protein’s small subparts). If you don’t, your body will break down your muscles to get amino acids from their fibres. One key body part to watch is the clavicle, says dietitian, Dr Jessica Bijuniak. If your collarbone is becoming especially prominent, it could be time to make sure you’re eating enough protein. <h2>You’re struggling to lose weight</h2> A high-protein, low-kilojoule diet helps people lose weight, maintain muscle mass, improve bone quality and lose ‘bad’ fat, according to 2019 study published in the Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism. Researchers put 96 older adults into two groups: a low-kilojoule, low-protein plan, or higher-protein plan. After six months, the people in the higher protein plan lost around 8 kilograms more than the low-protein eaters. They also maintained more muscle mass, had improved bone quality, and lost more ‘bad’ fat (belly fat). Eating enough protein is especially important on a diet because it helps ensure that you lose fat, not metabolism-boosting muscle, as you slim down. “High-protein foods take more work to digest, metabolise, and use, which means you burn more kilojoules processing them,” the magazine notes. “They also take longer to leave your stomach, so you feel full sooner and for a longer amount of time.” <h2>You’re losing your hair</h2> Occasionally nutritionists will test the health of their clients’ diets by asking them to run their hands through their hair to see how much falls out with just a gentle tug. Hair is made primarily of protein; your hair needs adequate protein to grow and stay healthy. Protein deficiency can cause hair thinning or loss, according to a 2017 study in the journal Dermatology Practical and Conceptual. This means you may find yourself shedding more hair than usual. Maintain a healthy mane by eating two to three servings of protein a day. <h2>You’re always getting sick</h2> Avoiding the sniffles often requires more than just good hygiene and good sleep; good nutrition is key, too. The immune system depends on the right fuel to function correctly. Your body uses amino acids found in dietary proteins to help build immune cells like lymphocytes, according to 2016 research in Food & Function. Lymphocytes are a type of white blood cells that help fight germs; if you don’t have enough, the immune system can’t ward off bacteria or viruses as well. <h2>Your lower legs and feet swell up unexpectedly</h2> If you skimp on protein, you may find yourself prone to fluid retention around your ankles and feet. Proteins help to hold salt and water in blood vessels; without enough protein, these fluids can seep into surrounding tissues, according to Harvard Health Publishing. The bloated sensation of one’s swollen lower legs and feet – called oedema – is uncomfortable. The skin appears stretched or shiny, and if you press it for a moment, it will retain a fingerprint. <h2>Your skin gets patchy in places</h2> A protein deficiency can sometimes result in a flaky dermatitis, or irritation of the skin. You’re most likely to notice this on the back of the thighs and on the buttocks, says Dr Bihuniak. Lack of a certain protein in the skin’s protective barrier can make skin more vulnerable to allergens and other irritants. This article originally appeared on <a href="https://www.readersdigest.com.au/healthsmart/7-signs-you-might-not-be-eating-enough-protein" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Readers Digest</a>. Image: Shutterstock

Body

Fennel looking a bit feeble? Growing enough veggies to feed yourself depends on these 3 things

<div class="copy"> Farming inside city boundaries is <a href="https://www.fao.org/urban-agriculture/en/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">on the rise</a> as countries become more urbanised and people seek to connect with the source of their food and improve their sustainability. But despite the productivity potential of home food gardens and the like, they are rarely analysed as serious farming systems. There’s little data, for example, on how much can be grown on an average suburban property. As climate change <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0217148" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">threatens</a> global food supplies, however, building sustainable urban food systems will be crucial. Our research has examined how productive the average home vegetable garden really is, and how to get the most from your patch. <h2>Lawn with a side of salad?</h2> Urban agriculture refers to growing produce and raising livestock inside a city’s boundary. In Australian cities, it might involve a home vegetable patch, community garden, backyard beehives, an edible rooftop garden on an apartment block, indoor hydroponics, a communal orchard and more. Sometimes, especially in developing countries, urban farming can help address issues such as poverty, unemployment and food insecurity. More broadly, it can increase access to healthy, fresh produce and lead to more sustainable food production. It can also help us save money and improve our well-being. Societies have traditionally lent on urban farming during times of stress. So it’s no surprise the practice resurged during the COVID pandemic. In Australia, keeping edible gardens significantly helped people maintain mental health during lowdown, <a href="https://sustain.org.au/projects/pandemic-gardening-survey-report/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">particularly</a> those on low incomes. But to what extent can we rely on our backyard gardens to meet all our fresh produce needs? Our research shows these three factors are key. <h2>1. Give up some lawn</h2> We <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2021.102770" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">looked at</a> the potential for food production at about 40,000 residential properties in suburban Adelaide – mostly free-standing homes. We calculated the amount of land required for a household of 2.5 people to grow the recommended five servings of vegetables per person each day. Then, using high-resolution aerial imagery to get a birds eye view of properties, we identified those with enough lawn area to make that happen. Some 21m² of lawn is needed to produce the recommended vegetable intake. In a scenario where a garden is high-yielding, this would require converting 23% of lawn area on a typical block into a vegetable patch. Of the properties modelled, 93% had the room to a create 21m² garden from the total lawn space. In a medium-yield garden, 72% of lawn on a typical block would need converting to produce enough vegetables to feed a household – equating to 67m². We limited the research to in-ground veggie production and didn’t include fruit trees. So a property’s potential to grow food would be even higher if food gardens or fruit trees already exist, or other garden beds or paved areas could be converted. <h2>2. Up your gardening game</h2> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0230232" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Research</a> out of Adelaide, which surveyed about 30 home gardeners, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2021.102770" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">found</a> yields per square metre ranged from 0.24kg to 16.07kg per year. This suggests a high rate of variability in home garden productivity – notwithstanding the fact people grow different crops. Not all of us have green thumbs and in some cases, your veggie patch might not yield as much as you hoped. Perhaps you gave it too much or too little water. Maybe you didn’t have time to pull out weeds or harvest produce. Pests and fungus might have struck down your crop. You may have planted the wrong seeds at the wrong time or just have poor soil. Our research suggests low-yield gardens would need 1,407m² of converted lawn to meet the vegetable needs of a household. However, less than 0.5% of properties in the analysed Adelaide sites had so much land. So to reach self-sufficiency in urban agriculture environments, medium to high yields are preferred. Skilled gardeners with high yields will need much less land. Given the space constraints in cities, upskilling gardeners is important to maximising production. <h2>3. Know what’s in your soil</h2> Good soil <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.130808" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">is a key factor</a> in productive gardens. It needs a good structure (one that allows water and air to enter and drain easily, while retaining enough moisture) an ample supply of plant nutrients and a rich microbial community. In city areas, heavy metal contamination and pollution of soils can be a concern. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.122900" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">We examined</a> soils at 12 urban agricultural sites in Adelaide, and found in all cases that metal concentrations did not exceed health guidelines for residential areas – even at sites with an industrial history. But this might not always be the case. An <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0045653518302467?via%3Dihub" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">analysis</a> of residential and community gardens in Melbourne, for example, showed some soils were contaminated at levels which could pose a human health hazard. This highlights the importance of testing urban soils before planting. Proper management of inputs – particularly fertiliser – is also key. Our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.122900" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">research</a> has found urban gardeners can choose from a variety of organic waste-based fertilisers such as spent coffee grounds, food scraps or lawn clippings. But this abundance can lead to imbalances. In Adelaide, for example, the widespread use of freely available horse manure led to excessive phosphorous levels in almost all of the 12 tested sites. This imbalance can depress plant growth and damage the broader environment. <h2>Helping city gardens flourish</h2> Urban agriculture has been <a href="https://www.fial.com.au/urban-agriculture" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">identified</a> as a A$4 billion economic growth opportunity for Australia. However, suburban blocks are trending towards smaller yards with less growing space. Given the many benefits of urban farming, it’s time to think more seriously about maximising efficiency and scale. Community gardens are well placed for knowledge-sharing. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1809707115" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Research</a> on 13 community gardens in Sydney revealed they were very high-yield – around twice as productive than the typical Australian commercial vegetable farm. Funding for more community gardens, and other education opportunities for urban gardeners, would be a valuable investment in improving public health and sustainability. This should be coupled with policy and planning decisions designed to increase the amount of urban farming space in our cities. Image credits: Getty Images  <img id="cosmos-post-tracker" style="opacity: 0; height: 1px!important; width: 1px!important; border: 0!important; position: absolute!important; z-index: -1!important;" src="https://syndication.cosmosmagazine.com/?id=194567&title=Fennel+looking+a+bit+feeble%3F+Growing+enough+veggies+to+feed+yourself+depends+on+these+3%26nbsp%3Bthings" width="1" height="1" /> </div> <div id="contributors"> This article was originally published on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/earth/sustainability/global-food-crisis-garden/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cosmosmagazine.com</a> and was written by The Conversation. </div>

Home Hints & Tips

“She was enough for me”: Albo makes Grace Tame cry

Anthony Albanese triggered an emotional reaction in Grace Tame and her fiance during a heartbreaking conversation about being raised by a single mum. Ms Tame asked Mr Albanese for an example of someone who shaped his “views on gender issues and policy” during an interview for <a href="https://instyleaustralia.com.au/anthony-albanese-grace-tame-in-conversation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">InStyle Australia</a>, and his poignant response brought her to tears. Mr Albanaese explained that when his mother was pregnant with him out of wedlock in 1963, “the fashion of the day” was that neither parent would keep the baby. “She was going to have got the news that my father had died and then lost the baby and I was going to be adopted out,” Mr Albanese told Ms Tame. “Because in 1963, when I was born, it was acceptable to be a widow but it wasn’t acceptable to be an unmarried mother.” <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cc4EPlVhyv7/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cc4EPlVhyv7/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Anthony Albanese (@albomp)</a> </div> </blockquote> Despite this, his mother decided to give the future Labor leader his dad’s last name and raise him on her own, even as his father told her he planned to marry someone else from his home town in Italy. “Now she was a strong woman who made the decision to have me, and to raise me by herself,” he continued. “She worked originally when I was a bub, cleaning office buildings at night, looking after me during the day, she then had rheumatoid arthritis and was really crippled up.” As a result, he said he and his mother were “particularly close”. “So it was just me and her - and a two-person family, I think, is particularly close. It’s one of the things that has focused me and a part of who I am,” Mr Albanese said. “She always respected everyone and I grew up with the confidence of having a mum who lived a lot of her aspirations through me. She couldn’t work. And so she’s the most important role model in my life and she’s very much still part of who I am today.” When he saw Ms Tame and Mr Heerey were in tears, Albanese quickly apologised. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you there,” he said. “No it’s just, yeah, I respect that so much,” she replied, laughing and crying, before looking off camera and laughing when she realised her fiance had also become emotional. “Max is crying! Oh, I want to give you a hug,” she said. <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cc4HTK8Bsaa/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cc4HTK8Bsaa/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by InStyle Australia (@instyleaus)</a> </div> </blockquote> Mr Albanese then elaborated on his experience by referring to the common argument that a family needs both parents used to oppose marriage equality. “One of the things that some of the opponents said was, you know, you need a mum, a dad and two kids - that’s a family, I hear that message and go well, hang on, you know, families are diverse and made up of all sorts of different groups,” he said. “People are different. Relationships are complex. The one thing that really, really matters - the essential ingredient - is love.” Mr Albanese also explained how he waited until his mother passed away to look for his father “because I didn’t want her to think that she wasn’t enough”. “Because she was enough for me,” he said. Ms Tame also shared insights about how being surrounded by strong women while growing up gave her a lot of the courage and strength she now had. “And all I knew was strong women. All around me, all the time. We had a trans family member; I knew diversity, I lived and breathed diversity,” she said. She added that would likely be processing his story and will “probably go and cry about it later and I’m not ashamed of that”. When Mr Albanese conceded he had “done okay” in his life, Ms Tame emphasised that he had done “better than okay”. “A lot of respect for you, Anthony,” she said. Image: @instyleaus (Instagram)

News

The majority of Australians are not saving enough for retirement

Only 53% of couples and 22% of single people are on track to achieve a comfortable level of retirement income, according to an in-depth study of the adequacy of retirement savings. The outcome of a collaboration between researchers at the University of Melbourne and Towers Watson, the <a href="http://www.melbourneinstitute.com/downloads/working_paper_series/wp2014n05.pdf">study</a> has found a significant number of Australians are not likely to achieve adequate retirement incomes, even when all sources of savings are considered. The research sought to address the considerable uncertainty among policy makers and the broader community about the extent and nature of retirement savings deficiencies in Australia. To do so, we developed a set of metrics indicating the adequacy of retirement savings and applied those metrics to a large representative sample of the Australian population. The clear finding is that most Australians are still not on track towards reaching a comfortable income during retirement, and will continue to draw a large part of retirement income from the age pension. The implication is that, despite superannuation reforms dating back over 20 years, the problem of inadequate retirement savings remains a significant public policy issue for Australia. An important innovation of our study is that the metrics we developed take into account not only superannuation holdings (and projected growth in superannuation holdings through investment returns and future contributions) and the projected age pension entitlement, but also a variety of other household assets that could be used to fund retirement, including various financial assets and property. Using this information, we are able to forecast a person’s expected income throughout retirement. We then compare this income to a “target” income, which is provided by the <a href="http://www.superannuation.asn.au/resources/retirement-standard">Association of Superannuation Funds in Australia (ASFA) Retirement Standard</a> for a “comfortable” lifestyle. The ASFA standard for a comfortable lifestyle is a widely used benchmark, and specifies a minimum income of A$57,665 for couples and $42,158 for single people. The ASFA benchmarks are very close to both current average income levels of retirees in Australia and the income levels that pre-retirement Australians on average believe they will need for a satisfactory lifestyle in retirement. While this concordance may seem reassuring, our findings for the projected retirement incomes of pre-retirement Australians were not. We projected retirement income levels for a large, representative sample of Australians aged 40 to 64 – drawn from the nationally representative <a href="http://www.melbourneinstitute.com/hilda/">Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey</a> – and compared our projections to the income required to sustain a comfortable lifestyle. Based on our calculations, only 53% of couples and 22% of singles are on track to achieve a comfortable level of retirement income. Our study also shows the relative importance of different sources of retirement income. If we ignore all sources of retirement income other than superannuation, only 15% of couples and 5% of singles are projected to achieve the target. Indeed, applying the <a href="http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/factbook-2010-en/11/02/02/index.html?itemId=/content/chapter/factbook-2010-89-en">OECD poverty benchmark</a> of half median income, most retirees would be living in poverty. Factoring in the age pension improves projected retirement incomes for many people, but still only 32% of couples and 11% of singles are on track to have a comfortable retirement income. Our calculations have several implications. First, they show that, for most people, superannuation is not sufficient to fund a comfortable retirement, even if they have contributed to superannuation for most of their working lives. Second, it is important to take into account all potential sources of retirement income, including non-superannuation assets, when computing the adequacy of retirement savings. Omitting any of these sources will likely lead to substantial under-estimation of adequacy. Third, single people are particularly under-prepared for retirement, being three times more likely than couples to have severely inadequate projected retirement incomes. Fourth, there is a gap between expectations about the importance of the different sources of retirement income and the likely reality. <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4102.0Main+Features50March%202009">Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics</a> show that over half of men and two-fifths of women expect superannuation to be the main source of retirement income. However, our projections show that the age pension will provide 61% of the retirement income of single people, and 39% of the retirement income of couples. Moreover, 96% of single people and 89% of couples aged 40 to 64 today are expected to receive at least a partial age pension at some stage during retirement. Our analyses show that most people need to think ahead to their financial situation in retirement and, if possible, make some changes – the sooner, the better. The first step is to find out whether your savings are likely to be adequate – and you can now do this easily on the <a href="https://www.moneysmart.gov.au/tools-and-resources/calculators-and-tools/retirement-planner">ASIC MoneySmart web site</a>. The site offers a calculator based on a simplified version of the algorithm we used in our study. It takes less than 10 minutes to enter the required information and obtain an estimate of the adequacy of your retirement savings. Knowing now whether you need to save more towards your retirement is an essential first step towards a retirement in which you don’t have to fear running out of money. Professor Kevin Davis contributed to this study, which began prior to his appointment as a panel member of the Financial System Inquiry.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/24957/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/roger-wilkins-95906">Roger Wilkins</a>, Principal Research Fellow and Deputy Director (Research), HILDA Survey, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/carsten-murawski-3627">Carsten Murawski</a>, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Finance and co-head of the Decision Neuroscience Lab, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-majority-of-australians-are-not-saving-enough-for-retirement-24957">original article</a>. Image: Shutterstock

Retirement Income

What happens when you don’t get enough sleep

<h2>Sleep deprivation</h2> <div class="copy"> Many of us have experienced the effects: feeling tired and cranky, or finding it hard to concentrate. <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/health/surprising-insights-into-sleeps-purpose/">Sleep</a> is more important for our <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/science/biology/the-brains-wiring-as-youve-never-seen-it-before/">brains</a> than you may realise. Although it may appear you’re “switching off” when you fall asleep, the brain is far from inactive. What we know from studying patterns of brain electrical activity is that while you sleep, your brain cycles through two main types of patterns: rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and slow-wave sleep. Slow-wave sleep, which occurs more at the beginning of the night, is characterised by slow rhythms of electrical activity across large numbers of brain cells (occurring one to four times per second). As the night progresses, we have more and more REM sleep. During REM sleep we often have vivid dreams, and our brains show similar patterns of activity to when we are awake. What are our brains doing while we sleep? Sleep serves many different functions. One of these is to help us remember experiences we had during the day. REM sleep is thought to be important for emotional memories (for example, memories involving fear) or procedural memory (such as how to ride a bike). On the other hand, slow-wave sleep is thought to reflect the storing of so-called “declarative” memories, which are the conscious record of your experiences and what you know (for example, what you had for breakfast). We also know experiences are replayed in the brain during sleep – the memories of these experiences are like segments from a movie that can be rewound and played forward again. Replay occurs in neurons in the hippocampus – <a rel="noopener" href="https://qbi.uq.edu.au/brain-basics/memory/where-are-memories-stored" target="_blank">a brain region important for memory</a> – and has been best studied in rats learning to navigate a maze. After a navigation exercise, when the rat is resting, its brain replays the path it took. This helps to strengthen the connections between brain cells, and is therefore thought to be important for consolidating memories. But is it that important for you to remember what you had for breakfast? Probably not. That’s why the brain needs to be selective. Sleep allows it to sift through memories, forgetting certain things and prioritising what’s important. One way it may do this is by pruning away or scaling down unwanted connections. A leading theory of sleep function – the <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24411729" target="_blank">synaptic homeostasis hypothesis</a> – suggests that during sleep there is a widespread weakening of synapses, the connections throughout the brain. This is thought to counterbalance the overall strengthening of these connections that occurs when we are awake and learning. By pruning away excess connections, <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/health/sleep-cleans-the-brain/">sleep effectively cleans the slate</a>, so we can learn again the next day. Interfering with this scaling down process can, in some cases, lead to more intense (and perhaps unwanted) memories. The importance of sleep for keeping our brains active may be reflected in our changing sleep patterns as we age. Babies and children sleep much more than adults, probably because their developing brains are learning much more, and being exposed to new situations. Later in life, sleep declines and becomes more fragmented. This may reflect either a reduced need for sleep (because we are learning less), or a breakdown in sleep processes as we age. Sleep is also needed to do a bit of brain housekeeping. A <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24136970" target="_blank">2013 US study in mice</a> found that sleep cleanses the brain of toxins that accumulate during waking hours. During sleep, the space between brain cells increases, allowing toxic proteins to be flushed out. It’s possible that by removing these, sleep may stave off neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Sleep deprivation: the reality Getting enough sleep is important for attention and learning during our waking hours. When we are sleep-deprived, we can’t focus on large amounts of information or sustain attention for long periods. Our reaction times are slowed. We are also less likely to be creative or discover hidden rules when trying to solve a problem. When you haven’t had enough sleep, your brain may force itself to shut down for a few seconds while you’re awake. This is called a micro-sleep and is potentially very dangerous. Drowsiness is a leading cause of motor vehicle accidents, and sleep deprivation affects the brain as severely as alcohol. Sleep deprivation can also lead to fatal accidents in the workplace – a major issue in shift workers. The beneficial effects of sleep on attention and concentration are particularly important for children, who often become hyperactive and disruptive in class when they don’t have enough sleep. <a rel="noopener" href="http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2012/10/10/peds.2012-0564" target="_blank">A 2012 study in the journal </a><a rel="noopener" href="http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2012/10/10/peds.2012-0564" target="_blank">Pediatrics</a> found getting just one hour less sleep per night over several nights could adversely affect a child’s behaviour in class. Chronic sleep deprivation The longer-term effects of sleep deprivation are more difficult to study in humans for ethical reasons, but chronic sleep disturbances have been linked to brain disorders such as schizophrenia, autism and Alzheimer’s. We don’t know if sleep disturbances are a cause or symptom of these disorders. Overall, the evidence suggests having healthy sleep patterns is key to having a healthy and well-functioning brain. This story was prepared by the Queensland Brain Institute and first published on The Conversation. Read <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/why-our-brain-needs-sleep-and-what-happens-if-we-dont-get-enough-of-it-83145" target="_blank">the original article</a>.  <img id="cosmos-post-tracker" style="opacity: 0; height: 1px!important; width: 1px!important; border: 0!important; position: absolute!important; z-index: -1!important;" src="https://syndication.cosmosmagazine.com/?id=18404&title=What+happens+when+you+don%E2%80%99t+get+enough+sleep" alt="" width="1" height="1" /> </div> <div id="contributors"> <a rel="noopener" href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/science/biology/sleep-deprivation-effects/" target="_blank">This article</a> was originally published on <a rel="noopener" href="https://cosmosmagazine.com" target="_blank">Cosmos Magazine</a> and was written by <a rel="noopener" href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/contributor/the-queensland-brain-institute" target="_blank">The Queensland Brain Institute</a>. The Queensland Brain Institute (QBI), established in 2003, is a leading institute focussed on two of the greatest challenges of modern science: understanding brain function and the prevention and treatments of disorders of brain function. Image: Getty Images </div>

Mind

A simple way to work out if you will have enough money come retirement

Here's the quick answer to the age old question, how will I know if I have enough money to retire comfortably? <div class="_1665V _2q-Vk"> A good calculator called <a href="https://www.superguru.com.au/calculators/super-detective">Super Balance Detective,</a> at the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia’s (ASFA) <a href="https://www.superguru.com.au/">superguru.com.au,</a> will show you fast. </div> <div class="_1665V _2q-Vk"> You simply put in your year of birth and the calculator throws up how much super you should have today. Of course, there are many underlying assumptions behind that calculation, but essentially, it is based on average investment returns (6.7 per cent before fees and taxes) and average fees (0.7 per cent of assets). It is also based on how much the ASFA Retirement Standard calculates you need to live on at retirement age 67, but I’ll get into that shortly. Just what on-track super balances are we talking? Here’s a snapshot: <ul> <li>If you were born in 1985, your balance should be about $112,000.</li> <li>If you were born in 1980, it should be $164,000.</li> <li>For 1975-ers, the number today is $219,000.</li> <li>At 1970, it’s $285,000 and 1965, $360,000.</li> <li>And it’s coming down to the wire for these people… if you’re born in 1960, the figure is $449,000.</li> </ul> Those numbers may or may not be a lot less scary than you had anticipated. Enjoy your comfortable retirement! </div>

Retirement Life

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"I've had enough": Karl hits back at "fat-shaming" Bluey detractors

6 things that can happen to your body when you don’t drink enough water

Labelling ‘fake art’ isn’t enough. Australia needs to recognise and protect First Nations cultural and intellectual property

7 signs you might not be eating enough protein

Fennel looking a bit feeble? Growing enough veggies to feed yourself depends on these 3 things

“She was enough for me”: Albo makes Grace Tame cry

The majority of Australians are not saving enough for retirement

What happens when you don’t get enough sleep

A simple way to work out if you will have enough money come retirement

Our Partners

News

Shop

Catalogues

Newspaper

Contests

Entertainment

Travel

Health

Lifestyle

Finance

Property

Compare

Games

Information

Keep up to date

Search

"Not good enough": Karl takes aim at airline cancellation

Could not getting enough sleep increase your risk of type 2 diabetes?

What does a building need to call itself ‘accessible’ – and is that enough?

How much protein do I need as I get older? And do I need supplements to get enough?

An entry fee may not be enough to save Venice from 20 million tourists

Even in a housing crisis, Australians can’t get enough of renovation stories on TV. Why?

“Enough is enough”: Karl's crime wave plea after family targeted

"I've done enough": Hero tradie slams raising of retirement age

What are the long-term effects of quitting social media? Almost nobody can log off long enough to find out

8 sneaky ways not getting enough sleep affects your looks

"I've had enough": Karl hits back at "fat-shaming" Bluey detractors

6 things that can happen to your body when you don’t drink enough water

Labelling ‘fake art’ isn’t enough. Australia needs to recognise and protect First Nations cultural and intellectual property

7 signs you might not be eating enough protein

Fennel looking a bit feeble? Growing enough veggies to feed yourself depends on these 3 things

“She was enough for me”: Albo makes Grace Tame cry

The majority of Australians are not saving enough for retirement

What happens when you don’t get enough sleep

A simple way to work out if you will have enough money come retirement

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