Free school meals changes 'could discourage work'

Not working for free school meals

Thousands of parents may choose to work less to get free school meals(FSM). If your earnings are £7,500 a year, you are eligible to have a free school meal, free uniforms and discounts. The Children’s Society says: “around 120,000 families in England (with a total of around 350,000 school-age children) could be put in a position where they would be better off if they dropped their earnings to below the £7,500 earnings threshold in order to bring them into entitlement for free school meals." One mother, Jo, said to the BBC that she was better off financially to stay at home and live off benefits.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-17765533

My Opinion

I do think it is a good idea to give free school meals for poor children. I don’t think it is a good idea to encourage people to work less to be better off. There has to be a better way to give free meals to children who really need it, but do not encourage people to work less. If people are better off without work, this is a big mistake. To give children a nutritious meal is great, but to live off benefits wouldn’t be my choice. Maybe they can work more and don’t live on the edge so that work doesn’t make a difference.  

Mobile phones: 'Still no evidence of harm to health'

Mobile phones do not cause any harm.

The UK’s Health Protection Agency(HPA), claims that there is still no evidence that mobile phones harm human health. After hundreds of studies of mobile exposure there are no conclusive links to cancer risk, brain function or infertility. However, they still have to look at the long-term effects. Because mobile phones weren’t used until the late 1990s, Prof Anthony Swerdlow said: "One can't know what the long-term consequences are of something that has been around for only a short period." The HPA had done a previous review in 2003, which concluded the same thing, but now there has been done more research into the subject. The HPA does conclude that excessive use of mobile phones by children should be discouraged.  

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17843953

My Opinion

When I first read the title I immediately thought: of course. I never believed that mobile phones could do a human any harm. People stress out when you tell them you have your mobile phone under your pillow while you sleep. I don’t think a mobile phone is that dangerous. I do agree with the fact that excessive use of mobile phones by children should be discouraged. What children need to do is play outside, build sandcastles and play hide and seek, not to be constantly busy with a mobile phone. Though I do not believe that a mobile phone can do any harm, I am curious about what the outcome of the research will be in 10 years. 

Fat tax: Mike Rayner on unhealthy foods

Fat tax could save thousands of lives

Mike Rayner, health promotion research group director, claims that a fat tax could save thousands of lives. He talks about an obesity crisis; an astonishing quarter of British adults are obese. He called for a tax on soft drinks, this would help people to switch to healthier drinks.
Mr Webb, Liberal Democrat pensions minister, called to put less junk into the food. He is willing to look at the fat tax, but not as a tax-raising measure.
Ms Eagle, shadow leader of the House of Commons, called for more education and better food labeling. She also insisted on not just looking at fat, but also the salt content in food, because this is equally important.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-17741124

My Opinion

This subject is also known in the Netherlands so I know some things about this. I know that I really want to have a fat tax, but on the other hand would this be good for the economy? But then, I don’t really know anything about economy, and I don’t really care to be honest. What I was wondering is: where do they draw the line? Is it only based on the amount of fat? Or will they also be looking at salt and other unhealthy things? I haven’t got a clue how they want to fix this.  

NHS chief to investigate overnight discharges

Investigating overnight discharges summary

NHS doctor Sir Bruce Keogh,  is going to investigate why patients are sent home in the middle of the night.  The differences between the rates of the hospitals are astonishing. For example in Newcastle the rates are under 1% while in Derby it is a shocking 8.7 %. Those patients were discharged between 11pm and 6 am. This is unnecessarily late and might just be done just for freeing beds. This mostly affects elderly patients because they have to cope with everything on their own.  Keogh’s reaction: “Patients should only be discharged when it's clinically appropriate, safe and convenient for them and their families.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/apr/12/nhs-overnight-discharges-investigated

Personal Opinion

My opinion about this article is that I really think it is very strange that patients are sent home in the middle of the night. If the patients are doing okay, please keep them there till 10 am and then sent them home. On the other side, I could understand that if said to you that you can go home, you would like to go home as quick as possible and maybe for some people nighttime is doable for them. As to the elderly, they need their sleep and structure so I think it is not done to send them home in the middle of the night. 

Hello!