Washington, Sept 10 (ANI): Women who consume high levels of daily calcium supplements during pregnancy show a marked reduction in lead levels in their blood, according to a new study, which suggests that calcium could play a critical role in reducing fetal and infant exposure.

The study at the University of Michigan shows that women who take 1,200 milligrams of calcium daily have up to a 31 percent reduction in lead levels.

Women who used lead-glazed ceramics and those with high bone lead levels showed the largest reductions; the average reduction was about 11 percent, said Howard Hu, chair of the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the School of Public Health.

The study is available online in Environmental Health Perspectives, the official journal of the U.S. National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences.

Hu, who is also affiliated with the University of Michigan School of Medicine, said this is the first known randomized study examining calcium supplementation on lead levels in pregnant women.

"We and others have previously shown that during pregnancy, mothers can transfer lead from their bones to their unborn -- with significant adverse consequences--making maternal bone lead stores a threat even if current environmental lead exposures are low," Hu said.

"This study demonstrates that dietary calcium supplementation during pregnancy may constitute a low-cost and low-risk approach for reducing this threat," the researcher added.

Lead exposure is a great concern for pregnant and lactating women, especially in developing countries where lead exposures have been high until recently, and for women with occupational exposure.

The study showed that reductions in blood lead levels were more evident in the second trimester at 14 percent than in the third trimester at 8 percent.

The most compliant group of women in the study (those who consumed greater than 75 percent of the assigned 1,200 milligram doses of calcium per day) showed a 24 percent decrease. omen in the most compliant group who also reported using lead glazed ceramics and had the highest bone lead levels saw the greatest reduction of 31 percent.

Researchers analyzed 557 women recruited from the Mexican Social Security Institute prenatal clinics, which treat the low to moderate income population of Mexico City. ll were in their first trimester; roughly half were assigned calcium and half a placebo. (ANI)

London, Sept 10 (ANI): Want to beat the baby bulge, just like the way Jennifer Lopez, Nicole Kidman and Jessica Alba did? Well, then here are some tips to get back in super shape.

Lopez, 39, who gained 3st 5lb with twins Max and Emme signed up for triathlon, which involves swimming, cycling and running Her workouts change daily, depending on the day, the time and the freedom," said her trainer Gunnar Peterson, who also works with Penelope Cruz.

She started out with light workouts including light cardio and body-weight exercises. She also banned junk food from the house to avoid temptation.

New mums eager to loose the baby bulge can make it work with triathlon but keeping it small with a 5K run/walk .

Nutritionist Carina Norris said that banning treats from cupboards is a good idea

"If you don't have sugary foods in, you can't eat them," the Mirror quoted her, as saying.

"Don't let your partner have them in the house either!" she added.

Halle Berry also opted for three cardio sessions such as jogging, swimming and cycling, two circuit sessions with light hand weights and one core session (core muscles help keep your stomach flat. Exercises usually involve sit-ups and crunches).

She started having plenty of lean proteins such as skinless chicken and lean red meat, complex carbs, such as brown bread and rice, and a vegetable, drank lots of water, and shuns coffee and tea.

"A good mix of complex carbs, lean protein, fruit and veg will keep Halle healthy and energised," said Norris.

"Avoiding tea and coffee is also good as too much caffeine can disrupt sleep though a cup or two a day won't do any harm," she added.

Nicole Kidman opted for several hours of dance rehearsals a day and her weight dropped off.

Several hours' exercise a day is too much for most of us but the odd dance class would help regain your shape.

Jessica Alba says that she lost her tummy by breastfeeding but has also started gentle workouts with her personal trainer Ramona Braganza. She has also ditched fried foods.

Breastfeeding burns up to 500 calories a day and has health benefits for the baby, too.

"Fried, fatty foods can lead to low moods and make you sluggish and tired," said Norris. (ANI)

Melbourne, Sept 10 (ANI): Want to live till 100 years of age? Well, do regular exercises, be married, wash hands and brush your teeth everyday.

That's what a new book, 'The Long Life Equation', by Dr Trisha Macnair suggests.

In the book, the author has listed activities that add years to your life.

Macnair said washing your hands adds two years, and good dental hygiene can add six more years in your life.

But smoking, fast food, no exercise and a stressful life can strip away 20 years.

"There's no doubt younger people take life and health for granted - more than any generation before, they idle time away watching TV or playing computer games, ignoring the activities that keep them healthy or develop meaning in their lives," Courier Mail quoted Macnair, as saying.

"As we get older and start to feel the years slipping away, we suddenly realise how precious it is.

"But by then we may have already established habits (smoking, drinking, obesity, lack of exercise, stressful occupations) which take their toll and are difficult to reverse.

"Still, it's never too late to change. Also, our attitudes to older age are changing so there is more freedom now to do things later in life if we are healthy and able," she added.

A 2006 study from University of California in Los Angeles showed that men and women live healthier, wealthier, happier and longer lives when they are in a stable partnership

The study confirmed that married couples were more likely to live to an old age than their divorced, widowed or unmarried counterparts.

A stable partnership can actually add on seven years to life.

Regular exercise also adds as much as two or more years to your life.

A Harvard Alumni Study, which took into account more than 71,000 men who had graduated from Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania between 1916 and 1954, found that those men who regularly burned 8400kJ a week while exercising lived, on average, two years longer than sedentary types.

But cigarette smoking can actually reduce 8 years from your life

Tobacco smoke contains more than 4000 chemicals, many of which are highly toxic.

A divorce can also strip away 3 years from your life, as it takes longer-lasting, emotional and physical toll on former spouses than virtually any other life stress.

Recent studies indicate that divorced adults have higher rates of emotional disturbance, accidental death and death from heart disease.

The divorced also have higher rates of admission to psychiatric facilities and make more visits to doctors than people who are married, single or widowed. (ANI)

Washington, Sept 9 (ANI): The physical activity levels of children have been overestimated, with actual levels likely to be around six times lower, says a UK study.

Annual health survey data showed that the UK population takes a lot of exercise, and that children have been increasingly physically active over the past few years.

In a bid to assess the accuracy, the research team monitored the physical activity levels in 130 children aged between 6 and 7 years over one week, wit the help of a portable recording device (accelerometer) carried on a waist belt.

They compared the readings with the information supplied by their parents, using the Health Survey for England annual questionnaire. It is recommended that children engage in at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity every day, such as brisk walking, running, and sports.

In the survey the parents said that their children were moderately to vigorously physically active for an average of 146 minutes a day.

However, the accelerometer showed that the figures were actually 24 minutes a day, with boys managing 26 minutes and girls 22.

The survey revealed that 83pct of boys and 56pct of girls complied with the recommended daily amounts of moderate to vigorous physical activity.ut the accelerometer showed that only 3 percent of boys and 2 percent of girls actually did so.

But the accelerometer showed that only 3 percent of boys and 2 percent of girls actually did so.

"Marked improvements in surveillance of physical activity will be necessary in order to meet the major public health challenges of the 21 st century, particularly where physical activity has been implicated in the aetiology of diseases, such as obesity and related disorders," said the authors.

The research is published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood. (ANI)