Latest news with #PeterDonnelly
Irish Examiner
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Tots to Teens: Spot the difference and join the dots with activity book featuring Michael D Higgins
This entertaining sticker activity book by Irish illustrator Peter Donnelly is the perfect boredom buster for children. Donnelly is known for his bestselling books chronicling the adventures of the cat, dog, and glasses of President Michael D Higgins. This latest book also features the President in activities such as spot the difference, mazes, colouring, and join the dots. There is also a pull-out colour poster and two pages of stickers. The costs €10.99. Blanket statement These BlankieBoo blankets from make a lovely gift for a baby, especially if that baby's parents are die-hard GAA fans. Made from 100% soft organic cotton, they are designed for sensitive skin. Measuring 70cm by 90cm, they are big enough to be used in a pram, buggy, or Moses basket, or even to place under little ones when playing or having some tummy time. The blankets come in various colours and can be personalised with the baby's name or other details. Prices start from €30. Uniformly good Many children enjoy playing dress-up. Lucy Smith's certainly did. They wanted to wear medical scrubs, like their radiographer mum, and a uniform, like their Garda dad. They inspired Smith to set up My Little Uniform, a Meath-based business that sells a range of costumes she has designed to be realistic replicas of the ones that medics, chefs, gardaí, firefighters, pilots, and other professionals wear. These costumes are made with sustainability in mind, using 100% cotton. They are also hard-wearing, so children can enjoy playing in them for hours and many years. See the full range at where prices start from €23.95. Autism talk If you are autistic, know and care about someone who is, or work to support autistic people, an event in the Cork International Hotel on Thursday, May 8, may be of interest. Starting at 7 pm, the focus is on learning about, supporting, and promoting autistic well-being. It will feature Cork-based Sharon McCarthy was diagnosed with autism as an adult. She is also a parent to neurodivergent children, has written books about autism, hosts the Autism Journeys radio show and podcast, and advocates for the needs of people with autism. McCarthy will be joined by the educational and child psychologist Dr Micaela Connolly, who has more than 25 years experience working in disability services and providing psychological support to children and adults. Together, they will discuss what autistic well-being means, the common barriers that can hinder it, and what can be done to navigate those barriers. Tickets cost €35 and can be purchased from Children's diet If the weather gods smile upon us this summer, the recipes in this e-book from Siobhan Berry, of Mummy Cooks, could be a great way of keeping the family refreshed, hydrated, and happily nourished with all sorts of fruit and vegetables. In 2012, Berry founded Mummy Cooks, the first baby weaning cookery school in Ireland. Since then, she has grown it in to an online business offering advice, recipes, and feeding and weaning products for families. One of her cookbooks, Ice Pops & Smoothies, aims to provide creative ways of incorporating fruit, vegetables, and other nutrient-dense foods into children's diets. It includes 25 recipes for ice pops, smoothies, and healthy alternatives to ice cream, all made from natural ingredients, with no added sugars or sweeteners. It costs €5.99 and can be purchased from Read More Tots to Teens: Choose sustainability with these plantable pencils that grow into herbs
Telegraph
27-04-2025
- Health
- Telegraph
Do you have the fat gene? This test could soon tell you
For some, it can seem like a never-ending battle to keep the pounds off. Where friends and family appear able to indulge with little consequences, there are those who feel like, no matter how healthily they eat, the scales just keep going up. Scientists now think people who struggle with their weight may have drawn the genetic short-straw – and soon people will be able to find out if their genes are to blame for the struggle. Work has begun in the UK on developing new tests that will spot if someone has 'fat genes'. The project, which seeks to create simple blood or saliva tests, is being undertaken by a team at Oxford gene start-up Genomics and Novo Nordisk, the Danish drug giant behind blockbuster weight-loss drug Wegovy and Ozempic. The tests are expected to work by identifying if someone has the differences in their DNA that make them more prone to obesity. Sir Peter Donnelly, chief executive of Genomics, said genetics is 'four times more important than lifestyle factors' when it comes to mapping if someone will become obese. Studies have suggested that somebody with unhelpful genetics is around 10 times more likely to be obese in middle age than someone with helpful genes. It can mean those people with these obesity genes have to work much harder to keep on top of their weight. Research in the US has found that someone with 'unhelpful genetics' would have to walk 10,000 more steps than someone with 'helpful genetics' to maintain a healthy weight. Sir Peter said: 'There's not a single gene which matters for obesity or for heart disease or other diseases. There are more than a million places in our DNA, each of which has a tiny impact on our propensity for obesity.' Scientists from Genomics will create an algorithm that can accurately map which DNA differences are most important in determining someone's likelihood of becoming obese. The team says they expect to launch tests within the next few years. Sir Peter said change was needed over how people view obesity, adding: 'We have to start thinking about obesity as a condition, rather than some consequence of poor willpower.' It comes as governments step up attempts to tackle the obesity crisis amid concerns that more people are becoming severely overweight. Figures released last month revealed that more than three in four adults in the UK will be obese or overweight by 2050. Nadeem Sarwar, who heads up Novo Nordisk's 'transformational prevention unit', said the UK could be a pioneer in tackling obesity by stopping it before the disease progresses. Novo Nordisk recently set up the 'transformational prevention unit' (TPU), which is anchored in the UK, to 'predict, pre-empt and prevent' obesity. Alongside the tests for obesity, Novo Nordisk is also seeking to develop treatments that can then be targetted to those who test positive for fat genes. Mr Sarwar said: 'Just telling someone, 'You're high risk for disease, good luck' is not really going to help them that much. So at the TPU, we're putting in as much effort on developing products that will help prevent the risk as much as we are to pre-empt the risk.' Wes Streeing, the Health Secretary, has said he wants to shift the NHS's focus from 'sickness to prevention'. Already, the Government has clamped down on junk food ads in an attempt to curb obesity levels, saying the disease costs the NHS billions of pounds every year. Mr Sarwar said: 'The UK, I think rightly, is emphasising the importance of prevention.' Novo Nordisk is developing more preventative treatments for obesity as competition heats up in the weight-loss market. Up until this point, Novo Nordisk has been outselling US rival Eli Lilly for its weight-loss treatments, which help people lose an average of 15pc of their body mass by suppressing appetite. However, the two companies have been battling to break new ground on weight-loss treatments. Earlier this month, Novo Nordisk's shares dropped as much as 7pc after Eli Lilly released trial data suggesting it had created a weight-loss pill that worked just as well as Wegovy.
