Walking is simple, free and one of the easiest ways to get more active, lose weight and become healthier.

Scientists say taking a short walk every day can mean the difference between keeping up everyday activities or becoming housebound. This applies to office workers, computer nerds and stay at homes as well as those who have reached their twilight years.

The US study Lifestyle Interventions and Independence for Elders,(LIFE), spent two and a half years following 1,635 sedentary men and women aged 70 to 89 who could walk a quarter of a mile within 15 minutes but were at risk of losing that ability.

A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that a modest increase in physical activity of walking as little as 1/4 mile can help older adults maintain their movement and therefore their independence.

One group walked 150 minutes a week and did strength, flexibility and balance training which was monitored weekly.

The second group attended health education classes and performed stretching exercises. Their mobility, weight and blood pressure was regularly checked.

The exercise led to a 28 per cent reduction in people permanently losing the ability to walk easily.

This doesn't apply to everyone. I know from personal experience. After 4 hip replacement operations, I'm left with a crooked leg which worsens yearly. After recovering from the forth botched job, I felt fit enough to continue with my physical job working in catering. However, once I retired, my ability to walk without pain or an aid steadily declined.

I don't stop trying though. Come what may, I walk up and down the steep street outside my home every afternoon leaning on my rollator. Contact with nature revives me enough to remind myself that I'm taking one small step for mankind and my time is limited. I'm one of the lucky ones—I return to a loving husband.

Some people of advancing age live alone. How do they force themselves to make the daily trial?

'When you walk through a storm

Hold your head up high

And don't be afraid of the dark'.

Everybody doesn't have a nature park or strip of forest close by. But even if they live in a built-up suburb, they can feel the wind on their face and hear an occasional chirp from a bird sitting on a telegraph pole if not the splendor of a tree.

More news this morning added to yesterday's shocking facts on obesity. Sleeping in a room with too much light has been linked to an increased risk of excess weight.

A team at the Institute of Cancer Research in London found women's waistlines were larger if their bedroom contained enough light to see across at night. The source could come from street lights, electrical alarm clocks and standby lights on equipment such as televisions. Light alters mood, physical strength and even the way we process food in a 24-hour cycle.

But don't go out and spend money on changes just yet. There is not enough evidence to make you buy thicker curtains or turn off lights.

Funded by Breakthrough Breast Cancer, the study of 113,000 women was published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

The women were asked to rate the amount of light in their bedrooms at night as:

Light enough to read

Light enough to see across the room, but not read

Light enough to see your hand in front of you, but not across the room

Too dark to see your hand or you wear a mask

Their answers were compared to several measures of obesity. Body Mass Index, waist-to-hip ratio and waist circumference were all higher in women with lighter rooms.

That's amazing. All? Sounds conclusive to me.

I must admit my bedroom is lit by a street light. I leave the curtains open to gain as much as possible, never thinking it might not be good for my body. The hall light comes through the glass in the front door, and the back window in the bathroom filters in light from the outdoor security light. I've always appreciated the guidance when I get up at night.

But the evidence from such a large group of people links light exposure at night with overweight and obesity. Artificial light is known to disrupt the body clock by delaying the production of the sleep hormone melatonin.

One explanation could be the light disrupts the body clock. In our evolutionary past, we were active when it was light and resting when it was dark.

Here's another way of modern suburban living affecting people in a bad way. In society's artificial environment, the combination of street lights, traffic whizzing by at all hours of the night, and electrical equipment could be affecting the way our body processes food.

The latest figures from the Lancet show world figures of obese or overweight people has topped 2.1 billion, up from 875 million in 1980. Not one country has been successful at reducing the steady rise.

Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have a negative effect on health, leading to reduced life due to diabetes, heart disease and cancers.

Experts from the 188-country study said the rise was due to the modernisation of our world, causing physical inactivity on all levels of society.

Inactivity—that's me! Because I find it painful to walk, I sit and write at the computer far too long all day, only getting up from my comfortable leather chair long enough to attend to necessary functions or spend time with my husband. Not good!

But let's look at more facts.

Researchers across the world were led by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation in Washington, in the most comprehensive to date. Scientists analyzed data from all articles about the numbers of obese or overweight people in the world.

More than half of the world's 671 million obese people live in 10 countries, ranked in order by The Lancet:

US

China

India

Russia

Brazil

Mexico

Egypt

Germany

Pakistan

Indonesia

A professor reasoned that a higher obesity of men in developed countries was because of longer commutes to work from the suburbs, and spending more time inactive, like using computers.

Children and adults were not building up enough functioning muscle mass, and eating three meals a day has been replaced by unstructured food intake—grabbing food when the desire hits.

My husband and I, both in our 70s, still have an evening meal together, which he plans and cooks. He's more active than I am and he's almost too slim. On the other hand, I've developed a small amount of fat around my stomach. I don't like it! The alarming facts are enough to spur me to take more exercise.

Obesity is a complex issue. Some people have a medical condition which can be blamed. However, fit and healthy people require aid on a national, local, family and individual level. We should all play a role in improving the health and well-being of those around us, particularly ourselves and the children who rely on an adult's guidance.

Don't let yourself become a statistic.

I'm wondering if this is another way for natural selection to weed out overpopulation. Too many humans occupy the Earth, which is leading to a reduction of resources like animals, fish and forests. Maybe the Earth doesn't need another great flood to eliminate an overabundance of the human species. We might eat ourselves to death.

Women living today all over the world are subject to different rules and customs. The same thing does not apply to men. Males and females are born into this life equal. Girls often have to fight to receive education. But that's when the distinction begins in various cultures. Most of these regulations are continued from past centuries. In some countries, women are forbidden to drive or venture outside the home without a male relative. Some female members of society are forced into marriage, and often beaten and mistreated.

Some brave woman make a stand against the injustice of inequality.

Yesterday, relatives killed a Pakistani woman outside Lahore High Court for marrying against their wishes. The 30 year old woman died instantly after bricks and sticks were hurled at her.

Correspondents say hundreds of girls and women in Pakistan are killed every year by family members and many more go unreported.

Previously, the woman's parents accused her husband of kidnapping her, and filed a case against him at the High Court. However, she told the police that she had married him of her own accord. Police said the couple had been engaged for a number of years.

When she arrived at the court building for the hearing, about a dozen family members pulled her aside and began to attack the couple. Her husband managed to escape.

If I can understand this, the parents didn't want their daughter to marry this man. Seems a bit late to take legal action. I'm not sure what they hoped to gain.

A police official told Reuters that all the family members escaped after the killing, apart from her father, who has admitted his role in her death.

The BBC's representative says marriage against the wishes of relatives is culturally unacceptable in some parts of Pakistan.

Under Pakistani law, the victim's family is allowed to forgive the killer. However, in many cases family members are themselves responsible for the killing.

What a tragic end to a tussle of wills. The father will be penalized and his daughter is dead. When will they change their way of thinking?

In the 19th-century, people from around the world descended on Egypt and collected artifacts. Nobody stopped them. At that time, people with money could pretty much do what they liked.


Our enlightened society now realize that articles should remain in their country of origin—unless individuals are greedy and underhanded. People are still trying to smuggle ancient pieces out of Egypt.

So many articles have been removed from their original place that it's almost impossible to consider returning them. In 2009 Egypt contested Germany's possession of a Nefertiti bust. The British Museum contains huge displays from other countries, the Greek Elgin Marbles among them, collected from past pillagers, funded by museums or by private backers.

Recently, a battered pot found in Cornish garage is helping to unlock the secrets of an Egyptian excavation. The damaged pot was broken in antiquity, and then broken again and mended with superglue some 5,500 years later.

I love stories about ancient Egypt, in fact they play a part in my novels, which are set in Cornwall. The link is pure coincidence.

Back in the 1950s, the pot was accepted in lieu of a fare by a taxi driver in London. His family recently discovered the pot with a little printed card inside his garage in Cornwall. The Petrie Museum took an interest.

The pot sheds light on the work of archeologist Flinders Petrie whose finds were scattered across the world in the late 19th century.

Petrie, like his contemporaries, sent back tons of material from Egypt to universities and museums funding his excavations, and later sold a huge collection that became the basis of the Petrie Museum which boasts the finest collection of material from the region outside Egypt.

The Petrie Museum in London keeps meticulous records. Scientifically based excavations in the region transformed archaeology by means of a timeline still in use today. They sorted thousands of pots by date, enabling tombs, temples and entire towns to be dated from the fragments of broken pottery on the sites.

It was known that Petrie gave pieces to individuals, at a time when a visit to a celebrity archaeologist's dig was the highlight of any tourist or VIP trip down the Nile. The little label proves this was done on a systematic basis not previously guessed at. 

The battered pot held a neat commercially printed card, boasting that the "Libyan Pottery" from 3,000 BC was discovered by Prof WM Flinders Petrie in 1894-5. The card was clearly one of many, but pot, card, and excavation record are linked by the faintly pencilled number 1754. He got the country wrong, which was actually Egypt.

After conservation work, the treasure from the Cornish garage will go on display next month, a scruffy star of the museum's Festival of Pots.

Now for the Cornish link to my ancient Egyptian star moonstone ring. I know you've been waiting to see what story I came up with. My research revealed a mysterious lady who arrived in Ireland shortly after King Tut's death. Many think it may have been Tutankarmoun's sister, Meritaten. Ireland and Cornwall are separated by a short trip over the sea. Egyptian ships brought goods to trade for Cornish tin back in those days. Liliha's forebears could have descended from the illustrious princess.

Many stories grow from a grain of truth.

Treated by criminals like items to be stolen from loving homes and sold on, dogs offer priceless qualities. Incredibly loyal, they comfort, protect, and love their humans unconditionally.

It's hard to understand why each dog bonds with their family, despite the fact that they're sometimes mistreated.

As soon as we moved into a home with a garden, my husband and I adopted a retired greyhound about 10 years ago. He shivered with worry all the way home in the back of our car. I can only imagine how he must have felt leaving his companion dogs behind in the kennels. When he entered our home, he immediately tried to jump on the highest bench—the sofa. We had to teach him the difference between his old kennel arrangement and his new abode. How we loved that dog, who became a gentle and caring companion.

In the news from North Dakota, USA, comes a remarkable example of the loyal bond between a boy and his pet. A dog named Cooper helped to save his young owner after he went missing one night last week.

When his mother realized that her 3-year-old son had wandered away from their family farm, she panicked and called 911.

Darkness fell in the freezing, wet night and a thunderstorm brewed overhead. Outside, hundreds of volunteers, firefighters, and a search plane turned out to scour the area for the lost child.

Six hours after the toddler disappeared, the search party finally tracked him down a mile away from home, safe and sound. The rescuers found the dog partly lying over him, shielding him from the rain and cold. The pet had kept the child warm.

The family discovered Cooper as a puppy abandoned in the road years earlier and decided to make him their pet. And so the bond formed between people and their dog—unshakable and strong.

50 years ago, I thanked our doggy friend—an Alsatian named Lucus Lord Lyric, whom we'd adopted as a puppy from a breeder before I became pregnant with my first child. We called him 'Ruffles McGillacully'. Don't ask me why. One name is as funny as the other. After the birth, Ruffles shared the joy and watched my son grow. The child was restless—to say the least and he set out to explore one day. Before I noticed, he'd escaped the garden and wandered away. The police found them together—dog and toddler. 

When they returned, I was filled with wonder that a dog would accompany a tiny child along streets and across roads to keep him safe.

Throughout history, arranged marriages have forged bonds, untied tribes and built kingdoms. Who knows if those marriages were happy? But since then the social order has moved on. Now, girls should be free to choose who they marry.

Balance in all things, I say, especially between men and women.

In England, even the sons of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana choose their partners with care. Just recently, I read of Prince Harry's choice of partner deciding against marriage.

In the UK, girls as young as five years old will be sent abroad during the summer holidays to marry older men. Many have complained afterward of being raped on their wedding nights and routinely beaten by their husbands. 700 calls a month come in to the charity Karma Nirvana from distressed girls.

But next month, after ten years of work, forced marriage will become illegal in England and Wales, with wrongdoers facing years behind bars if they try to arrange for an innocent youngster to marry against their will.

The Bill came after one former victim was brave enough to speak out. The girl was just 14 when her Indian parents told her she would be made to marry an older man.

Having watched her five older sisters go through the same fate, one of them eventually setting fire to herself, she refused. At the age of 16, her parents left her in a small room with the padlock on the outside until she eventually agreed.

However, she planned to escape. After some time, she was found, but refused to be married off, whereupon her parents disowned her.

Concerned that other girls might not be strong enough to withstand the pressure, she launched the charity Karma Nirvana from her front room in 1993, aiming to put an end to forced marriage and honor-based violence.

After campaigning and lobbying the Government to make it illegal, the woman, now 48, finally got her wish. Jasvinder Sanghera received a CBE in December for her efforts.

The UK Government deals with 8,000 cases a year and those are just the ones who fight their case. The fact that forced marriages are now illegal should put a stop to what was once thought of as a cultural issue. See karmanirvana.org.uk.

Everybody appreciates the beauty in south western England. I've never flown overhead, but maps give us a good picture of the coastal layout. The tiny little strip of land looks like an elephant's trunk.

All my novels are set in Cornwall. I don't live there, but I'm drawn by the ancient stories of myths and legends, one of which includes Tintagel Castle, named as the home of King Arthur. My Moonstone series tell of a woman living in our times who wears an ancient ring. In the futuristic Higher Ground series, the characters traverse dense forests which have taken over the land in a quest to find the ring. 

Bantham, a coastal village in south Devon, lies on the estuary of the River Avon a quarter of a mile from the sea at Bigbury Bay. It has a beach which is popular with surfers and is backed by dunes.

The entire Devonshire seaside village along with the beaches are to go on the market this weekend.

Residents in Bantham, near Kingsbridge, were told last November by the Evans Estate owner that land and buildings in the village would be sold. The privately-run estate, owned by the same family for several generations, is expected to reach an asking price of £11.5m. Interest has been shown from around the world.

About 750 acres of land is expected to be included in the sale of the village, which has more than 40 homes, a pub, a harbor and a shop.

Local people have raised concerns about its future, hoping the National Trust will step in and buy the estate.

Here's another case of ownership being passed on to descendants. How can a person own a beach? Doesn't seem right. Next, we'll hear about ownership of the sea—or the moon. First come, first take, first keep.

The engagement ring in Western society symbolizes a promise to wed. The wedding band signifies fidelity to one person. But rings throughout history have been used in other ways—pressed into a wax seal to show authority, held out on the hand of a bishop or pope to be kissed, or even used to identify the body of a noble.

Rings have inspired many people to write stories. You'll note the ring on the cover of my novel Still Rock Water, one click away from Amazon. In the story, the ancient star moonstone ring originating from the last God's Wife of Amun, a priestess in an ancient Egyptian belief. The asterism in the moonstone imparts telepathic powers in the form of visions to a very human woman living in our times.

But back to reality. Despite objections from several groups, a 41.2g jeweled golden ring which once belonged to Tipu Sultan, an 18th Century Indian ruler, was sold for £145,000 by Christie's auction house.

The Tipu Sultan United Front urged Indian authorities to do all they could to prevent the ring from being sold. Also, Professor S. Settar from India's National Institute of Advanced Studies urged the Indian government to "make use of all available avenues, legal and diplomatic, to recover the ring".

The Muslim king's ring was inscribed with the name of a Hindu God Ram (Rama) in raised Devenagri script. Rama, in the words of Swami Vivekananda, is "the embodiment of truth, of morality, the ideal son, the ideal husband, and above all, the ideal king.” By his act of wearing the ring, Tipu Sultan could have shown more sympathy toward Hindus than previously thought.

Also known as the Tiger of Mysore, Tipu Sultan ruled the state for 17 years after he succeeded his father, Hyder Ali. Tipu Sultan fought against British rule in India. The ring is thought to have been taken from his body by a British general at the end of the 1799 Srirangappattinam battle.

Looting is frowned on in modern times, but sell the plunder, albeit passed on through family or private arrangement, seems amoral.

Tipu Sultan's ring still retained the power to incite protests about its sale. Perhaps it should have returned to India. But that raises the question of where the king obtained the ring. Did he take it from a Hindu ruler?

It does little good to insist that artifacts return to their original country. Every nationality owns objects produced in other cultures, old or new. Just like people, things move about and settle in one place. We all contain genes of many different races.

In the end, the sale of the ring depended on the resources of the highest bidder. The person in question remains anonymous.

I've taken a day to think about this subject and it is with regret that I feel I should share my experience. 
No matter how good you feel about yourself, that's not how others will see you.

I've always been confident, proud, strong and a person who gives others reassurance and understanding. But with the advance of age, I no longer give off my former vitality. When I'm sitting, I can hold a good conversation—it's only when I move that I let myself down.

The treatment I received from the doctor yesterday has left me feeling worthless. I'll tell you exactly what occurred (from my point of view) and you can be the judge.

When I entered Room 4 of the surgery, the doctor looked up and asked what seemed to be the trouble. I explained and she asked to examine me on the table. But I couldn't raise my leg. She kept repeating that I should get up. After more attempts of trying to lift the leg in question with both hands, I told her I couldn't. She waited. I suggested she move the stool to the other end of the table, but she told me it was fixed. After further failed attempts, she lifted my leg.

I almost sobbed with relief.

After the examination, she confirmed my suspicion and dismissed the problem as of no consequence. She asked me if it was hurting. I said no, so she raised her eyebrows and told me to keep using the cream. When I told her I'd run out, she made no response but sat typing at her keyboard. I also requested a repeat of antiseptic cream and support stockings. After a bit of chatting about the possible outcome when the ointment had done it's job, she handed me a prescription for two items, not three, and told me to buy antiseptic cream over the counter. No response came from my admission of being short of money.

At the close of our discussion, I shuffled to the door, whereupon she noted my difficulty in walking. My pain nearly brought tears to my eyes, but her words were so cold.

As a person who is accustomed to the respect or admiration of those around me, the shock of losing the aforementioned regard wounds me.

The doctor looked tired, disinterested and uncaring. She probably saw me as unimportant and demanding. Perhaps if I had wealth, or a solid background of any worth like a renown writer or a famous celebrity, I'd receive better care. But would I be buying the attention if that was the case?

In the UK, the National Health Service was set up to provide health care from the cradle to the grave. But is this really happening today?

Doctors are all people, with strengths and weaknesses just like the rest of us. Another doctor might have handled the situation better. Staff working for the Nation Health are overworked, nurses are underpaid and the system is undergoing changes. However, doctors are among the most highly paid professionals in the country.

I don't think I'm unique. A similar loss of dignity must happen to most people over the age of 70.

Shame on society for treating mature people this way.