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Can Gossip Actually Be Healthy - HER Week In Health

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Can Gossip Actually Be Healthy - HER Week In Health
Can Gossip Actually Be Healthy - HER Week In Health
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In this edition of EmpowHER's, "HER Week In Health", Bailey Mosier reveals how a little bit of gossip may actually be healthy, learn that many young American girls fail to recognize weight gain, and finally examine the link between acne and obesity.

Hi, I’m Bailey Mosier. This is your EmpowHER HER Week in Health.

Society tells us that gossiping about other people is a bad thing, but in this week’s edition we’ll learn why scientists say a little bit of gossip can actually be healthy. We’ll also learn that many young American girls fail to recognize weight gain and we’ll examine the link between acne and obesity. Have a look.

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley conducted four experiments involving hundreds of volunteers and found that gossip has benefits such as reducing stress, discouraging bad behavior and preventing exploitation.

The urge to warn others about bad people is so strong that study participants sacrificed money to send a "gossip note" to warn others about people’s dishonest behavior.

The team found that gossip can be therapeutic and that it helps maintain social order. The researchers concluded that people shouldn’t feel bad about gossiping if it prevents others from being hurt or taken advantage of.

Researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston recently found that many young American women fail to recognize recent weight gain.

The team surveyed 466 women whose average age was 25, about their weight and other health measures every six months for three years. One-third of women did not recognize weight gains of 5 pounds during a six-month period, and nearly one-quarter did not recognize weight gains of 9 pounds.

The findings are important because weight gain increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and other obesity-related health problems and if women in our society are not aware of their weight gain, that makes it all the more difficult to try and change the behaviors resulting in those gains.

Researchers from Norway recently explored a connection between acne and obesity and found that teenage girls who are overweight or obese are significantly more likely to develop acne than their normal-weight peers.

Over 3,600 Norwegians ages 18 and 19 were surveyed about their habits as related to drinking or smoking, history of mental distress and dietary habits.

Researchers found 13 percent of all the girls in the sample had acne and when looking solely at girls who were overweight or obese, this figure rose to 19 percent. They were unable to draw the same connection for the boys in the sample.

While the researchers can’t confirm a cause-and-effect relationship at work here, they say this work can help us better understand why people develop acne and ways to prevent it.

That wraps up your EmpowHER HER Week in Health. Join me here at EmpowHER.com every Friday for the latest in women’s health.

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