(Akiit.com) Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz reminded us that “there’s no place like home.” By that, she was implying that there was a place that was safe and far away from the danger she was experiencing in the land of Oz at the hands of the Wicked Witch of the West. She thought that if she focused on her home long and hard enough, she could imagine that she was there.
But many Americans don’t live in homes like Dorothy. They aren’t safe places to live and sometimes they can cause real harm. Take a look at these ways your home could hurt your health.
You’ve Got Cupboards Full Of Junk Food
Registered dietitian Christin Palumbo from the Chicago area says that trigger foods like ice cream and cookies in people’s kitchens can lead to severe health problems further down the road. She says that they can derail a healthy eating program and have you reaching for high-calorie foods between 3pm and bedtime. She suggests that people who know that they are going to overeat out their food in Ziploc bags containing no more than 150 calories. Once you’ve munched your way through one bag, you’re much less likely to return for another, she says.
Your Electrics Are A Mess
Most people don’t think about the electrics in their house as being bad for their health. But older electrical systems could prove deadly. The plastic wrap that insulates electrical wires is designed to last around 70 years. That means that the last time the electrics were done in your house was back in the 1950s, you could be in trouble. Electrical safety testing makes sure that your appliances and wires aren’t at risk of fire and that you’re not at risk of being electrocuted. Every year, hundreds of people are electrocuted in their own homes, including many children. Don’t take the risk: if your electrics are old, have them replaced before they burn down your house with you inside.
You’ve Got Gadgets In The Bedroom
A study in the medical journal Pediatric Obesity found something rather unusual. It discovered that children who bask in the blue glow of their devices late at night were much more likely to have poor lifestyle habits and less likely to get enough sleep. The researchers found that kids that had access to electronic devices in their bedrooms were 1.47 times more overweight. What’s more, the effect increased with the number of devices. When three or more devices were in the room, kids were more than 2.57 times as overweight as the control group with no devices.
Your Thermostat Is Set Too High
The journal Diabetes recently discovered that there is a link between how much we heat our homes and how fat we are. It turns out that turning down the heating in winter helps us to burn off our belly fat while we sleep. Participants in the study were split into three groups. One slept in a neutral 75 degrees, another at 66 and another at a warm 81. Those who slept in 66 degrees, doubled their stores of healthy brown fat and reduced the amount of white, dangerous visceral fat around the organs and abdomen.
Staff Writer; Greg Hall