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Quick facts to keep you healthy.
Quick facts to keep you healthy.
A new scientific study warns some of our hobbies should come with a health warning. It states that there are hidden dangers in typical pastimes – anything from computer gaming and working out at the gym to gardening and walking the dog.
According to the research from hand hygiene experts Cuticura, the dangers are down to a lack of practising good hand hygiene
- Cooking: Three quarters of Brits cook from scratch daily, but wannabe chefs are at risk of the campylobacter bacteria which can be caught from raw chicken on unwashed hands, chopping boards and knives and causes 300,000 cases of food borne illnesses each year.
- Gardening: 20 million green-fingered gardeners could get more than they bargained for digging about in the soil; in severe cases, infection can lead to eye problems, lung, liver, heart or brain lesions.
- Shopping: 1 in 6 girls say shopping is their favourite pastime, but superbugs like MRSA lurk on everything from changing room door handles to chip and PIN devices
- Eating Out: 23 million people each year go out with friends once a week; though sharing foods like peanuts, shared garlic bread and poppadoms can lead to contamination of germs
- Pets: The obvious pooper-scooping and changing litter trays can put you at risk of parasites, but even stroking pets can lead to bacteria being picked up and can cause illnesses such as diarrhoea.
- Computer gaming: 38% of us are gamers, but germs like Staphylococcus and viruses causing skin infections can live on games consoles and arcade machines. Eating while you play? You could be putting bacteria straight into your mouth…
- Camping: Tens of thousands of us head to festivals every year, but campers could be unwittingly picking up e-coli from fields where livestock have grazed.
- Working out: 7.4 million people have gym membership, but aren’t aware of the bacteria and viruses that reside on equipment handles or in changing rooms
- Ten pin bowling: Ever thought what may be inside those bowling ball holes? Germs like salmonella and e-coli can linger in the finger holes and breed on finger tips and under finger nails!
- Dancing: Before you try to replicate any moves you’ve seen on Strictly, think about where your partner’s hands have been – moist hands are a perfect breeding ground for bacteria
Now wash your hands please!
