Key to long life? People who are too happy die younger than their more downbeat peers, researchers have claimed People who are ‘too happy’ die younger than their more downbeat peers, claims new research. A study which followed children from the 1920s to old age showed that people who were rated ‘highly cheerful’ by teachers at school died at a younger age than their more reserved classmates. This was because people who were too happy were more likely to suffer from mental disorders such as bipolar, making them less fearful and more likely to take risks that increase the...

BY Meena Hartenstein At The Heart Attack Grill in Arizona, the more you weigh, the more you get. The kitschy medically-themed restaurant is now offering free meals to anyone weighing over 350 pounds. To hawk the new special, the “Home of the Double Bypass Burger” has enlisted plus-size spokesman Blair River, who tips the scales at 570 pounds. “Other diets don’t deliver results,” River says in a new YouTube ad for the restaurant. “But I’ve made incredible progress on the ‘Heart Attack Grill’ diet. A couple months ago, I was wearing these,”...

A Brazilian court has ordered McDonald’s to pay a former franchise manager $US17,500 ($18,000) because he gained 29kg while working there for 12 years. The 32-year-old man says he was forced to sample food products each day to ensure that quality standards remained high because McDonald’s hired “mystery clients” to randomly visit restaurants and report on the food, service and cleanliness. The man also says McDonald’s offered free lunches to employees, adding to his kilojoule intake while on the job.

A desperate mum is begging doctors to help shrink her super size toddler – who is already tipping the scales at a massive 10 stone. Three-year-old Xiao Hao already dwarfs his petite mum Xiao Lin and has been banned by several local nurseries in Guangzhou, southern China, as a health hazard to other youngsters. “He means no harm he is just big and likes to play. I take him swimming for exercise but it is hard finding trunks to fit him and even the rubber rings are too small,” sighed his mother. Read more…

Park officials in China have found a way to stop people from hogging their benches for too long – by fitting steel spikes on a coin-operated timer. If visitors at the Yantai Park in Shangdong province, eastern China, linger too long without feeding the meter, dozens of sharp spikes shoot through the seat. The spikes are too short to cause any serious harm – but long enough to prevent people from sitting on them comfortably. Park bosses got the idea from an art installation in Germany where sculptor Fabian Brunsing created a similar bench as a protest against the commercialisation of...

An Italian businessman missed his ex-girlfriend so much after she dumped him that he paid £12,000 to recreate her as a realistic sex doll. The 50-year-old man put together a collection of photos of his ex for Italian adult toymaker Diego Bortolin to work on, reports Il Messaggero. “I want it just like her but with bigger boobs,” he reportedly requested. Mr Bortolin, who hasn’t named the man, creates silicone sex dolls at the factory behind his shop in Treviso, Italy. “She was a smiling blonde girl but he wanted bigger boobs and a curvier backside,” Mr Bortolin said....

A teacher with a phobia over rabbits is suing a 14-year-old pupil for compensation after she drew a bunny on the blackboard. The teacher, from Vechta, Germany, says she was traumatised by the drawing, and claims the girl knew it would terrify her. She had transferred to the school where a pupil from her former school had just become a pupil and told her new friends about the teacher’s fear of rabbits. Read more…

The discovery that laughing may have the same effect on appetite as exercise could lead to ‘laughter treatment’ for patients who have lost their interest in food A hearty laugh can unleash some of the same changes in the body’s chemistry as a quick bout of physical exercise, scientists claim. People who watched funny movies or comedy acts experienced the same hormonal changes that follow exercise and that are thought to boost appetite, they say. The finding could lead to the development of better ways to encourage healthy eating among patients who have gone off their food because...

Laughter is believed to help breathing, circulation, relieve stress, reduce pain, lift your mood and give your mind a rest. Joan Cary Whitney Munro did not think that as a fitness specialist and mother she had to take a class just to learn how to laugh. But she signed up for laughter yoga class and second-guessed herself all the way to the American School of Laughter Yoga in Chicago. Two days later, she returned home exhilarated, eager and certified to teach laughter therapy to the seniors she helps at Fairview senior living community in Downers Grove, Illinois. Read More…

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