Just wrap a tape measure around your middle. That's one quick way to gauge whether you're dangerously overweight.

Researchers have found a waist measurement of 35 inches or more for women and 41 inches or more for men indicates serious risk of weight-related health problems. Height didn't change that risk assessment.

Eat Less, Live Longer

You may be able to live longer by eating less, according to research done by an Institute on Aging. Experiments conducted since the 1930s show that cutting calories by one third practically transforms short-lived insects and rodents into modern day Methuselahs of the bug world. Studies with humans would take almost 100 years to complete.

Easy Go, Easy Come

Nearly 200 dieters following one commercial weight-loss programme diet of formula and prepacked foods lost an average of 48 pounds. But three years later only 12 percent of those dieters had kept off at least 75 percent of the lost weight. And 40 percent gained back more than they had lost. Regular exercise was the strongest predictor of maintaining weight loss. The best predictor of weight regain: frequent television viewing.

If You Love Loud Music, Listen to This

Loud music, whether it comes from radios, headphones or at the disco, could severely impair one's hearing. A study done in a general hospital has warned that prolonged exposure to loud music could damage the eardrums. When exposed for several hours to 120db- A (the intensity of sound measured at a disco), permanent hearing loss might result.

In a earlier UP-PGH study on noise-included hearing damage, a team of doctors had themselves exposed to the music at a disco. Prior to the exposure, their hearing was tested and recorded as normal. After one hour at the disco where the sound intensity was measured at 120db A, they were again tested and “temporary shift in the hearing impairement for a day or two. After a couple of days, their hearing was back to normal.

For those who seem to be permanently attached to their headphones, the research cautioned to keep the volume down. “When the volume is constantly set at full blast for long durations, and directed right it can do damage inside the ears- the listener may permanently lose his hearing.

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