Whether it’s to improve your fitness, health or environment, taking up bicycle riding can be one of the best decisions you have ever made.

Save the planet

【小题1】. Twenty bicycles can be parked in the same space as one car. It takes around 5 percent of the materials and energy used to make a car to build a bike, and a bike produces zero pollution.

【小题2】.

Cycling just 20 miles a week reduces your risk of heart disease to less than half that of those who take no exercise. Studies from Purdue University in the US have shown that regular cycling can cut your risk of heart disease by 50 percent.

Enjoy healthy family time

Cycling is an activity the whole family can do together. It’s kind on your joints, and there’s nothing to stop grandparents joining in too. Moreover, your riding habit can be sowing the seeds for your kids.【小题3】. Put simply, if your kids see you riding regularly, they will think it’s normal and want to follow your example.

Increase your brain power

Do you want to be smarter and increase your brain power?【小题4】. That’s because cycling helps build new brain cells in the hippocampus—the part responsible for memory which goes worse from the age of 30. 【小题5】. It increases blood flow and oxygen to the brain.

Make you happy

Even if you’re not in a good mood, just three 30-minute rides a week can be enough to give people the lift they need.

Eating healthy and balanced food in school can help kids perform well in their classes. 【小题1】. As a parent, you can encourage your kids to eat well in school by educating them at home and getting involved in their school’s meal programs.

1. Talk to your kids about good nutrition.

If you encourage healthy eating habits at home, it will be much easier for your kids to make good choices at school. Talk with your kids about the benefits of eating healthy foods and the risks of choosing unhealthy ones. 【小题2】. Eat meals together as a family and let your kids see you making good food choices.

2. 【小题3】.

Kids eating healthily at home will have an easier time developing good eating habits. Serve balanced meals with a combination of fiber, proteins and other nutrition. Make sure your child has access to healthy snacks in case they get hungry between meals. 【小题4】.

3. Get involved with school meal programs.

Parent-teacher organizations play an important part in school nutrition programs. 【小题5】. For example, you may be able to work with the organization to design the school’s menu.

Deep sleep doesn’t just rest your body. Scientists believe it’s also when the brain washes away toxins (毒素), with a new project looking at whether the brain’s self-clean can be boosted.

South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) neuroscientist Dr Tim Sargeant has teamed with Dr Edward Robins from SAHMRI’s Molecular Imaging and Therapy Research Unit to develop a brain scan that shows how well a brain is cleaning itself. Studies have shown that a clean brain would help with memory while fighting dementia (痴呆).

Scientists believe our brains clean themselves out each night when we enter deep sleep. Cerebrospinal fluid (脑脊液) is thought to wash through the brain, cleaning out toxins. Studies have shown a clear link between poor memory and toxins like the buildup of sticky plaques (粘性斑块) in the brains. Scientists believe brains that have a buildup of this plaque over time may not be cleaning themselves properly, putting people at risk of dementia.

Fortunately, the hope is that a clean brain would help with memory while fighting dementia. The brain scan will use special material to track how well the brain can keep itself clean and healthy through the process of removing and recycling its waste. “We’re aiming to catch the signs of the brain struggling to keep itself clean in individuals around the age of 50 or 60, well before the onset of Alzheimer’s disease (老年痴呆症) in most people,” Dr Sargeant said.

This new scan, an exciting imaging technology, will allow scientists to form a picture of a living brain and watch how it’s recycling wasting material in real time. “The scan takes out a lot of the guess work, by allowing scientists to see with their own eyes if they’ve hit the target or not,” Dr Robins said. “Without imaging, a researcher can get all the way up to the trial stage before realising they’re at a dead end.”