People who live close to the coast are more likely to meet physical activity guidelines than inland dwellers, found a study.

Examining the degree of exercise people get through leisure activities as well as simply getting around, the study has shown that visiting the coast, rather than just living near it, is crucial in stimulating physical activity.

"It is clear that our coastal paths and beaches provide a wonderful resource for encouraging and enabling physical activity. Participants reported a number of activities from simply walking to more obvious exercise such as swimming or running," said Mathew White from the University of Exeter's Medical School.

To reach this conclusion, the team analysed data from over 180,000 participants.

The research involved participants from across England and describes a particularly noticeable effect on the western - but unexpectedly not eastern - coasts of the nation.

"We might have uncovered untapped potential for beach resorts and destinations to be used to encourage exercise and promote healthy lifestyles," added Ben Wheeler, one of the paper's co-authors.

According to researchers, government policy needs to ensure these natural spaces are protected and responsibly promoted.

The findings were published in the journal Preventive Medicine.

Exposure to cold temperatures can convert white fat tissue from the thighs and belly to beige fat that burns calories for heat, says new research.

Known as brown adipose tissue (BAT), brown fat is a kind of fat tissue that burns energy and glucose to generate heat.

White fat does not have this ability but plays a role in burning calories when it takes on some brown fat characteristics and the tissue created in this process is called beige fat.

In lab settings, when rodents were exposed to cold temperatures, they converted white fat deposits to beige fat.

"We wanted to investigate whether human adults had the ability to transform some white fat deposits into beige fat when they were exposed to cold," said Philip A. Kern at University of Kentucky's school of Medicine in Lexington.

Browning fat tissue would be an excellent defense against obesity. It would result in the body burning extra calories rather than converting them into additional fat tissue, Philip pointed out.

Researchers analysed belly fat tissue samples from 55 people to see if the tissue samples taken in winter showed more evidence of browning activity than those taken in summer.

"Our findings indicate inflammation can hinder the conversion of white to beige fat," stressed Kern.

When researchers analysed tissue samples in the lab, they found that exposing white fat to macrophage cells from the immune system inhibited the transformation.

The study appeared in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

Low sexual desire among some women is a treatable condition and they should not feel embarrassed about it as it may ruin their personal life and self confidence.

According to a study, more than one-quarter of pre-menopausal and one-third of post-menopausal women are very dissatisfied with their current level of sexual desire.

Most had not discussed their low sexual desire with doctors because they felt uncomfortable or were not aware that it is a treatable condition.

"Given the prevalence of low sexual desire in women and the important role that sexual function plays in women's lives, health care providers should recognise female sexual function as an integral part of health and well-being," said Susan G. Kornstein, executive director of the Virginia Commonwealth University Institute for Women's Health in Richmond.

Low sexual desire is common among both pre- and post-menopausal women.

"It can cause personal distress, harm relationships, and have a negative impact on body image and self confidence," added lead researcher Sheryl A. Kingsberg from the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland.

The study appeared in the Journal of Women's Health.

A new study has indicated that family meals, which tend to include fruits, vegetables, calcium, and whole grains, could help teens to stay away from obesity.

Jerica M. Berge, PhD, and his colleagues from the University of Minnesota and Columbia University used data from a 10-year longitudinal study with their Project EAT (Eating and Activity among Teens), to examine weight-related variables among adolescents.

According to Berge, it was important to identify modifiable factors in the home environment, such as family meals, that could protect against overweight/obesity through the transition to adulthood.

The study showed that Fifty-one percent of the subjects were overweight and 22 percent were obese.

Among adolescents who reported that they never ate family meals together, 60 percent were overweight and 29 percent were obese at the 10-year follow-up.

Results also showed a stronger protective effect of family meal frequency on obesity among black young adults compared with white young adults. However, the limited significant interactions overall by race/ethnicity suggest that the protective influence of family meals for adolescents spans all races/ethnicities.

As noted by Dr. Berge, "Informing parents that even having 1 or 2 family meals per week may protect their child from overweight or obesity in young adulthood would be important." Using this information, public health and health care professionals who work with adolescents can give parents another tool in the fight against obesity.

The study is published in the Journal of Pediatrics.

Beware men, especially if you plan to father a child soon. A new research has now linked alcohol consumption to poor quality of sperm.

According to the new study, drinking just five units of alcohol every week could reduce the quality of sperm in healthy young men.

The study is based on the findings on 1,221 Danish men between the ages of 18 and 28, all of whom underwent a medical examination to assess their fitness for military service between 2008 and 2012.

As part of their assessment, the military recruits were asked about their drinking habits. They were also asked to provide a semen sample to check on the quality of their sperm, and a blood sample to check on their levels of reproductive hormones.

The average number of units drunk in the preceding week was 11. Almost two thirds (64 per cent) had binge drunk, while around six out of 10 (59 per cent) said they had been drunk more than twice, during the preceding month.

Researchers found that drinking alcohol in the preceding week was linked to changes in reproductive hormone levels, with the effects increasingly more noticeable the higher the tally of units.

Testosterone levels rose, while sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) fell; similar associations were also evident for the number of times an individual had been drunk or had binge drunk in the preceding month, researchers said.

Almost half (45 per cent, 553) of the men said that the quantity of alcohol they drank in the preceding week was typical of their weekly consumption.

They also found that the higher the tally of weekly units, the lower was the sperm quality, in terms of total sperm count and the proportion of sperm that were of normal size and shape.

The effects were evident from five plus units a week upwards, but most apparent among those who drank 25 or more units every week.

Heavier drinkers (50 units a week) had 33 per cent lower sperm count and also had 51 per cent less normal-looking sperm than those who drank fewer than five units per week, found the study.

The research has been published in the journal BMJ Open.