Should I give a four-month-old baby solids?

When should babies start solids? My first child was gobbling up runny baby cereal at three months. Two decades later (my child-bearing was spread out), the rules had changed to…

Why eating more fruit and veg doesn’t always help you lose weight

Will eating more fruit and vegetables make me thin? Want to get thin? Eat more fruit and vegetables – they’re a low-calorie way of filling up, right? The health site…

Why walking is good for you

Pilates, yoga and the classic treadmill get all the attention when it comes to popular ways to stay healthy. There is, however, a more unassuming workout that might not get…

Text neck: how smartphones are damaging our spines

Are smartphones a pain in the neck? According to new research carried out by a US doctor, they are far worse – “text neck” is becoming an epidemic that could…

Vampire of the uplands

At first I thought it was a thorn from a rose. I ran my hand up the back of my calf and could feel it caught in my skin. Something…

How to cure my allergy

It was an egg biryani that started it. I had spent Easter hooked up to an intravenous drip in India – after a curry turned out to be housing a…

Eat, drink and be … healthy?

It is a bright, autumnal Tuscan morning. Woodsmoke rises poker-straight into the sky, the village church jangles the quarter-hours and green-cloaked hills wrap the horizon. I’m in the walled garden…

Teeth problems are top reason for young children’s hospital admissions

The number one reason for primary-school-aged children being admitted to hospital is to have multiple teeth taken out, newly released figures show. The number of children aged from five to…

Exercise is good … but it won’t help you lose weight, say doctors

Being dangerously overweight is all down to bad diet rather than a lack of exercise, according to a trio of doctors who have reopened the debate about whether food, sedentary…

Cocoa, fruit and tea can help keep heart healthy, study says

Substances found in cocoa, fruit and tea could help healthy people keep their heart and circulation in good working order as they get older, according to researchers in Germany. Healthy…

Memory loss in old age breakthrough offers dementia hope, say researchers

Researchers may have found a way to slow down or prevent memory problems that arise in old age and which can become devastating in patients with dementia. The fresh hope…

Me and the muse: Kamasi Washington on his sources of inspiration

The saxophonist Kamasi Washington, 34, is a key figure in the Los Angeles jazz scene. As well as leading his own band, the Next Step, and collaborating with a variety…

‘Philthy Animal’ Taylor – the man who invented thrash

If you want to know how important Phil “Philthy Animal” Taylor was to the development of metal, go on to YouTube. There you’ll find a clip from 2011 of “the…

Watch extracts from the Scottish Ensemble and Andersson Dance’s Goldberg Variations

Goldberg Variations – tenary patterns for insomnia is a collaboration between Glasgow-based string orchestra Scottish Ensemble and Swedish-based contemporary dance company Andersson Dance. 11 musicians and five dancers have created…

Adele’s platinum-certified single Hello tops singles chart for third week

Adele’s record-breaking single Hello has spent three consecutive weeks at No 1 on the UK singles chart. Since its release on 23 October, Hello has become thefastest-selling single in the…

Rachel Platten tops the UK singles chart for the first time

Singer-songwriter Rachel Platten has scored her first ever UK No 1, topping the official singles chart with the track Fight Song. The power ballad first entered the top 100 at…

Rolling Stones to enter the studio this year, says Ronnie Wood

The Rolling Stones are to enter the studio before the year is out to begin work on their next album, according to guitarist Ronnie Wood. Keith Richards has been suggesting…

Julia Holter review – magical mystery tour of classical, pop, jazz and all between

It’s not unusual for a singer-songwriter who performs under their own name, as Julia Holter does, to introduce the musicians in their backing band towards the end of a live…

Amy Winehouse, my sister and addiction

Iremember where I was the day that Amy Winehouse died. I had run into a shop in Soho to buy a birthday present, when I heard an exchange between the…

Alicia Keys laments ‘heartless’ justice system in reform pitch to Congress

From time to time, celebrities visit Washington to join advocates in favor of a cause – often raising the profile of an issue by giving extra weight to an otherwise…

Lady Gaga hit on head by pole at Auckland concert

Lady Gaga has been struck on the head by a pole while performing a concert in New Zealand. The singer was hit on Sunday during the third of three shows…

U2 review – primal scream therapy delivered from an arena-rock stage

Few bands would regard playing six nights at the O2 as a step down. For U2, whose previous, stadium-filling 360° tour lasted two years and was the highest grossing tour…