The heart benefits of whole grains such as oats and brown rice have long been known but a recent study found they can reduce the risk of other diseases too.

Chronic inflammation in body tissue is thought to contribute to illnesses including arthritis, heart disease and diabetes. In a 15 year study scientists from the University of Minnesota, USA monitored 42,000 menopausal women and found those who ate 11 or more servings of whole grains a week were one third less likely to die from an inflammatory disease. Scientists think the protective antioxidants in whole grains could account for the link, so load up on grains such as brown rice, oats, and rye.

More dramatic evidence has emerged to show that banning smoking in public places reduces the risk of heart attacks. In Scotland hospital admissions dropped by 17 percent since smoking was banned in public places in Scotland.

The figures compare with an annual reduction of only three percent for the 10 years before the ban was introduced, the Scottish Government said on its website. Research led by Glasgow University showed there were 3,235 people admitted to hospital with heart attacks in the 10 months before the ban took effect, a government spokeswoman said. But in the 10 months after the ban was brought in, there were 2,684 admissions for people with heart attacks, she added.

The research focused on heart attack admissions to nine hospitals, which accounted for nearly two-thirds of all Scottish hospital heart attack admissions. The research was presented in Edinburgh where Scotland’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer Peter Donnelly said it showed the smoking ban was already producing “significant” public health benefits. “It provides evidence that the legislation is improving the health of everyone in Scotland – including smokers, non-smokers, children and bar workers,” Donnelly told an audience of international health experts.

Scotland was the first country in the United Kingdom to introduce a smoking ban. Wales, Northern Ireland and England followed this year. If the pattern in Scotland was repeated in the UK there would be almost 40,000 fewer heart attacks each year.

Overweight pregnant mothers are statistically more likely to have children with a higher amount of body fat by the time they turn nine years old, research has revealed.

A study, led by Catharine Gale and Professor Cyrus Cooper from the University of Southampton, found that children whose mothers had a higher pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) or had fatter upper arms during late pregnancy were significantly more likely to have a higher amount of body fat themselves at the age of nine. Women who smoked during pregnancy also had fatter children, the study discovered. The researchers carried out a whole body scan of 216 nine-year-old children, whose mothers had participated in a study of nutrition during pregnancy.

The study investigated the relationship between maternal size in pregnancy, early growth and body composition at the age of nine years.

Previous research has shown that babies are born with a higher amount of body fat if their mothers are significantly overweight during pregnancy. The latest research indicates that this carries on into childhood, with possible long-term effects for health.