Family disputes increasing 20 per cent annually

Abu Dhabi: Family disputes in the UAE are increasing yearly with domestic violence making up three to five per cent of total family dispute cases, a report by the official English monthly of the Ministry of Interior revealed.

Doctor Abdul Aziz Mohammad Al Hammadi, acting head of the Family Reformation Section of the Personal Status Department in Dubai Courts, said the number of family disputes are increasing by 20 per cent year on year in the Emirate.

He added the recorded cases are only those that are reported by families seeking reconciliation and reformation.

The exact statistics of domestic violence crimes are not available, because women and children seldom muster the willpower to report it and seek the support they need.

This month’s issue of 999 Magazine also shows that cases of domestic abuse in the country are highly linked to cultural and social factors.

A study from the Ministry of Interior’s Creativity and Leaders Development Centre, based on the 100 domestic violence cases reported to the Abu Dhabi Police Social Support Centre, reveals that 90 per cent of the aggressors are male and 90 per cent of the victims are female.

According to the statement, this is an indication that social factors, such as the dominant role given to males in society, actively play in this menace.

The same report shows that nearly three-quarters (73 per cent) of the victims are wives, 16 per cent are children and 8 per cent are husbands.

Although domestic violence in the UAE has not become a phenomenon, authorities have been proactive in launching various initiatives to address the issue.

To combat the domestic violence problem, UAE authorities have been training female criminal investigators and have been setting up safe havens, such as the Comprehensive Protection Family Centre in Abu Dhabi, for battered women and children, encouraging them to come forward and report abuse.

In May this year, Abu Dhabi Police organised a conference titled, The Role of Family in Modern Society, which covered, among other subjects, the topic of domestic violence.

Lt Colonel Awadh Saleh Al Kindi, Editor-in-Chief of 999, said: “Domestic violence is a social menace that, though not yet a phenomenon in the UAE, is an issue that is treated seriously. Domestic violence takes the form of mental and physical assault on women and children; and in rare cases, men are also at the receiving end. Through increased awareness and support for victims, state and private agencies are working to repel this problem.”

The UAE laws safeguard child and women rights of care and protection inside and outside homes. Article 16 of the UAE Constitution calls for the provision of good, free care for both mother and child, as well as disabled people. Different laws in the UAE, including those on labour, penal code, and civil status penalise violence, abuse and ill-treatment. Furthermore, the country is working on more detailed and specialised laws to allow for better observation and penalty against perpetrators

Ten Health Trends You Can’t Ignore

Your diet may be full of whole grain and organic foods, and your medicine cabinet loaded with the latest fat-fighting pills. But if you really want to get ahead of the health care curve, you'll need a kitchen full of mangosteens and a gym that will let you chase dragons.
 Super fruits and entertaining workout equipment are just two of the newest trends in the world of health and fitness, where time-starved, stressed-out consumers are demanding new and easy ways to look and feel good.
 'The biggest health and wellness issue out there right now is stress,' says Barbara Katz, president of Florida-based consulting company HealthFocus International. 'It's impacting people across the board. That's one of the reasons everybody is interested in antioxidants.'
Foods that contain antioxidants--molecules thought to prevent some diseases and promote good health-- have been increasingly popular in recent years. Consumers are seeking out foods with the highest concentrations of the stuff, like the Brazilian acai berry and the mangosteen, a fruit common in Southeast Asian cuisine. These so-called 'super fruits' are increasingly becoming mainstream, says Katz.
 Over the next few years, consumers should be on the lookout for so-called 'nutrigenomic' foods, which contain ingredients that may affect genes responsible for disease prevention. WellGen, for instance, is developing a black tea extract geared toward helping people maintain healthy joints.
 Another nutrition trend is growing concern about trans fat substitutions. Foods which contain trans fats pack a double whammy of lowering good cholesterol and raising bad cholesterol, which can clog arteries. Since the New York City Board of Health banned artificial trans fats from city restaurants, a number of national fast food chains have followed suit.
But now some nutritionists are worried about restaurants or food manufacturers using saturated fat instead, diminishing the health benefits of the ban. Research by Alice Lichtenstein, a professor of nutrition science and policy at Tufts University, has shown that decreasing trans fat intake without changing other dietary habits doesn't have a very big impact on heart health or obesity.
 Trans fats have taken on a disproportionate amount of attention,' Lichtenstein says.
Other health trends are driven by an aging society. As baby boomers start to feel their age, more doctors are looking for new ways to treat back pain, says Dr. Sam Bakshian, a practicing surgeon and partner at Tower Orthopedics in Beverly Hills, Calif. One increasingly popular treatment is the use of a small titanium implant to relieve pressure on the spinal canal. It's a less invasive technique requiring shorter recovery times than traditional back surgery.
 Technology is also helping keep bodies healthy in the gym. In October, exercise equipment manufacturer Expresso Fitness will unveil technology aimed at providing a more addictive, entertaining experience: exercise bikes featuring front-mounted monitors and steerable handlebars, which allow users to 'ride' a variety of virtual courses.
Gym rats can also exercise while playing videogames that involve slaying dragons and gobbling coins, winning prizes that can be redeemed for rewards like a free personal training session. It's all intended to attract gamers to the machine--as well as people bored of watching Oprah while they ride.
 What we've always done is fitness first, then fun,' says Mark Urlage, vice president of sales for Expresso Fitness. 'I think with this new [technology] we're putting fun first. Fitness then comes along with the ride.
 Of course, not every health trend is for the better. As the number of autism diagnoses in the U.S. has grown, so has the number of ineffective fad treatments like special diets or nutritional supplements, says James Mulick, professor of pediatrics and psychology at Ohio State University, and editor of Controversial Therapies for Developmental Disabilities: Fad, Fashion and Science in Professional Practice.
 Part of the problem, Mulick says, is that effective therapy for autistic children is expensive, time-consuming and not available everywhere. Parents eager to do anything they can for their children also face difficulties sorting through treatment options.
It's a basic part of human nature,' Mulick says. 'When people are disappointed with the health of a loved one or child, they're going to search for ways to help

Hyper Monkey Fitness: Fitness just got a whole lot more fun

Exhausted by the thought of heading to the gym? Bored with your routine workout? Turns out you’re not the only one.

Siddarth Abraham who has been teaching kickboxing in Bangalore for the last 6 years finds that most people quit the gym because its bores them. As a musician and fitness enthusiast, he decided to bring the two loves of his life together and create a remedy unlike any other  – Hyper Monkey Fitness.

Built firmly on the philosophy of fun, HMF looks nothing like a gym. Instead, it’s been designed to recreate a playground. An obstacle course combines a jungle-gym and monkey bars, designed to work your entire body as you squat, jump, crawl, and soar through it.  “It’s a great way to work your core and build your inner balance, and you’ll find yourself having so much fun, you won’t realize you’re pushing your limits,” says Abraham.

Yoga, kickboxing and zumba classes are conducted in brightly coloured rooms intended to generate an ambience of happy, vibrant energy.  HMF’s most unique class, Death by Monkey, is a high-cardio, high-endurance exercise regime that combines running, hurdles, light weights, coordinated partner-based exercises and other fun permutations that HMF schemes up. “Every day, it’s something new – if yoga is your thing, you can try hatha or power yoga, or a special class called yoga-lates, where we combine yoga and pilates. If you’d like to mix it up, try a little bit of everything – yoga, zumba, kickboxing, and DBM!”

Our workouts are engineered to make you lean and fit, not bulk you up. - Siddarth Abraham, Hyper Monkey Fitness

Another gizmo you won’t find in too many gyms, and one that hugely popular, is the Kinect X-box. Loaded with motion-sensor games, it will get your blood pumping as you work your entire body in less than half an hour

When he’s not pushing the limits at HMF, Abraham is usually on tour with his band Solder, another passion that requires tons of dedication and drive. Does he find the two at odds with each other? “It’s quite the opposite actually; I find they feed off each other. Look at the front man of any great band – the energy they bring to the stage is what makes for an unforgettable performance. And that requires tremendous fitness and stamina. Whether at HMF or on stage, music and fitness are central to my life.”

HMF is the brainchild of Sundeep Suri, Sanket Nayak and Siddarth Abraham, old friends who wanted to create something that will take you back to relive a childhood enthusiasm for playtime. “Hyper Monkey Fitness is all about the fun. Fitness is a happy by-product. What we promise you is an experience that’s high on energy, adrenaline and laughter. This is your place to relax, unwind and de-stress from life. You’ll get into great shape without even realizing it.”

So if you're looking to put the fun back in fitness, head over to Hyper Monkey. You can contact them for more details or sign up for classes here.

Tips for the Stressed Mom to Be

Nine whole months of child bearing is the most joy a woman can ever feel. But this joy has a price of stress and cellulite and a million things happening at once but in the end it all goes away the minute you hold your baby in your arms. Stress is one of the major side cons of pregnancy and if not relieved, can be very dangerous for both the mother and baby. If you think you're over stressed, try these tips below.
1.Exercise: consult your doctor on what would be a good method for exercise. Exercising is both healthy and uplifting. It will help making the delivery easier, help with weight loss during pregnancy and muscle building, and most importantly, during exercise endorphins are released (aka “Happy Hormone”) which will help with stress relief. Most common types of exercise for pregnant women would be stair climbing and walking.
2.Yoga: being so quiet and relaxing, yoga does effectively relieve stress. Take a yoga class with a close friend or a sibling, someone you can be quiet with. Pick a class during the early hours in the morning, that’s usually when the “Happy Hormone” levels are high.
3.Cut back on caffeine and fizzy drinks. Caffeine can be keeping you and your baby up. Together with sugar, caffeine can really contribute to your stress levels. Next time you're grocery shopping, reach out for the de-caf.
4.Take a break from work, if you can of course. Try to be chill as much as you can, don't be shy to ask for help around the house from your husband, and do get someone to help you with day-to- day tasks. Being pregnant is hard work itself so go easy on yourself and relax.
5.Treat yourself to a pre-natal massage. Get some alone time at the spa, and book a monthly prenatal massage. Prenatal massage have special techniques and a comfortable belly hole that help you de-stress and helps get your circulation running.
6.Talk, talk, talk. Bottling up the way you feel or not speaking up when something is bothering you, is a slippery slope. Don't go around complaining about every single thing you don't like in this world, and don't bottle up either. Talk to your husband, your friend, a therapist, your mum, and a sibling. Talking to many people about many different things will help you de-stress and gain perspective. Share the good and bad, fear, excitement, anxiety, cravings, everything. Talking will relieve you.
7.Sleep. Although it might seem hard, and sometimes you just can’t go to bed, sleep! Lights out, AC on, and tune out. If you can’t get any sleep, find the cause behind it. If the mattress isn’t comfortable, get a comforter pad or buy a new mattress. If it’s the heartburn, ask your doctor for advice on heartburn relief. Try to get as much sleep as you can so you can be ready for when the baby comes.
8.Don't fight. Avoid fighting whenever you can. Avoid going into petty arguments with the help or with your mum, it’s the last thing you need.
9.Don't over-eat. Although cravings need to be fed, but over-eating will make you gain weight, and we all know how that ends.
10.Go out, meet friends, leave the house, re-connect with old acquaintances, and enjoy your pregnancy. Even when you’re tired, get out of bed and go out. Being at home all the time will add to your depression and stress. Your 9 month pregnancy should be something to remember; an enjoyable experience, so make it count!

Time to Sleep

There are few more beautiful sights than the contented face of a sleeping baby, but, as any new parent will tell you, the first few months may be quite tiring. Baby's first months are a time of adjustment for the whole family, and you will certainly have to cope with changes in your own sleep patterns. Parents have to learn to be flexible because newborns don't know the difference between day and night, and need to be fed when they are hungry. It also helps to remember that very young babies can't deliberately keep themselves awake or choose when to go to sleep!
Tips for sound sleeping
It's best to put your baby to sleep on his back or propped up on his side. Researchers believe this sleeping position may decrease a baby's chances of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
A baby under the age of one should never have a pillow in his crib and should not sleep on a thick comforter, as these pose a suffocation hazard. Large, stuffed toys are also suffocation hazards.
Avoid too much stimulation at bedtime, and try to create a sleep routine from the beginning. Putting your baby down to sleep in the same place and in the same way (depending on whether it is day or night) will help him to settle more quickly and help you to plan your day. If you are persistent, eventually your baby will pick up the routine and come to expect and appreciate it.
Make sure your baby is dry and well-fed before putting him to bed.
Make sure the room temperature is comfortable and the baby is away from drafts.
Some small babies feel more secure when wrapped snugly in a small sheet or blanket.
During their first three months, babies often suffer from colic, especially during the evening. Holding or walking with your baby with his head on your shoulder may help, as may placing him, tummy down, across your thighs and rocking him or rubbing his back. If he falls asleep during a feed, burp him on your shoulder for a few minutes before putting him down.
Just like adults, babies may have a hard time going to sleep when they are overtired. Therefore, your baby may have more trouble sleeping at night if he skips his daytime nap(s).
Babies who are teething can be cranky. Even after the pain is gone, the baby may take a few days to get back into a regular sleep routine.
Any change can put your baby's sleeping pattern temporarily off-balance. If you've moved him to another room, or even changed the position of his crib, it may take him a few days to readjust to his surroundings.
Sometimes a baby needs no more than an extra cuddle to settle him down for the night!

My Child Won’t Let Go!

When a child is confident that you will be available when needed, he will be less prone to show clingy, possessive or anxious behavior. Read on to find out how you can achieve this.
A child who expresses jealousy or acts possessive and clingy towards one parent may simply be showing a natural expression within a normal phase of development. Dr. Nabil Ahmed, psychiatrist in St.
Petersburg, Florida, sheds some light on the possible reasons behind such behavior in general. He explains, 'Possessiveness and clinginess to one parent in a smaller child may be due to fear of abandonment or anxiety, resulting from witnessing marital problems between the parents; the child trying to 'push' the limits of his independence while still battling an internal conflict between dependence and independence; egocentricity where he may do everything in his power to 'get what he wants' from the parent; or simply due to the natural 'testing' phenomenon that is a part of this developmental stage which may reflect an increasing pattern of manipulation of the parent on the child's part.'
Dr. Ahmed further explains that generally, it is important for parents to keep in mind the age and the cognitive abilities of their child so that their expectations for his desired behavior remain realistic and reasonable to the child's developmental stage, as well as to his character and personality. So, how can parents put their child at ease during this possessive and clingy development stage? These six discipline techniques are bound to help!
Most importantly,  parents should talk to the child to identify the problem behind his clinginess, acknowledging his distress and anxiety to provide real and actual solutions to the problem at hand. For example, if the child is being bullied at school and thus feels insecure, then the parent should make the effort to see what can be done to stop the bullying and acknowledge that to the child with a definite 'I'll stop the bully at school.'
If a child clings to one parent because this parent is almost always readily available, both parents must then redirect his behavior by telling him together that they are both available for him, not just the parent he is clinging to. Both parents have to sit and talk to the child and resolve this issue together because children usually want to know that both parents (not just one) are there if they need them. Once the child is confident knowing that, he will feel secure enough to 'explore' the world around him, which is what younger children naturally do.
If a child is attempting to manipulate the parents through the use of possessive-type behavior (in a sense 'splitting' them apart), by constantly clinging or going to the parent who is more lenient, thus aiding the child in doing or getting what he wants, the parents must work together and support each other in front of the child and make all decisions concerning their child's actions together so that he understands that the decision is not unilateral (taken or made by one parent only), but rather the decision of both parents together.
When faced with a child who is clinging to the more lenient parent in an attempt to get his way through that parent, the parent may say, 'I'll talk to your Mom/Dad first and see what we both decide.' Most younger children will naturally tend to be more possessive of their mother since, in most cases, she is the one primarily responsible for nurturing the child. If that is the case, the father should not feel left out or jealous, and the mother can slowly involve the father so that the child can also feel comfortable going to the father for some of his needs.
In all cases, regularly spending more quality time with the child, putting in more one-on-one time even for a few minutes each day, may do wonders. Not only does this allow for closer bonding with the child (and hence more security), it also shows the child that there are definite regular times for close parent-child communication, which will eventually allow the child to understand that he cannot have the parent all to himself all the time, thus attempting to dispel the evident possessiveness and clinginess.
Dr. Ahmed explains that if the situation at hand involves a clingy and possessive child in a single- parent family unit rather than a two-parent family unit, there may be different reasons behind the child's behavior. 'A single parent,' states Dr. Ahmed, 'basically does the job of both parents. If the child is young and he was aware that there was previously another parent and that he lost this parent, this child may then become quite fearful that he may lose the existing parent as well.' Once again, it is essential that the parent identify this problem and talk to the child to try to resolve it to make the child feel more secure and more comfortable. The parent can also call on the support of the extended family, so that the child is made aware that there are other family members also available to take care of him, and therefore help put the child's mind and fears at ease.

Pregnancy Internal

First Trimester (Month 1-3)
*Mom:During the first three months you will probably gain approximately 1-2kg. Of this, only a fraction will be your baby. The rest is made up of the baby's support system (amniotic fluid and placenta), your enlarged uterus and breasts and your increased blood volume.
*Baby: During the first three months of your pregnancy, your baby's growth is remarkable. It will quickly develop from a single fertilized egg to the length of approx. 7.6cm. By the end of the third week all his internal organs, including the heart, will have formed and will continue to grow. By the end of the ninth week your baby will resemble a miniature person with his length increasing slightly over 2.5cm and weighing almost 5.7gms and in the next 2 weeks he'll grow to a length of 7.6cm and a weight of 28.3gms.
Second Trimester (Month 4-6)
*Mom: During the second 3 months, you will gain about 6kg. Of this, only 0.9kg will actually be your baby. During this time, you will notice your waistline disappear, and you will look pregnant. You may suffer frequent bouts of heartburn and constipation during this time. Learning to eat healthy will ease you through these weeks.
*Baby: During the second three months of your pregnancy, your baby will continue to fine-tune his growth and development. His skin will become thicker and during the fourth month will start developing his thumbs. Around the twentieth week you'll probably start feeling your baby's movement and by the end of the sixth month your baby will be able to hear sounds and will have both clear toe and fingerprints. By the end of this trimester your baby will be approx. 35.6cm and will approx. weigh 0.9kg.
Third Trimester (Month 7-9)
*Mom: During your final months, you will probably gain 5-6kg. Your baby will account for 3-3.5kg of this weight. You will probably feel more tired and may find it hard to rest. As the baby grows bigger in the abdomen, you will breathe more deeply, which allows for more efficient consumption of oxygen. Low carbon dioxide in the blood gives rise to the shortness of breath you may be experiencing during these last three months.
*Baby: At the end of the seventh month, your baby's features and internal organs will have developed to the point where he'd be able to survive even if birth was premature. Still, the eighth and the ninth month are considered a period of continuous growth and maturity. You'll find it amazing to learn that in the last trimester your baby which started out as a single cell from you, the egg, no more than 0.125 in diameter and a single cell from your husband no more than 1/80 000 of the size of your egg, grows to form a healthy baby 50cm in length and 3kg in weight on average.