There are literally thousands of healthy blogs out there, but not every one is full of information you can trust. With such an important topic like your personal health, you should be very careful at what health blogger you put your trust in.
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5 Tips for Bloggers to Stay Healthy
Blogging professionally is one of the most rewarding careers out there. You can make a good living without trudging yourself to an office each day, counting down the hours until you can finally go home. But working independently comes with a few risk factors. Those who can do it have probably already beaten the writer’s public enemy number one: procrastination. But there’s more to worry about than distractions and writer’s block. All too often, writers can get so engrossed in their work that they forget to take care of themselves.
Without the work / home divide, it can be easy to neglect your health, or even your sanity. Here are five essential tips for staying healthy and keeping your mind sharp while working at home. [Read more…]
Is Blogging Taking a Toll on Your Eyes?
How much do you stare at a screen every day? If you’re like the rest of us, the answer is at least a few hours. From working behind a computer all day to coming home and collapsing in front of the television for a few hours, we’re clocking an almost unimaginable amount of screen-time every single day. If you’re a blogger, professional or casual, the chances are that you’re spending even longer periods of time staring at your computer; research, writing, editing and rewriting take a tremendous amount of time, and if you’re not taking the proper precautions, your blogging might be taking a toll on your body. [Read more…]
Your Computer Can Kill You
Working from home or in an office is one of the biggest factors for people living an extremely sedentary life. By spending so many hours every day in front of the computer, the average worker is not getting the physical activity needed to keep fit. So what happens is that various health problems arise because being cooped up in front of the computer.
This infographic shows the many health problems that arise from extensively using a computer. Problems like obesity, insomnia, and chronic pain, among others, are caused by using computers for long periods of time. Fortunately, there are also solutions to solve these health problems, which is also incorporated in the infographic. [Read more…]
Advertising body calls for disclosure in blog reviews
Disclosure on blogs is one hot topic at the moment. The FTC is already looking at regulating blogs and this week the National Advertising Review Council (NARC) has called out two companies for unethical practises.
The group found that Herbal Groups, Inc. and Urban Nutrition had posted reviews for products they owned, yet failed to disclose that fact.
Urban Nutrition has since added disclosure to its web site, stating “Urban Nutrition sponsors this Web site and distributes Miracle Burn, Miracle Burn Cream, and Arctic Essentials. Reviewers compensated by Urban Nutrition.” [Read more…]
Raising awareness of “invisible illnesses” through blogging: 8-12 September
Did you know that today marks the start of the annual “Invisible Illness Week”?
This year, hundreds of people are using their blogs to raise awareness of illnesses which often can’t be seen, but are very real to those suffering with them. According to Chronic Care in America, 133 million Americans live with a chronic condition, and US Census Bureau records show that about 96% of illnesses are invisible and no assistive device is utilized.
The Invisible Illness Blog suggests some ways of telling others about the campaign, including emailing or leaving a comment on the blog of someone who writes about illness issues, or composing your own blog article, forum or social network entry. [Read more…]
Research: One in three American bloggers writes specifically about health
Nearly half of all US bloggers have written about a health-related topic at least once, and three in five of those write primarily on the subject, according to new research by Envision Solutions, a healthcare marketing communications consultant. According to my math, that’s almost one in three bloggers that claim health topics as a niche for their blog.
A few interesting statistics to come out of the report:
- Numbers: Over 13 million Americans wrote at least one health-related post in the seven months between February and August 2008.
- Diversity: Nearly three in five health bloggers are female, and nearly two in five are either African-American or Hispanic.
- Age: Half of all health bloggers are aged between 18 and 34.
- Motivation: A third of those surveyed said that they blogged to educate others, while one in five did so primarily to market themselves or their services. 10% were trying to advance a cause, and 7% were using the blog as some kind of self-help for their medical condition.
There seemed to be an increase in the commercialization of blogs, with 46% of healthcare marketing professionals claiming to have been contacted by the PR company for a product or service, up from 29% in 2006, while over a third said they had placed ads on their site, up from just over a quarter two years ago. [Read more…]
