Monday, June 20, 2005

Spore singled out by International Obesity Task Force

MR NEVILLE Rigby, the International Obesity Task Force's director of policy, singled out Singapore as one country that is fighting obesity in children.

In fact, he said, the Ministry of Education's Trim and Fit scheme and other Singapore government programmes are the only ones in the world that seem to be working.

'We need to watch Singapore. The government there was perceptive and started tackling the problem of childhood obesity long before people were talking about it,' he said.

'They are stemming the increase in obesity in children. It is quite an achievement. 'Unless children are educated to eat a healthy diet and take up physical activity, the number of children with the condition will increase.'

A study has shown that the Trim and Fit scheme, launched in 1992, has reduced obesity prevalence from 14 per cent to 9.8 per cent by 2002, he said.

It helps students from primary to pre-university levels to develop healthy eating and exercise habits.

Obesity is defined as a weight more than 120 per cent of the ideal weight.

Mr Rigby said that a cultural change is affecting countries which once had traditional vegetable and fruit diets.

'It is a kind of adaptation of Western culture where it becomes normal to be like an American, but in terms of fast food, this can also mean looking like one in terms of body shape,' he warned.

Fast food means just that, he said - buying some quick energy to eat on the go.

He said it is far better to sit down in a food court and eat what you like, like Singaporeans do.

Cynthia Low
The Straits Times Interactive, 20 June 2005

Friday, June 17, 2005

The Durians win RIBA Worldwide Awards 2005

Winners of RIBA Awards 2005 and RIBA Worldwide Awards

Seventy one new buildings across the UK and the EU have been rewarded with RIBA Awards for their high architectural standards and their contribution to their local environment. Projects selected for their design excellence range in size and use from the Scottish Parliament building in Edinburgh, the Millau Viaduct in France to a mud house in Worcester. Projects by Zaha Hadid Architects, the Richard Rogers Partnership, Sarah Wigglesworth Architects, Richard Murphy Architects, and Foster and Partners are amongst the winners.

The awards will be announced this evening, 17 June, at a dinner in London at the Hilton Hotel marking the start of Architecture Week 2005 (17-26 June).

The 71 RIBA Award winners will form the long-list for the 10th anniversary RIBA Stirling Prize in association with The Architects’ Journal.

During the RIBA Awards event, seven additional buildings from around the world received an RIBA Worldwide Award. These awards, being presented for the second time recognise significant international projects by RIBA members. The awards have been critical in setting an international benchmark for design quality that is respected the world over.

The seven RIBA Worldwide Award-winners for 2005 are:

1. Esplanade, Theatres on the Bay, Singapore - Michael Wilford & Partners (1993-1995) and DP Architects Pte Ltd (Singapore) (1993-2004)

2. Genzyme Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA - Behnisch, Behnisch & Partners Inc

3. Lincoln Modern, Singapore - SCDA Architects

4. Seewurfel, Zurich, Switzerland - Camenzind Evolution

5. Slice House, Porto Alegre, Brazil – Procter: Rihl

6. Spanish Pavilion, Expo 2005, Japan - Foreign Office Architects

7. James Robertson House, Mackeral Beach, NSW, Australia - Dawson Brown Architecture

17 June 2005