Nervous about speaking to someone touched by serious illness? Here’s my advice

When my husband developed a life-threatening illness, my world fell apart – but I was saved by others’ kindness. Here’s my advice on how to help in this situation

Too many children being prescribed melatonin to aid sleep, experts warn

Some specialists concerned use of hormone has become a ‘fashionable treatment’ for parents who want ‘perfect children’

Bigger wine glasses make us drink too much, says researcher

Today’s glasses, 450ml compared with 65ml 300 years ago, encourage consumption, Cambridge scientist tells Hay festival

Unhealthy Britain: half of adults walk less than a mile a day – survey

Poll commissioned by Cancer Research UK finds 52% of adults walk only 2,000 steps a day, figures described as ‘worrying’ and likely to increase cancer risk

‘Working nights, I end up in a strange limbo’: readers on jobs that affect sleep

A study suggests security guards are among those who get the least sleep. We asked you how your work affects your ability to relax, and your health

How does your job affect your sleep?

Do you check work emails late into the night? Or do shift patterns mess with your body clock? Tell us if your job makes it difficult to doze off

Jamie Oliver condemns Theresa May for scrapping free lunches

Prime minister ‘will regret’ move to slash number of primary school children eligible for free meals, says chef

A moment that changed me: living on my own, and taking control of my life

Moving into a flat alone in my 30s gave me a sense of freedom and a new emotional space in which my creative self could grow

Yes, Barbie has got bigger. But her old body-image message endures

The Fashionista range is meant to depict ‘ordinary’ women, but my daughter’s reaction shows that the original, abnormally thin Barbie is still idealised

Sweetness of woodruff lingers down the ages

Country Diary: Benthall Edge, Shropshire This plant has had a symbolic, medicinal and folkloric importance for centuries