1st Session

1. Introduce yourself.

2. How was your weekend?

3. If you could have a meal with any celebrity or someone, who would it be?

4. What’s a food trend you think is overrated?

Genes Biggest Cause of Picky Eating in Children

Being a picky eater can mean a number of different things. It may describe someone who doesn't like to try new foods, or someone who prefers plain meals. It can also refer to someone who eats quite a narrow range of foods.

Parents often feel they're to blame when their children are picky eaters. But according to a new study, picky eating is mostly caused by our genes.

Researchers in the UK looked at data from identical and non-identical twins who had been followed from birth since 2007.

Identical twins share 100% of their genes, while non-identical twins share half, on average. Studying these twins allowed the researchers to compare the eating habits of people who were genetically the same and those who weren't, but still grew up in the same home together.

More than 4,800 twins were included in the study. Their parents completed questionnaires about how picky their children were aged 16 months, then again at the ages of 3, 5, 7 and 13.

Not all parents completed the questionnaires as their children got older, but from the results, the researchers found that the eating habits of identical twins were much more similar than those of non-identical twins.

They also found that genetic variation explained 60% of the differences in food pickiness at 16 months, and 74% between the ages of 3 and 13. Meanwhile, shared environment only explained 15% to 26% of these differences, and the environmental effect was strongest when children were younger.

However, the researchers added that environmental effects are still important: parents can still influence their children's eating habits by eating together as a family, and by offering a wide variety of different foods, for example.

What are your thoughts on the findings of this study?

2. Are you a picky eater? How has this changed over time?

3. When was the last time you tried a new food? What did you think of it?

4. Are there any foods that you'd never try?

2nd session

1. Introduce yourself.

2. How was your day?

3. What’s something you’ve always wanted to try but haven’t yet?

4. Do you believe that everything happens for a reason?

Life Expectancy May Not Keep Rising, Say Experts

Humanity is hitting the upper limit of life expectancy, according to a new study.

Advances in medical technology and genetic research ― not to mention larger numbers of people making it to age 100 ― are not translating into big jumps in lifespan overall, according to researchers.

"We have to recognize there's a limit," said S. Jay Olshansky, a University of Illinois-Chicago researcher who was lead author of the study.

Life expectancy is one of the world's most important health measures. However, it is not perfect: it cannot account for deadly pandemics, miracle cures or other unforeseen developments that might kill or save millions of people.

In the new research, the researchers focused on eight of the places in the world where people live the longest ― Australia, France, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Spain and Switzerland.

Women continue to live longer than men and life expectancy improvements are still occurring ― but at a slowing pace, the researchers found. In 1990, the average amount of improvement was about 2.5 years per decade.

In the 2010s, it was 1.5 years ― and almost zero in the US.

The study suggests that there's a limit to how long most people live, and we've about hit it, Olshansky said.

It may seem common to hear of a person living to 100. And it's likely that more people will make it to that milestone in the years to come.

But that's because of population growth. The percentage of people hitting 100 will remain limited, likely with fewer than 15% of women and 5% of men making it to that age in most countries, Olshansky said.

1. Do you think that humanity might have reached its life expectancy limit?

2. Would you like to live to be 100 if you could?

3. What would you say are the best things about getting older?

4. What do you think is the secret to living a happy life?