• For those whose jobs involve long hours of sitting at a desk, getting a good chair which can completely support the lower back is the first step. A chair with arm rests is always better. If your feet don’t rest on the ground, use a foot stool. Take a break every two hours and walk around for a few minutes to keep your circulation going.
• Maintain a slightly relaxed posture even while standing.
• Remember to bend at your knees while lifting anything heavy.
• Mattresses that sag are terrible for your back. You can use a foam bed but it must be firm. Avoid sleeping on your stomach. Sleep on your side with your knees bent or on your back with a pillow under your knees.
• While driving a car move the seat forward so that you don’t have to stretch towards the steering wheel.
• Footwear can have a bearing on the back. Avoid high-heeled shoes which strain your muscles while accentuating your back curve.
• Build up a good calcium reservoir. We require about 1 to 1.5 gms of calcium a day. This, coupled with a certain amount of exposure to the sunlight and exercise, will help in preventing osteoporosis.
• Develop a positive attitude towards life. Unresolved emotional and mental tensions can translate into tighter muscles and pain in the back or neck.
• Finally, don’t take over-the-counter drugs for backache. These pills, if taken for long, can cause untoward side effects like severe gastrointestinal bleeding. If the pain is severe and persists beyond two weeks do see your doctor.

Most of the people think that empty stomach creates the feeling of hunger but this is not true. Hunger has nothing to do with an empty stomach. For example, a person who has fever may have an empty stomach, but he does not feel hungry. Similarly when a child is born, he does not feel hungry for several days.
When the blood gets depleted of nutritive materials, a message is sent to our brain by our body through nerves. The deficiency of nutritive materials is caused in the blood by the consumption of energy in the routine work. A sick man remains in a state of rest and consumes small amounts of energy. He, therefore, does not feel hungry for several days. Whenever there is a deficiency of nutritive food substances in the blood, a message goes to the ‘hunger centre’ of the brain. This centre acts like a brake on the activities of the stomach and intestines. When the blood has sufficient nutritive substances, the hunger centre stops the activities of the stomach and intestines. On the contrary when there is a lack of nutrition, the intestines and stomach become active. That is why you can hear your stomach rumbling when you are hungry.
When we feel hungry, we do not demand any particular kind of food. A starved person will eat any kind of food. This main constituent of food is: proteins, carbohydrates, fats, minerals, vitamins and water. Each component has a specific role to play. Proteins are nitrogenous compounds which are used for the growth of the body, for the repair of muscles and tissues. Carbohydrates and fats produce heat energy in the body. Minerals build the bones and tissues. Vitamins protect the body from some diseases. Water is the main constituent of the cells. It carries the nutritive substances and oxygen to the different parts of the body. Because of the deficiency of any nutritive substances, we can become ill. Hence we conclude that deficiency of nutritive elements in the blood is the main cause of hunger.