CONCERNED PARENTS: Parents in the west of Ireland concerned about their children's eating habits and levels of exercise can attend a public meeting at 7.30pm on Wednesday, September 21st in the Corrib Great Southern Hotel, Galway.
Organised by Croí, the West of Ireland Cardiology Foundation, the meeting will be addressed by nutritionist Paula Mee, psychologist Dr Mark Harrold and consultant cardiologist Dr Kieran Daly. Tel: 091 544310 for more details.
AMD AWARENESS: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is one of the leading causes of vision loss for those over 50 years of age. A meeting to raise awareness about AMD will be held in Cork city (The Imperial Hotel) on Saturday at 2pm, Galway city (The Radisson SAS Galway) on Monday at 7pm, Tullamore, Co Offaly (Tullamore Court Hotel) on Tuesday next at 7pm and in Dublin (The Westbury Hotel) on Saturday, September 24th at 1.30pm. Speakers will include a rehabilitation expert and ophthalmologist. Tel: 01 6690030.
DRUG USE: The number of Irish teenagers who have used cannabis is twice the European average. Nine per cent of Irish teenagers also admitted to using other illicit drugs in comparison with a European average of 4 per cent. The National Drugs Awareness Campaign encourages parents to talk to their teenagers about drugs. See www.drugsinfo.ie. School and family-based programmes for preventing substance misuse is the theme of the fifth annual conference of the Addiction Research Centre, Trinity College Dublin on September 29th. Tel: 01 6083647 for booking.
Lifelines is compiled by Sylvia Thompson