21 January 2017: National Hugging Day

National Hugging Day is celebrated each year on 21 January. National Hugging Day was founded on 21 January 1986 in Caro, Michigan, in America, and has since spread to Canada, England, Australia, Germany and Poland.

Hugging has been proven to have health benefits. One study has shown that hugs increase levels of oxytocin (often called the ‘feel good’ hormone), as well as reducing blood pressure. Hugging is not particular to human beings, as there are many species of animals that also engage in hugging.

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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