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HealthyChildren.org launches KidsDoc Symptom Checker
HealthyChildren.org has a new interactive tool to help parents evaluate
their child's symptoms. Based on Pediatric Telephone Protocols, by Barton
D. Schmitt, M.D., FAAP, the "KidsDoc Symptom Checker" allows parents to
choose from a wide range of symptoms, and then follow the symptom decision
chart to determine the appropriate action to take, whether it be home care
or a call to the pediatrician. The tool is also available as an iPhone
application called KidsDoc, providing the same expert advice when parents
are on the go.
Walk Your Dog to Unleash Better Health, Pet Owners Reap Big Health Benefits From
Regular Walks With the Dog, Study Says
June 8, 2010 -- Walking your dog not only can help keep you physically fit and
at a healthy weight, but also may help ward off high blood pressure and high
cholesterol.
http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/news/20100608/walk-your-dog-to-unleash-better-health
Brushing Teeth May Keep Away Heart Disease
Brushing your teeth is not only good for your pearly whites, it also decreases
your chances of suffering a heart attack, a new study indicates.
http://www.webmd.com/oral-health/news/20100527/brushing-teeth-may-keep-heart-disease-away?ecd=wnl_hrt_060810
Consistent Bedtime May Give Kids Developmental Boost
MONDAY, June 7 (HealthDay News) -- Sticking to a regular bedtime and getting
enough sleep may help young children score higher on tests of development, a new
study suggests. Kids who had a consistent bedtime at the age of 4 scored higher
on a number of tests, including some that measured literacy and math abilities.
Earlier bedtimes and parental rules about keeping bedtime routines also were
associated with higher scores on developmental measures.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20100608/hl_hsn/consistentbedtimemaygivekidsdevelopmentalboost
Study Examines a Diet From TV Ads
If Americans ate only foods advertised on TV, a new report says, they would
consume 25 times the recommended amount of sugar and 20 times the amount of fat
they need, but less than half the dairy, fiber and fruits and vegetables. For
the study, being published this month in The Journal of the American Dietetic
Association, researchers taped 28 days of prime-time television as well as
Saturday-morning programming on the four major broadcast networks. They
identified 800 foods promoted in 3,000 ads and used a nutritional software
program to analyze the content of the items, comparing the foods’ nutritional
values with the government’s food guide pyramid and recommended daily intake
values for various nutrients.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/08/health/nutrition/08nutr.html?ref=health
Secondhand Smoke Ups Risk of Mental Illness
Healthy adults exposed to secondhand smoke appear to be at higher risk of
suffering psychological distress and future psychiatric illness requiring
hospitalization, according to a major Scottish population study.
http://www.medpagetoday.com/Psychiatry/GeneralPsychiatry/20529?utm_content=Grou
Smoke Exposure for Kids Lower Where Smoking Banned
Smoke-free laws covering public spaces in entire counties are associated with
less exposure to secondhand smoke among children living there, a large,
cross-sectional study showed.
http://www.medpagetoday.com/Pulmonology/Smoking/20524
New Jersey (2009) America’s
Health Rankings™
America`s Health Rankings is the longest
running annual assessment of the nation`s health on a state-by-state basis.
This year shows
Vermont at the top of the list of healthiest states. New Jersey is
18th this year; it was 15th in 2008.
Big Benefits Are Seen From Eating Less Salt
In a report that may bolster public policy efforts to get Americans to reduce
the amount of salt in their diets, scientists writing in The New England Journal
of Medicine conclude that lowering the amount of salt people eat by even a small
amount could reduce cases of heart disease, stroke and heart attacks as much as
reductions in smoking, obesity and cholesterol levels. If everyone consumed half
a teaspoon less salt per day, there would be between 54,000 and 99,000 fewer
heart attacks each year and between 44,000 and 92,000 fewer deaths, according to
the study, which was conducted by scientists at University of California San
Francisco, Stanford University Medical Center and Columbia University Medical
Center.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/21/health/nutrition/21salt.html?ref=health
DECEMBER 2009-Wake Up to More Sleep
(Chicago Tribune) -- "Sleep is the most
underrated part of staying healthy...studies show adults who
regularly cheat themselves of sleep by two to three hours are
much more likely to die of cardiovascular problems...A landmark
University of Chicago sleep lab study disrupted the sleep
pattern of 20-year-old healthy male
volunteers for 14 nights. By the end of the two-week period, the
young males were tested out with blood chemistry equivalent to
70-year-old men with elevated heart disease and high blood
pressure risks."
December 2009-Mammography
Recommendations
Avon Foundation for Women Response to New U.S. Preventive Services Task Force
(USPSTF) Mammography Recommendations
(read more)
May 11, 2009-Teen depression may have links to
television use
TV has become a great scapegoat for these stressful times.
But is a teenager who watches hours of daily television more likely to become
depressed? Yes. In a study conducted at University of Pittsburgh, researchers
interviewed 4,142 adolescents - none of whom showed signs of depression at the
start - and found that, when they checked in with them seven years later, 7
percent of the adolescents had developed signs of depression. Finding a
correlation: The depressed young people watched more television than those who
weren't depressed: an average of 2.64 hours of TV a day versus 2.28 hours per
day for the adolescents who weren't depressed.
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/life/monday_health/article_fc481983-bfaa-515a-b956-f9beb4d15bcb.html
Pedometers May Help Increase Amount of Exercise for Americans
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only 45 percent
of Americans get the recommended daily amount of physical activity. However, a
new study from Stanford University's School of Medicine may have found a way to
improve that number -- giving people pedometers. "These little devices were
shown to increase physical activity by just over 2,000 steps, or about 1 mile of
walking per day," said Dena Bravata, M.D., M.S. -- a senior research scientist
in medicine and the study's lead author. "This goes a long way toward helping
people meet the national guidelines for daily physical activity."
Read the full article at:
http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2007/november28/med-pedometer-112807.html
Tools to Help Consumers Use the Nutrition Facts Label
Two new learning tools, to help consumers use the Nutrition Facts label to choose nutritious foods and achieve healthy weight management, are available from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN). The tools are Make Your Calories Count, a Web-based learning program, and a new Nutrition Facts Label brochure.
Make Your Calories Count is an interactive online learning program that is also available in a downloadable format. It is designed to help consumers understand and use the Nutrition Facts label to plan a healthy diet while managing calorie intake. The program guide features an animated character called "Labelman" who expertly leads the viewer through a series of exercises on the food label. The program includes exercises to help consumers explore the relationship between serving sizes and calories, while they learn how to limit certain nutrients and get enough of others. For simplicity, the program presents two nutrients that should be limited (saturated fat and sodium) and two nutrients that should be consumed in adequate amounts (fiber and calcium).
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