(CBS) American kids snack three times a day and chips, candy and other junk foods now account for more than 27 percent of children’s daily caloric intake, according to a new study released Tuesday.
The new research comes as childhood obesity is soaring in the U.S. with more than 12 million American children – roughly 17 percent – considered overweight.
The spike in snacking added 168 calories per day to kids’ diets between 1977 and 2006, according to Carmen Piernas and Barry Popkin of the University of North Carolina reported.
"To put 168 extra calories per day in perspective: at 3,500 calories per pound, that translates to 17.5 extra pounds a year," says CBS News medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook.
The research appears in Health Affairs Journal, which also cites a study showing the national prevalence of obesity among U.S. children ages 10-17 has grown from 14.8 percent in 2003 to 16.4 percent in 2007.

Study: Snacks Make Up 27% of Kids Calories – CBS News

Almost one-third of young adults in their 20s lacked health insurance in the United States in 2008, new statistics show.

The problem was more pronounced among men 20 to 29 years of age, 35 percent of whom went without coverage for medical care. As a result, these uninsured 20-somethings are less likely to visit a doctor on a regular basis, less likely to fill prescriptions and more likely to arrive at the emergency room.

HealthDay

A total of 7.3% of stroke victims were younger than age 45 in 2005, up from 4.5% in 1993, says Brett M. Kissela, MD, of the University of Cincinnati Neuroscience Institute.

The most likely culprits: rising rates of obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes — the major risk factors for stroke — among younger people, Kissela tells WebMD.

The average age of stroke patients dropped from 71 in 1993 to 68 in 2005, he says.

Even among people under 45, strokes are still a relatively uncommon event, striking 25 of every 100,000 whites and 55 of every 100 blacks in 2005, he says.

The findings were presented at the American Stroke Association’s (ASA) International Stroke Conference 2010.

So why would strokes be increasing in younger people, while decreasing in older people?

Kissela says it’s probably because stroke prevention efforts aimed at controlling high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity have largely been aimed at older people. And they’ve been successful, he says.

Because stroke is thought of as an older person’s disease, younger people fell through the cracks, Kissela says.

"If we don’t reverse this trend, there will be many years of productive life lost. Not just years of work lost; it can be as simple as a young mother no longer being able to hold her baby," he tells WebMD.

So what’s the answer?

First, younger people need to be aware that they too are at risk, Kissela says.

Also, younger people tend to skip an annual exam if they’re feeling OK, he says. "Everyone should be checked regularly for treatable problems."

Finally, you’ve heard it before, but Kissela says it’s worth repeating: The best way to ward off strokes, heart attacks, and a host of other diseases is to eat right, exercise, and refrain from smoking.

For the study, the researchers examined data from five counties in the greater Cincinnati and northern Kentucky region, which includes about 1.3 million people.

But the results apply to the entire U.S. population, says American Stroke Association spokesman Brain Silver, MD, a neurologist at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.

Silver tells WebMD that he and colleagues nationwide are treating "a lot more patients in their 30s and 40s."

Plus, rates of obesity and diabetes, the factors fueling the disturbing trend, are increasing throughout the country, Kissela says.

Source: WebMD

For the first time, the nation’s physicians, patients, and government officials can see how their county ranks in terms of health and longevity. Follow link below, click on your state and see how your county ranks.

http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/

The study finds that as many as 1 in 4 children are living with chronic health problems, some of which are a direct result of their home environment.

Conditions such as obesity can lead to the onset of many a chronic health problem, ranging from diabetes and arthritis, to high blood pressure.

 

For their study researchers analyzed data taken from a government performed survey of 3 groups of children ranging in ages from 2 and 8.

The original surveys had been conducted between 1988 and 2006.

Over the years, the researchers noted that chronic health problems such as obesity and asthma went up considerably in children.

They did note however that in many cases, in due time these so called chronic health conditions tended to go away.

“A lot of kids will have chronic conditions over the course of their childhood,” said Dr. Jeanne Van Cleave of Massachusetts General Hospital for Children.

The study is published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

American Children Prone to Chronic Health Problems : dBTechno

Kellogg Co. has been told to fix sanitary violations at its Atlanta plant that were identified by inspectors investigating Listeria bacteria contamination of Eggo buttermilk waffles.

  In a letter posted Tuesday on its Web site, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said inspectors observed workers cleaning equipment with high-pressure water that splashed near raw food ingredients, Bloomberg news reported.

In addition, a cart with uncovered trash was seen within six inches of raw food materials, and a worker who touched his nose and moustache failed to re-wash or use sanitizer on his hands before returning to work.

The FDA inspection took place Oct. 22 through Oct. 29, 2009, about two months after the Georgia Department of Agriculture said it found Listeria in some Eggo buttermilk waffles, Bloomberg reported.

In the Jan. 27 letter, the FDA says Kellogg has 15 days to respond with specific corrective measures.

HealthDay

An immediate-release form of the antidiabetic agent metformin has a dead fish odor that may cause patients to stop taking the drug, clinicians warned.

Metformin is known to cause adverse gastrointestinal effects such as diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, flatulence, distention, and abdominal pain. Those side effects "often necessitate discontinuing the drug," a group of physicians and pharmacists wrote in a letter published in the Feb. 17 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine.

The olfactory side effect — a "stinky fish" smell — appears to have been previously unreported in medical literature, and physicians may be prone to confusing the nausea induced by the foul smell with the well-known gastrointestinal pharmacologic side effect from metformin, according to Allen L. Pelletier, MD, of the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, and colleagues.

 

They reported two cases of patients who were driven away from metformin because of its stench.

In the first case, a man who had been taking the branded drug Glucophage for several years was switched to an immediate-release, generic version of the drug. He reported that it smelled like "dead fish" and that it nauseated him. He was prescribed a generic, extended-release version and reported no further problems.

In the second case, another man described the odor of the immediate-release generic metformin he took as "fishy" and he stopped taking it. He was unwilling to try an extended-release formula.

Although drug directories list metformin as "odorless," and no previous studies have linked the smell of immediate-release metformin with discontinuation, the authors wrote that it’s well known among pharmacists that metformin either smells like fish or "old locker room sweat socks."

Diabetes and prescription drug message boards, too, contain posts such as "my bottle of metformin smells like fish" and and "why does my metformin smell funny?"

The time-release version of the drug doesn’t seem to have the same offending odor because it is film-coated.

The authors concluded that "when patients stop taking metformin, physicians should consider inquiring more closely about revulsion to the odor of the medication," and perhaps suggest the patient try the odorless extended release formula.

A spokesperson for Bristol-Myers Squibb, which sells Glucophage and Glucophage XR (an extended release form) said the company is "aware that the inherent characteristics of metformin have been associated with a mild odor upon opening of the bottle, so these type of reports are not unexpected."

The spokesperson added that "It’s important to note there has been no correlation between an odor and the efficacy of metformin which has been on the market in the U.S. since 1995."

Medical News: Stinky Diabetes Drug May Result in Poor Adherence – in Endocrinology, Diabetes from MedPage Today

Primary source: Annals of Internal Medicine

The Gallup-HealthWays Well-Being Index, conducted in 2009, asked respondents to assess their finances, physical health, mental outlook, jobs and communities.

“Most of our highest-scoring cities are found out West and most of our lowest-scoring cities are in the South,” Gallup-HealthWays research director Dan Witters told USA Today.

According to a news release from the pollsters, the Top 5 cities in terms of well-being are Boulder, Colo.; Holland, Mich; Honolulu, Hawaii; Provo, Utah; and Santa Rosa, Calif. The nation’s capital, Washington, D.C., also made the Top 10, placing at number 8.

Most of the cities placing in the bottom 10 of the list of 162 medium- or large-sized cities were in regions facing tough economic conditions, such as the Alleghenies and the Rust Belt, USA Today said.

The survey found that people living in cities with over a million or more residents tended to report better well-being than those living in smaller centers, but residents of small cities (250,000 people or less) felt safer walking at night and were more likely to report having sufficient money for housing. Having a major university, large military base or a state Capitol also seemed to boost a city’s well-being index, the pollsters said.

HealthDay

Anthem’s planned rate hike, which the state estimates would affect about 700,000 customers, averaged 25% and would have been as high as 39% for some.

Anthem Blue Cross of California, based in Thousand Oaks, agreed to postpone the increase from March 1 until May 1 so California could have outside experts review the company’s complex and detailed plan filing, including data on the medical costs it expects to incur.