HealthBeat
Cut the sugar calories
Time to cut the sugar from your diet. The World Health Organization’s new daily sugar intake guidelines say calories from sugar should be just 5 percent of a person’s total calories – that’s half what the agency previously recommended. And that’s bad news for Americans. The average sugar intake for Americans totals about 15 percent […]
March 6, 2014 5:10 pm
Nutrition label makeover
Nutrition labels on food packages are getting a makeover. The Food and Drug Administration is proposing several changes to the nutrition labels you’re accustomed to seeing. The new labels include bigger font size for total calories, a distinction between “sugar” and “added sugar,” and inclusion of certain nutrients, such as Vitamin D. The FDA is […]
March 3, 2014 4:32 pm
Obesity rate drops among young children
The number of obese American preschoolers is dropping. The obesity rate for children ages 2 to 5 has dropped 43 percent in the last decade, according to the latest data released from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Obesity prevalence among that age group dropped from nearly 14 percent in 2003-04 to about 8 […]
February 25, 2014 4:50 pm
Obese women exercise only one hour a year
The average obese woman gets only one hour of vigorous exercise each year, according to a new study in Mayo Clinic Proceedings. Obese men don’t fair much better, according to the study. They get less than four hours per year. The findings surprised researchers, who were mainly trying to find better ways to measure exercise, […]
February 20, 2014 5:09 pm
‘Good eaters’ as babies, obese as adults?
Having a baby who is a good eater may not be such a good thing. Researchers at University College and King’s College in London suspect babies who have big appetites may be setting themselves up for obesity as adults, according to an NPR story. The researchers looked at fraternal same-sex twins to separate baby’s eating […]
February 18, 2014 5:34 pm
Teens more stressed than adults
Teenage life is pretty stressful. Apparently, even more stressful than the lives of adults. In a recent stress survey conducted by the American Psychological Association, teens scored higher than adults. On a 10-point scale, teens ranked their stress at 5.8 while adults reported a score of 5.1, according the survey. While teens admit they’re stressed […]
February 13, 2014 1:42 pm
Researchers: Internet trolls are sadists
A group of Canadian researchers have backed up what many of us (at least those of us who work in newsrooms) have long suspected: Internet trolls are sadists. An online survey by the researchers suggests that Internet trolls are more likely than others to show signs of sadism, psychopathy and “Machiavellianism” (a disregard to morality […]
February 11, 2014 4:16 pm
Caffeinated kids
Here is today’s shocking statistic: 63 percent of kids between the ages of 2 and 5 consume caffeine. Seriously. A majority of preschoolers are caffeinated. That’s according to a new research published in the journal Pediatrics. Researchers looked at caffeine intake trends among people ages 2 to 22 between 1999 and 2010. During that time […]
February 10, 2014 5:44 pm
CVS quits tobacco
In case you haven’t heard, CVS/pharmacy will stop selling all tobacco products by Oct. 1. The country’s second-largest pharmacy chain – more 7,600 stores across the U.S. – made the decision even though it will cost the company $2 billion annually in tobacco and related sales, according to CBS News. “Tobacco products have no place […]
February 6, 2014 4:17 pm
Did the ‘Biggest Loser’ lose too much?
How much weight loss is too much? That’s the question the Twitter users and health officials are weighing in on today, following last night’s season finale of the “Biggest Loser.” The show’s winner, Rachel Frederickson, lost 155 pounds which is nearly 60 percent of her body weight. The 5-foot, 4-inch tall woman now weighs 105 […]
February 5, 2014 4:08 pm