It was in June of 2009 that President Obama charged all members of Congress with the task of coming to agreement on proper and forward-thinking health care reform. It was the last week of October before bills were actually introduced to the House and the Senate, as months of fighting between the political parties and struggling with a sometimes misinformed public (and media) delayed the process much longer than anticipated.
(more…)

Obesity is still a big problem within our country, and now one of the medications prescribed for children could be a factor in their weight gain. Up to one-third of adolescents and children who took some of the common antipsychotic drugs for the first time became overweight or obese in as little as 11 weeks, which in turn raised their risk for diabetes and heart disease.
(more…)

Since New York issued a mandate in 2008 requiring fast food restaurants to post calorie counts on their menus, consumers have become more calorie conscious and are making better meal choices. The city is the first in the U.S. to have issued such a mandate.
(more…)

Throughout the summer and autumn months of 2009, as the health care reform debate rages on from the halls of Congress to the homes of many Americans, a key point in the discussions has been the level of waste in the current system that makes it so expensive. The Obama administration has touted reforms as a way of fixing the problems that cause waste, and the subsequent money saved could help pay for said reforms. Now there are facts that back up those statements, coming from an independent study released on Monday, October 26, which verifies that the current result of waste in the U.S. health care system costs the country between $505 billion and $850 billion.
(more…)

At a time when the issue of health care dominates news coverage and the attention of the government, as well as the public it represents, it only seems appropriate that the latest study is released with rankings of the states based on the performance of their health care systems. The state of health care in America is important each day of the year, but with the current concentration on accessibility, pricing, availability, and quality of the system, any analysis of the system rings particularly true.
(more…)

Heart specialists may advise you to drink a glass or two of red wine to keep your heart healthy but emerging research may be shedding a new light on the same theory involving diabetes health. Next time you are planning a road trip, ski trip, or just a quiet dinner at home, you may want to reach for the red grapes and put a bushel (or bottle) in your cart to ward off the danger of diabetes.
(more…)

We all know how important it is to be healthy while you are pregnant, but even more so for women who are obese. Given the high rate of obesity, new guidelines have been issued recommending that the heavier a woman is, the less weight she should gain during pregnancy.
(more…)

Sign up now to have important CDC information about H1N1 flu and other topics delivered directly to your mobile phone! The CDC launched a three-month text messaging campaign pilot to share important, timely health information directly to users.
(more…)

U.S. officials are scrutinizing nutritional claims found on the front of consumer food packaging in an effort to crack down on the use of misleading information. What you see is not always what you get when it comes to “catch phrase” labeling and the actual nutritional value of many food products.
(more…)

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) recently issued a report that outlines proposed recommendations for improved standards for school-provided meals that offer nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunches to children each school day. The nutritional standards of the National School Lunch Program have not been reviewed for possible update since the 1995 Dietary Guidelines for America standards were set. If adopted, the new guidelines would also apply to the National School Breakfast Program.
(more…)