Iraqis Getting Fat: I Blame Bush

There's an obesity epidemic in Iraq that's been fueled by the war, Tina Susman reports for the LAT. For most of the last five years, sectarian violence has drastically altered Iraqis' lifestyles. Most retreated to the safety of their homes and became increasingly sedentary, rarely venturing out of their neighborhoods. To go out was to risk being kidnapped, killed by a ...

Salmonella Cost-Benefit Analysis

Stuart Buck notes that the 130 hospitalizations that resulted from the 943 reported cases of salmonella poisoning caused $100 million in losses to the U.S. tomato industry (and untold damage to the industry in Mexico). He calculates this at $770,000 per hospitalization and asks, simply, "Worth it?" Before you answer, you might want to factor in another variable: "The U.S. ...

Too Much, Too Little Sleep Bad for You

Unless you sleep exactly the right amount, you are doomed, a new government study finds. People who sleep fewer than six hours a night — or more than nine — are more likely to be obese, according to a new government study that is one of the largest to show a link between irregular sleep and big bellies. The study also linked ...

Call Fat Kids Fat, Docs Say

A group of medical experts recommends calling obese kids "obese" even if it hurts their feelings. Doctors ought to quit using fuzzy terms to define children's weight problems and instead refer to truly fat kids as overweight or obese, a committee of medical experts recommended. Less blunt terms used by the government and many doctors diplomatically avoid the term "obese." ...

Peanut Butter Update

Via the AP: Peanut butter salmonella cases top 600The number of people sickened since August by peanut butter tainted with salmonella has grown by more than 200, according to a new federal report. The outbreak, first reported in February, now includes 628 cases in 47 states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday. Which reminds me: I ...

Spinach Contaminated with E. Coli

Don't eat bagged spinach. Consumers nationwide should not eat fresh bagged spinach, say health officials probing a multistate outbreak of E. coli that killed at least one person and made dozens of others sick. Food and Drug Administration and state officials don't know the cause of the outbreak, although raw, packaged spinach appears likely. "We're advising people not to eat it," ...

Tramm Hudson to Sink for Saying Blacks Can’t Swim?

Erick Erickson has a post at Redstate entitled, "Tramm Hudson Destroys Himself." Hudson, is "the current front runner in the GOP primary in FL-13, the Congressional District being vacated by Katherine Harris." The post includes a video of Hudson casually talking to an audience about how he learned growing up in Alabama that blacks can't swim. It's ...

Reason Online: Teenage Fellatio Craze False

Well if you are a high school age boy you probably already know what Cathy Young has written. Are some kids having sex too soon, and with too many partners, for their own emotional and physical well-being? Almost certainly. But the majority do not inhabit the sexual jungle of worried adults’ imaginations. The teenage fellatio craze exists mainly among adults. She notes ...

All Women are Pre-Pregnant

A new set of CDC guidelines suggests that all women of child bearing age be considered potentially pregnant. New federal guidelines ask all females capable of conceiving a baby to treat themselves -- and to be treated by the health care system -- as pre-pregnant, regardless of whether they plan to get pregnant anytime soon. Among other things, this means all ...