Phone Messages Improve Care, Study Finds

A recent article in the New York Times shows that a study found that cellphones used to broadcast text messages reminding health workers in Kenya how to treat children’s malaria increased the number of cases handled correctly.

The study was recently published in the Lancet.

15 minutes of exercise a day

A recent article on ABC News discusses a new study that found that 15 minutes of exercise a day helped reduce study participants' risk of cancer by 10% and extended their life expectancy by three years.

Health disparities among poor children

A recent article describes a new report from the National Center for Children in Poverty takes a look at the health of children in poverty. Some findings include:
- Low birth weight babies are highest among African-American children, then White, then Hispanic.
- Twice as many Hispanic children have no place to go for health care when sick compared to poor African-American and White children.

Benefits in health insurance for the poor

An interesting post today on the NYT Economix blog focuses on how health insurance affects health. The post highlights a new study being released today that focused on an Oregon health insurance experiment. The study found that while expanding health insurance does not save society money, it does make people mentally and physically healthier.

Will mentors help prevent diabetes?

The BBC recently reported that a five-year project will take a look to see if providing mentors to those who are considered pre-diabetic will help stop the development of diabetes within these patients. Researchers in Norfolk have begun the study that will screen 10,000 people for the disease by having them take a fasting glucose test. The Diabetes Prevention Mentors are members of the public that have already been diagnosed with Type 2 that will call their assigned mentees regularly to help educate and motivate them to meet their goals within the program.

Read more about the Norfolk Diabetes Prevention Study and about the Diabetes Prevention Mentors.

Childhood: A Caffeine Buzz From Soft Drinks

An article in the New York Times discusses a small study completed by an urban pediatric clinic that suggests that children younger than 12 may be routinely drinking so much caffeine that it could interfere with their sleep. The source was almost exclusively caffeinated soft drinks. About 78% of the 228 children in the study consumed caffeine - with children 5-7 consuming about 52milligrams per day and children 8-12 consuming about 109 milligrams.

The study was published online in The Journal of Pediatrics.

Smaller brain region may fuel weight gain in teens

A new study suggests that the smaller size of an impulse-control region in the brain may predispose children to gain weight. Or, the obesity itself may influence brain size, which in turn may fuel uninhibited eating. The researchers noted that the study only shows an association and not a cause-effect link.

The study was presented at the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Meeting this week in New York City.

The cost of obesity

An interesting article on MSNBC takes a look at the cost of obesity for both men and women. George Washington University researchers found that the annual cost of obesity for women was $4,789 for a woman and $2,646 for a man. Items factored in include employee sick days, lost productivity and even more gasoline. This outweighs the costs of just being overweight, $524 for women and $432 for men.