Essential Of The U.S Health Care System

A very high proportion of children who are having surgery are overweight or obese, and because of the excess weight have a greater chance of experiencing problems linked to the surgery, as per a new study from the University of Michigan Health System. Scientists looked at a database of all 6,017 pediatric surgeries at the U-M Hospital from 2000 to 2004, and they observed that nearly a third of the patients - 31.5 percent - were overweight or obese. More than half of those children qualified as obese, as per the study, which appears in the new issue of the Journal of the National Medical Association........

Packed lunches taken to school by 7-year olds are even less healthy than school meals used to be before Jamie Oliver set out to reform them. The Children of the 90s study, based at the University of Bristol, revealed today that in the year 2000, school meals were every bit as bad a Jamie Oliver suggested - but that children given packed lunches instead were even worse off nutritionally........

Scientists report that for patients hospitalized with acute heart failure, a higher body mass index (BMI) was linked to a substantially lower in-hospital mortality rate. For every 5-unit increase in body mass, the odds of risk-adjusted mortality fell 10 percent. The finding held when adjusted for age, sex, blood urea nitrogen, blood pressure, and additional prognostic factors........

While millions of Americans place fitness as one of their top New Year's resolutions to improve shape, muscle tone and overall appearance, cancer survivors have another priority - life. Scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have developed a customized fitness program to help survivors of endometrial cancer - or cancer of the uterus - shed pounds and keep cancer at bay. Karen Basen-Engquist, Ph.D., principal investigator of the five-year "Steps to Health" study and associate professor in the Department of Behavioral Science, aims to determine how well participants adhere to a personalized fitness plan, motivation both for beginning and sustaining regular workouts and the role of a support system in encouraging determination........

The Food and Drug Administration has issued a new and amended health claims with regard to consumption of foods that are rich in vitamin D and calcium. This new statement is meant to educate consumers the value of foods high in calcium and vitamin D for reducing the risk of osteoporosis. The National Dairy Council acknowledges and supports the body of scientific evidence that backs the proposed claim, which indicates that a lifestyle that includes a well-balanced diet with adequate calcium and vitamin D, and physical activity, helps reduce the risk of osteoporosis........