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Good Weight-Loss Diets Avoid Processed Foods, Study Finds

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Want to drop some pounds? Drop the ultra-processed foods, a new study says. People lost twice as much weight on a diet with minimally processed foods compared to one with ultra-processed products, even though both diets were nutritionally matched, researchers reported Aug. 4 in the journal Nature Medicine. “The global food system at the moment drives diet-related poor health and obesity, particularly because of the wide availability of cheap, unhealthy food,” researcher Chris van Tulleken, an associate professor with the University College London, said in a news release. “This study highlights the importance of ultra-processing in driving health outcomes in addition to the role of nutrients like fat, salt and sugar,” van Tulleken said. Ultra-processed foods are made mostly from substances extracted from whole foods, like saturated fats, starches and added sugars.  They also contain a wide variety of additives to make them more tasty, attractive and shelf-stable, including colors, emulsifiers, flavors and stabilizers. Examples include packaged baked goods, sugary cereals, frozen pizza, instant soups and deli cold cuts. For this study, researchers recruited 55 adults to take turns eating a diet of minimally processed or ultra-processed eats. For eight weeks, participants ate minimally processed meals like oatmeal or homemade spaghetti Bolognese. Then for another eight weeks, they munched on ultra-processed food like breakfast oat bars or ready-to-eat packaged lasagna. Meals were delivered to the…  read on >  read on >

Presidential Fitness Test Returns to U.S. Schools

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The Presidential Fitness Test is returning to U.S. schools after more than a decade. President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday to bring back the program, which aims to improve physical fitness among students. The test was launched in 1956 and ended in 2013. U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will lead the venture. He has spoken out about rising childhood obesity and the need for healthier habits among young people. “President Trump wants every young American to have the opportunity to emphasize healthy, active lifestyles — creating a culture of strength and excellence for years to come,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told NBC News. The original test asked kids to do exercises such as push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, running and toe-touches. High-performing students could earn the Presidential Physical Fitness Award. In 2013, the Obama administration replaced the test with the Presidential Youth Fitness Program, which focused less on athletic skill and more on individual health. The new version will again reward students who excel in physical fitness. It will be led by the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition, which will create updated fitness standards and school programs. Kennedy said the award “was a huge item of pride when I was growing up,” and that the country needs to bring back “that spirit of competition and…  read on >  read on >

Presidential Fitness Test Returns to U.S. Schools

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The Presidential Fitness Test is returning to U.S. schools after more than a decade. President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday to bring back the program, which aims to improve physical fitness among students. The test was launched in 1956 and ended in 2013. U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will lead the venture. He has spoken out about rising childhood obesity and the need for healthier habits among young people. “President Trump wants every young American to have the opportunity to emphasize healthy, active lifestyles — creating a culture of strength and excellence for years to come,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told NBC News. The original test asked kids to do exercises such as push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, running and toe-touches. High-performing students could earn the Presidential Physical Fitness Award. In 2013, the Obama administration replaced the test with the Presidential Youth Fitness Program, which focused less on athletic skill and more on individual health. The new version will again reward students who excel in physical fitness. It will be led by the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition, which will create updated fitness standards and school programs. Kennedy said the award “was a huge item of pride when I was growing up,” and that the country needs to bring back “that spirit of competition and…  read on >  read on >

Floods Have Big Downstream Effects on People’s Health

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Long after floodwaters recede, the impact of flooding on the health of older adults is profound, new research shows.  Rates of hospitalizations for a range of conditions affecting the skin and nervous system, as well as poisonings, injuries or mental health woes were all elevated during and after major floods, according to a new data analysis. There’s much that can be done to prevent many of these hospitalizations, however. “Targeted outreach and robust evacuation planning for vulnerable populations, such as older individuals, along with community-based alert systems, are crucial to minimizing health impacts,” said a group led by Sarika Aggarwal. She’s a PhD candidate at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The team published its findings July 30 in The Lancet Planetary Health. The study looked at Medicare hospitalization data from 2000 to 2016, then compared it to information from the Global Flood Database on flooding in the U.S. The study focused on hospitalizations for patients aged 65 or older, covering 13 disease conditions. The hospitalizations all occurred within four weeks of a flooding event.  More than 4.5 million hospitalizations linked to 72 “significant flood events” were part of the analysis. Aggarwal’s team observed elevated rates of hospitalizations for seniors from a number of causes: A 3.1% rise in admissions for skin diseases A 2.5% rise in admissions for nervous system disorders A 1.1%…  read on >  read on >

Floods Have Big Downstream Effects on People’s Health

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Long after floodwaters recede, the impact of flooding on the health of older adults is profound, new research shows.  Rates of hospitalizations for a range of conditions affecting the skin and nervous system, as well as poisonings, injuries or mental health woes were all elevated during and after major floods, according to a new data analysis. There’s much that can be done to prevent many of these hospitalizations, however. “Targeted outreach and robust evacuation planning for vulnerable populations, such as older individuals, along with community-based alert systems, are crucial to minimizing health impacts,” said a group led by Sarika Aggarwal. She’s a PhD candidate at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The team published its findings July 30 in The Lancet Planetary Health. The study looked at Medicare hospitalization data from 2000 to 2016, then compared it to information from the Global Flood Database on flooding in the U.S. The study focused on hospitalizations for patients aged 65 or older, covering 13 disease conditions. The hospitalizations all occurred within four weeks of a flooding event.  More than 4.5 million hospitalizations linked to 72 “significant flood events” were part of the analysis. Aggarwal’s team observed elevated rates of hospitalizations for seniors from a number of causes: A 3.1% rise in admissions for skin diseases A 2.5% rise in admissions for nervous system disorders A 1.1%…  read on >  read on >

When Local Homicide Rates Rise, Suicides Rise Soon After

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There may be a connection between a community’s homicide and suicide rates: When murder rates rise, there’s typically a local uptick in suicides a year later, new U.S. research shows. These trends were especially strong for gun-related incidents, according to a team from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J.  The findings suggest that “local violence doesn’t only harm the victims – it destabilizes entire communities in ways that increase the risk of suicide,” said study leader Daniel Semenza. He directs research at the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center. Put another way, “violence prevention is suicide prevention,” Semenza said in a Rutgers news release. The researchers tracked 50 years’ worth of data — from 1968 through 2019 — for homicides and suicides in counties across 48 U.S. states. The main finding: A one-point rise in homicides in a county during one year was linked to an average 3.6% rise in suicides the following year. That trend got stronger for homicides and suicides committed with a gun: A one-point rise in gun-related killings was linked to a 5.7% rise in gun-related suicides the following year.  The murder-suicide link was more pronounced in rural versus urban communities, and among white people versus Black Americans, although Black Americans were not unaffected, the researchers said.  The bottom line? “Interpersonal and self-directed violence are interconnected and should be treated as…  read on >  read on >

When Local Homicide Rates Rise, Suicides Rise Soon After

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There may be a connection between a community’s homicide and suicide rates: When murder rates rise, there’s typically a local uptick in suicides a year later, new U.S. research shows. These trends were especially strong for gun-related incidents, according to a team from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J.  The findings suggest that “local violence doesn’t only harm the victims – it destabilizes entire communities in ways that increase the risk of suicide,” said study leader Daniel Semenza. He directs research at the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center. Put another way, “violence prevention is suicide prevention,” Semenza said in a Rutgers news release. The researchers tracked 50 years’ worth of data — from 1968 through 2019 — for homicides and suicides in counties across 48 U.S. states. The main finding: A one-point rise in homicides in a county during one year was linked to an average 3.6% rise in suicides the following year. That trend got stronger for homicides and suicides committed with a gun: A one-point rise in gun-related killings was linked to a 5.7% rise in gun-related suicides the following year.  The murder-suicide link was more pronounced in rural versus urban communities, and among white people versus Black Americans, although Black Americans were not unaffected, the researchers said.  The bottom line? “Interpersonal and self-directed violence are interconnected and should be treated as…  read on >  read on >

FDA Vaccine Chief Steps Down After Controversial Tenure

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) top vaccine official is stepping down after just three months in a role that upset drug companies, patient groups and some political leaders. Dr. Vinay Prasad will leave the agency to “spend more time with his family,” a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said in a statement. But two people familiar with the situation told the Associated Press that Prasad was asked to leave after a series of recent controversies. They spoke anonymously to discuss internal matters. Prasad joined the FDA in May from the University of California, San Francisco. He had gained attention for questioning the agency’s current approach on approving new drugs, including COVID-19 vaccines. In recent weeks, some conservative activists like Laura Loomer raised concerns about Prasad’s past statements, including praise for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders  (I-Vt.) and criticism of President Donald Trump. “How did this Trump-hating Bernie Bro get into the Trump admin???” Loomer posted on X last week. Prasad has also faced pushback for pausing shipments of the only approved gene therapy for Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy, a fatal muscle-wasting disease that mainly affects young boys, the AP reported. The shipments were briefly stopped after reports of patient deaths. However, they resumed this week following pressure from families who rely on the treatment. Prasad has long questioned the…  read on >  read on >

Bans on Flavored Vapes Have Pros And Cons, Study Finds

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State bans on enticing flavors of e-cigarettes bring real benefits in terms of lowering vaping among adults of any age, new research finds. But it points to a downside, too: A slowdown in statewide declines of cigarette smoking after flavored vapes were banned.  “Both e-cigarettes and combustible cigarettes are essentially a source of nicotine for people who may have nicotine dependencies,” said study senior author Douglas Levy, who directs policy research at the Tobacco Research & Treatment Center at Massachusetts General Hospital.  “We’re trying to solve the problem of youth vaping, but we need to carefully consider impacts on more harmful combustible cigarette use,” he said.  The study was published July 30 in JAMA Network Open. Over the past decade flavored forms of e-cigarettes, with enticing fruit or candy flavors, have been a focus of attack by health-minded state legislatures. That’s because it’s thought these products are especially alluring to kids and teens.  To reduce youth vaping, a number of states — including Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Maryland and Utah — put bans on the sale of flavored vapes, with many policies going into place in 2020. What impact have those bans had on the use of nicotine products such as cigarettes and e-cigarettes? To find out, Levy and colleagues looked at national surveys conducted between 2019 to 2023.  Among their findings:…  read on >  read on >

Bans on Flavored Vapes Have Pros And Cons, Study Finds

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State bans on enticing flavors of e-cigarettes bring real benefits in terms of lowering vaping among adults of any age, new research finds. But it points to a downside, too: A slowdown in statewide declines of cigarette smoking after flavored vapes were banned.  “Both e-cigarettes and combustible cigarettes are essentially a source of nicotine for people who may have nicotine dependencies,” said study senior author Douglas Levy, who directs policy research at the Tobacco Research & Treatment Center at Massachusetts General Hospital.  “We’re trying to solve the problem of youth vaping, but we need to carefully consider impacts on more harmful combustible cigarette use,” he said.  The study was published July 30 in JAMA Network Open. Over the past decade flavored forms of e-cigarettes, with enticing fruit or candy flavors, have been a focus of attack by health-minded state legislatures. That’s because it’s thought these products are especially alluring to kids and teens.  To reduce youth vaping, a number of states — including Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Maryland and Utah — put bans on the sale of flavored vapes, with many policies going into place in 2020. What impact have those bans had on the use of nicotine products such as cigarettes and e-cigarettes? To find out, Levy and colleagues looked at national surveys conducted between 2019 to 2023.  Among their findings:…  read on >  read on >