Lifestyle « Weekly Gravy

Spending time on their phones or online doesn’t harm teens’ mental health, according to a new study that challenges a widely held belief. “It may be time for adults to stop arguing over whether smartphones and social media are good or bad for teens’ mental health and start figuring out ways to best support them in both their offline and online lives,” said study co-author Candice Odgers. She’s a professor of psychological science at the University of California, Irvine (UCI). For the study, researchers surveyed more than 2,000 10- to 15-year-olds at public schools in North Carolina and tracked nearly 400 of them on their smartphones for two weeks. The young people reported on any mental health symptoms three times a day, as well as their daily digital technology use. Neither using more types of digital technology or spending more time using it was associated with worse mental health, the researchers found. When links between digital technology use and mental health were found, they were minor and positive, according to the report. For example, participants who sent more text messages reported feeling better than those who texted less often, the findings showed. “Contrary to the common belief that smartphones and social media are damaging adolescents’ mental health, we don’t see much support for the idea that time spent on phones and online is associated with… read on >

Alcohol taxes do little to reduce the burden on American taxpayers for the harmful impacts of heavy drinking, a new study finds. The cost of harm caused by excessive drinking in the United States is just over $2 per drink, with about 80 cents of that shouldered by government. But state and federal alcohol taxes bring in an average of about 21 cents per drink. That means most of the financial toll of alcohol-related harm is borne by people who drink in moderation or don’t drink at all, the study authors said. “Total alcohol taxes accounted for a median of 26.7% of the economic cost to the government, and 10.3% of the total economic cost of excessive drinking,” the researchers reported in the Sept. 11 issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. “The disparity between alcohol-related cost to government and alcohol taxes amounts to a large taxpayer-funded subsidy of excessive drinking and alcohol companies,” senior author Dr. Timothy Naimi said in a journal news release. He’s a physician and epidemiologist at Boston Medical Center and Boston University School of Public Health. Research shows that higher prices on alcohol — often in the form of increased taxes — can reduce excessive drinking and related harms, such as violence, vehicle-related injuries and liver cirrhosis. “Increasing alcohol taxes could improve public health and reduce the… read on >

Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in American men, so it’s important to know the risk factors and warning signs, an expert says. The American Cancer Society estimates there will be nearly 175,000 new prostate cancer cases in the United States this year and over 31,000 deaths. One in nine men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime. “The disease can be successfully treated when detected early, typically when it is still within the prostate gland,” said Dr. Alexander Kutikov, chief of urologic oncology at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. “However, some types are aggressive and can spread quickly. In these cases, there may be a lesser chance of successful treatment.” September is National Prostate Cancer Awareness month. Men between 55 and 69 years of age should consider prostate cancer screening, according to the American Urological Association. “Because screening has its advantages and disadvantages, not every man should be screened for prostate cancer,” Kutikov said. “Men should discuss their risk factors, screening options and preferences with their health care provider before deciding whether to be screened.” Symptoms of prostate cancer may include trouble urinating, including a slow or weak stream or the need to urinate more often, especially at night; blood in the urine; and pain or burning during urination. The risk for prostate cancer rises quickly after age… read on >

Could your genes be keeping you from losing weight? While you shouldn’t use a family tendency toward wide hips or an apple shape as an excuse to stray from a healthy diet, acceptance can help you reassess your personal ideal and make you happier with your body. Hundreds of genes have been linked to weight. Some affect where fat is distributed on your body while others impact metabolism, cravings and even whether you reach for food to cope with stress. Their influence on overweight can be as little as 25% or as much as 80%. Signs that genes could be connected to your innate weight include having one or both parents who are overweight, and having a hard time losing weight even with strict dieting and exercise. But the answer isn’t to starve yourself. That can backfire, putting your body into starvation mode and slowing metabolism and weight loss even more. It can also leave you feeling fatigued and cranky from a lack of food — on top of frustration about your physical appearance. You can’t change your genes but you can improve variables, like getting enough sleep and easing stress. Also, focus on achieving better health rather than a perfect shape. That means taking steps to increase the amount of exercise you do and boosting the nutrition quality of the foods you eat. Rather… read on >

Stricter U.S. government standards for drinking water have reduced arsenic violations by public water systems, proving such safety regulations work, researchers say. Public water systems provide more than 80% of the nation’s drinking water. The new standard was introduced in 2001. Since then, the percentage of public water systems in violation fell from 1.3% in 2008 to 0.55% in 2017, researchers found. A few counties in California and Texas accounted for most of the violations. With fewer violations, the number of people drinking water with higher-than-allowed levels of arsenic fell by more than 1 million, to about 450,000, according to the study published Sept. 10 in the journal Environmental Science and Technology. “This reinforces the point that safety regulations do work, especially when they come with a carrot-and-stick approach, like increasing resources for systems to comply and giving them flexibility to choose what works best for their community,” said corresponding author Molly Kile. She is an associate professor at the College of Public Health and Human Sciences at Oregon State University in Corvallis. Arsenic is categorized by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as a Group 1 human carcinogen. That’s the most dangerous category and also includes asbestos, formaldehyde and mustard gas. In water, arsenic is tasteless, odorless and colorless. Long-term ingestion increases the risk of lung, bladder, liver, kidney and skin cancer. Arsenic… read on >

The Alexander Technique has been used for more than 100 years to improve performance, posture and other body mechanics, yet it’s arguably the least well known method for achieving these benefits. Though some people call it a form of bodywork, practitioners describe it as an educational method, because it teaches you to recognize and then unlearn negative habits, like bad posture and tensing muscles in reaction to stress. The Alexander Technique shows you how to do everyday activities with less effort and greater ease. Business people can benefit by using it to improve vocal projection and voice quality when making presentations. Benefits include: Better mobility and reduced stiffness. Pain relief through better coordination of your head, neck and back. Enhanced performance for athletes as well as performing artists, through better breathing and speed and accuracy of movement. The self-named technique was developed by actor Frederick Matthias Alexander, who was plagued by chronic hoarseness that doctors couldn’t explain. Thinking that the problem could be related to how he was using his voice, he identified habits that were indeed causing it and then how to undo them. Though the number of lessons you’ll want to take varies based on your needs, one study on back pain, published in the BMJ, found that just six one-on-one lessons with an Alexander Technique teacher followed by a home plan was… read on >

(HealthDay News) — Your kids had a good summer. You were able to get them away from the TV and outside to play for lots of exercise. But now, they’re back to school and you want them to keep off the pounds. The Children’s Hospital Medical Center of Cincinnati says lunches provided by many schools are loaded with fat. Packing a lunch for your kids is a healthy alternative, so you can control the amount of food. And include fruit and low-fat snacks, instead of potato chips. The medical center warns that after-school snacks can be full of fat. Yogurt and fruit are good choices for those times.

Moderate exercise is known to improve blood pressure — and that may include activities that are more exotic than a brisk walk, two preliminary studies suggest. In one, researchers found that “hot” yoga classes lowered blood pressure in a small group of people with modestly elevated numbers. In the other, hula dancing showed the same benefit for people who had stubbornly high blood pressure, despite medication. Experts said the findings underscore the importance of exercise when it comes to blood pressure — and the value of finding an activity you enjoy. Hot yoga classes are held in a room that’s heated — usually to about 105 degrees Fahrenheit, though some centers keep the temperature less extreme. The practice is often touted as having health benefits, such as cleansing “toxins” from the body via sweat. For the study, Stacy Hunter and her team at Texas State University recruited 10 adults, ages 20 to 65. All participants had mildly elevated blood pressure: Their systolic pressure (the “top” number) ranged between 120 and 139 mm Hg, and their diastolic pressure was 89 mm Hg or lower. (Readings below 120/80 are considered normal.) The researchers randomly assigned five people to take hot yoga classes three times a week, for 12 weeks; the rest served as a comparison group. Over the 12 weeks, those who did yoga saw their systolic… read on >

Growing up in a poor neighborhood significantly increases kids’ odds of becoming obese adults, and the risk is highest among teens, a new study says. It found that children from poor neighborhoods had 31% higher odds for adult obesity, and the risk was much higher (29%) among 11- to 18-year-olds than for younger children (13%). “Growing up in a disadvantaged neighborhood sticks with you, and can have a negative impact on one’s health through increasing one’s chance of obesity in adulthood,” said lead author Steven Alvarado, a professor of sociology at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. Disadvantaged neighborhoods were defined by seven factors, including median income and home values, and the percentage of residents who were living in poverty, unemployed or had earned bachelor’s degrees. To account for other factors that can influence a child’s obesity risk — such as genes and their parents’ behaviors — Alvarado compared siblings. Siblings largely share the same genes and parenting influences, but may have been exposed to different neighborhood circumstances growing up, because their families moved or their neighborhoods changed between the births of the siblings, Alvarado explained. The study was said to be the first to account for factors such as grandparents’ experiences in segregated schools and neighborhoods, while examining the connection between growing up in poor neighborhoods and adult obesity. “We must continue to consider the… read on >

As helpful as your smartphone is, it’s easy to develop an unhealthy attachment to it, one that can even become an addiction. It also can isolate you from other people. For instance, looking at your phone in social settings keeps you from looking at others, whether loved ones, friends or co-workers, and missing the connection that comes from making eye contact. Research shows that just having a phone in view interferes with the connection between people and the quality of their interaction. There’s even a term for preferring your phone to people: phubbing (it’s pronounced fubbing). It’s short for phone snubbing, when you’re in a social setting and concentrate on your phone instead of talking to the person you’re with. Even more dangerous is “P-phubbing,” (it’s pronounced pee-fubbing) and happens when you phub your partner, or vice versa. People phub and are phubbed. It can erode marital satisfaction and overall satisfaction with life. Phubbing grows not only from smartphone overuse, but also from being addicted to the internet and the fear of missing out on something — yes, the famous acronym FOMO — if you’re not always connected. To prevent phubbing, keep your phone in a pocket or purse when you’re with other people and focus exclusively on them. Be part of the conversation that’s happening in front of you in real time. Your behavior… read on >