Parents are increasingly viewing their overweight kids as "healthy" according to a new study.
Between 2005 and 2008, parents—mostly mothers—were more likely to say they viewed their overweight child as healthy, compared to parents surveyed between 1988 and 1994, according to a new study published in the journal Pediatrics.
The largest increases were seen among low income parents, followed by African Americans. These also happen to be groups at a higher risk for obesity.
What’s troubling is that parents often judge their child’s weight based on how he or she measures up to their peers, suggesting that overweight is increasingly the norm, the researchers say.
As Americans get heavier, the new study suggests, perceptions of what’s healthy becomes distorted.
Why do some people get hangovers when others don't?
Some people get hangovers after a night of drinking, while others don't, and the reason may be in their genes, a new study of twins in Australia suggests.
Researchers looked for links between the study participants' genetic makeups and the number of hangovers the individuals reported experiencing in the past year.
The results showed that genetic factors accounted for 45 percent of the difference in hangover frequency in women and 40 percent in men.
In other words, genetics accounts for nearly half of the reason why one person experiences a hangover and another person doesn't, after drinking the same amount of alcohol, the study said.
The other half probably comes from outside influences unrelated to DNA, such as how quickly a person drinks, whether they eat while they drink and their tolerance for alcohol.
E-cigarettes harmful?
The American Heart Association’s first policy statement on electronic cigarettes backs them as a last resort to help smokers quit. The American Cancer Society has no formal policy but quietly took a similar stance in May.
Both groups express great concern about these popular nicotine-vapor products and urge more regulation, especially to keep them away from youth. They also stress that proven smoking cessation methods should always be tried first.
But if those fail, “it is reasonable to have a conversation” about e-cigarettes, said the Heart Association’s president, Dr. Elliott Antman. The Cancer Society said e-cigarettes “may be a reasonable option” for people who could not quit after trying counseling and approved methods, such as nicotine patches.
Neither group recommends e-cigarettes for smoking cessation, and makers of the devices do not market them that way.
E-cigarettes are battery-powered devices that vaporize nicotine. They’ve been sold in the U.S. since 2007 and now have millions of users worldwide and nearly $2 billion in annual sales.
They contain less toxic substances than traditional cigarettes do, but little is known about their health effects.