- High-Protein, Low-Fat Dairy Diet Prevents Bone Loss
- College Teens Less Likely to Have Risky Sex
- Admiration of Celebrities May Boost Self-Esteem
- Anxiety More Important Than Looks in Teen Eating Disorders
- Dental Fillings With Mercury Pose Threat to Children, Fetuses: FDA
- Crib Mattresses Recalled Due to Entrapment Hazard
Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:
High-Protein, Low-Fat Dairy Diet Prevents Bone Loss
A high-protein, low-fat dairy diet can help prevent bone loss in people trying to lose weight, according to a U.S. study.
Many people lose bone mass when they lose weight and this can become an issue for middle-aged people, particularly women, said Ellen Evans, an associate professor of kinesiology and community health at the University of Illinois, CBC News reported.
The study included 130 middle-aged people divided into two groups. One group ate a high-protein weight loss diet that included cheese, yogurt and low-fat milk, while the other group ate a high-carbohydrate weight loss diet. They stayed on these diets for four months of weight loss, followed by eight months of weight maintenance.
At the end of the year, the high-protein diet group had 1.2 percent higher whole body bone density, 2.1 percent higher lumbar spine bone density, and 1.4 percent higher hip bone density than the carbohydrate group, CBC News reported.
The study appears in the June issue of the Journal of Nutrition.
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College Teens Less Likely to Have Risky Sex
American teens who attend college are less likely to have risky sex than teens who aren't in college, say researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle.
They found that teen college students were more likely to always use a condom and less likely to engage in high-risk sex than teens who weren't in college, United Press International reported.
According to the study:
- 23 percent of teen college students and 35 percent of non-college teens reported inconsistent condom use.
- 15 percent of college students and 29 percent of non-college teens engaged in casual sex.
- 5 percent of college students and 16 percent of non-college teens had high-risk sex, which included casual sex, inconsistent condom use, having sex with a man who had sex with other men, or having a sex partner who was HIV positive or was an intravenous drug user.
- 53 percent of college students and 70 percent of non-college teens engaged in sex in the previous month.
The study appears in the Journal of Adolescent Health.
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Admiration of Celebrities May Boost Self-Esteem
Admiration of celebrities may help people with low self-esteem feel better about themselves, suggest University at Buffalo researchers.
The scientists assessed the self-esteem of hundreds of undergraduate students, who identified their favorite celebrity, then described that celebrity in an open-ended essay, United Press International reported.
Based on the results, the researchers concluded connections to celebrities (parasocial relationships) can offer people with low self-esteem benefits they don't receive in real relationships.
The researchers said parasocial relationships, which have a very low risk of rejection, provide people with low self-esteem the chance to feel closer to their ideal selves, UPI reported.
The study appears in the journal Personal Relationships.
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Anxiety More Important Than Looks in Teen Eating Disorders
In teens with eating disorders, anxiety plays a bigger role than dissatisfaction with appearance, says a study by Finnish researchers.
They conducted two surveys, a year apart, of 372 students, ages 15 to 17, and found that 13 percent reported eating disorders in either the first or second survey and 5 percent reported eating disorders in both surveys, United Press International reported.
The researchers also found that students who reported suffering from anxiety earlier in adolescence were 20 times more likely to report ongoing eating disorders. Teens who said they were dissatisfied with their appearance only had recurring eating disorders if they also reported anxiety earlier in adolescence.
