Health Buzz: One Million Baby Slings Recalled

March 24, 2010 RSS Feed Print

Baby Slings Recalled Over Suffocation Concern

More than a million baby slings were taken off the market because of the suffocation deaths of three children, Bloomberg News reports. The Consumer Product Safety Commission warned consumers to stop using SlingRider and Wendy Bellissimo slings made by Infantino. The company is offering free replacement products. The suffocation risk is highest in infants younger than 4 months because children that young lack good head control. Soft fabric inside the slings can press against an infant's nose and mouth, causing the baby to suffocate, the CPSC said in a statement. The agency said earlier this month that it was investigating 14 deaths linked to baby slings in the past 20 years.

[Read New Warning on Baby Slings and Safety Risks and Buying for Baby: Advice From Consumer Reports.]

At the Last Supper, No Supersizing

What would Jesus eat? Probably a lot less than we do now, according to an examination of how portion sizes have changed over time, U.S. News's Katherine Hobson writes. Two brothers with divergent interests—Brian Wansink, a marketing professor and director of the Food and Brand Lab at Cornell University's Department of Applied Economics and Management, and Craig Wansink, professor and chair of the Department of Religious Studies at Virginia Wesleyan College in Norfolk—collaborated to examine artistic depictions of the Last Supper over the years to see how portion sizes have changed.

They found that the relative size of the main course increased by 69.2 percent, the relative size of the bread by 23.1 percent, and the plates by 65.6 percent. The Wansinks say versions of the Last Supper very likely offer an accurate peephole into portion size at the time they were painted because the attention of the artists were on religious themes. "Whether it was an artist working in 1200 or 1600, the main focus is probably not what's on the table," says Brian Wansink. So, he says, the size of the food and plates is what the artist thinks is appropriate "given the time and context in which he lives." Read more.

[Read 4 Easy Ways to Prevent Mindless Eating and Calorie Counts on Restaurant Menus as Part of Health Reform.]

8 Ways Health Reform Will Affect You

With Congress's historic passage of health reform, a lot of folks are wondering: What does it mean for me? By 2019, 95 percent of eligible Americans will have health insurance coverage, compared with 83 percent today. But the legislation could "have an effect on almost every citizen," according to Kaiser Health News. Unemployed 20-somethings will finally have access to medical care without going bankrupt, while professionals with expensive "Cadillac" coverage might see their benefits shrink, U.S. News's Deborah Kotz writes. So what should you expect?

Expect to see some immediate changes. Within six months after the bill is signed into law, health insurers will no longer be allowed to impose lifetime caps on coverage, a boon for those with expensive chronic health problems like cancer or heart failure who often are financially ruined after their insurance runs out. Read more.

[Read Medicare After Health Reform: Not Your Parents' Plan and Health Reform: Where Women Stand to Gain.]

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