Health Buzz: WHO Says H1N1 Threat Not Inflated

January 26, 2010 RSS Feed Print

WHO Says It Did Not Inflate H1N1 Threat

Swine flu has turned out to be a lesser threat than expected—a blessing that, surprisingly, has the World Health Organization in a tough spot. The agency is facing claims that experts it used to assess the H1N1 pandemic were being paid by drug companies, Reuters reports. Those experts, say some media in France and Britain in particular, would benefit from exaggerating its impact if their firms received big contracts to develop vaccines, Reuters reports. The WHO is conducting an internal review to assess how it handled the flu outbreak; one area to be addressed, says the organization, is how the agency will define a pandemic in the future, according to Reuters.

[Read 7 Swine Flu Facts You Need to Know Now and As Swine Flu Wanes, Don't Be Fooled.]

3 Ways to Find Obesity Treatment That Works for Your Child

One third of American children are overweight or obese, a health risk that increases the odds of heart disease, diabetes, and other killers. Need more convincing that being overweight threatens children's health? A report out last week from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that 20 percent of American teenagers have abnormal cholesterol levels, U.S. News contributor Nancy Shute reports.

Given these dismal numbers, the public-health folks are doubling down on efforts to prevent and treat childhood obesity. Last week, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommended for the first time that all children be screened for body mass index. And first lady Michelle Obama is about to launch her own initiative against child obesity, emphasizing "common-sense, innovative solutions."

Parents have to be deeply involved if a child with a serious weight problem is going to lose pounds and keep them off, according to Daniel Kirschenbaum, a clinical psychologist who is clinical director of Wellspring Academies, a residential weight-loss program for children and teenagers. There is good help out there, but finding an antiobesity program that works for children can be tough. Read more.

[Read If Diets Don't Work, What's the Solution to Obesity in America? and Screening for Childhood Obesity, Without an Easy Solution.]

Why Baby Boomers Should Rethink Retirement

Robert Butler regularly works 12-hour days, and he recently hopscotched, in the span of six weeks, from the Netherlands to Dubai to Davos, Switzerland, to drum up support at various conferences for research on preparing for the coming age boom. At 82, the scientist, expert on successful aging, grandfather, and Pulitzer Prize-winning author—who coined the term "ageism" four decades ago to describe discrimination against the elderly—is living proof that humans, like fine wine, can deepen in complexity with time, U.S. News's Deborah Kotz writes.

The head of the International Longevity Center, a research and policy organization he founded two decades ago to "maximize the benefits" of aging, is committed to identifying and spreading the word about ways to get older people out of their armchairs, eating more healthful foods, and engaged in work and learning along with their golf and bridge. "We need to alter our thinking about old age," Butler says, and realize that it "can be positive and constructive."

Transforming this explosion from a negative to a positive requires a complete overhaul in how Americans approach seniordom, Butler says: They should expect to work and learn longer, begin well in advance to protect themselves against chronic disease—some 50 percent of today's seniors live with disease or disability—and prepare to age at home. Read more.

[Slide Show: How 5 Longevity Researchers Stave Off Aging.] [Read Calorie-Restricted Diets and Other Ways to Avoid Aging and The First Boomer's Heart Battle.]

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