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May Health News
A Celebrity Apprentice fights on; peer pressure and eating disorders; a healthy high; and more.
A Celebrity Apprentice's Continuing Mission
Country music star Trace Adkins created plenty of awareness about food allergies during his stint on "The Celebrity Apprentice," but he's not resting now that the show is over. He'll be teaming up once again with the nonprofit Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) to promote food allergy education during the 11th annual Food Allergy Awareness Week (May 11–17). As fans of 'The Celebrity Apprentice' know, Trace's daughter Brianna is one of the approximately 12 million Americans, or one out of every 25, with food allergies. His poster will spotlight another high-risk group: teens, who are shown to be most at risk for fatal allergic reactions due to risk-taking behavior. Trace and FAAN want to help people with food allergies get more information and learn to educate their friends so their friends can help keep them safe. If you've got a food allergy (according to a recent ym.com poll, 17% of you do), or you have a friend who does, find out more at www.faanteen.org.
Toss the TV in Your Bedroom for Better Health
Researchers at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health wanted to find out what having a television set in your bedroom meant for teens, so they spoke with 781 of them, 62% of whom said they had TVs in their bedrooms. The results? Teens with their own sets watched more TV; girls got less exercise, ate fewer vegetables, and ate meals with their families less often, reports Reuters. But one big surprise? Having a bedroom TV did not have an impact on obesity in young adults. (Past studies of younger kids did find a link.) So, even though having a TV set in your bedroom is convenient, and you don't have to fight over the remote with the rest of your family, think about taking it out of your room (or not asking for one in the first place!). It's better for your health.
Peer Pressure and Eating Disorders
Your friends probably have a big impact on your life, and so they should. But there's a big area where peer influence can be problematic: eating disorder behavior (like extreme dieting, exercising and diet pill use) can be contagious. A new study published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders reports that there was a "small but significant" increase in eating disorder behavior among high school students from the same counties, a "clustering" effect, reports Reuters. So if a friend is engaging in risky behavior having to do with food, diet pills or exercise, don't let that lead you to make bad choices on your own. And if you can, help her get the help she needs, too, before she does serious damage to her body.
A Healthy High
Do you love to exercise? For years, people talked about a "runner's high" (which people also claimed they got from taking part in other endurance activities, too), but no one could prove whether anything was going on. Now German scientists, reports The New York Times, finally have: Yes, endorphins really are being released during a workout and those really do impact your mood.
