Health issues will cost more in 2011

People who are obese, have high blood pressure, high cholesterol or diabetes and who work for the state of Alabama may have to pay more for health insurance if they don’t make healthy strides. Starting in 2010, state employees will by charged $25 a month if they don’t take part in health screenings. They’ll also be charged if their screenings show problems with their weight, blood pressure, cholesterol or glucose levels and they don’t make positive changes over the course of a year. The state has yet to define what level of change will be required to waive the fee. The state has a similar program for smokers, and since that was instituted the number of state employees who smoke dropped from 22 to 19 percent…

Coffee for the most part won’t hurt you

We all know that coffee is great for helping us focus when we haven’t had enough sleep and for improving our moods, but are there health risks involved from drinking coffee daily? For the most part, coffee won’t cause much harm, based on numerous studies. It doesn’t really cause dehydration in small doses, and getting a little each day seems to protect people’s hearts. It may protect against diabetes and Parkinson’s, but caffeine doesn’t seem to help people lose weight. In fact, those who drink the most caffeine also tend to weigh the most…

Making changes at Applebee’s

Julia Stewart, chief executive of Applebee’s, says the company is trying to change its image now that it seems pretty much exactly like most of the other casual dining eateries out there. She says the company has scored with the riblet, basically a piece of scrap they turned into an entrée, but that the restaurants need updating if they’re going to stay alive in a less-than-stellar economy. She says classics like the fried mozzarella stick will probably stay on the menu forever, but the company also has some new twists up its sleeves, like the bruschetta quesadilla, coming soon…

Putting plus-sized television in perspective

There’s something strange about the fact that the majority of Americans are overweight, yet the majority of actors in television programs (the women, especially) are normal weight or even skinny. The only place you really see obese people on television is weight loss reality television shows, and there are tons of them, more each season. The New York Times sees irony in the fact that these shows are broken up with commercials for junk food, but says they’re so popular because they give people hope that changing their bodies is possible, even if all they do is sit on the couch and watch other people do it…

More horses in the UK are obese

Two sad stories about animals today. One involves a report from the equine charity World Horse Welfare, which found that 81 percent of horses in the UK are overweight. Like the people who own them, horses eat too much and are exercised too little. Excess weight puts a strain on the animal’s heart and lungs, which can lead to health problems that require euthanasia…

Bear killed after being fed junk food

Finally, one for the don’t try this at home file: a black bear in Utah had to be killed recently because a man was feeding it junk food so his children and grandchildren could watch it. The animal, which had been fed doughnuts, syrup and dog food, was no longer afraid of humans, and wildlife officials were afraid it would become aggressive with people if it weren’t fed. They are considering pressing charges against the man who fed the bear.

(By Sarah E. White for CalorieLab Calorie Counter News)

Subscribe to our RSS feed | Weekly e-mail updates | Follow us on Twitter

This entry was posted on Monday, August 25th, 2008 and is filed under Beverages, Fast food and restaurants, Food miscellaneous, Foreign stories (non-U.S.), Government obesity actions, Nibbles: diet news shorts, Obese animals, Public policy. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed. Permalink.