U.S. diets not up to U.S. standards: study












NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – In a broad comparison of U.S. dietary standards and real Americans’ eating habits, researchers found that people fall short of nutritional recommendations overall, but some groups are worse than others.


Among the findings, researchers said that children and the elderly seemed to eat a healthier diet than younger and middle-aged adults, and women had a better diet than men. Hispanics also tended to have better quality diets than either blacks or whites.












“I think it’s a really important piece of science because it demonstrates what many of us suspected for a long time: there are many profound disparities in the American diet,” said Gary Bennett, who was not involved with the new work but studies obesity prevention at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.


For the study, researchers used responses to a large national health survey to compare what 8,272 Americans said they ate in the course of one day to what the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) suggested they should be eating.


Each subset of people was assigned a score between zero and 100 based on the percentage of the USDA recommendation for different food groups, such as fruit, vegetables, grains, milk, meat and beans, they consumed each day.


Overall, the researchers found that children and adults as groups each scored 56, while seniors scored higher with 65, meaning they did a better job meeting the USDA standards than most younger people, but no one came close to a perfect score of 100.


“Regardless of socioeconomic status, age, race and education, the American diet as a whole needs to be improved,” said the study’s lead author Hazel Hiza, of the USDA’s Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP) in Alexandria, Virginia.


Hiza and her colleagues, who published their findings in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, did find further differences when they looked at race and income.


Hispanics scored better than African Americans and whites across many different food groups.


Hispanic children, for example, were getting closer to the recommended amounts of fruit and vegetables compared to white children, and closer to the recommended amount of fruit compared to black children.


Bennett cautions, however, that the findings do not mean all Hispanics had better diets than all white and black children.


For kids, family income also made a difference, but not with the result some might expect.


The researchers say that children from poor families were meeting more of the USDA dietary recommendations than wealthy children in several food groups, which is possibly due to the low-income families’ participation in the National School Breakfast and Lunch Programs.


Adults, however, did seem to meet more of the USDA recommendations as their incomes increased.


“What we know very clearly is that kids, who are in those lowest poverty groups, are doing OK, but not their parents,” said Bennett. “This is a win for some of our policies, but it is also the case that some of these parents are sacrificing their diets for the benefit of their kids.”


Overall, Bennett said Americans would benefit from policies that encouraged people to eat more fruit and vegetables.


“Most policy decisions have advanced the production, processing and consumption of inexpensive grains… If we can figure out policy that could do the same for fruit and vegetables, our health would benefit,” he said.


Hiza added that Americans should also take into account their physical activity levels, and not just their diets.


Robert Post, deputy director for the USDA CNPP, told Reuters Health that people can find tools and resources to help them meet dietary standards on ChooseMyPlate.gov, including a tool that tracks diet and exercise.


SOURCE: http://bit.ly/UsLfDG Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, online November 19, 2012.


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Lawmakers unveil new round of Iran sanctions












WASHINGTON (AP) — Senators pressed ahead Thursday on a new set of tough sanctions against Iran‘s domestic industries as it seeks to cripple the Islamic republic’s economy and thwart its nuclear ambitions.


Sens. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., and Mark Kirk, R-Ill., unveiled a package of penalties that would designate Iran‘s energy, port, shipping and ship-building sectors as entities of proliferation and sanction transactions with these areas. The legislation also would penalize individuals selling or supplying commodities such as graphite, aluminum and steel to Iran.












The punitive measures build on the sanctions on Tehran’s oil industry that the two lawmakers have shepherded through Congress in the past year.


“Yes, our sanctions are having a significant impact, but Iran continues their work to develop nuclear weapons,” Menendez said in a statement, adding that with the new penalties, “We will send a message to Iran that they can’t just try to wait us out.”


Kirk said the measure “will greatly increase the economic pressure on the Iranian regime and send a clear message of support to the Iranian people.”


The sanctions are contained in an amendment the two lawmakers hope to add to a far-reaching defense policy bill that the Senate was debating and could wrap up by week’s end. Congress has overwhelmingly backed previous efforts by Menendez and Kirk.


The legislation also would designate the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting and its president as human rights abusers for broadcasting forced televised confessions and show trials.


The United States and European Union have imposed tough sanctions on Iran that have weakened its economy. But Tehran has found ways to bypass the penalties, such as Turkey’s use of gold to pay for Iranian natural gas imports.


The Menendez-Kirk measure would allow the president to impose sanctions in cases of the sale or transfer of precious metals, targeting efforts by Iran to circumvent the penalties.


Iran maintains that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.


Mark Dubowitz, a sanctions expert and executive director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said there is strong bipartisan support for intense sanctions, with the goal of pushing the Iranian economy to the brink of economic collapse.


Only then “can the central thesis of the administration’s sanctions policy be fairly tested: That crippling economic pressure will break the nuclear will of Iran’s supreme leader and his Revolutionary Guards and lead them to meet their obligations under international law,” Dubowitz said.


The president has 90 days from the legislation’s enactment to act. The bill does include the authority to waive the sanctions based on national security.


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Noisy city: Cacophony in Caracas sparks complaints












CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — This metropolis of 6 million people may be one of the world’s most intense, overwhelming cities, with tremendous levels of crime, traffic and social strife. The sounds of Caracas‘ streets live up to its reputation.


Stand on any downtown corner, and the cacophony can be overpowering: Deafening horns blast from oncoming buses, traffic police shrilly blow their whistles and sirens shriek atop ambulances stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic.












Air horns routinely used by bus drivers are so powerful they make pedestrians on crosswalks recoil, and can even leave their ears ringing. Loud salsa music blares from the windows of buses, trucks with old mufflers rumble past belching exhaust, and “moto-taxis” weave through traffic beeping high-pitched horns.


Growing numbers of Venezuelans are saying they’re fed up with the noise that they say is getting worse, and the numbers of complaints to the authorities have risen in recent years.


One affluent district, Chacao, put up signs along a main avenue reading: “A honk won’t make the traffic light change.”


“The noise is terrible. Sometimes it seems like it’s never going to end,” said Jose Santander, a street vendor who stands in the middle of a highway selling fried pork rinds and potato chips to commuters in traffic.


Prosecutor General Luisa Ortega recently told a news conference that officials have started “putting an increased emphasis on promoting peaceful coexistence” by punishing misdemeanors such as violations of anti-noise regulations and other minor crimes. That effort has translated into hundreds of noise-related cases in recent years.


Some violators are ordered to perform community service. For instance, two young musicians who were recently caught playing loud music near a subway station were sentenced to 120 hours of community service giving music lessons to students in public schools.


Others caught playing loud music on the street have been charged with disturbing the peace after complaints from neighbors. Fines can run as high as 9,000 bolivars, or $ 2,093.


On the streets of their capital, however, Venezuelans have grown used to living loudly. The noisescape adds to a general sense of anarchy, with many drivers ignoring red lights and blocking intersections along potholed streets strewn with trash.


“This is something that everybody does. Nobody should be complaining,” said Gregorio Hernandez, a 23-year-old college student, as he listened to Latin rock songs booming from his car stereo on a Saturday night in downtown Caracas. “We’re just having fun. We’re not hurting anybody.”


Adding to the mess is the country’s notoriously divisive politics, which regularly fill the streets with marches and demonstrations.


On many days, the shouts of protesters streaming through downtown can be heard from blocks away, demanding pay hikes or unpaid benefits.


And the sporadic crackling of gunfire in the slums can be confused for firecrackers tossed by boisterous partygoers.


It’s difficult to rank the world’s noisiest cities because many, including Venezuela’s capital, don’t take measurements of sound pollution, said Victor Rastelli, a mechanical engineering professor and sound pollution expert at Simon Bolivar University in Caracas. But Rastelli said he suspects Caracas is right up there among the noisiest, along with Sao Paulo, Mexico City and Mumbai.


Excessive noise can be more than simply an annoyance, Rastelli said. “This is a public health problem.”


Dr. Carmen Mijares, an audiologist at a private Caracas hospital, said she treats at least a dozen patients every month for hearing damage caused by prolonged exposure to loud noises.


“Many of them work in bars or night clubs, and their maladies usually include temporary hearing loss and headaches,” Mijares said. For others, she said, the day-to-day noise of traffic, car horns and loud music can exacerbate stress and sleeping disorders.


Several cities have successfully reduced noise pollution, said Stephen Stansfeld, a London psychiatry professor and coordinator of the European Network on Noise and Health.


One of the most noteworthy initiatives, Stansfeld said, was in Copenhagen, Denmark, where officials used sound walls, noise-reducing asphalt and other infrastructure as well as public awareness campaigns to fight noise pollution.


But such high-tech solutions seem like a remote possibility in Caracas, where streets are literally falling apart and aging overpasses regularly lack portions of their guard rails. Prosecutors, angry neighbors and others hoping to fight the noise will have to persuade Venezuelans to do nothing less than change their loud behavior.


For Carlos Pinto, however, making noise is practically a political right.


The 26-year-old law student and his friends danced at a recent street party to house music booming from woofers in his car’s open trunk, with neon lights on the speakers that pulsed to the beat.


When asked about the noise, he answered: “We will be heard.”


___


AP freelance video journalist Ricardo Nunes contributed to this report.


___


Christopher Toothaker on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ctoothaker


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Thousands touched by photograph of New York cop helping shoeless man












NEW YORK (Reuters) – A photograph of a New York City police officer crouching by a shoeless panhandler to give him a new pair of boots on a cold night in Times Square has drawn a deluge of praise after it was published on the police department‘s Facebook page this week.


By Thursday afternoon, nearly 394,000 people had clicked a button on the department’s Facebook page to indicate that they “liked” the photograph. Tens of thousands left comments, most praising Officer Lawrence DePrimo for his charitable deed.












The photograph was snapped by Jennifer Foster, an employee of the Pinal County Sheriff‘s Office in Florence, Arizona, during a trip to New York this month, according to police.


She took the picture shortly after she noticed the man asking passersby for money.


“Right when I was about to approach, one of your officers came up behind him,” Foster wrote in an email to the New York Police Department accompanying the snapshot, according to the picture caption on the department’s Facebook page. She said she was some distance away, and the officer did not know he was being photographed.


“The officer said, ‘I have these size 12 boots for you, they are all-weather. Let’s put them on and take care of you.’ The officer squatted down on the ground and proceeded to put socks and the new boots on this man.”


DePrimo and Foster could not be reached for comment on Thursday, and the police department did not respond to queries about the photograph.


DePrimo, 25, joined the force in 2010 and lives with his parents on Long Island, according to The New York Times. He paid $ 75 for the boots from a nearby Skechers store after an employee there gave him a 25 percent discount upon learning they were to be donated to a man in need.


“I wish more cops were like this guy,” one person wrote on the department’s Facebook page. Others suggested there were plenty of good-hearted police officers about, even if their good deeds were not photographed or touted on Facebook.


(Editing by Paul Thomasch and Stacey Joyce)


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Actor who apparently killed landlady not on drugs












LOS ANGELES (AP) — An autopsy report shows no drugs were detected in the body of a former “Sons of Anarchy” actor who police say killed his landlady and then fell to his death.


Toxicology results on Johnny Lewis found no traces of cocaine, alcohol, marijuana or any other types of drugs in the actor’s system. Officials checked for anti-psychotic drugs as well as psychedelic drugs.












Lewis was found dead in September in the driveway of a Los Angeles residence, and police found his landlady and a cat dead inside the home. Officials believe Lewis fell while trying to flee the home after killing 81-year-old Catherine Davis.


The killing occurred just days after Lewis was released from jail. Records show he had pleaded no contest to assault with a deadly weapon and attempted burglary in separate cases.


Authorities expressed concern about his mental health in court hearings before his release.


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Simple measures cut infections caught in hospitals












CHICAGO (AP) — Preventing surgery-linked infections is a major concern for hospitals and it turns out some simple measures can make a big difference.


A project at seven big hospitals reduced infections after colorectal surgeries by nearly one-third. It prevented an estimated 135 infections, saving almost $ 4 million, the Joint Commission hospital regulating group and the American College of Surgeons announced Wednesday. The two groups directed the 2 1/2-year project.












Solutions included having patients shower with special germ-fighting soap before surgery, and having surgery teams change gowns, gloves and instruments during operations to prevent spreading germs picked up during the procedures.


Some hospitals used special wound-protecting devices on surgery openings to keep intestine germs from reaching the skin.


The average rate of infections linked with colorectal operations at the seven hospitals dropped from about 16 percent of patients during a 10-month phase when hospitals started adopting changes to almost 11 percent once all the changes had been made.


Hospital stays for patients who got infections dropped from an average of 15 days to 13 days, which helped cut costs.


“The improvements translate into safer patient care,” said Dr. Mark Chassin, president of the Joint Commission. “Now it’s our job to spread these effective interventions to all hospitals.”


Almost 2 million health care-related infections occur each year nationwide; more than 90,000 of these are fatal.


Besides wanting to keep patients healthy, hospitals have a monetary incentive to prevent these infections. Medicare cuts payments to hospitals that have lots of certain health care-related infections, and those cuts are expected to increase under the new health care law.


The project involved surgeries for cancer and other colorectal problems. Infections linked with colorectal surgery are particularly common because intestinal tract bacteria are so abundant.


To succeed at reducing infection rates requires hospitals to commit to changing habits, “to really look in the mirror and identify these things,” said Dr. Clifford Ko of the American College of Surgeons.


The hospitals involved were Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles; Cleveland Clinic in Ohio; Mayo Clinic-Rochester Methodist Hospital in Rochester, Minn.; North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System in Great Neck, NY; Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago; OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria, Ill.; and Stanford Hospital & Clinics in Palo Alto, Calif.


___


Online:


Joint Commission: http://www.jointcommission.org


American College of Surgeons: http://www.facs.org


___


AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/LindseyTanner


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Buying That First Home Is Getting Harder












The housing market may be recovering, but not everyone’s along for the ride. First-time buyers are becoming a shrinking share of purchasers, according to the results of a monthly survey of 2,500 real estate agents. New home buyers made just 34.7 percent of all purchases in October, the lowest since the Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey started in September 2009. Three years ago, first-time borrowers were 47 percent of all buyers, buoyed at the time in part by a tax credit.


First-time homeowners, who typically buy lower-priced homes and need extra financing, are losing share as the market shifts from distressed properties such as foreclosures. Distressed sales, which usually cost less, were almost half of all of purchases a year ago, but now they’re just over a third of sales. At the same time, prices for all existing homes have been rising—prices were up 4.4 percent in September over the previous year, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency—making homes less affordable for first-time buyers.












For new buyers, rising prices are coupled with difficulties in getting a mortgage. About half of all first-time buyers get their loans through HUD’s Federal Housing Administration, which allows down payments as low as 3.5 percent. Because loans with lower down payments are riskier, the FHA’s rates are typically higher than those of traditional mortgages. With interest rates at near-record lows, the incremental difference wasn’t causing much consternation in the past. But facing concerns that it has taken on too much risk and may need a bailout, the FHA raised rates in August and plans to do so again next year.


Interest rates are still near historic lows, rents are rising, and home prices (adjusted for inflation) are still at levels not seen in more than a decade. That means first-time buyers may be missing out on quite the opportunity, if they just can find a loan and a home they can afford.


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Rapper PSY wants Tom Cruise to go ‘Gangnam Style’












BANGKOK (AP) — The South Korean rapper behind YouTube’s most-viewed video ever has set what might be a “Mission: Impossible” for himself.


Asked which celebrity he would like to see go “Gangnam Style,” the singer PSY told The Associated Press: “Tom Cruise!”












Surrounded by screaming fans, he then chuckled at the idea of the American movie star doing his now famous horse-riding dance.


PSY’s comments Wednesday in Bangkok were his first public remarks since his viral smash video — with 838 million views — surpassed Justin Bieber‘s “Baby,” which until Saturday held the record with 803 million views.


“It’s amazing,” PSY told a news conference, saying he never set out to become an international star. “I made this video just for Korea, actually. And when I released this song — wow.”


The video has spawned hundreds of parodies and tribute videos and earned him a spotlight alongside a variety of superstars.


Earlier this month, Madonna invited PSY onstage and they danced to his song at one of her New York City concerts. MC Hammer introduced the Korean star at the American Music Awards as, “My Homeboy PSY!”


Even President Barack Obama is talking about him. Asked on Election Day if he could do the dance, Obama replied: “I think I can do that move,” but then concluded he might “do it privately for Michelle,” the first lady.


PSY was in Thailand to give a free concert Wednesday night organized as a tribute to the country’s revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who turns 85 next month. He paid respects to the king at a Bangkok shopping mall, signing his name in an autograph book placed beside a giant poster of the king. He then gave an outdoor press conference, as screaming fans nearby performed the pop star’s dance.


Determined not to be a one-hit wonder, PSY said he plans to release a worldwide album in March with dance moves that he thinks his international fans will like.


“I think I have plenty of dance moves left,” he said, in his trademark sunglasses and dark suit. “But I’m really concerned about the (next) music video.”


“How can I beat ‘Gangnam Style’?” he asked, smiling. “How can I beat 850 million views?”


___


Associated Press writer Thanyarat Doksone contributed to this report.


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Obama takes “fiscal cliff” battle to Twitter












WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama opened a new front on Wednesday in the battle between Democrats and Republicans over the best way to avoid the year-end “fiscal cliff” – Twitter.


The web-savvy Obama administration launched a social media campaign that asks Twitter users to add the “#my2k” hashtag to messages with examples of what $ 2,000 means to them.












The amount is roughly what a middle-class family of four would have to pay extra in taxes next year if Congress cannot strike a deal to remove the threat of roughly $ 600 billion in tax hikes and federal spending cuts.


The fast-paced social networking site known for its zippy 140-character comments is a tried-and-true method of reaching Americans. The latest call for such searchable references is an effort to pressure Congress into finding compromise on long-held partisan views.


Obama announced the new Twitter hashtag campaign at a news conference on Wednesday. He and fellow Democrats, who oppose significant cuts to U.S. “entitlement” programs such as Medicare as a way of balancing the budget, have been trying to break Republican opposition to hiking taxes on anyone, including the wealthy.


Promotions of “#my2k” quickly went out to millions of followers of the White House Twitter account and scores of Democratic backers, including former House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Soon, “my2k” was a top-trending subject.


“#My2K means food for a year, the remainder of my student loan paid off or a full month of child care. $ 2200 can make or break a family,” wrote Twitter user Katrina Burchett.


In the anarchic spirit of social media, Republicans, who also polished their Twitter hashtag skills during the bitter 2012 presidential campaign, pounced quickly.


The conservative Heritage Foundation bought the promotional tweet that pops up at the top of the list if one searches for “#my2k” mentions, where the think tank offered its own take on solutions to the fiscal cliff.


House Speaker John Boehner and scores of fellow Republican lawmakers started sharing examples they hoped would put the blame for the lack of a resolution on the Democrats.


“We in the House took steps this summer to avert #fiscalcliff and stop #my2K tax hikes,” wrote Representative Mike Turner. “It’s time for @whitehouse and @SenateDems to act.”


‘BEING AWARE OF WHAT’S GOING ON’


Users on Twitter can sign up to follow one another’s messages, making searchable hashtags a helpful way to sort by subject or theme.


Marcus Messner, who studies social media at Virginia Commonwealth University, said Twitter was a perfect environment to reignite Obama’s base swiftly and gauge public engagement on the issue.


The Obama administration has used Twitter hashtags as part of lobbying campaigns to keep student loan rates low with #dontdoublemyrate and to extend payroll tax cuts with #40dollars, which was their estimate of how much the cuts saved an average family each year.


White House Social Media Director Macon Phillips later called the $ 40dollars hashtag “one of the most significant campaigns we ran on Twitter.”


“It’s about being aware of what’s going on and understanding that in the age of social media, you’re just a participant,” he told an Entrepreneur.com blogger in February. “It’s not something that you can control.”


(Editing by Peter Cooney)


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“Anger Management,” “Justified” return dates set by FX












LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – FX released its early 2013 premiere schedule Wednesday, including dates for the second season of Charlie Sheen‘s sitcom “Anger Management” and the fourth season of the Timothy Olyphant lawman drama “Justified.”


The premiere schedule kicks off with “Justified” on Tuesday, January 8 at 10 p.m. The season will find Olyphant’s character, U.S. Deputy Marshall Raylan Givens, picking up a 30-year-old cold case, unraveling a riddle that echoes all the way back to his boyhood and his criminal father’s bad dealings.












The premieres go into high gear on January 17, with the return of “Anger Management,” “Archer” and “Totally Biased W. Kamau Bell,” as well as the series premiere of the new offering “Legit.”


“Anger Management,” which received a 90-episode order after the success of its first season, will premiere with consecutive episodes at 9 and 9:30 p.m., with the animated series “Archer” premiering its fourth season at 10 p.m.


The new series “Legit,” which stars Jim Jeffries as a foul-mouthed Australian comedian struggling to legitimize his life and career in Los Angeles, will begin its 13-episode maiden season at 10 p.m., while “Totally Biased W. Kamau Bell,” which features comedian Bell riffing on politics, culture and other topics, will start a new cycle of episodes at 11 p.m.


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