Ambulance companies start charging extra fees to transport extremely overweight patients

October 18th, 2009 MADRID - A massive protest has been held here against the government's reform of the voluntary-abortion law. The Spanish government approved last September the reform of the abortion law making 16 years the age when a woman is considered an adult and may decide to voluntarily abort her pregnancy, one of the aspects of the legislation that has sparked great controversy.

October 15th, 2009 Drop that taco! Mexico City puts cops on dietMEXICO CITY — Some Mexico City cops are taking a bite out of more than crime. The Mexican capital is putting its 1,300 of its heaviest police officers on a diet, concerned about rapidly expanding waistlines in the force.

October 15th, 2009 Mexico City puts 1,300 overweight police on a dietMEXICO CITY — Some Mexico City cops are taking a bite out of more than crime. The Mexican capital is putting its 1,300 of its heaviest police officers on a diet, concerned about rapidly expanding waistlines in the force.

October 14th, 2009 LONDON - Self-esteem of overweight women deflates when they view pictures of models of any size, while the reverse happens in case of their underweight counterparts, says a new study. Authors Dirk Smeesters (Erasmus University, the Netherlands), Thomas Mussweiler (University of Cologne, Germany), and Naomi Mandel (Arizona State University) researched the ways individuals with different body mass indexes (BMIs-height to weight ratio) felt when they were exposed to thin or heavy media models.

October 12th, 2009 Day care next frontier in fighting kids' obesityWASHINGTON — Grilled chicken replaced the hot dogs. Strawberries instead of cookies at snack time.

October 11th, 2009 CDHPs and HSAs? The ABCs of health insuranceMore workers are likely to be offered a health insurance option that offers a lower premium, but could mean higher out of pocket costs, when open enrollment begins at many companies in coming weeks. Here are some tips for evaluating these new plans, called consumer directed health plans, and the alphabet soup of options this open enrollment season.

October 2nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - Household food insecurity may be making children from low-income families overweight, according to a study. Published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, the study involved almost 8,500 low-income children, aged 1 month to 5 years.

September 30th, 2009 Getting swine flu vaccine top business concernWhen it comes to preparing for a swine flu outbreak, the top concern for most U.S. business leaders is getting enough vaccine for their employees, according to a new survey.

September 21st, 2009 LONDON - People who are above 55 years of age are less aware of how to reduce their risk of cancer than younger adults, revealed a survey in UK. The YouGov survey of almost 2,000 people, commissioned by The World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF), found that people in that age group were less likely to know that poor diet, being overweight and drinking alcohol all increase cancer risk.

September 21st, 2009 GlaxoSmithKline changes doctor training policyTRENTON, N.J. — British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline PLC said Monday it is making major changes in its funding of educational programs for doctors, reducing the number it sponsors and switching its focus to independent ones with balanced information.

September 19th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Students of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) are on a hunger strike to press for better health facilities in the campus after a first year MCA student died of an asthma attack while being taken to hospital with the lone ambulance not equipped with even the life-saving oxygen cylinder. The relay hunger strike, called by the students union, entered the second day here Saturday.

September 17th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Doctors who opt to work in rural areas will be duly compensated with extra money and weightage points that will help them while going for higher studies, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad announced Thursday. "The only way to attract the attention of doctors to work in difficult, most difficult and inaccessible areas is through incentives.

September 10th, 2009 BEIJING - China is further calling on government bodies and the public to continue fighting the H1N1 flu epidemic by various means, including free vaccination and allowing flexible work hours. In a notice issued Thursday by the General Office of the State Council called on all government departments and large-scale companies to come out with plans to deal with possible outbreaks, such as allowing flexible work hours and sequential leave to employees.

September 2nd, 2009 Statin cuts heart problems after artery surgeryNEW YORK — Score another victory for the cheap, cholesterol-lowering wonder drugs known as statins. People getting an artery unclogged or repaired were much less likely to die or have a heart attack afterward if they took preventive doses of the pills before and after their operations, a Dutch study showed.

September 1st, 2009 LONDON - Overweight and obese kids as young as 12 are showing early signs of heart disease, warn Spanish researchers. During a study, scientists in Barcelona analysed 80 obese and overweight kids with an average age of 12 and compared them with 60 lean youngsters.