Eight out of 10 men and nearly seven out of 10 women in England will be too fat by 2020, according to new data released Wednesday. Researchers said that while recent research showed obesity among children levelling off, instances among adults show no sign of doing the same. Some 41 percent of men aged 20 to 65 will be obese by 2020, with 40 percent overweight, according to the figures from the National Heart Forum, based on data from the Health Survey for England. That makes a total of 81 percent. Among women, 36 percent will be obese and 32 percent overweight — a total of 68 percent. By 2050, this will lead to sharp increases in the number of people suffering strokes, high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes, researchers said. ‘These trends demonstrate that the cautiously optimistic picture we presented in November 2009 for a levelling off of future obesity rates among children is not mirrored in adults,’ said Professor Klim McPherson of Oxford University, who also chairs the National Heart Forum. ‘There are already more men who are obese than who are of a healthy weight and by the end of […]
Only 8 percent of adults would reelect incumbent lawmakers, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll. Eighty-one percent of respondents said that they would vote senators and congressmen out of office. The poll, which was taken Feb. 5-10, comes about nine months before voters take to the polls in the 2010 midterm elections. The numbers underscore the high anti-incumbent sentiment heading into the election season, spelling danger for the large Democratic majorities in Congress. The 8 percent figure is the lowest support incumbents have received since the poll started asking the question in 1992. Democrats have admitted they will lose seats this cycle but have denied that anti-incumbent sentiment is enough to overturn their majorities. Most Republicans remain confident they can take back the House, in which all members are up for reelection. Approximately one-third of the Senate is up for reelection this cycle. Congress also received its lowest approval rating in the polling records supplied by CBS News and the New York Times, which date back to July 1977. Seventy-five percent disapproved of the job Congress is doing while only 15 percent approved of its job performance. Disapproval is […]
A bitter row has broken out between members of the British meat industry and the World Cancer Research Fund over whether red meat increases the risk of bowel cancer. What do we know about this link? The WCRF says the evidence that red and processed meats increase the risk of colorectal cancer is ‘convincing’, and since 2007 – when it published a major report on lifestyle and cancer – has urged the public to limit their consumption of steak and sausages. These conclusions, claim an array of organisations representing meat producers, are flawed. They point to a number of independent scientists who have questioned the conviction with which the link between red meat and cancer was presented in the report. The WCRF has published a list of ‘minor errors’ with the report – some relating to the findings on red meat and bowel cancer – but says it has no intention of altering the conclusions based on an expert panel’s review of the scientific literature. According to the recommendations, red meat should be consumed in modest amounts, and salami and ham should almost always be avoided. Veggies’ risk This latest spat is driven by […]
ROOSEVELT, N.Y. — Homelessness in rural and suburban America is straining shelters this winter as the economy founders and joblessness hovers near double digits - a ‘perfect storm of foreclosures, unemployment and a shortage of affordable housing,’ in one official’s eyes. ‘We are seeing many families that never before sought government help,’ said Greg Blass, commissioner of Social Services in Suffolk County on eastern Long Island. ‘We see a spiral in food stamps, heating assistance applications; Medicaid is skyrocketing,’ Blass added. ‘It is truly reaching a stage of being alarming.’ The federal government is again counting the nation’s homeless and, by many accounts, the suburban numbers continue to rise, especially for families, women, children, Latinos and men seeking help for the first time. Some have to be turned away. ‘Yes, there has definitely been an increased number of turnaways this year,’ said Jennifer Hill, executive director of the Alliance to End Homelessness in suburban Cook County, Illinois. ‘We’re seeing increases in shelter use along the lines of 30 percent or more.’ The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s annual survey last year found homelessness remained steady at about 1.6 million people, but the percentage […]
NEW YORK, NY — Even as the financial industry has sought to keep a low public profile, some of the country’s largest banks have ramped up their spending on lobbying to fight off some of the stiffest regulatory proposals pending in Congress. Lobbying expenditures jumped 12% from 2008 to $29.8 million last year among the eight banks and private equity firms that spent the most to influence legislation, according to data compiled from disclosure forms filed with Congress. The biggest spender was JPMorgan Chase & Co., whose lobbying budget rose 12% to $6.2 million, enough for the firm to have more than 30 lobbyists working for it. Among other banks, spending on lobbying rose 27% at Wells Fargo & Co. and 16% at Morgan Stanley. ‘I have never seen such a scrum of bank lobbyists as I have in the last year — and I’ve worked on quite a few bank issues over the years,’ said Ed Mierzwinski, a lobbyist for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, a coalition of state consumer organizations. ‘It seems like everybody is out of work except for bank lobbyists.’ Much of the increase in spending on lobbying in 2009 came […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
