This months Johns Hopkins Public Health Magazine is devoted to Sexual Behavior and its ramificatioris for personal health. Some of the topics worth review are:
Are Abstinence-only Programs Effective?
What happens when politics and scientific research collide?
Time for the Male Pill?
You can find them in the Magazine
The following from Science Daily is an example of the valuable information available from this site, I recommend a daily visit:
Researchers have found that a new obesity prevention program reduced the risk for onset of eating disorders by 61 percent and obesity by 55 percent in young women. These effects continued for as long as 3 years after the program ended. These results are noteworthy because, to date, the idea that we can reduce risk for future onset of eating disorders and obesity has been an unrealized goal: over 80 prevention programs have been evaluated, but no previous program had been found to significantly reduce risk for onset of these serious health problems.
One of the important issues is that few programs touted for schools have had much effect. What we do not know yet is what happens after three years. If all we do is delay obesity a few years it will make little difference over a life span now approaching 80 years. Preventing chronic disease requires lifelong behavioral changes.
In an interesting turn about, the Chicago Tribune has reversed its policy of fining employees who smoke on their own time. The original intent was to pressure employees into better health and reduce insurance premiums for all its employees. The president of the company has decided to try efforts ot entice employees to change behaviors with rewards rather than punishment. Changing adult behavior is very difficult. Peer pressure may work better than executive pressure. Should you be concerned about the health of your fellow workers if their behavior causes your insurance bill to increase? Few people today accept reponsibility for anything. We have become too lax with rewards and punishments. They need to be balanced. Is rewarding someone for changing behavior appropriate when those with desired behaviors get no reward?
The Wall Street Journal and others today have discussed the possible heart disease developed among children labeled as having ADHD. Most medicines have undesired side effects. The issue is deciding when the benefit outweighs the risk. While the stimulant drugs used to control ADHD are found valuable by parents, one msy wonder how much of the acting out is the result of poor discipline rather than disease. It is too simple to diagnose a ‘condition’ and prescribe a drug. Maybe this wake up call from the American Heart Association will help more parents consider behavioral therapy rather than drugs to help their children. We have not investigated if when the children become adults there performance may be less productive for having been on drugs all their lives.
