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Tuesday, December 6, 2011

As euro reels, France and Germany push to rewrite the rules

France and Germany agreed on a joint strategy to stem the European debt crisis: Rewrite the treaties that govern the eurozone.

In a much-needed show of unity, French and German leaders offered a potential balm to Europe's battered economies ahead of a crucial make-or-break week for the European Union and for a yet uncertain global economic recovery.

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The Franco-German proposal suggests rewriting European treaties to enforce budgetary discipline by March 2012. The European Central Bank is also expected to lower loan rates on Thursday.

But the main event is the critical two-day EU heads of state summit that ends Friday, when leaders are expected to support the Franco-German plan to reestablish confidence in Europe.

Without that support, investors doubt European sovereign defaults can be avoided, something that could trigger a doomsday scenario for the continent: The collapse of the euro; a breakup of the EU; and a recession that would harm the economies of much of the rest of the world.? Months of indecision, even after Greece, Ireland, and Portugal had to be bailed out, has undermined confidence that European governments would all be able to pay back their debts.

But even i they do agree, there is no guarantee of economic recovery or no further defaults. Rewriting treaties take a long time, and would come amid severe disagreements between eurozone members on the best financial plan of action for the Continent.

The situation became critical two weeks ago when the borrowing costs of Italy and Spain surged. Investors and global powers like China and the US were no longer reassured by political promises and demanded concrete measures to secure an exit from the crisis.

President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany are now trying to deliver real action. They represent the continent?s two biggest economies and populations, as well as a broader regional split between northern fiscally responsible and southern spendthrift countries. So far though the two have offered different recipes for the same malady, in a big part driven by their domestic political setbacks.

Global shares rose on the agreement and the cost of borrowing for peripheral countries, including Italy and Spain, continued to drop. Italy?s approval Sunday of its most severe austerity measures yet have fueled optimism, but the Franco-German consensus is the main drive, analysts said.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/uBVDnNzkym4/As-euro-reels-France-and-Germany-push-to-rewrite-the-rules

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Monday, December 5, 2011

Few parents recall doctor saying child overweight (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Pediatricians are supposed to track if youngsters are putting on too many pounds ? but a new study found less than a quarter of parents of overweight children recall the doctor ever saying there was a problem.

Does that mean doctors aren't screening enough kids, or aren't frank enough in these tough conversations? Or is the real story parent denial? The research published Monday can't tell, but makes it clear the message too often isn't getting through.

"It's tricky to say, and it's tricky to hear," says lead researcher Dr. Eliana Perrin of the University of North Carolina. She analyzed government health surveys that included nearly 5,000 parents of overweight children from 1999 to 2008.

Parents tend not to realize when a weight problem is creeping up on their children. When almost a third of U.S. children are at least overweight, and about 17 percent are obese, it's harder to notice that there's anything unusual about their own families. Plus, children change as they grow older.

The new study suggests when parents do recall a doctor noting the problem, it's been going on for a while.

About 30 percent of the parents of overweight 12- to 15-year-olds said a doctor had alerted them, compared with just 12 percent of the parents of overweight preschoolers. Even among the parents of very obese children, only 58 percent recalled a doctor discussing it, says the report published Monday by the journal Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

"Many pediatricians don't worry until children are very overweight, or until they're much older," says Perrin, whose team has created stoplight-colored growth charts to help doctors explain when a problem's brewing. "If we can notice a concerning trend early, we're more likely to be able to do something about it."

That means taking a family approach, says Dr. Nazrat Mirza, medical director of an obesity clinic at Children's National Medical Center in Washington. Important changes ? such as switching to low-fat milk and water instead of sugary sodas and juice, or cutting back on fast food ? should be viewed as making the whole family healthier, not depriving everyone because Johnny needs to lose weight.

"You do not want to single out one individual in the family. That's enough to cause a lot of friction," says Mirza, who wasn't involved with the new study.

Doctors have long tracked children's height and weight during yearly checkups, but more recent guidelines urge them to calculate a youngster's body mass index, or BMI, to screen for developing obesity. Unlike with adults, one measurement alone doesn't necessarily mean children are overweight ? they might be about to shoot up an inch.

The next step is plotting that BMI on a growth chart. Youngsters are considered overweight if their BMIs track in the 85th to 95th percentile for children their same age and gender, a range that just a few years ago was termed merely "at risk." Above the 95th percentile is considered obese.

To tackle lack of awareness, Children's National has begun calculating BMIs for every child age 2 or older who is admitted for any reason. Mirza calls it "a teachable moment."

Perrin's analysis shows more parents of overweight kids are starting to get the message. Overall, 22 percent of parents reported a health professional telling them their child was overweight. But that rose to 29 percent in 2008, the latest year of the survey data and about the time guidelines changed.

So what should parents, and overweight children themselves, be told?

Perrin focuses on health, not fat. She tells them the child is at an unhealthy weight that puts them at risk for later problems ? and that she can help families learn to eat better and get more active. That's where her color-coded BMI charts (http://www.eatsmartmovemorenc.com) come in. Parents can tell at a glance if their child is in the overweight yellow zone or the obese red zone, and over time if they're moving closer to the green zone. Perrin calls the charts especially useful between ages 3 and 8, when children are growing so fast it's particularly hard to tell if they're a healthy size.

Portion size is key, too. Nutritionists define the right size as about 1 tablespoon of each food type for every year of age. Perrin's easier measure is that a serving is about the size of a child's palm, which will grow as the child gets older.

Pre-teens and teens are more independent and have to be on board, adds Mirza. Teens, for example, start to stay up late, eating more at night and skipping breakfast, not a healthy pattern. The kid who never exercises will tune out all weight advice if told to hit the gym but might agree to walk around the block. The athlete might be sabotaging physical activity with 600-calorie snacks.

The good news: As kids grow older and taller, "they can grow into a healthier weight," Perrin says. And "we know that parents with an accurate assessment of their child's weight are more likely to make weight-related changes."

___

EDITOR'S NOTE ? Lauran Neergaard covers health and medical issues for The Associated Press in Washington.

Online:

Journal: http://archpedi.ama-assn.org/

BMI charts: www.eatsmartmovemorenc.com

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/health/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111205/ap_on_he_me/us_med_healthbeat_overweight_kids

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George McGovern in stable condition after SD fall

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) ? Former Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern was alert, comfortable and in stable condition at a South Dakota hospital Saturday after hitting his head during a fall, hospital officials said.

The 89-year-old former U.S. senator was taken by helicopter to a Sioux Falls hospital late Friday after falling outside Dakota Wesleyan University's McGovern Library in Mitchell. A school official said McGovern hit his head on the pavement about two hours before he was scheduled to appear on a live C-SPAN interview at the library.

"Senator McGovern is alert and resting comfortably but, as with any head injury, it is important that we observe the situation closely," Dr. Michael Elliott, chief medical officer at Avera McKennan Hospital & University Health Center, said in a written statement Saturday.

The statement said McGovern was in stable condition, though no other details were released. The hospital said his family was asking for privacy.

The former South Dakota senator has lived in St. Augustine, Fla., since 2008 but also has a home in Mitchell.

Friends and faculty who had gathered at the library for the C-SPAN taping said McGovern fell at about 5:15 p.m. Friday. McGovern was "bleeding profusely" but was conscious and talking as he was taken from the university by ambulance, said Donald Simmons, dean of the College of Public Service.

McGovern's daughter, Ann, was with her father before he was taken to the Sioux Falls hospital. She said Friday that the injury was unrelated to her father's hospitalization in late October for exhaustion.

University President Robert Duffett said McGovern had been excited to take part in the C-SPAN program "The Contenders," which focuses on failed presidential candidates who changed the landscape of American politics. McGovern lost his 1972 presidential bid against President Richard Nixon, who eventually resigned amid the Watergate scandal.

Duffett said he had coffee with McGovern just hours before the fall and that McGovern was returning to the campus to grab dinner with faculty before the interview.

McGovern was entering a side door when he "tripped and fell and hit his head hard," Duffett said. "It's just one of those things. He's made that walk many times before."

McGovern has an office inside the library, which is named for him and his late wife, Eleanor.

C-SPAN went ahead and aired the segment on McGovern, with program host Amity Shlaes interviewing political experts and journalists to analyze McGovern presidential campaign. Shlaes said on air that McGovern had taken "a spill" and wasn't able to be on the program as planned, but she said he was fine.

McGovern was elected to his first of three terms in the Senate in 1962. Though he later lost the presidential race to Nixon, he continued to distinguish himself during his political career and was a lifelong advocate for U.S. and world food programs.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2011-12-03-McGovern%20Hospitalized-Fall/id-820e57285112432e8deb9a756d6f3d16

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Sunday, December 4, 2011

This Week's Most Popular Posts: November 26-December 2 [Highlights]

This Week's Most Popular Posts: November 26-December 2 This week we got to the bottom of whether or not you really need to eject USB drives before removing them, went overseas on the cheap, anonymized our BitTorrent traffic, turned an old LCD into a polarized privacy monitor, and more. Here's a look back.