Health News
- Fate Of Rural Hospitals Rests In The Hands Of Community Members, Writes Publisher Of Weekly Crittenden Press In Marion
Just like country grocery stores in rural areas often have to close because community members drive past them to chain stores to save a few cents, rural hospitals will also suffer and eventually disappear if citizens do not use them, Publisher Chris Evans...
- 'incredible Colon' To March Across The State In Colon Cancer Awareness Month; More Than A Dozen Stops Scheduled
A special tour throughout the state of the Incredible Colon ? an inflatable model of a human colon, large enough for visitors to walk through it ? will promote education about risks and preventive measures of colon cancer during March,...
- Columnist Wants 'healthy Labels, Not Stealthy Labels' On Groceries
Research has shown shoppers spend an average of just 1 second looking at the nutrition labels on food packages, which lends credence to an argument that the labels need to be easier to digest in a short amount of time. In January last year, the Grocery...
- Primary Care And Management Of Chronic Diseases Could Soon Be Coming To Your Local Walmart Store
Just weeks after announcing part-time employees would no longer receive health insurance benefits, Walmart said Monday it is planning to offer extended medical services in its stores, report NPR's Julie Appleby and Sarah Varney. Since many of its...
- High Use Of Meds Earns Louisville Bad Name For Allergies, Which Are Becoming More Common As Pollination Periods Expand
Louisville is the second worst American city for spring allergy sufferers, based on use of allergy medicine, says the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. Though the city has only an average pollen score and an average number of board-certified allergists,...
Health News
Researchers blame Walmart, other bulk suppliers for part of obesity epidemic
Part of the rise of obesity in America can be linked to the availability of cheap food sold in bulk from warehouse stores like Walmart, says a study released this week by researchers from Georgia State University, the University of Iowa, the University of Virginia and the University of Louisville, . Wal-Mart is the biggest retailer in the U.S. and a staple of many rural areas.
"We live in an environment with increasingly cheap and readily available junk food. We buy in bulk. We tend to have more food around. It takes more and more discipline and self-control to not let that influence your weight," Charles Courtemanche, assistant professor of economics at Georgia State, told Danielle Paquette of The Washington Post.
Obesity in America has surged from 1960, when 13 percent of adults were obese, to 2012, when 35 percent of adults were, Paquette writes. The first Walmart store opened in 1962, the first Sam's Club in 1983 and the first Walmart supercenter in 1988. In addition to Walmart, numerous other warehouse-style stores, like Target and Costco, have followed Walmart's lead by selling in bulk.
The study found that opening an additional Walmart store "per 100,000 residents increased an area?s average body mass index by 0.24 units, or 10.8 percent of the sample obesity rate," Paquette writes. Researchers wrote, ?These estimates imply that the proliferation of Walmart supercenters explains 10.5 percent of the rise in obesity since the late 1980s.? (Read more) (Growth of Wal-Mart since 1962)(Growth of Walmart since 1962)
"We live in an environment with increasingly cheap and readily available junk food. We buy in bulk. We tend to have more food around. It takes more and more discipline and self-control to not let that influence your weight," Charles Courtemanche, assistant professor of economics at Georgia State, told Danielle Paquette of The Washington Post.
Obesity in America has surged from 1960, when 13 percent of adults were obese, to 2012, when 35 percent of adults were, Paquette writes. The first Walmart store opened in 1962, the first Sam's Club in 1983 and the first Walmart supercenter in 1988. In addition to Walmart, numerous other warehouse-style stores, like Target and Costco, have followed Walmart's lead by selling in bulk.
The study found that opening an additional Walmart store "per 100,000 residents increased an area?s average body mass index by 0.24 units, or 10.8 percent of the sample obesity rate," Paquette writes. Researchers wrote, ?These estimates imply that the proliferation of Walmart supercenters explains 10.5 percent of the rise in obesity since the late 1980s.? (Read more) (Growth of Wal-Mart since 1962)(Growth of Walmart since 1962)
- Fate Of Rural Hospitals Rests In The Hands Of Community Members, Writes Publisher Of Weekly Crittenden Press In Marion
Just like country grocery stores in rural areas often have to close because community members drive past them to chain stores to save a few cents, rural hospitals will also suffer and eventually disappear if citizens do not use them, Publisher Chris Evans...
- 'incredible Colon' To March Across The State In Colon Cancer Awareness Month; More Than A Dozen Stops Scheduled
A special tour throughout the state of the Incredible Colon ? an inflatable model of a human colon, large enough for visitors to walk through it ? will promote education about risks and preventive measures of colon cancer during March,...
- Columnist Wants 'healthy Labels, Not Stealthy Labels' On Groceries
Research has shown shoppers spend an average of just 1 second looking at the nutrition labels on food packages, which lends credence to an argument that the labels need to be easier to digest in a short amount of time. In January last year, the Grocery...
- Primary Care And Management Of Chronic Diseases Could Soon Be Coming To Your Local Walmart Store
Just weeks after announcing part-time employees would no longer receive health insurance benefits, Walmart said Monday it is planning to offer extended medical services in its stores, report NPR's Julie Appleby and Sarah Varney. Since many of its...
- High Use Of Meds Earns Louisville Bad Name For Allergies, Which Are Becoming More Common As Pollination Periods Expand
Louisville is the second worst American city for spring allergy sufferers, based on use of allergy medicine, says the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. Though the city has only an average pollen score and an average number of board-certified allergists,...