Prevention and Wellness news and information

Americans are living longer than they did two decades ago, but they are losing ground on key measures of health to people in other developed nations, a new study shows.
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Here's a health reform snafu that many Americans will benefit from.Older smokers are likely to pay less for health insurance in 2014 because of a computer system glitch that the Obama administration said would limit the penalties insurers could charge tobacco users under the ACA.
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Across the country, workplace wellness programs are making Americans healthier, paying quality-of-life dividends for millions of participating workers now and into the future. Employers are screening workers for diseases, paying for health club memberships...
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Financial incentives may not be enough to get employees to adopt healthy behaviors and stick with them long enough to prevent costly, common diseases that contribute heavily to health spending, according to a trio of researchers in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
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Obesity is still rising, but at a slower pace, which some experts say may be a sign people are finally responding to a smattering of policy initiatives and an outpouring of national concern.
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Fewer U.S. adults are smoking, a new government report says. Last year, about 18% of adults participating in a national health survey described themselves as current smokers.
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Dr. Paul Offit, the chief of the infectious diseases division of Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, skewered the mega-vitamin industry in an article in the Sunday New York Times.
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The United Health Foundation, a non-profit linked to UnitedHealth Group, offered its first report card Wednesday on the health status of the nation's senior citizens. The study ranked states based on 34 indicators grouped into “determinants” like smoking and obesity and...
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Since the early 1980s, federal dietary guidelines have urged Americans to eat more nutrient-rich foods and cut back on fatty foods and highly processed “empty calorie” snacks such as cookies and chips. But those pleas have fallen on deaf ears. It's time to start thinking differently...
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According to a report by researchers at the RAND Corp, programs that try to get employees to become healthier and reduce medical costs have only a modest effect. Those findings run contrary to claims by the mostly small firms that sell workplace wellness to companies ranging from corporate titans...
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