<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0"
	xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
	xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"
	xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
	xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
	xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"
	xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/"
	xmlns:georss="http://www.georss.org/georss" xmlns:geo="http://www.w3.org/2003/01/geo/wgs84_pos#" xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/"
	>

<channel>
	<title>IdeasCategory: Public Health &#124; Ideas &#124; TIME.com</title>
	<atom:link href="http://ideas.time.com/category/health-science/public-health/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://ideas.time.com</link>
	<description>Essential Insights. Great Debates. Informed Opinions.</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Fri, 24 May 2013 16:52:33 +0000</lastBuildDate>
	<language>en</language>
	<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
	<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
	<generator>http://wordpress.com/</generator>
<cloud domain='ideas.time.com' port='80' path='/?rsscloud=notify' registerProcedure='' protocol='http-post' />
<image>
		<url>http://0.gravatar.com/blavatar/4a5a5789fb6022cca3cfc269d8bcb536?s=96&#038;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs2.wp.com%2Fi%2Fbuttonw-com.png</url>
		<title>IdeasCategory: Public Health &#124; Ideas &#124; TIME.com</title>
		<link>http://ideas.time.com</link>
	</image>
	<atom:link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" href="http://ideas.time.com/osd.xml" title="Ideas" />
	<atom:link rel='hub' href='http://ideas.time.com/?pushpress=hub'/>
		<item>
		<title>Viewpoint: The Breast-Feeding Police Are Wrong About Formula</title>
		<link>http://ideas.time.com/2013/05/13/viewpoint-the-breastfeeding-police-are-wrong-about-formula/</link>
		<comments>http://ideas.time.com/2013/05/13/viewpoint-the-breastfeeding-police-are-wrong-about-formula/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 13 May 2013 18:50:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Amy Tuteur, M.D.</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Children]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health & Science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Life & Style]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Medicine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Public Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[breastfeeding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[formula]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[supplement]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ideas.time.com/?p=32396</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Pediatric researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, have just discovered something that anthropologists (and moms around the world) have known for years. You do not have to go all or nothing on breast-feeding in the very beginning in order to breast-feed successfully long term. (MORE: How Formula Could Increase Breast-Feeding Rates) In fact, a new paper in the journal Pediatrics has found that early limited formula feeding actually increases the rate of long-term exclusive breast-feeding. The difference was quite dramatic. A total of 79% of 3-month-old infants who received early supplementation were being breast-fed exclusively, while only 42% of babies who received no supplements were still being exclusively breast-fed at 3 months old. The study involved only a small number of infants, all of whom were losing weight at a rapid rate as newborns, but the findings may have implications for all breast-feeding mothers. Breast-feeding activists have long argued that supplementation is detrimental to breast-feeding. It is a position that has been codified in the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (“Give infants no food or drink other than breast milk, unless medically indicated&#8221;) and programs like New York City’s Latch on NYC, which goes so far as to lock up formula as if it were a dangerous drug. (MORE: Breast-Feeding Wars: Why Locking Up Baby Formula Is a Bad Idea) What&#8217;s interesting to note is the fact that many other cultures — some with much higher breast-feeding rates than ours — infants are given other liquids until a mother&#8217;s milk comes in. According to a review of 25 previously published studies of tens of thousands of mother-infants pairs in such countries as India, China, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia, a significant portion of women (from 25% to 50%) delayed breast-feeding for an average of 66 hours. Many of these infants received supplemental fluids, some of which are even imputed to have ritual significance. One of the greatest barriers to breast-feeding in this country is the unreasonable expectations set by breast-feeding advocates. They are loathe to admit that many babies may benefit from<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=ideas.time.com&#038;blog=27622548&#038;post=32396&#038;subd=timeopinions&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://ideas.time.com/2013/05/13/viewpoint-the-breastfeeding-police-are-wrong-about-formula/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Public Health</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://ideas.time.com/category/health-science/public-health/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/109029469.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/109029469.jpg?w=240" />
		<media:content url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/109029469.jpg?w=240" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Women breastfeed their babies at the Hir</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/eaeda6e65b66ef6d8071a508ca25bfca?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">timecontributor</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Viewpoint: The New Food Police Are Out of Touch</title>
		<link>http://ideas.time.com/2013/05/06/viewpoint-the-new-food-police-are-out-of-touch/</link>
		<comments>http://ideas.time.com/2013/05/06/viewpoint-the-new-food-police-are-out-of-touch/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 06 May 2013 16:46:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jayson Lusk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Arts & Entertainment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Food]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health & Science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Life & Style]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Public Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alice Waters]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mark Bittman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Michael Pollan]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ideas.time.com/?p=32077</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Correction Appended: May 6, 2013 Many people who do not work in the food industry get their information about agriculture, directly or indirectly, from a small handful of food-culture movers and shakers like the journalists Michael Pollan and Michael Moss, the restaurateur Alice Waters or the cookbook author and food writer Mark Bittman. Their writings have graced the pages of the New York Times and topped the charts of the best-seller lists, they’ve made appearances on Oprah and Dr. Oz, and increasingly they have the ears of politicians. We can be thankful that these folks have reminded us of the joys of cooking, of fresh food, and the long-term health of our families and the environment. The resurgence of farmers’ markets and the availability of heirloom tomatoes, free-range eggs and organics owe at least some of their success to the food movement they’ve backed. (MORE: The Hypocrisy of Foodies: Restaurant-Worker Abuse) But somewhere along the way, the values of convenience and thrift took a backseat. In his new book, Cooked, Pollan says that we should head back to the kitchen and reclaim &#8220;cooking as an act of enjoyment and self-reliance, learning to perform the magic of these everyday transformations.&#8221; Yes, cooking can be virtuous and fun. But, it can also be drudgery for a mother and father working full-time with hungry mouths to feed. The data reveal that in the 1960s, a housewife spent more than two hours each day in meal-related cooking and cleaning, but by the 1990s, the time spent on these chores was cut in half. Innovations in food technology and processing have made life much easier, and it is one of the reasons many women today can seek work and fulfillment outside the home. Then there is the cost of food. In 2011, Bittman wrote that the prices of many foods are &#8220;unjustifiably low.&#8221; But almost 15% of U.S. households are food insecure, which means many households have trouble affording enough food to eat. At the same time, a near record number of Americans are today on food stamps<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=ideas.time.com&#038;blog=27622548&#038;post=32077&#038;subd=timeopinions&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://ideas.time.com/2013/05/06/viewpoint-the-new-food-police-are-out-of-touch/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Life &amp; Style</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://ideas.time.com/category/life-style/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/wpjm3097-001.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/wpjm3097-001.jpg?w=240" />
		<media:content url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/wpjm3097-001.jpg?w=240" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">JM3097-001</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/eaeda6e65b66ef6d8071a508ca25bfca?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">timecontributor</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Viewpoint: Plan B Is Very Misunderstood</title>
		<link>http://ideas.time.com/2013/05/03/viewpoint-plan-b-is-very-misunderstood/</link>
		<comments>http://ideas.time.com/2013/05/03/viewpoint-plan-b-is-very-misunderstood/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 03 May 2013 09:45:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Cecile Richards</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Health & Science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Medicine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Obama Administration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Public Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sex]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cecile Richards]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[emergency contraception]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[how does plan b work]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Plan B]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[planned parenthood]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ideas.time.com/?p=32015</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Emergency contraception — which is just one more form of birth control — is in the headlines this week, with the Obama Administration’s decision to expand access by making it available over the counter, while at the same time still requiring that you must be 15 or older to buy it. This is an important moment for women’s health, and it’s a good time to step back and get clarity about what emergency contraception actually is and why it matters so much. (MORE: Critics and Supporters React to Decision to Expand OTC Access to Plan B) Emergency contraception is not “the abortion pill.” Like other forms of birth control, it prevents pregnancy from happening in the first place. Specifically, emergency contraception postpones ovulation, so that sperm does not come into contact with an egg. Pregnancy does not occur immediately after sex. It can take up to six days for an egg and a sperm to meet after having sex — a critical window of time during which pregnancy can still be prevented. One in 10 women of reproductive age has used emergency contraception. Women use it in a variety of circumstances, including if their partner’s condom breaks, if they missed or forgot to take their regular birth control, or if they are sexually assaulted. (MORE: New Availability of Plan B Makes Philadelphia Abortion Doc an Anachronism) When a woman needs emergency contraception, time is critical. Until now, emergency contraception has been kept behind pharmacy counters because of age restrictions, which creates barriers for women of all ages because pharmacy counters usually aren’t open as long as the rest of the drugstore, lines are longer, and interactions with staff can be more complicated. Earlier this week, the Food and Drug Administration announced that it approved plans to move emergency contraception out from behind the pharmacy counter and make it available to people ages 15 and older, with valid identification. This is an important step forward, and it will help more women of all ages prevent unintended pregnancy. But we need to<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=ideas.time.com&#038;blog=27622548&#038;post=32015&#038;subd=timeopinions&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://ideas.time.com/2013/05/03/viewpoint-plan-b-is-very-misunderstood/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Sex</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://ideas.time.com/category/life-style/sex/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/165732620.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/165732620.jpg?w=240" />
		<media:content url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/165732620.jpg?w=240" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Plan B</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/eaeda6e65b66ef6d8071a508ca25bfca?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">timecontributor</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>New Availability of Plan B Makes Philadelphia Abortion Doc an Anachronism</title>
		<link>http://ideas.time.com/2013/05/01/viewpoint-philadelphia-abortion-doc-kermit-gosnell-is-an-anachronism/</link>
		<comments>http://ideas.time.com/2013/05/01/viewpoint-philadelphia-abortion-doc-kermit-gosnell-is-an-anachronism/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 01 May 2013 09:45:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Arthur Caplan</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[American Cities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Crime]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health & Science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Life & Style]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Medicine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Public Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Society]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[U.S.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kermit Gosnell]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[late-term abotion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Philadelphia Abortion Doctor]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ideas.time.com/?p=31919</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Kermit Gosnell — the doctor who is on trial for killing a patient, four newborn babies, and performing numerous illegal abortions in a cesspool of a clinic in West Philadelphia—is many things.  He is inept, according to many who work for him. He did monstrous things — according to eyewitnesses, he severed the spinal cords of liveborn babies because he did not know what he was doing in trying to end late-term pregnancies. He is a doctor indifferent to patient welfare as, according to witness after witness, he had inadequately trained staff use inappropriate assemblyline care for those who came to see him. And Kermit Gosnell is a pawn in the nation’s ongoing moral war over elective abortion.  Those who oppose abortion see in him all that is wrong with allowing the choice to end pregnancy.  Those who defend the right to choice see in him all that is wrong when efforts to restrict access to abortion and push the procedure out of the medical mainstream produce filthy third-world level facilities staffed by hacks and charlatans. As both pro-choice and pro-life forces attempt to put Kermit Gosnell to use to argue the moral rectitude of their position, and the jury in his trial continues to deliberate, there is a danger that we will lose sight of what Kermit Gosnell really is — an anachronism. (MORE: Abortion Doctor&#8217;s Murder Trial Sparks Media Debate) Gosnell should certainly go to jail — and in all likelihood, he will. The hardened veteran police who raided his clinic were overwhelmed with emotion and anger at what they found there. But technology is making it less and less likely that the public face of abortion in the future will bear any resemblance to Kermit Gosnell and his backroom butchershop. Gosnell was a stop of last resort for woman late in their pregnancies. They sought an abortion past the point of fetal viability — a choice illegal in Pennsylvania and throughout the United States. For these women, Gosnell and his ilk are their only option. But regardless<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=ideas.time.com&#038;blog=27622548&#038;post=31919&#038;subd=timeopinions&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://ideas.time.com/2013/05/01/viewpoint-philadelphia-abortion-doc-kermit-gosnell-is-an-anachronism/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Society</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://ideas.time.com/category/life-style/society/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/ap962674139442.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/ap962674139442.jpg?w=240" />
		<media:content url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/ap962674139442.jpg?w=240" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Kermit Gosnell</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/eaeda6e65b66ef6d8071a508ca25bfca?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">timecontributor</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Do Human Genes Belong to People or Corporations?</title>
		<link>http://ideas.time.com/2013/04/15/do-human-genes-belong-to-people-or-corporations/</link>
		<comments>http://ideas.time.com/2013/04/15/do-human-genes-belong-to-people-or-corporations/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 15 Apr 2013 09:45:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Adam Cohen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Case Study]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health & Science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Medicine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Public Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[U.S.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[BRCA1]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[BRCA2]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[genes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Myriad]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[patent]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ideas.time.com/?p=31271</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Should corporations be able to patent human genes — parts of the human body that reside in all of us? The Supreme Court is considering that question today, and while it sounds very much hypothetical, it has very real and serious implications. Consider the case of 10-year-old Abigail, who had long QT syndrome, a serious heart disease. There is a genetic test that can detect the disease, but the long QT genes were patented, and for two years the only lab that could legally perform the test was not testing. During those two years, Abigail died. The idea that corporations can patent genes is disturbing and in some cases deadly — but it is the law, at least for now. Today&#8217;s case could produce a landmark ruling that either allows corporations to go further to lock up genes with exclusive patents, or unshackles human genes, allowing doctors and researcher to work more freely in combating deadly diseases. (MORE: Study Identifies Four Genetic Markers for Childhood Obesity) People’s genes can say a great deal about their health. There are genes that reveal an increased likelihood of getting cancer, heart disease or Alzheimer’s. Today’s case focuses on two genes that have genetic mutations that can indicate a higher risk of breast and ovarian cancer. When doctors know that a woman carries these genes — BRCA1 and BRCA2 — they can provide appropriate and often life-saving treatments. Unfortunately for carriers of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene, a Salt Lake City–based company called Myriad Genetics asserts that it has a patent over “isolated” forms of these two genes. That means that Myriad has exclusive control over testing for BRCA1 and BRCA2. That is a too much power to put in one company — and the stakes are high. Medical experts have told the court that Myriad’s patents have led to people being misdiagnosed. One study found that models used by Myriad significantly underestimate the presence of BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations among Asian-American women. (MORE: Viewpoint: We Need to Rethink Rehab) Gene patents can also<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=ideas.time.com&#038;blog=27622548&#038;post=31271&#038;subd=timeopinions&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://ideas.time.com/2013/04/15/do-human-genes-belong-to-people-or-corporations/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Public Health</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://ideas.time.com/category/health-science/public-health/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/id_supremecourt_0608.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/id_supremecourt_0608.jpg?w=240" />
		<media:content url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/id_supremecourt_0608.jpg?w=240" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">id_supremecourt_0608</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/eaeda6e65b66ef6d8071a508ca25bfca?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">timecontributor</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Viewpoint: ADHD Isn&#8217;t A Metaphor</title>
		<link>http://ideas.time.com/2013/04/09/viewpoint-adhd-isnt-a-metaphor/</link>
		<comments>http://ideas.time.com/2013/04/09/viewpoint-adhd-isnt-a-metaphor/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 09 Apr 2013 09:45:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Judith Warner</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Children]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health & Science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Life & Style]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Medical Insider]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Medicine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Psychology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Public Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ADHD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[CDC]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Medicated Child]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ideas.time.com/?p=30570</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Let’s say that rates of ADHD diagnoses among kids in America are continually rising. Let’s say that stimulant medication use — both prescribed by doctors, and as the result of illegal trade with friends —  is on the rise, too. What do we make of that information? What do we do with it? In particular, how do we use it to improve children’s and teenagers’ lives? The answers speak volumes about where we are as a society and where we ought to be headed. The default response, every time we get news about any sort of uptick in the diagnosis and treatment of children’s mental disorders, is to issue condemnations of bad parents, bad doctors, bad teachers, and bad schools. (Not to mention big bad pharma, of course, which, it seems, will never rise from the bed of nails it has built for itself  over the years.) A more thoughtful response would be to ask what the rise means. Are more children with the disorder who previously went unnoticed — girls, African Americans, Latinos, notably — now being identified and counted? We know that’s true, and it accounts for some of the rise. Does the increased social acceptability of the ADHD diagnosis mean that it’s the “label” doctors are most likely to stick on kids who, in addition to distractibility, have a whole host of more scary-sounding problems, in the hope of getting reluctant parents to sign on for some sort of treatment? Does the decreased stigma surrounding ADHD (the commonly-heard, “everyone has it, so it’s no big deal” view) mean that parents who’ve been told their kids have “attention issues” in addition to, say, a learning disability or a mood disorder, will cling to — and report to survey-wielding researchers — just the banal-sounding ADHD label? (MORE: The Myth of the Overmedicated American Teen) And, much more troublingly, are children who don’t have the disorder now being diagnosed and treated for it? And, if so, where is this happening, how is it happening, and why? The raw, unanalyzed, not-yet-peer-reviewed numbers that the New York Times, bizarrely, led<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=ideas.time.com&#038;blog=27622548&#038;post=30570&#038;subd=timeopinions&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://ideas.time.com/2013/04/09/viewpoint-adhd-isnt-a-metaphor/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Public Health</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://ideas.time.com/category/health-science/public-health/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/ca33551.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/ca33551.jpg?w=240" />
		<media:content url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/ca33551.jpg?w=240" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">ADHD</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/eaeda6e65b66ef6d8071a508ca25bfca?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">timecontributor</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Want to Prevent Teen Pregnancy? Pay Teens Not to Get Pregnant</title>
		<link>http://ideas.time.com/2013/03/12/want-to-prevent-teen-pregnancy-pay-teens-not-to-get-pregnant/</link>
		<comments>http://ideas.time.com/2013/03/12/want-to-prevent-teen-pregnancy-pay-teens-not-to-get-pregnant/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 12 Mar 2013 11:00:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Erika Christakis</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[American Cities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Children]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health & Science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Life & Style]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Psychology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Public Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Society]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[U.S.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bloomberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[public service campaign]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[smoking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[teen pregnancy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ideas.time.com/?p=29509</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[New York City officials recently spent $400,000 on billboards featuring omniscient babies who remind potential mothers about deadbeat dads of the future: “Honestly, Mom, chances are, he won’t stay with you. What happens to me?” In another ad, a crying infant says, &#8220;I&#8217;m twice as likely NOT to graduate high school because you had me as a teen.&#8221; The shame-and-blame campaign almost immediately drew fire from Planned Parenthood and other health care providers who argued that the ads marginalize young women who are in need of services, not scarlet letters. But a spokesperson from Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s office defended the public-service announcements on the grounds that they are but one component of a multifaceted approach that includes school clinics and sex education, noting, “It is well past time when anyone can afford to be value-neutral when it comes to teen pregnancy.” (MORE: The Argument You Don&#8217;t Hear About Birth Control in Schools) Fair enough. But if we want to get serious about values, we might try an approach with a much more successful track record of behavior change: paying teenagers not to get pregnant. For every person who makes it to age 21 without becoming pregnant or impregnating someone else, the government should dip into the funds we’d otherwise spend caring for infants and teen moms and instead pay a significant cash bonus directly to the young person. Sex and money have always been drivers of human behavior, but health officials rarely exploit this synergy to maximum benefit. Cash payments to teens could be doubly effective, reducing the number of teen pregnancies (which are declining nationwide but are still high relative to those of other developed countries) while producing what researchers call a &#8220;secondary outcome&#8221; by teaching self-regulation, patience and the ability to plan for the future—all valuable life skills. (MORE: Does Suspending Students Work?) The New York City ads serve a useful function only insofar as they reassure indignant taxpayers that something is being done about wayward teenagers. But it’s wishful thinking to imagine that snarky speculations about a baby’s future<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=ideas.time.com&#038;blog=27622548&#038;post=29509&#038;subd=timeopinions&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://ideas.time.com/2013/03/12/want-to-prevent-teen-pregnancy-pay-teens-not-to-get-pregnant/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Society</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://ideas.time.com/category/life-style/society/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/wp-tp_poster_2.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/wp-tp_poster_2.jpg?w=240" />
		<media:content url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/wp-tp_poster_2.jpg?w=240" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">wp-tp_poster_2</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/eaeda6e65b66ef6d8071a508ca25bfca?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">timecontributor</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Can We Drink Soda Responsibly?</title>
		<link>http://ideas.time.com/2013/02/05/can-we-drink-soda-responsibly/</link>
		<comments>http://ideas.time.com/2013/02/05/can-we-drink-soda-responsibly/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 05 Feb 2013 12:35:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Anya Sacharow</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Food]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health & Science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Life & Style]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Medicine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Public Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[American Beverage Association]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[chinotto]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[coca-cola]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Michael Bloomberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[soda]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[soda ban]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ideas.time.com/?p=28067</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The soda controversy continues to bubble up, with the American Beverage Association legally contesting New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg&#8217;s ban on sales of super-sized high-sugar drinks. Meanwhile, Coca-Cola launched a recent two-minute commercial portraying itself as part of the solution to America&#8217;s obesity problem. Food writers, doctors and bloggers rolled their eyes. &#8220;Oh, please,&#8221; wrote celebrated nutritionist and author Marion Nestle. (MORE: Why Americans Need Bloomberg&#8217;s Big Gulp Ban) There really isn&#8217;t anything good to say about drinking soda. A 42-ounce super-size drink with 477 calories and 123 grams of sugar, or about 30 teaspoons, is a short cut to heart disease, obesity and diabetes. One in three Americans today is obese, compared to one in five in 1990. There’s no single cause for this increase, but one of them is almost certainly our penchant for quenching our thirst with SSBs (sugar-sweetened beverages.) Other nations drink soda more responsibly. Japan drinks 34 liters per capita, compared to 165 liters per capita in the United States, according to market research firm Euromonitor. Examples of moderation abound: Russia (30 liters per capita), South Korea (27 liters per capita) and Italy (49 liters per capita). In the United States, soda is our most consumed beverage; we drink almost twice as much as we do bottled water. (MORE: Have We Become Too Obsessed with Energy?) Soda overseas isn&#8217;t necessarily more healthy. It&#8217;s in the way that they drink it. I recently discovered the Italian soda called chinotto (San Pellegrino and Lurisa brands are available in the U.S.) As with most things food and drink, the Italians do soda better. Their bittersweet cola, made from the citrus chinotto fruit and other herbal flavors, is the Italian version of Coke. It has 23 grams of sugar in a 6.75 fluid-ounce bottle, a standard serving size. Italians drink it as an aperitif or a mid-afternoon treat in limited quantities, which is how Americans used to consume it at soda fountains. They don&#8217;t gulp it like water at every meal. The problem is not soda, the problem is us. Yes, the industry targeted children<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=ideas.time.com&#038;blog=27622548&#038;post=28067&#038;subd=timeopinions&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://ideas.time.com/2013/02/05/can-we-drink-soda-responsibly/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Public Health</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://ideas.time.com/category/health-science/public-health/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/soda.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/soda.jpg?w=240" />
		<media:content url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/soda.jpg?w=240" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Soda</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/eaeda6e65b66ef6d8071a508ca25bfca?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">timecontributor</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>What&#8217;s Your Wheat Problem?</title>
		<link>http://ideas.time.com/2013/01/23/whats-your-wheat-problem/</link>
		<comments>http://ideas.time.com/2013/01/23/whats-your-wheat-problem/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 23 Jan 2013 12:45:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Anya Sacharow</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Food]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health & Science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Life & Style]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Medicine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Public Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gluten-free]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wheat belly]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wheat Belly Diet]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[William Davis]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ideas.time.com/?p=27561</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Americans love food demons, and our newest one is wheat. The top-selling diet book of the moment is Wheat Belly, in which a Wisconsin-based cardiologist blames the humble grain for everything from dandruff to dementia. The author, Dr. William Davis, advises to never let the stuff cross your mouth; the inclusion of healthy whole grains at the top of the USDA&#8217;s food pyramid is “among the biggest health blunders ever made in the history of nutritional advice,” he writes. He also compares wheat to Muammar Gaddafi and heroin. Wheat Belly and its requisite upsell Wheat Belly Cookbook have sold some 300,000 copies. (MORE: Double Standard: Women Must Work Harder to Lose Weight) Americans have been down on carbs since the Atkins diet craze over a decade ago. More recently, there&#8217;s been a rise in animosity toward gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley and rye. Some people with a severe wheat allergy or celiac disease are genuinely gluten-intolerant, but there have been questions as to whether the spike in sales of gluten-free food is more a fad than a reflection of a genuine health concern. Granted, wheat shows up in all sorts of places it shouldn’t, through additives such as malt, modified food starch and dextrin. But as with almost every other kind of food category, there is good wheat and bad wheat. A slice of 100% whole wheat or other whole-grain bread contains necessary fiber, B vitamins and protein. On the other hand, a pretzel is mostly refined flour and salt with little nutritional value. We don’t all need a gluten intolerance to understand this. (MORE: What You Need to Know About Sugar) According to Davis’ patients, following the wheat-belly diet has helped them lose weight, cure Type 2 diabetes and feel better overall. Great! However, eliminating any huge category of food from one’s diet, whether it’s sugar, meat or alcohol, will usually get similar results. But it’s not a sustainable way of eating, and most people gain back the weight. Successful diets follow the same old advice: Eat less overall and move more.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=ideas.time.com&#038;blog=27622548&#038;post=27561&#038;subd=timeopinions&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://ideas.time.com/2013/01/23/whats-your-wheat-problem/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Food</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://ideas.time.com/category/life-style/food/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/129940822-breadrubiks.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/129940822-breadrubiks.jpg?w=240" />
		<media:content url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/129940822-breadrubiks.jpg?w=240" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">129940822.BreadRubiks</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/eaeda6e65b66ef6d8071a508ca25bfca?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">timecontributor</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Flu Outbreak: Why Paid Sick Days Matter</title>
		<link>http://ideas.time.com/2013/01/22/flu-outbreak-why-paid-sick-days-matter/</link>
		<comments>http://ideas.time.com/2013/01/22/flu-outbreak-why-paid-sick-days-matter/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 22 Jan 2013 12:50:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Shamus Khan</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Business & Tech]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health & Science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Labor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Medicine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Public Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[flu]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[paid sick leave]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[presenteeism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sick days]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ideas.time.com/?p=27607</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[We are in the midst of one of the worst flu seasons in recent memory. By the end of it, about 60 million Americans are likely to contact influenza, over 200,000 will probably to be hospitalized and tens of thousands will have died. While we typically look to doctors and medicines in a health crisis, we should recognize that guaranteeing paid sick days to workers could do as much, if not more, to help moderate the impact of influenza and other contagious diseases. (VIDEO: TIME Explains: The Flu and How it Spreads) Every other industrialized nation in the world guarantees this right, but very few places in the U.S. do; they include a handful of cities like San Francisco, Milwaukee, Washington and Seattle — and one lone state: Connecticut. What that means is if you live anywhere else in the nation, you can be fired for missing work because of an illness or for caring for a sick family member. About 40% of workers in the U.S. do not get paid sick days — the Department of Labor classifies it as a &#8220;benefit,&#8221; not a right protected by law. This is not just inhumane but a matter of public health. The jobs with the most contact with the public are the least likely to provide sick days, such as the hospitality and food-service industries. For example, when you go to purchase a cup of coffee or eat a restaurant, know that almost all (76%) of the people serving you are likely to show up to work sick, because not doing so means not getting paid and could mean getting fired. Scholars have a name for this — presenteeism: being at work when you otherwise should not be for fear of losing your job or being viewed by your boss as lazy or unreliable. This is a real problem; over two-thirds of American workers report having gone to work even though they knew they had an infectious disease and as a result, about one-third of us have reported getting the flu from a colleague. (MORE: Working on<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=ideas.time.com&#038;blog=27622548&#038;post=27607&#038;subd=timeopinions&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://ideas.time.com/2013/01/22/flu-outbreak-why-paid-sick-days-matter/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Public Health</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://ideas.time.com/category/health-science/public-health/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/id-flu-0121-130121.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/id-flu-0121-130121.jpg?w=240" />
		<media:content url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/id-flu-0121-130121.jpg?w=240" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">image: Luis Puentes, Director of Emergency Preparedness at Lehigh Valley Health Network&#039;s main hospital campus, applies a decal to a mobile tent set up to handle the recent influx of flu cases in Allentown, Pa., Jan. 11, 2013.</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/eaeda6e65b66ef6d8071a508ca25bfca?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">timecontributor</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Flu Prevention: Why Are Adults Still Sneezing into Their Hands?</title>
		<link>http://ideas.time.com/2013/01/15/flu-prevention-why-are-adults-still-sneezing-into-their-hands/</link>
		<comments>http://ideas.time.com/2013/01/15/flu-prevention-why-are-adults-still-sneezing-into-their-hands/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 15 Jan 2013 12:45:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Erika Christakis</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Children]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health & Science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Life & Style]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Medicine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Public Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Society]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[elbow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[flu]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[flu vaccine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kathleen Sebelius]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sneeze into elbow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sneezing]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ideas.time.com/?p=27414</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Nothing quite gets under the skin like a young child pointing out the negative impact of your incandescent lightbulbs and idling car, but in the midst of a virulent flu season and the worst whooping-cough outbreak in 60 years, it’s worth listening to the righteous army of lilliputian surgeon generals. These tiny troopers are the advance guard against phlegm; they know how to stop germs in their tracks. Hand-sanitizer breaks are routine in elementary schools, and when there isn’t time to grab a Kleenex, children use a strategically placed elbow across the mouth instead.  (MORE: Flu Cases Raise Public-Health Concerns) Walk into any pre-K or elementary classroom in the U.S. and you’ll be surprised to see that kids don’t cough or sneeze into their hands anymore. It’s simply not done, and it’s easy to see why. Coughing or sneezing directly into a hand that subsequently touches food, money or other people is clearly a recipe for contagion. The real wonder is that people failed for so many years to spot this simple truth. A typical sneeze can travel 100 m.p.h. and spew countless germs into the air. One study found that viruses can survive much longer on objects like dollar bills than originally thought, particularly when found in high concentrations like those from a single sneeze. The nation’s health experts have been recommending for years that people not sneeze or cough into their hands but cover their mouth or nose with a tissue instead (which they are advised to quickly dispose of and follow with 20 seconds of vigorous hand washing). Four years ago, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius called out a reporter during a briefing to rebuke him for improper sneezing etiquette, demonstrating the proper technique with her elbow. Sesame Street has taught millions of children the hygienic way to sneeze and cough. So why haven&#8217;t American adults been getting with the program? Boston is the center of medical excellence, with more physicians per capita in Massachusetts than in any other state and some of the world’s finest medical schools. Yet with a flu epidemic under way, adults can still be<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=ideas.time.com&#038;blog=27622548&#038;post=27414&#038;subd=timeopinions&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://ideas.time.com/2013/01/15/flu-prevention-why-are-adults-still-sneezing-into-their-hands/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Public Health</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://ideas.time.com/category/health-science/public-health/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/sneez.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/sneez.jpg?w=240" />
		<media:content url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/sneez.jpg?w=240" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">The Flu</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/eaeda6e65b66ef6d8071a508ca25bfca?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">timecontributor</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Has The Fight For Abortion Rights Been Lost?</title>
		<link>http://ideas.time.com/2013/01/03/has-the-fight-for-abortion-rights-been-lost/</link>
		<comments>http://ideas.time.com/2013/01/03/has-the-fight-for-abortion-rights-been-lost/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 03 Jan 2013 12:44:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kate Pickert</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Health & Science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Law]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Medicine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Public Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[State & Local Governments]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[U.S.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[abortion rights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[prochoice]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Roe v. Wade]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ideas.time.com/?p=27095</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Cover Photograph by Jamie Chung for TIME In January 1973, the Supreme Court made access to abortion a federally protected right. As I write in this week’s TIME cover story, that seemingly decisive victory 40 years ago kicked off a war that the pro-choice movement has been losing ever since. In many parts of the country today, obtaining an abortion is more difficult than at any point since the 1970s. There are fewer doctors willing to perform the procedure and fewer abortion clinics open for business. Pro-choice activists have been outflanked by their prolife counterparts, who have successfully lobbied for state-based regulations that limit access. Scores of states now require women to undergo counseling, waiting periods or ultrasounds prior to obtaining abortions. Minors across the country must often get permission from their parents if they want to terminate pregnancies. And pro-life state legislators are passing laws that require clinics to comply with arcane requirements—such as a hallway having to be more than five feet wide— that make it difficult for them to stay open. (Viewpoint: Pro-life and Feminism Aren&#8217;t Mutually Exclusive) The pro-life cause has been winning the abortion war, in part, because it has pursued an organized and well-executed strategy. But public opinion is also increasingly on their side. Thanks to prenatal ultrasound and advanced neonatology, Americans now understand what a fetus looks like and that babies born as early as 24 weeks can now survive. Although three-quarters of Americans believe abortion should be legal in some or all cases, most support state laws regulating the procedure and fewer and fewer are identifying themselves as “pro-choice” in public opinion surveys. The prochoice establishment has also been hampered by a generational divide within the cause. Young abortion rights activists today complain that the leaders of feminist organizations, who were in their 20s and 30s when Roe was decided, aren’t eager to pass the torch to a new generation whose activism is more nimble and Internet-based. But the most pressing challenge for prochoice activists may simply be that abortion is legal. In<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=ideas.time.com&#038;blog=27622548&#038;post=27095&#038;subd=timeopinions&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://ideas.time.com/2013/01/03/has-the-fight-for-abortion-rights-been-lost/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Health &amp; Science</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://ideas.time.com/category/health-science/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/1500_prochoice.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/1500_prochoice.jpg?w=240" />
		<media:content url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/1500_prochoice.jpg?w=240" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">1500_prochoice</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/eaeda6e65b66ef6d8071a508ca25bfca?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">timecontributor</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/1500_cover_0114.jpg?w=180" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">TIME Magazine, Jan. 14, 2013</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>What You Need to Know About Sugar</title>
		<link>http://ideas.time.com/2012/12/27/what-you-need-to-know-about-sugar/</link>
		<comments>http://ideas.time.com/2012/12/27/what-you-need-to-know-about-sugar/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 27 Dec 2012 10:45:38 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert H. Lustig, M.D.</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Health & Science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Medicine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Public Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[glucose]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[is sugar toxic?]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sucrose]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sugar]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[toxic]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ideas.time.com/?p=26613</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In 2009, an hour and a half lecture about sugar and obesity that I gave to the public was posted to YouTube. Given its scientific content, I wasn&#8217;t even sure if my family members would watch it. Three million views later, the video is still going strong, and my theories about sugar&#8217;s toxic effects on the body are gaining traction. I still believe that one particular form of sugar—fructose—is toxic in high dose. Yet there is still a lot of confusion about this dietary bogeyman. Here are five myths about sugar and some important distinctions about how our body processes its different forms. (LIST: Top 10 Diet Discoveries of 2012) Myth 1. A carbohydrate is a carbohydrate; they all have the same calories. Half true. There are three molecules that make up all the various kinds of carbohydrate: glucose, galactose, and fructose. All three molecules have the same caloric density—4.1 kcal/gm — which is why people erroneously conclude that “a calorie is a calorie.” Glucose is what’s found in starch; it’s the energy of life; all cells in all organisms on the planet burn glucose to make energy. Galactose (the molecule exclusively found in milk sugar) is rapidly converted in the liver to glucose. Fructose (the molecule that makes sugar sweet) is also metabolized in the liver, but any excess is converted into liver fat. Chronic and excess alcohol or fructose exposure both cause fatty liver disease, which drives the pathologic process of insulin resistance, and causes the same chronic diseases — obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. Myth 2. Fructose is turned into glucose in the body. Maybe. If you’re energy depleted (i.e. an elite athlete), fructose can be converted to glycogen (liver starch) as a storehouse for ready energy, which can then be fished out of your liver if your body needs glucose in the future (for more exercise or if you’re starving). But most of us aren&#8217;t energy depleted, so fructose gets turned into liver fat, driving insulin resistance. This is one reason why exercise can be an antidote<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=ideas.time.com&#038;blog=27622548&#038;post=26613&#038;subd=timeopinions&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://ideas.time.com/2012/12/27/what-you-need-to-know-about-sugar/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Public Health</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://ideas.time.com/category/health-science/public-health/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/sugar.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/sugar.jpg?w=240" />
		<media:content url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/sugar.jpg?w=240" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Sugar</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/eaeda6e65b66ef6d8071a508ca25bfca?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">timecontributor</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Viewpoint: Are Doctors to Blame for Prescription-Drug Abuse?</title>
		<link>http://ideas.time.com/2012/11/26/viewpoint-prescription-drug-abuse-is-fueled-by-doctors/</link>
		<comments>http://ideas.time.com/2012/11/26/viewpoint-prescription-drug-abuse-is-fueled-by-doctors/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 26 Nov 2012 10:45:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Zachary F. Meisel, M.D., and Jeanmarie Perrone, M.D.</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Health & Science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Medicine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Public Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[opioids]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oxycontin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pain medicine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[prescription drug abuse]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[prescription drugs]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ideas.time.com/?p=25418</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Prescription painkillers are creating a massive public-health crisis. Since 1990, deaths in the U.S. from unintentional drug overdoses have increased by over 500%. Most of this rise can be attributed to prescription painkillers, which now kill more people than heroin and cocaine combined. Where are all these pills coming from? Not Mexico. Not all from those Florida &#8220;pill mills.&#8221; Many of them are coming from prescriptions generated by doctors like us who are seeking to help our patients with real pain. It’s true: conscientious and well-trained doctors are partly to blame for the rapidly rising death rate among Americans from prescription pills. The backstory goes like this: in the 1980s and &#8217;90s, the medical community recognized that patients in pain were often undertreated. Oligoanalgesia, the scientific term for undertreatment of pain, rightly concerned a lot of people. Studies showed that doctors didn’t do a good job asking about pain or treating it properly when they did identify it. Worse, there were documented disparities in pain treatment: affluent white patients were much more likely to get their pain addressed than poor or minority patients. (MORE: Lessons from Jon Bon Jovi&#8217;s Daughter&#8217;s Overdose) In response, there was a major effort to redress this oversight. Doctors were encouraged to think about patients&#8217; pain severity on a self-reported numerical score as a “fifth vital sign” (in the same league as blood pressure and body temperature). Next, medical students and trainees were instructed that patients could never become dependent on narcotics if prescribed for legitimate pain. (We both remember being taught this myth.) Last, opioid pain medications like oxycodone (the active ingredient in Percocet) and hydrocodone (the active ingredient in Vicodin and Lortabs) were framed as safer alternatives to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like ibuprofen, naproxen and Vioxx that could trigger peptic ulcers or cardiac conditions. Some of this push toward opioids was driven by the drug companies that made them. And some of it was driven by patient-advocacy groups (many with opaque ties to these drug companies) and medical societies seeking to boost treatment for patients<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=ideas.time.com&#038;blog=27622548&#038;post=25418&#038;subd=timeopinions&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://ideas.time.com/2012/11/26/viewpoint-prescription-drug-abuse-is-fueled-by-doctors/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Public Health</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://ideas.time.com/category/health-science/public-health/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/prescription.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/prescription.jpg?w=240" />
		<media:content url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/prescription.jpg?w=240" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Image: Doctor handing a prescription to a patient</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/eaeda6e65b66ef6d8071a508ca25bfca?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">timecontributor</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Argument You Don&#8217;t Hear About Birth Control In Schools</title>
		<link>http://ideas.time.com/2012/09/26/the-argument-you-dont-hear-about-birth-control-in-schools/</link>
		<comments>http://ideas.time.com/2012/09/26/the-argument-you-dont-hear-about-birth-control-in-schools/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 26 Sep 2012 15:50:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Erika Christakis</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Health & Science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Public Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birth control]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[contraception]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[morning-after pill]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New York City]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Plan B]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[teen pregnancy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ideas.time.com/?p=22689</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It was a delayed reaction, but the uproar was predictable as news spread that New York City public schools are providing free birth control pills (including Plan B, the so called morning-after pill) to teenagers without their parents’ consent. The program had been running since last year (and parents do have the right to opt out,) but timeliness and accuracy come secondary with stories that have all the ingredients for controversy and moral judgment-flinging: parental rights denied, unnecessary intrusion into the sanctity of the family; medical concerns (some factually incorrect) about the risks and mechanisms of hormonal contraception. (MORE: New York City Offers Plan B to High School Students) Of course, we rarely hear the reverse arguments: that pregnancy poses a huge burden on government resources; that teenagers have legal rights and protections, too; that the health risk of using birth control pills is surely outweighed by the much greater medical risks of adolescent pregnancy and childbirth; that this latest disproportionate — and even shaming — focus on the sex lives of girls over boys seems more of a piece with recent headlines about &#8220;forcible rape.&#8221; (MORE: Why Birth Control Matters for the American Dream) Behind the atmospherics, this is an old story: school-based health centers, the vast majority of which provide pregnancy testing, contraceptive counseling and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, numbered more than 1,300 even back in the late 1990s, and teenagers’ have seen steady gains in legal recognition of their privacy rights over the last 30 years. Currently, 21 states and D.C. allow all minors to obtain contraception without parental knowledge and another 25 states allow consent for specified categories of minors, such as those married, already pregnant or a mother, or who meet other conditions. Granted, it seems like common sense that parents who sign permission slips for Tylenol should have the authority to make serious moral and medical decisions for their own children. Except when they shouldn’t. School-based contraceptive services are designed precisely for the kids who don’t have alternatives at home, including the one-third of American teenagers who receive no information whatsoever about<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=ideas.time.com&#038;blog=27622548&#038;post=22689&#038;subd=timeopinions&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://ideas.time.com/2012/09/26/the-argument-you-dont-hear-about-birth-control-in-schools/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Public Health</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://ideas.time.com/category/health-science/public-health/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/ap110224025236.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/ap110224025236.jpg?w=240" />
		<media:content url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/ap110224025236.jpg?w=240" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Plan B One Step</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/cf417fee1f6d1faf35c3c14556bcd432?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">erinleighskarda</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Breastfeeding Wars: Why Locking Up Baby Formula Is A Bad Idea</title>
		<link>http://ideas.time.com/2012/08/03/why-locking-up-formula-is-a-bad/</link>
		<comments>http://ideas.time.com/2012/08/03/why-locking-up-formula-is-a-bad/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 03 Aug 2012 12:00:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Amy Tuteur, M.D.</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Health & Science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Medicine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Public Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[breastfeeding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[formula]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Latch On NYC]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Michael Bloomberg]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ideas.time.com/?p=20327</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is right to want to promote breastfeeding, but his administration&#8217;s “Latch On NYC” campaign is an exercise in excess. First announced in May, the campaign is asking maternity hospitals to 1. ban formula feeding of newborn infants unless medically indicated; 2. restrict access to formula for hospital staff by locking it up and reporting its distribution to the New York City Health Department. Lock up infant formula and track it as if it were a controlled substance? That’s not only unnecessary, but is both demeaning and disrespectful of a woman’s right to make her own choice about how to feed her infant. It&#8217;s also based on an awful lot of wrongheaded assumptions. (MORE: What Mitt Romney Has To Do With Breastfeeding and Infant Formula)  “Human breast milk is best for babies and mothers,” said New York City Health Commissioner Thomas Farley, one of the four city officials — all male — quoted in the campaign&#8217;s press release. “When babies receive supplementary formula in the hospital or mothers receive promotional baby formula on hospital discharge it can impede the establishment of an adequate milk supply and can undermine women’s confidence in breastfeeding.&#8221; It’s true that breastfeeding has real health benefits over formula feeding, but the benefits are actually relatively small. As a hospital poster for the program acknowledges, there is only solid scientific evidence for the claims that breastfeeding decreases the risk of ear infections, diarrhea and pneumonia. But all that other stuff you may have heard about — such as breastfeeding raises a child&#8217;s IQ — is based on conflicting evidence that is often plagued by confounding variables. (MORE: Why Breast-Feeding Isn&#8217;t The Bugaboo) But more problematic is the fact that the “Latch On NYC” campaign does not acknowledge that in addition to the benefits, breastfeeding also has substantial costs. For many women, breastfeeding is difficult, painful (especially at the beginning), and may be inconvenient for those who need to return to work. That doesn’t even take into account the fact that some women have serious<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=ideas.time.com&#038;blog=27622548&#038;post=20327&#038;subd=timeopinions&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://ideas.time.com/2012/08/03/why-locking-up-formula-is-a-bad/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Public Health</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://ideas.time.com/category/health-science/public-health/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/2100_babyformula_0802.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/2100_babyformula_0802.jpg?w=240" />
		<media:content url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/2100_babyformula_0802.jpg?w=240" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Newborn baby boy being bottle fed</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/2586a9c38733bd9e871b1850d572d888?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">ruthdaviskonigsberg</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Glaxo Fine: What Will Stop Big Pharma Fraud?</title>
		<link>http://ideas.time.com/2012/07/06/glaxo-fine-what-will-stop-big-pharma-fraud/</link>
		<comments>http://ideas.time.com/2012/07/06/glaxo-fine-what-will-stop-big-pharma-fraud/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 06 Jul 2012 12:00:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Judith Warner</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Health & Science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Medicine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Public Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Avandia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FDA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Glaxo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Paxil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wellbutrin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ideas.time.com/?p=18978</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[So now we have yet another groundbreaking government lawsuit against a major drug maker settled for a seemingly colossal sum. And we are confronted, yet again, with the fact that these fines, however punitive-seeming on their face, are chump change in comparison to the company’s bottom line and highly unlikely to bring real change to its — or, indeed, the industry’s — future practices. The Justice Department can, on the one hand, claim a real triumph for the guilty plea and $3 billion fine it won this week from GlaxoSmithKline, the British drug giant, for having promoted its antidepressants Paxil and Wellbutrin for unapproved uses, having failed to report health hazards associated with its diabetes drug, Avandia, and having inappropriately marketed half a dozen of its less well-known medications. It is the largest health care fraud settlement in U.S. history. (MORE: Breaking Down GlaxoSmithKline&#8217;s Billion-Dollar Wrongdoing) And yet, as the New York Times reported this week, the settlement was a less than page-turning victory. Glaxo wasn’t exactly ruined by the fines; In the years covered by the settlement, the company had earned $10.4 billion in sales of Avandia, $11.6 billion from Paxil, and $5.9 billion from Wellbutrin, and had money already set aside for paying the government, according to the Times. A number of commentators — including former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, who’d sued GlaxoSmithKline previously over Paxil while serving as New York’s attorney general — argued that seeking monetary damages isn’t going to change most problematic practices of the pharmaceutical industry. Instead, they say, we should seek criminal charges against specific executives, the risk of jail time being the only way to actually change behavior. Though such a solution certainly offers the prospect of some real gut-level satisfaction, I’m not convinced that it will actually show results. (Given the enormous resources, legal and otherwise, of the drug companies, I think it’s fair to assume that they’d be quickly able to figure out methods of Teflon-shielding their executives.) Such a strategy also doesn’t address the fundamental problems that have<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=ideas.time.com&#038;blog=27622548&#038;post=18978&#038;subd=timeopinions&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://ideas.time.com/2012/07/06/glaxo-fine-what-will-stop-big-pharma-fraud/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Medicine</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://ideas.time.com/category/health-science/medicine/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/600_id_glaxosmithkli_0705.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/600_id_glaxosmithkli_0705.jpg?w=240" />
		<media:content url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/600_id_glaxosmithkli_0705.jpg?w=240" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">GlaxoSmithKline</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/2586a9c38733bd9e871b1850d572d888?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">ruthdaviskonigsberg</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Are Toilets a Feminist Issue?</title>
		<link>http://ideas.time.com/2012/06/19/are-toilets-a-feminist-issue/</link>
		<comments>http://ideas.time.com/2012/06/19/are-toilets-a-feminist-issue/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 19 Jun 2012 10:30:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Erika Christakis</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Health & Science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Public Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[India]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lenny Kravitz]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sanitation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[toilets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Unicef]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wills-Reinecke multiplier]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ideas.time.com/?p=17836</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Urination isn’t one of the first words that leaps to mind when people think of civil rights, but activists in Mumbai have launched a new campaign called the &#8220;Right to Pee&#8221; to redress gross inequities in the allocation of public restrooms. In New Delhi, for example, according to the New York Times, there are more than 1,500 public restrooms for men and only 132 for women. The burden of bad sanitation affects almost all poor people but it falls disproportionately on females: in urban areas, there is a fee for most public washrooms, but men can use urinals for free and they frequently relieve themselves in public when facilities are lacking. In rural areas, where most people have to defecate openly, women are often subject to harassment or assault when they relieve themselves. To avoid the need to urinate, they often withhold hydration, a practice resulting in high rates of urinary-tract infections, heatstroke and other health problems. And coping with menstruation in the absence of privacy, water or sanitary products can be a nightmare. (MORE: Dambisa Moyo: The Resource Shortage Is Real) It’s hard to believe the scale of these problems in the 21st century. Yet the U.N. Millennium Development Goal — that the number of people without access to safe water and basic sanitation is to be reduced by half by year 2015 — has fallen &#8220;dangerously behind.&#8221; Around 2.5 billion people still use “unimproved” facilities, and 1 billion people lack access to toilets at all. We’re not talking about gleaming white bathroom stalls with energy-efficient hand dryers; one-sixth of all people defecate in open fields or in water used for bathing and drinking. In Africa, 60% of the population has no access to a proper toilet that separates human waste from other activities. The impact of poor sanitation — and its economic consequences — is well-known. Diarrhea alone causes at least 800,000 child deaths per year in the developing world. Reductions in infant and maternal deaths are clear when access to sanitation and water is improved, and there are many “spillover” benefits of sanitation that extend beyond a reduction<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=ideas.time.com&#038;blog=27622548&#038;post=17836&#038;subd=timeopinions&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://ideas.time.com/2012/06/19/are-toilets-a-feminist-issue/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>World</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://ideas.time.com/category/world/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/600_id_indiatoilet_06181.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/600_id_indiatoilet_06181.jpg?w=240" />
		<media:content url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/600_id_indiatoilet_06181.jpg?w=240" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">600_id_indiatoilet_0618</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/cf417fee1f6d1faf35c3c14556bcd432?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">erinleighskarda</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Why Americans Need Bloomberg&#8217;s Big Gulp Ban</title>
		<link>http://ideas.time.com/2012/06/04/why-americans-need-bloombergs-big-gulp-ban/</link>
		<comments>http://ideas.time.com/2012/06/04/why-americans-need-bloombergs-big-gulp-ban/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 04 Jun 2012 10:45:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Shannon Brownlee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Health & Science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Medicine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Public Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ban]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Big Gulp]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bloomberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[soda]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[supersize]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ideas.time.com/?p=16721</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Last week, New York city mayor Michael Bloomberg announced a plan to ban sales of sugary beverages larger than 16 ounces. The ban would apply to both bottled soda and fountain drinks containing more than 25 calories per eight ounces, but would exempt alcohol, fruit juice, or any beverage that&#8217;s at least half milk. That means that the city’s 20,000 restaurants, coffee shops, food carts, movie theaters, and stadiums will no longer be able to sell empty calories in supersize portions. (MORE: The New York City Soda Ban, and a Brief History of Bloomberg&#8217;s Nudges) Bloomberg has gotten a lot of flack from the beverage industry and free marketeers, but he&#8217;s right to propose such a ban: we shouldn&#8217;t really be drinking anything out of those bathtub-sized cups but water, and certainly not a 7/11 Double Gulp that contains 55 ounces and more than 700 calories. But huge has become the new normal. The fact that such a ban is even being proposed shows you how out of whack our sense of proportion has become. When I was a kid, Coca-Cola came in 6-ounce glass bottles, and that seemed like plenty. It wasn&#8217;t all that long ago that a 12-ounce soda was considered perfectly sufficient—even large. But walk into any pizzeria or deli these days and you&#8217;ll have a very hard time even finding 12-ounce cans of anything. 20-ounce plastic bottles are now considered the standard single-serving size. The same thing has happened with hot drinks. Remember the Starbucks 8-ounce &#8220;short&#8221; cup of coffee? That&#8217;s not on the menu anymore. If you walk in and ask for a small, you get a 12-ounce &#8220;tall.&#8221; Small is tall. (MORE: Meet Big Soda—as Bad as Big Tobacco) The reason for all this supersizing is basic economics. When you go to a McDonalds or Wendy’s, the cost of serving you is pretty much fixed because what they have to spend on the food is almost negligible compared to what they pay for their workers and floor space. However, if they can get you<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=ideas.time.com&#038;blog=27622548&#038;post=16721&#038;subd=timeopinions&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://ideas.time.com/2012/06/04/why-americans-need-bloombergs-big-gulp-ban/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Public Health</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://ideas.time.com/category/health-science/public-health/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/ideas_sugarydrink2_0603_blog.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/ideas_sugarydrink2_0603_blog.jpg?w=240" />
		<media:content url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/ideas_sugarydrink2_0603_blog.jpg?w=240" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">ideas_sugarydrink2_0603_blog</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/2586a9c38733bd9e871b1850d572d888?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">ruthdaviskonigsberg</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Do Black Women Really Want to Be Fat?</title>
		<link>http://ideas.time.com/2012/05/14/do-black-women-really-want-to-be-fat/</link>
		<comments>http://ideas.time.com/2012/05/14/do-black-women-really-want-to-be-fat/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 14 May 2012 10:30:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Noliwe M. Rooks</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Health & Science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Public Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Society]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alice Randall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[black women]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New York Times]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[obesity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[poverty]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ideas.time.com/?p=15176</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Are 4 out of 5 black women obese simply because they want to be? According to an opinion piece by novelist Alice Randall that recently appeared in the New York Times, the answer is yes. Randall says that in addition to fatty foods and poor eating habits, the music and poetry in black culture lionizes a larger body type, which can lead to obesity. She recounts tales of black women with black husbands who worry about their wives dieting and losing their voluptuous shape. Randall even discloses that her own mate is one such man. Nonetheless, she ends by vowing to buck the trends and become the &#8220;last fat black woman in my family.&#8221; She also calls upon every black woman to commit to getting under 200 lbs. While I certainly wish Randall luck in her quest and fully understand how difficult it is to lose weight, it is important to put her characterizations and generalizations about black women and obesity in a context larger than her own personal health journey. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly one-third of all Americans are currently obese, and another third are seriously overweight. This phenomenon cuts across race, class and gender. Obesity is not just an issue for black women, nor is it only found in black culture. (MORE: Shannon Brownlee: Let&#8217;s Stop Being Passive About Fighting Obesity) For black women, poverty, as well as lack of education, can often predict obesity risks. For example, CDC research shows that among all women, the prevalence of obesity grows higher as income decreases. This is particularly true for black and Latino women. As a result, it&#8217;s clear that obesity is a symptom of an ill greater than itself. This is a point that Randall seems to miss. However, the same isn&#8217;t true with men, whose weight tends to increase with rises in income. The same basic phenomenon holds true with education levels. Among men, there is no significant relationship between education and obesity, while the less education a woman is the more<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=ideas.time.com&#038;blog=27622548&#038;post=15176&#038;subd=timeopinions&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://ideas.time.com/2012/05/14/do-black-women-really-want-to-be-fat/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Society</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://ideas.time.com/category/life-style/society/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/a42-21212406.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/a42-21212406.jpg?w=240" />
		<media:content url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/a42-21212406.jpg?w=240" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Black Womeb</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/cf417fee1f6d1faf35c3c14556bcd432?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">erinleighskarda</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
	</channel>
</rss>
