Month: February 2014

Only preschool-age children show signs of a turnaround, with their obesity rates nearly halved in the same period, according to a new federal study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. “The rapid increase in obesity we saw in the ’80s and ’90s has definitely slowed,” epidemiologist Cynthia Ogden told Reuters Health. “There’s some glimmer of hope in the new data in relation to the 2 to 5 year olds.” Ogden, a branch chief at the National Center for Health Statistics in Rockville, Maryland, a division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is lead author of the new study. Obesity rates among 2 to 5 year old Americans dropped from 13.9 percent to 8.4 percent between 2003 and 2012, her team reports.

NEW YORK (AP) — Is the anti-obesity message finally getting through?

By Victoria Cavaliere WHITE PLAINS, New York (Reuters) – A daughter of assassinated U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy told a court on Wednesday that she had not realized she had taken a sleeping pill before sideswiping a truck in 2012 and that her memory of the incident was "jumbled." Kerry Kennedy said on the third day of her impaired driving trial that she had intended to take a thyroid medication before getting into her silver Lexus, rather than the sleeping aid zolpidem, known by its brand name Ambien. Defense attorneys said the drug's effects were so quick and so powerful that Kennedy was essentially "sleep driving" and was unaware of her actions.

By Piya Sinha-Roy LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – When it comes to hosting an awards show, Patton Oswalt has a few tricks up his sleeve that include keeping a celebrity-filled crowd on edge. The Virginia-born Oswalt, 45, has forged a career in comedy, with roles in TV sitcoms "The King of Queens" and "Two and a Half Men," and films such as 2011's "Young Adult" and last year's "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty." With his comforting, friendly and often neighborly vocal tone, Oswalt is also a regular voice actor and stand-up comedian. On Saturday, he will host the Film Independent Spirit Awards, a laid-back luncheon held in a tent on the beach in Santa Monica, California, the day before Hollywood's Oscars night. Oswalt spoke to Reuters on hosting duties, the industry of independent film and how to break the ice with nominees.

By Olivia Oran and Soyoung Kim NEW YORK (Reuters) – Biomet Inc, the U.S. medical device maker that was taken private by a private equity consortium for $11.4 billion in 2007, has hired underwriters for an initial public offering later this year, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. Biomet's owners — Blackstone Group LP , Goldman Sachs Group Inc's private equity arm, KKR & Co LP and TPG Capital LP — have selected Bank of America Merrill Lynch , Goldman Sachs Group and JPMorgan Chase & Co to lead the IPO, the people said.

Two employees of humanitarian group Medecins du Monde’s Belgian chapter were seriously injured on Wednesday when the vehicle they were travelling in hit a landmine in restive northern Mali, the organization and a local official said. “Around noon…a Medecins du Monde vehicle triggered a mine on the road from Kidal to the airport,” the group said in a statement posted on its website. “The vehicles two occupants, including the driver, are seriously injured.” The statement was accompanied by a photo showing the twisted wreckage of a 4×4 bearing Medecins du Monde’s logo. Medecins du Monde said that there was no indication that the organization had been specifically targeted.

By Kathryn Doyle NEW YORK (Reuters Heath) – Ten percent of pediatricians say they have seriously considered no longer providing vaccines due to concerns about their cost, according to results from a 2011 survey. That number is actually somewhat encouraging, said coauthor Megan Lindley, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta. If a pediatrician does decide to stop offering vaccines, parents will have to take their children elsewhere to get shots. Lindley stressed that the survey did not address whether doctors had actually discontinued the vaccines, only if they had considered it.