Kids in the top third of activity spent 35 minutes in moderate to vigorous physical exercise each day compared with 18 minutes in the lowest third. While the amount of time kids spent sitting around didn't matter, the time spent exercising was associated with better results on all the "cardiometric" measures.
- Stacey Burling
Smoking pot almost doubles the risk of causing a car crash
Don't smoke pot and then drive.
If you do, you will be nearly twice as likely to cause an accident as those who are stone cold sober (or unstoned cold sober), say researchers from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada.
They reviewed nine studies involving 49,411 people to determine whether cannabis increased the risk of a car crash. They say this is the first study to focus on people exposed to marijuana but not other intoxicating substances.
Previous studies have produced conflicting results, but these failed to separate the effects of pot, alcohol, and other substances.
The researchers note that recent surveys suggest an increase in pot use; roadside testing in Scotland in 2007 found that of 537 drivers, 15 percent ages 17 to 39 admitted to cannabis consumption within 12 hours of driving.
The analysis was published in the Feb. 9 issue of the journal BMJ.
- Marie McCullough
Bans on smoking elsewhere may lessen smoking at home
Smoking bans in workplaces and public areas don't drive smokers to light up more at home, and may even help them curb the habit, according to new research led by the German Cancer Research Center.
The findings were based on surveys of smokers conducted before and after laws banning smoking in public places were enacted in Ireland, France, Germany, and the Netherlands.
