Science and health briefs

Published: March 25, 2008

Another study is confirming that adolescents who skip breakfast have a higher risk of being overweight.

"There's a pretty significant inverse association between how frequently kids report eating breakfast and how much weight they gain over time, and we took into account other dietary factors and physical activity,” said Mark Pereira, associate professor of epidemiology and community health at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. He was an author of the study, in the March issue of Pediatrics.

"It's interesting to note that the kids who eat breakfast on a daily basis overall have a much better diet and are more physically active,” he said.

Why does the United States have worse health outcomes than some poorer nations, despite spending more than twice the amount of money per person on health care? How does racial discrimination impose an additional health burden at all income levels? How do the social conditions in which people are born, live and work affect health and longevity?

A new PBS series, "Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?” examines these questions, challenges beliefs about health and offers new remedies to address health care issues. The four-part series will debut at 9 p.m. Thursday on OETA-13, with additional one-hour segments the following three Thursdays.

The series has prompted several state and county agencies to schedule community forums. One will be at 1:30 p.m. April 15 in the University of Central Oklahoma's Constitution Hall. For more information, call 271-9444, ext. 56535.

Chemists and physicists at the University of California at San Diego have developed a tiny, inexpensive sensor chip to detect trace amounts of hydrogen peroxide, a chemical in many homemade explosives.

The invention and operation of this penny-size electronic sensor, capable of sniffing out hydrogen peroxide vapor in the parts-per-billion range from peroxide-based explosives, such as those used in the 2005 bombing of the London transit system, is detailed in last week's issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

In addition to detecting explosives, the sensor could have widespread applications in improving the health of industrial workers by providing a new tool to monitor toxic vapors, UC San Diego scientists say.

"If this device were mass produced, it's not inconceivable that it could be made for less than a dollar,” said William Trogler, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry at UCSD and one of its inventors.

From Staff and Wire Reports

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