Monday, June 12, 2006

Mississippi to Host Summit on Obesity

JACKSON, Miss. -- Gov. Haley Barbour is no stranger to Southern cooking, but he is concerned about Mississippi's growing reputation as one of the fattest, unhealthiest states in America.

On Thursday, Barbour will host the Healthy Mississippi Summit, where state and national experts will discuss ways to promote nutrition and an active lifestyle. The goal is a statewide approach similar to programs operating in Arkansas, Michigan and elsewhere.

Mississippi leads the nation in obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease -- ailments that can be avoided through diet and exercise.

"The chronic disease burden in our state dramatically increases the cost of Medicaid and Medicare. Businesses lose money because employees miss work," Barbour said. "We know that we have tens of thousands of people who are in bad health because of their behavior."

David Katz of the Yale School of Public Health, an obesity expert and one of the conference speakers, said obesity is prevalent in Mississippi because of the state's high incidence of poverty. Nearly 20 percent of Mississippi residents are below the poverty level.

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· NEW YORK -- Singer Kevin Aviance, 37, suffered a broken jaw and other injuries in an attack by a group yelling anti-gay slurs, police said. Aviance, whose song "Alive" hit the top of the Billboard dance chart in 2002, usually performs in drag but was "dressed like a boy" when he was attacked in Manhattan's East Village, publicist Len Evans said. Four people were arrested on hate-crime charges, police said.

· DENVER -- Records containing personal information, including Social Security numbers, on more than 150,000 voters are missing at city election offices, and officials are trying to determine if the files were lost, moved or stolen. The Denver Election Commission is also trying to determine why officials did not learn the records were missing until June 1, even though they are believed to have disappeared nearly four months earlier.

· DALLAS -- Navy Chief Petty Officer Kameron Pratt, 34, who was home on leave from the Middle East, was shot and killed by a carjacker three days before he was to return to duty. Pratt was in his parents' driveway when two men in a pickup pulled up next to his. One man, wielding a gun, ordered Pratt out of his truck before shooting him and stealing the vehicle, police Sgt. Gil Cerda said.

· ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Two men drowned in Tampa Bay after they jumped in to save the wife of one of them, who had fallen off their boat, authorities said. Richard Hostutler and James Smith, both of the Tampa Bay area, were not wearing life jackets Saturday afternoon in their attempt to rescue Hostutler's wife, who survived, officials said.

-- From News Services