Health Highlights: May 14, 2008

Among the findings:

92 percent said they wash their hands with soap and water when preparing food.79 percent said they store leftovers within two hours of serving a meal.67 percent said they cook food to the required temperature, but only 29 percent use a food thermometer to check the "doneness" of meat and poulty.Only 15 percent said they check the wattage on their microwave ovens and only 7 percent said they use a meat thermometer when using their microwave.

"Consumers are a lot more confident about their ability to safely prepare food than they ought to be, based on what we learned," Danielle Schor, senior vice president of food safety for the IFIC Foundation, said in a prepared statement. "We still have a long way to go to educate the public about the basics such as avoiding cross contamination and cooking to proper temperature."

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New Fitness Test for U.S. Adults

Aerobic fitness, muscle strength, and flexibility are the main components included in an adult fitness test being introduced Wednesday by the U.S. government. The test will feature several of the exercises done by millions of students each year as they strive for a Presidential Physical Fitness Award.

The new test for people 18 and older who are in good health was developed because baby boomers kept asking whether there was a physical-fitness test available similar to the ones they took as students, Melissa Johnson, executive director of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, told theAssociated Press.

The aerobic part of the test consists of a one-mile walk or 1.5-mile run, while the strength tests include push-ups and half sit-ups. The sit-ups are done for one minute and the push-ups are done until a person can't do any more. A "sit-and-reach" exercise is used to measure flexibility.

Participants can enter their scores online and get results that show where they rank among people in the same age group, theAPreported.