The Checkup

Health in the News and in Your Life

Saving Babies From SIDS

There is nothing as sad as the death of an infant. And when that death is attributed to SIDS -- sudden infant death syndrome -- the sadness is amplified by maddening uncertainty. For while SIDS is listed as the leading cause of death among infants between 1 month and 1 year old, it's still just a "diagnosis of exclusion" -- the medical community can't fully explain why it happens.

This week brought one potential factor to parents' attention. A study, conducted by the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research and published in the October issue of the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine, found that infants sleeping in a room where air was ventilated with a fan had a 72 percent lower risk of SIDS than babies who slept without fans. The idea is that a fan circulates fresh air and lessens the extent to which the baby re-inhales its own exhaled breath.

-- Jennifer Huget

A. Chenette wrote:

As a parent, this is so maddening. Every month, it seems, they come out with new research as to what you should and should not do. When I was an infant, my parents were told to put me to sleep on my stomach. Now, 30 years later, we are told to put our children to sleep on their backs. But "not to worry" if they become tummy sleepers at 4 or 5 months old when they begin to roll over. Parents should be educated. But changing the advice every few months or so (sometimes completely contradicting previous advice) only causes harm to the parents.

Counting Calories

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was all smiles last week as he signed legislation making his state the first to require chain restaurants to post nutrition data about the foods they serve on menus and on signs inside the restaurants.

The law is intended to help fight obesity by giving customers information they need to make smarter food choices.

A like-minded law went into effect in New York City this spring. Various cities, states and counties -- including the District and Montgomery County -- are mulling similar measures. And in late September, two U.S. senators introduced a bill calling for a national requirement and standards for restaurant-food labeling.

-- Jennifer Huget

Anonymous wrote:

Obesity is a complex issue with multiple causes and drivers, and solving it will require an equally broad and multilevel response. No single initiative will achieve much by itself in terms of slimming down the nation, but when combined into a comprehensive and long-term action plan, it can very well lead to that downtick that we'd all like to see.

Emily wrote:

Many salads at certain restaurant chains are loaded with cheese, eggs, bacon bits, creamy dressing, etc., which results in even more fat and calories than, say, a small hamburger from the same chain. Most people probably would not expect this to be the case, and if they are mistakenly picking the salad in an effort to eat healthily, they would greatly benefit from nutrition information available on menus and menu boards.

RoseG wrote:

I don't think posting calories and nutritional information will do much to fight obesity, but it will make it easier for thin people to stay that way.

GBP wrote:

As a post-gastric-bypass person, I don't think that providing the nutritional information will sway someone who is hellbent on the fried chicken or the ribs, but it will provide options to someone, like me, who has fat and sugar restrictions and protein goals. I like knowing my options; I like having options.

Laura wrote:

It's not just fat and calories that matter to some people. Sodium content should be listed also. I just recently found out how much sodium can hide in whole-grain pancakes (over 1,000 mg in a serving). If I had known that, I would not have ordered them.