The Checkup

Getting guys to wash their hands

We all know that one of the simplest, best ways to stay healthy is to wash our hands a lot, especially these days during the swine flu pandemic. Some new research offers clues to what gets people to actually do it. And guess what? Shame appears to be the best motivation. And, for guys, emphasizing the gross-out factor doesn't hurt.

A team of researchers at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine conducted an experiment in which nearly 200,000 people were monitored using electronic sensors installed in service station restrooms along highways in Britain.

Only about a third of the men washed their hands with soap after using the toilets, compared with about 64 percent of the women, the researchers reported in the American Journal of Public Health.

A variety of messages, such as "Water doesn't kill germs, soap does" and "Don't be a dirty soap dodger" were flashed on LED screens at the entrances of the restrooms. Most of the messages helped increase hand washing, but "Is the person next to you washing with soap?" turned out to be the most effective of all, illustrating that people respond the most when they think someone is watching them.

Women tended to respond to any kind of reminder, while men tended to heed messages that invoked disgust, such as "Soap it off or eat it later," the study found.

-- Rob Stein

philly3 wrote:

The key point is washing hands thoroughly. Unless there is grease or such substance, soap is unnecessary.

Kids, calories and corner stores

Trying to get kids to eat more healthfully is like trying to keep kittens in a box: You make progress in one area -- say, school lunches -- only to find that the kids jump for the junk food first chance they get. But in too many instances, kids seeking snacks have little to choose from other than junk.

A study published in Pediatrics shows that elementary-school kids in Philadelphia who stop for snacks at corner stores before and after school largely spend their dollars on high-calorie, nutrient-poor foods. Chips topped the list, followed by candy and sweetened beverages. The study found that for just a dollar, a kid could buy an eight-ounce beverage, a single-serving bag of chips, an assortment of candy and gum, and a popsicle -- adding up to hundreds of extra calories in their daily diets. More than half the kids bought after-school snacks at corner stores five days per week; nearly a third stopped in the mornings, too.

The study was supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Healthy Eating Research initiative. The authors suggest that one way to tackle childhood obesity is to encourage corner stores to provide and promote more-healthful choices.

But presumably the children, who in this study were in grades 4 through 6, receive their spending money from an adult. Perhaps some effort also could be made to help and encourage parents to do their part in guiding food choices.

-- Jennifer LaRue Huget

Afriend3 wrote:

I don't understand when we became this snack culture. I suppose it's part of the consumer culture. When I was growing up, there was no snacking. If I was hungry after school, my mother suggested a piece of bread (Wonder Bread) and butter. Now there's this idea that kids can't make it from one meal to the next without snacks. I was always shocked at how this has now even infiltrated the school day. When money is scarce, research seems to show it would be better spent on family dinner, as logistically challenging as that is. We need a new campaign: Just Say No to Snacks!