Insights from the Editor

Men who are married or in long-term relationships seek medical care for heart attacks sooner than single, divorced or widowers, according to a new Canadian study.

In a study of 4,403 patients in Ontario, 75.3 percent of married people went to the hospital within six hours of a heart attack--at least 5 percent more than single, divorced or widowed patients. Almost half of all patients showed up for medical help within two hours.

Men, in particular, seem to benefit from marriage when it comes to heart attacks. The study found that married men get to the hospital faster than their unmarried counterparts. The study did not find the same for married women.

Earlier studies have shown that men benefit from marriage.

The study had some limitations; marriage data was not collected on patients arriving in the emergency rooms with lower levels of consciousness and marriage status was not verified by a third party.

Contrary to earlier studies, researchers found there was no delay in seeking treatment associated with women. But the study only included patients experiencing chest pains. Since women experience different heart attack symptoms than men, the study's authors speculated that the exclusion of other patients may explain the difference over earlier research.

Cigarette taxes are often touted by public policy officials as an effective way to get smokers to quit and keep new smoker from starting. While high taxes may affect low-income smokers, they do not apparently deter wealthier smokers or smokers between certain ages, a new Canadian study has found.

Earlier studies have found taxing cigarettes is a generally effective policy to reduce smoking--but not in all groups. While younger smokers tend to respond to higher taxes, heavy smokers, for example, do not.

When researchers at Concordia University in Montreal looked at data from a large Canadian health survey, their general conclusions back up earlier findings. If taxes increase by 10 percent, smoking participation generally falls by about 2.3 percent, the researchers say.

But when they parsed out the data by certain demographic groups, they found some responded less to higher taxes. Canadian smokers between the ages of 25 and 44 did not respond as well as younger or older smokers. Neither did wealthier smokers.

The new study also found that:

• Low and middle income smokers are more responsive to taxes.
• Individuals who reported themselves to be in better health are more responsive than less healthy smokers.
• Men are more responsive to cigarette taxes than women.
• People with less education are more tax sensitive.

The study suggests that policy makers target groups who aren't responsive to taxes differently.

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Our 7-year-old, Elise, has been looking forward to summer camp for months. Though she had a choice of going to a horseback riding camp, a soccer camp and even the camp I attended at her age, she chose to go to cooking camp.

This was a surprise. Elise is obsessed with horses. Secretly, we're very pleased. Any of the other choices would have forced her to exercise. But she gets plenty of that through regular activities. Eating healthy, though, is a different challenge.

She's bombarded with unhealthy food messages—from brightly-colored cereal boxes to fast food restaurants that associate rewards with bad food. And her friends seem to subsist on potato chips, hot dogs and powdered donuts alone.

As parents, we compete against these trends constantly because we know poor eating habits can cause obesity in children, which can lead to all sorts of health problems: Asthma, diabetes, sleep apnea and cardiovascular disease, among others.

I'm also worried that lessons learned now will make it more difficult to combat chronic illness later on. If, for example, my daughter develops type...

In an effort to improve the healthy options they offer to children, 19 chain restaurants are adding lower-calorie meals to their kid's menus.

The new selections, part of the Kids LiveWell initiative from the National Restaurant Association and Healthy Dining, must meet strict nutritional criteria, including:

• The entrée, sides and drink must be 600 calories or less.

• Meals must also include two servings of fruit, vegetables, whole grains, lean protein and/or low-fat dairy.

• The overall sodium, fat and sugar content must be limited.

The chains must also promote the new, healthier options and also offer at least one other individual item with 200 calories or less, with limits on fats, sugars and sodium, plus contain a serving of fruit, vegetables, whole grains, lean protein or low-fat dairy.

The chains, which have more than 15,000 locations, include: Au Bon Pain, Bonefish Grill, Burger King, Burgerville, Carrabba's Italian Grill, Chevys Fresh Mex, Chili's Grill & Bar, Corner Bakery Cafe, Cracker Barrel, Denny's, El Pollo Loco, Friendly's, IHOP, Joe's Crab Shack, Outback Steakhouse, Silver Diner, Sizzler, T-Bones Great American Eatery and zpizza.

"Eating well--especially when eating out--is the road much less traveled in America today, by children and adults alike," says Dr. David L. Katz, director of the Yale University Prevention Research Center, editor-in-chief of Childhood Obesity and a member of Everwell's Medical Advisory Board. Instead, it should be the path of lesser resistance."

Birth rates among teenagers declined for the second straight year, according to new federal report on the well-being of children and youth.

The report contained other good news: Preterm births declined for the third consecutive year, adolescent injury deaths fell, and fewer high school seniors were binge drinkers.

There was bad news as well: More 8th graders used illicit drugs, more children were living in poverty, and fewer children were living in houses where at least one parent had a full time job, according to America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being 2011.

The report was compiled from data that was gathered in 2009 and was provided by 22 federal agencies. Other highlights include:

Deaths before the first birthday declined from 6.6 per 1,000 births to 6.4 per 1,000 births.

The number of children ages 0-17 living in counties in which levels of one or more air pollutants were above allowable levels fell from 69 percent to 59 percent.

Mathematics scores increased two points on average for 8th graders and three points for high school seniors.

A higher percentage of children were living in poverty.