Research: Belly Fat Not Linked To Visceral Fat

Educated Moms See Better Dental Health In Kids

There may be more to keeping a kid's teeth healthy than dental insurance. Researchers say mothers with more than a high school education, more knowledge of eating right, and good emotional health had kids with better dental health.

At the dental school of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Suchitra Nelson looked in data from a long-term study, checking dental records of 224 teenagers and questionnaires from their mothers. She noticed something about teens whose mothers had more reason for life stress:

"The children had significantly less prevention, poor oral hygiene, and less-often dental visits."

The study in the Journal of Dental Research was supported by the National Institutes of Health and the Health Resources and Services Administration.

Medicare Open Enrollment

People with Medicare can use new star ratings to compare the quality of health and drug plans being offered for 2013, and select the plan that best fits their needs.

Medicare Open Enrollment runs from October 15th through December 7th.

Find and compare plans using the Medicare Plan Finder. Click for more information .

Flu shots for safer pregnancies

Pregnant women have special risks in flu season. At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Denise Jamieson says influenza can increase the risk of miscarriage, and increase the risk that the baby may be born too early or too small. And she says pregnant women have their own risks if they get sick:

"Once they do get the flu, they're more likely to have severe complications, including hospitalization and death."

So Jamieson advises pregnant women to get flu vaccination. She says the vaccination is safe for the mother and the unborn child, and decades of experience back that up. She says women can be vaccinated at any time in the pregnancy, and the best time to get vaccinated is the soonest the vaccine is available in the woman's area.

Research: Belly Fat Not Linked To Visceral Fat

It may not be just fat that raises the risk of diabetes; it may be which fat. At the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, researchers looked at about seven years of data on 732 obese people. The researchers compared visceral fat - the kind around organs - with other fat that creates, for instance, potbellies.

Researcher Ian Neeland found no additional risk with other fat. But he says:

"People in the highest third of visceral fat had over three times greater likelihood of getting diabetes than people in the bottom third."

You can't see visceral fat levels without expensive imaging, so Neeland advises controlling fat all over.

The study in the Journal of the American Medical Association was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

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