Research: Belly Fat Not Linked To Visceral Fat

1 In 10 High School Students Drink and Drives

Teens are getting better about driving sober, but teen drinking and driving is still a deadly risk on the roads. Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reviewed national data.

"The rates of drinking and driving among high school students 16 years and older have been cut in half in the past 20 years. Even with that large reduction, about 1 in 10 high school students still drinks and drives each month."

That works out to about a million high school students drinking and driving each year.

Parents should keep in mind that teens often get the alcohol at home or at the home of a friend, and enforce a no-drinking-and-driving rule.

CDC Offers iPhone & iPod Touch 'Health-e-cards' App

With this app you can send health eCards directly from your device to friends, family and loved ones. Nearly half of iPhone users and 30% of iPod touch users making health-related inquiries from their device. This medical app provides a way for health seekers to easily share important health tips with others.

Based on CDC's successful eCards' website, this mobile app features popular eCards and timely updates to coincide with important health events throughout the year, including American Heart Month, Flu Season, Great American Smokeout, and others.

Click here for more information.

Preteens, Teens and Vaccines

Preteens and teens need vaccines.

At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Christina Dorell says teens and preteens should get Tdap, which protects against tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis or whooping cough - and a vaccine that protects against meningococcal meningitis. She also says teens - boys and girls - should get the HPV vaccine, which protects against human papilloma virus, which can cause some forms of cancer, notably cervical cancer.

"It is important for parents to remember to bring their teens in for a check-up each year and review their vaccination records to see which vaccines are needed."

Gross Obesity Climbing

Researchers report a striking increase in the proportion of Americans who are grossly obese. At the RAND Corporation, Roland Sturm reviewed national survey data from 2000 to 2010, and noted a longer-term trend:

"Just in the last decade, the proportion of Americans who are severely obese has increased by 70 percent. Severe obesity has been increasing at a rather dramatic rate for 20 or 30 years."

Sturm says that the overall trend toward overweight or obesity has been stabilizing recently. He says it's the proportion of the severely, or morbidly, obese that has been rising more sharply.

The study in the International Journal of Obesity was supported by the National Institutes of Health and HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

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