The Checkup: December 26, 2010 - January 1, 2011

Is that right? Dannon yogurts fight flu, cold and irregularity?

We've all seen those ads for Dannon's Activia yogurt and DanActive dairy drink, right? The ones with the funky graphics that show how the probiotics on those products go about relieving irregularlity and fending off flu and colds? Those ads will soon be things of the past.

By Jennifer LaRue Huget  | December 31, 2010; 7:00 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (8)
Categories:  Is That Right?, Nutrition and Fitness, diarrhea, probiotics  
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SIDS deaths rise sharply on New Year's Day

Parents of infants, here's something to take note of as you plan your New Year's celebration. New research shows a sharp spike in the incidence of SIDS deaths on New Year's Day.

By Jennifer LaRue Huget  | December 30, 2010; 7:00 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (4)
Categories:  Alcohol and Drugs, Drug Abuse, Family Health, Infant health, Parenting, Sleep  
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You're only as young as you feel

Read the Perspectives on Psychological Science article We all know the old saying, "You're only as young as you feel." Well, there may be some truth to that, according to researchers at Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Ellen Langer, a psychologist at Harvard University who studies how the...

By Rob Stein  | December 29, 2010; 7:15 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (4)
Categories:  Aging, Health News, Psychology  
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Study links diet to longevity, but with confusing findings

According to press materials announcing a new study's publication in the January 2011 edition of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, researchers found that among 2,500 adults ages 70 to 79, those who maintained a diet deemed "healthy" were less likely to die and more likely to enjoy good health during the 10-year period examined.

By Jennifer LaRue Huget  | December 28, 2010; 7:00 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (13)
Categories:  Aging, Dietary Guidelines, General Health, Nutrition and Fitness, Obesity, Prevention, life expectancy  
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When a gift threatens your identity

Your behavior would be perfectly normal, according to new research published in the Journal of Consumer Research. Through a series of five connected studies, marketing professors at two Texas Universities found that when people bought gifts for friends that expressed the friend's social identity but that were contrary to the gift-buyer's own identity, the gift-buyer took steps to re-establish his own identity by shunning the gift or buying himself something that shored up his own identity.

By Jennifer LaRue Huget  | December 27, 2010; 7:00 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (6)
Categories:  Psychology  
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