UK prof receives Kentucky Academy of Family Physicians award

Dr. Samuel Matheny has received the 2011 Distinguished Service Award from the Kentucky Academy of Family Physicians. "It is his peers recognizing him for some of his unselfish activities, particularly things focused on the overall good for patients in the commonwealth, improving quality of life for patients and for the family physicians that take care of patients," said Gerry Stover, executive vice president of KAFP.

Matheny practices in Lexington, and for the past 17 years, has been a professor and chair of Family and Community Medicine in the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, of which he is graduate. He is double board certified in family and preventive medicine.

In service to the KAFP, he has invited renowned speakers to speak to the membership. He has also created new awards that honor physician volunteers and opened up nominations to community members for the citizen doctor award. He has also addressed the needs of the physician workforce Kentucky.

Generals in Kentucky, the national leader in young-adult obesity, say the 'too fat to fight' trend is endangering national security

Recent commanders of the Kentucky National Guard say the country could be at risk because America's youth is too fat to fight, and they urge Congress to take action. A study recently showed more than half of adults 18 to 24 in Kentucky are overweight or obese — the highest share of any state. Nationally, one in four young adults are too overweight to enlist.

"What can we do to combat child obesity and help expand the pool of young adults qualified for military service?" former Adjutant Gens. Donald Storm (right), Michael Davidson and D. Allen Youngman write in an op-ed piece for Kentucky newspapers. "School is a good place to start. Many children consume nearly half of their daily calories at school, and more than half of kids eat at least one meal served in school every day."

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which updates school nutrition standards for the first time in decades and provides more funding for each meal served in school cafeterias, is a step in the right direction, they say, "but more is needed to prevent our childhood obesity crisis from becoming a national security crisis."

Updating school equipment and personnel seem necessary. A recent survey of 13 southeastern Kentucky school districts found that nine use deep fryers and only five use salad bars. The survey also found that the vast majority of districts do not have the funds necessary to update or repair equipment that will be needed to comply with the new nutrition standards. Also, 11 of the 13 school food-service directors said their cafeteria workers need more training in order to be prepared for new standards.

"We are urging members of Congress to help schools meet the standards of the new child-nutrition law and provide additional support for kitchen equipment and training," they write. "These funds will help ensure that all of our children can lead healthy lives and that those who wish to serve their country are fit enough to do so." (Read more)

128 Kentucky schools get money for fresh fruits and veggies

More than 50,000 students in 128 Kentucky elementary schools will be served fresh fruits and vegetables in the coming school years as part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program.

The program ensures children are given a variety of free produce throughout the school day. The goal is is create healthier school environments by providing healthy choices; expand children's exposure to fresh produce; expand consumption of the foods; and improve children's diets.

For a list of all the schools that will receive the funds, click here. The selection was based on applications from elementary schools that have a student population with half or more of the students are eligible for free or reduced-price meals in the National School Lunch Program. Priority was given to schools with the highest percentages.

Kentucky received $2.65 million for the program. Each school will receive funds to operate the program based on approximately $52 per student enrolled.

Lexington is most sedentary city in U.S., Men's Health says

Lexington has been ranked as the most sedentary city in the country by Men's Health magazine. Or, to put it more bluntly, the laziest.

"What hurt Lexington most was the actual amount of activity, or exercise, people reported engaging in — any physical activity at all, which was relatively low. And they did have higher rates of deaths from deep vein thrombosis (DVT) as well," said Matt Marion, deputy editor of the magazine.

The rankings were compiled by looking at "how often residents exercise, the number of households that watched 15 hours of cable television a week and bought more than 11 video games a year, and the rate of DVT [deep vein thrombosis], a blood clot in a vein, usually in the leg, which is associated with inactivity," writes Patricia Reaney of Reuters.

Indianapolis and Jackson, Miss., also ranked very low, while Seattle, San Francisco and Oakland, Calif., were high. Southern cities ranked among the lowest on the list, which Marion said is in part due to their warm weather and lifestyle. "In certain cities there is a more laid-back lifestyle," he said. "That's fine, but there is not that same drive you'll see in certain parts of the northeast or California, or the northwest where people get up every morning and run or hit the gym."

The latest issue of Men's Health, with the rankings, hits newsstands Tuesday. (Read more)

State website helps Kentuckians get health insurance, info

A new government website is aimed at helping Kentuckians wade through the often overwhelming world of health insurance by providing information specific to the new health care law.

The Kentucky Health Insurance Advocate contains information for people who are uninsured, those who are soon to be uninsured, and those interested in private coverage options. It outlines specific information for seniors, children and young adults. It also contains a listing of companies selling individual, private insurance in Kentucky.

The website was compiled by the Kentucky Department of Insurance and has been in operation since the spring. "This is part of a consumer assistance grant we got as part of federal health reform," said Ronda Sloan, public information officer with the department. "We were trying to put all of the health reform information people would need in one location. ... We're trying to make it really user-friendly."

Part of of the effort is to get more Kentuckians insured. "And it's really for education too," Sloan said. "We're not trying to tell anybody, 'This is what you do,' we're trying to say, 'These are your options.' We're trying to walk people through the process."

In addition to perusing the website, people can call toll-free at 877-587-7222 to get more, personalized information. Since the department started advertising the site a few weeks ago, it has received more calls. "A lot of people are saying, 'I'm uninsured,' 'I have a pre-existing condition, what can I do?', 'I lost my job, I'm coming off COBRA,' things like that," Sloan said. "Insurance is not a simple thing and it's not something you think about until you need," she said. "We're trying to make it a little less complicated and try to ease people's minds a little."

New cigarette warning labels to be in use by fall 2012

Showing graphic photos of rotting teeth, a man with a zipper-like scar down the length of his chest and even a man with smoke coming out of his tracheotomy tube, the Food and Drug Administration unveiled this week the warnings that will be required on cigarette packages starting in fall 2012.

The move is aimed at getting smokers to quit, which could be especially beneficial in Kentucky, where 25 percent of adults are smokers, compared to 18 percent nationwide. The state has the second highest smoking rate in the country, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show.

The FDA hopes the images "will reduce the number of smokers by 213,000 by 2013 and save between $221 million and $630 million every year over the next 20 years," Rob Stein of The Washington Post reports. "With these warnings, every person who picks up a pack of cigarettes will know exactly what risk they are taking," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said.

The graphics, which represent the first time U.S. warnings have been overhauled in 25 years, are accompanied with messages such as "Warning: Cigarettes are addictive" or "Warning: Smoking can kill you." Warnings started appearing on cigarette packages in 1966, but remained limited to small text on the sides of packages and in ads. About 30 other countries, including Canada and Brazil, already require graphic warnings.

To prevent smokers from becoming desensitized to the images, the FDA plans to conduct studies to make sure the images are still having an effect. "What may seem quite shocking at the beginning, people get used to quite quickly," Sebelius said.

Several tobacco companies are challenging the move in court. They would not comment about the images, Stein reports. (Read more)

As for whether they will make a difference, Washington Post columnist Petula Dvorak polled some smokers, who seemed unfazed by the images. (Read more)

Tainted salad mixture was sold in Kentucky, has been recalled

Kentucky is among the states affected by a recall of Dole and Kroger salad mixtures that may be tainted with the disease listeriosis.

More than 2,800 Dole Italian Blend and 440 cases of Kroger Fresh Selections Italian Style Blend have been recalled, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The salad mixtures have a use-by date of June 19, Darla Carter of The Courier-Journal reports.

Symptoms of listeriosis including fever, muscle aches, nausea and diarrhea. In serious cases, stiff neck and confusion can result. The illness mostly affects older adults, pregnant women, newborns and adults with weakened immune systems.

For more information, click here.