Voters in liberal Portland, Ore., are divided over fluoridation. As Portlanders prepare to go to the polls Tuesday to decide the issue, liberals concerned about the dental health of low-income children are pitted against liberals averse to putting anything unnecessary in the water. Added to the mix are libertarians who say fluoridation violates an individual’s right to consent to medicine. Portland is the largest U.S. city that has yet to approve fluoridation to combat tooth decay. The City Council in September unanimously decided to add the mineral to the water supply, which serves about 900,000 people, but opponents quickly gathered thousands of signatures to force a Portlanders to vote on the issue for the fifth time since 1956. The Associated Press
Health of immigrants declines after they move to the U.S. A growing body of research shows that immigrants have worse rates of heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes they longer they live in this country. And while their American-born children may have more money, they tend to live shorter lives than the parents. “There’s something about life in the United States that is not conducive to good health across generations,” a demographer said. For Hispanics, the nation’s largest immigrant group, the foreign-born live about three years longer than their U.S.-born counterparts, several studies indicate. The cause appears to be the adoption of American behaviors — smoking, drinking, high-calorie diets and sedentary lifestyles. The New York Times
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Only 2 of 13 small SUVs do well on new test simulating deadly type of collision. The small-overlap crash test models collisions occurring when a vehicle hits a hard barrier with just a quarter of its bumper, which concentrates force in a small area unprotected by strong safety structures built into most new vehicles. Such crashes cause 25 percent of of serious injuries or deaths in frontal collisions but many small SUVs fared poorly in recent round of testing by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Only the 2013 Subaru Forrester and 2014 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport performed well, while five SUVs were rated “poor”, with the worst marks going to the Ford Escape. Most of the SUVs tested, however, have performed well on other types of safety tests. CBS News, WETM (Corning, N.Y.)
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Lead Exposure in Older Homes Means Children “Pay With Their Lives”
Q&A: Authors Say Toll From the Toxic Metal Still Plagues U.S.
By Lilly Fowler on April 11, 2013
U.S. health authorities estimate that about 535,000 children are still at risk of developmental problems due to elevated levels of lead in their blood. In an interview, public health historians Gerald Markowitz and David Rosner discuss the history and scope of the lead problem.
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