After a five-year decline, the prevalence of on-screen smoking went up in 2011. (ValetheKid/Flickr Creative Commons)
The prevalence of on-screen smoking had been in the midst of a steady trend of decline – until 2011. New research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that top box office films last year showed more on-screen smoking than in 2010, breaking a five-year pattern of reduction. Researchers suggested that because kids are influenced by what they see at the movies, perhaps smoking should garner movies an R-rating to incentivize filmmakers to avoid smoking scenes.
Kids in formal exercise programs aren't being done much good, says a new study. According to HealthDay, programs aren't increasing physical activity enough to have a significant impact on children's health, driving experts to call for better approaches to kids' fitness.
A national medical organization is calling for folks to clean out their medicine cabinets – specifically of any unused prescription drugs. If those pills end up in the wrong hands, according to CNN, they easily lead to injury or even overdose.
Friday marks National Gay Men's HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, CBSNews.com reminds us, and advocacy groups are taking the opportunity to encourage gay men to be safe in their sexual practices and to get tested often for HIV/AIDS.
There's a lot of social bullying in TV shows geared toward kids between the ages of two and 11, reports HealthDay. A new study found that these shows often feature people who are mean, who insult others, who resort to underhandedness to get what they want and who bully others in non-physical ways. Ninety-two percent of 150 episodes reviewed had some form of social bullying, noted the study's authors.
Polio is all but gone from the world – and some powerful people are coming together to make a final push toward complete eradication. TIME reports that world leaders and health advocates came together at a plenary session of the U.N.'s Economic and Social Council to make one promise: that polio would be gone forever by 2015, if not earlier.
Finally, if you're a woman looking to reduce your risk of heart attack, HealthDay suggests trying antioxidants, especially those found in fruits and vegetables.
Photo by ValetheKid via Flickr Creative Commons.
