Newslinks
Newslinks
58% of Americans Want to Ban Unhealthy Food Advertising
A new survey published this week by food and nutrition firm FoodMinds reports that Americans want the government to tell them what to eat, sort of. A few of the most interesting findings:
- 77% of people want front-of-package labels warning them if products have high calories or low nutrients.
- 58% are in favor of a government ban on junk food ads targeting kids and young adults.
- 50% want it to be legal for employers to reward healthier employees and punish less healthy employees with fines or higher costs.
All that said, almost two-thirds of people say no to taxes on soda and fatty foods, which is a bit sad given the new research showing they'd likely be marvelously effective.
Newslinks
New Pool Signs Tell People Not to Whack Each Other in the Face
A slew of pools in the D.C. area are getting an update, reports the Washington Post: Big new etiquette signs. "It's just to let everyone know how to keep order," says one pool manager. Among the concerns the signs are intended to address:
- People who "do butterfly and hit other people in the face."
- "Crafty retirees scheming to keep a lane all to themselves."
- "Faster swimmers [who] are hesitant to do the foot tap [which signals they want to pass] because they don't want an inexperienced person freaking out about a stranger with a fetish comping up behind them."
Newslinks
No One Wants to Workout For Their Health, Apparently
Last week's New York Times reported that exercise was basically magic, and urged us all to exercise for the sake of our health. Today, the New York Times is back, reporting, that unfortunately, no one wants to do anything for the sake of their health. As one motivational psychologist puts it: "The ‘health’ and ‘weight-loss’ brand of exercise doesn’t create desire in people to exercise on a daily basis. It makes the behaviors feel like a chore and a ‘should,’ which undercuts our desire to do them." But apparently we're not all doomed to be fat Muggles who won't work out just because it's good for us. There is an answer. And that answer is twofold: fun and friends. If you work out with friends and your workout is something you find fun, that's when the enchantment begins.
Newslinks
The Iditarod Gets a Little Friendlier
The Iditarod is underway! The mushers and their dogs left Anchorage yesterday, and as the Iditarod news staff puts it, they're now on their way "into the teeth of North America's largest mountain range, The Alaska Range." The teams have 1150 frozen miles to cover in roughly the next ten days.
The race is harder to follow than in years past because national television distributors have dropped their coverage, but you can follow everything on Iditarod.com. Race fans, however, may note some shifts in coverage from previous years. In 2008, the Discovery Channel followed the race. In a voiceover that sounds like Batman at his most cartoonishly threatening, their promos asked, "How do you survive [dramatic pause] over eleven hundred miles [dramatic pause] of frozen hell? You run for your life." This year, Iditarod.com has taken a much sunnier position toward the race. The new promo video has a peppy Sarah Palin smiling and saying, "The Iditarod is the event that brings all Alaskans together."
Newslinks
Chinese Kids Need To Get Buff, Or Else
It is time for the Chinese nation to improve the physical fitness of our next generation. If we miss the next three to five years a whole generation will be next to useless. If there was another war against Japan, would the younger Chinese be able to fight the Japanese one-on-one?
— Yang Hua, President of Beijing Sports University in a speech delivered yesterday (via Reuters).