Linkalicious: health. 8/12/06

It's a sublimely sunny Seattle Saturday afternoon. There's a healthy breeze. The tree leaves sound like a calm ocean, the windchimes are tinkling, and the blinds are swaying back and forth from my open window.

That's what's "new" in my little lazy corner of the world. What's new elsewhere? Let's focus on the world of health and nutrition:

• The obesity epidemic, much in the news over the past few years, appears to be affecting babies.
• Speaking of obesity, a San Francisco doctor places the blame squarely on our sugar-packed food supply:

  Breaking the pattern of sugar consumption -- a pattern that Lustig compares to nicotine addiction -- is more than just a matter of willpower. It will take a grassroots effort of doctors, community leaders and consumers to force the government and the food industry to get those sugary foods out of mainstream American diets.

• Even though Japan has ended import bans against U.S. beef, only 10% of Japanese polled in a recent survey indicated a willingness to buy some.
• Video game addiction is increasingly being recognized as a problem. Clinics that target this addiction continue to pop up.

  "His parents brought him in for a cocaine problem - he had stolen money to buy some. Then it turned out he was just a gamer, who took cocaine just to stay awake."

• In the Seattle area, residents have been warned not to harvest shellfish off the local beaches, due to record levels of paralytic shellfish poison.
• Here are some tips on how airplane travellers can preserve their mental health, in light of current air security rules:

  You bring a book. Because airport bookstores are only carrying Freakonomics (which you read last year) and the latest Dan Brown knockoff.