Investors Push Unilever To Better Report Its Foods’ Nutritional Values
In other news, a study has shown that a weekly short muscle-strengthening exercise session could add years to your lifespan. And a report details the increased risks pregnant people will experience due to climate change — including exposure to extreme temperatures.
Bloomberg:
Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Owner Unilever Pledges Nutrition Reports
Unilever PLC, which makes high-sugar treats like Ben & Jerry’s and Magnum ice-creams, has pledged to publish new nutritions benchmarks for its food brands as investors urge the global giant to take more responsibility for improving consumer health. Public reports will be issued on the performance of its products against at least six different government-endorsed measures, including the U.K.’s regulations against high fat, salt and sugar, and Europe’s Nutri-Score, Unilever said in a statement Monday. The assessment will be published annually -- starting in October -- both globally and for 16 key markets including the U.S., U.K. and China. (3/7)
In other public health news —
USA Today:
Health Study: Live Longer By Weight Training 30 To 60 Minutes Weekly
Spending just 30 to 60 minutes each week on muscle strengthening exercises can not only make you stronger, but also likely add years to your life, new research suggests. Strength-building exercise has long been recommended by experts as life-enhancing. And there's been a growing body of research suggesting even a little exercise helps fend off disease and increases life spans. This new analysis of 16 exercise studies found people who did 30 to 60 minutes of resistance exercises weekly had a lower risk of getting heart disease, diabetes or cancer, as well as 10% to 20% lower risk of early death from all causes, according to the study published Monday in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. (Miranda, 3/5)
The 19th:
New IPCC Report Details Risks Pregnant People Face Due To Climate Change
Last June, over a period of three days, a heat wave baked the Pacific Northwest. Temperatures soared to 117 degrees in a region where many homes don’t have air conditioners. While final estimates of heat wave-related fatalities are still being determined, Kristie Ebi, a professor with the Center for Health and the Global Environment at the University of Washington, said approximately a thousand people are believed to have died from the extreme temperatures. “If anything else happened that in a few days killed 1,000 people, we’d call it a mass casualty event,” Ebi said. But the United States, like other countries, has been slow to mitigate the dangers of extreme heat, and the problem is only going to get worse. (Kutz, 3/4)
In updates on transgender health care —
Houston Chronicle:
Texas Children’s Hospital Pauses Hormone Therapies For Gender-Affirming Care After Abbott And Paxton Directive
Texas Children’s Hospital has stopped prescribing gender-affirming hormone therapies — a move that could affect thousands of transgender children in Texas — in response to a controversial directive from state leaders to investigate medical treatments for transgender youth as child abuse. The nation’s largest pediatric hospital revealed the decision Friday, dealing a blow to parents of transgender children who were seeking access to medicine that slows the onset of puberty or hormone treatments that help older children develop into bodies that match their identities. (Gill and Banks, 3/4)
Bloomberg:
Texas Is Appealing Temporary Ban On Probe Of Trans Child’s Parents
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said he’ll appeal a court order temporarily blocking the state’s child protective services agency from investigating the parents of a transgender teen for alleged child abuse. Abbott filed a so-called notice of accelerated appeal of the order on Thursday in Texas state court in Austin. The conservative Republican seeks to enforce his controversial Feb. 22 letter requiring state officials to investigate parents who seek gender-affirming care for their transgender children. (Larson, 3/4)
C-HIT.ORG:
A Survival Tool In Transgender Community, Breast Binders Are In High Demand
Requests for free breast binders by transgender youths in 2022 have outnumbered supplies at Health Care Advocates International (HCAI) in Stratford, which serves LGBTQ and HIV communities. HCAI received 126 binder requests in the first three weeks of January alone, crushing last year’s numbers and temporarily wiping out inventory. The group sent out 190 binders in all of 2021. A quarter of them went to Connecticut youths, with the rest shipped nationwide and beyond. (Dannhauser, 3/5)
