Your Phone’s Soothing ‘Night Mode’? It Won’t Help You Sleep
A new study found no differences in falling asleep faster for users who turn on phones' warm-colored "night mode" and those who don't. Among other public health news, diet and exercise habits in pregnancy are linked to lasting health patterns in children.
USA Today:
Night Modes For Smartphones Don't Help You Sleep Better, Says Study
Nighttime modes added to smartphones that use warmer colors to make displays easier to view don't appear to help us fall asleep faster, new research suggests. According to a study from Brigham Young University published in the journal Sleep Health, researchers found no difference between users with nighttime features turned on and those who didn't use it at all. The study is focused on the iOS feature Night Shift, introduced to iPhones in 2016. When turned on, it replaces bluer lights from your smartphone display with warmer colors at night, and then returns to normal during the day. The goal is to make the display easier on your eyes and decrease the use of blue light, which experts say can impact sleep. (Molina, 4/29)
In other public health news —
The New York Times:
Diet And Exercise During Pregnancy Impacts Child’s Health, Study Says
The lifestyles of soon-to-be mothers and fathers could shape the health of their unborn offspring in lasting ways, according to a surprising new animal study of exercise, diet, genetics and parenthood. The study found that rodent parents-to-be that fatten on a greasy diet before mating produce offspring with sky-high later risks for metabolic problems. But if the mothers stay active during their pregnancies, those risks disappear. (Reynolds, 4/28)
The Boston Globe:
Thousands Of Homes In Massachusetts Still Have Lead Water Pipes, And Many Residents Don’t Know
For much of the past three years, they lived in fear of their water. After buying a home in Chelsea, Nathan Seavey and his wife learned their water pipes were lined with lead, and replacing them would cost thousands of dollars. Even though they had a newborn, they resigned themselves to live with it, filtering whatever they drank and relying on the city’s assurances that their water was safe. “My wife was terrified, and there were a lot of tears,” said Seavey, 39, whose wife recently gave birth to another son. “We had no idea when we bought, and it was really disappointing and frustrating to learn that there are still so many lead pipes.” (Abel, 4/29)
New Orleans Times-Picayune:
Of The 13 U.S. Oil Refineries Emitting High Levels Of This Carcinogen, 5 Are In Louisiana
A new effort to measure the levels of benzene, a cancer-causing air pollutant, along the perimeters of U.S. refineries found that five of the 13 facilities with the highest levels are in Louisiana. What's more, the refinery with the worst emissions was Delek USA's Krotz Springs refinery, located 45 minutes west of Baton Rouge along the Atchafalaya River, according to the report by the Environmental Integrity Project, a national environmental nonprofit. (Parker, 4/30)
NPR:
CVS Offers Mental Health Counseling In Stores
So far, CVS' pilot program, which launched in January, operates in a dozen stores in Houston, Philadelphia and Tampa, Fla., with plans to expand to 34 this year. It's targeting diverse communities where mental health care isn't readily available, such as Jenkintown, Pa., just north of Philadelphia where Miller's barber shop is located. The program is an extension of CVS' HealthHUBs, which exist in 650 of its nearly 10,000 stores, offering urgent care and wellness products, such as sleep apnea machines. The idea is to create a place where consumers can get eye exams, diabetes screenings and vaccinations as well as mental health treatment, where they already buy their prescriptions. (Noguchi, 4/29)
Fox News:
Remote Learning During Coronavirus Caused Stress, Anxiety In Students, Survey Finds
A new survey highlights the adverse effects that remote learning had on many children in the past year that has been the coronavirus pandemic. A survey of more than 32,000 caregivers of youth in Chicago Public Schools found that nearly a quarter of children were described by their caregivers as "stressed, anxious, angry or agitated" when the deadly disease shuttered in-person learning and Zoom became the country’s collective new classroom. (Farber, 4/29)
Modern Healthcare:
CEO Stress Can Reduce Lifespan, Increase Aging, Study Shows
CEOs experiencing high stress from work and industry challenges may live 1.5 years less than their peers, according to a study. Beyond the lifespan effects, the National Bureau of Economic Research Database found that CEOs who likely bore the brunt of stress from the Great Recession added an estimated year to their apparent age. The study used experimental machine-learning to analyze more than 3,000 photos of CEOs at different points in their tenure. (Gellman, 4/29)
Health News Florida:
Autism And Food Insecurity: The Pandemic Made It Worse
In the U.S., households of people with autism are experiencing food insecurity at double the rate of households that do not include people with autism, according to a report from Autism Speaks released in March. Nonprofit OCA provides programs for individuals with special needs in Orlando. Executive director Silvia Haas spoke with WMFE’s Talia Blake about how food insecurity is affecting people with autism. She began by explaining how the pandemic has made the problem worse. (Blake, 4/29)
