How to cut back on junk food in your child’s diet – and when not to worry
Cutting back on ultra-processed food in your child’s diet doesn’t have to be a huge lift. Learn shortcuts and smart swaps, like giving them nuts for a snack instead of chips. Even if they’re salted, the higher protein and healthy fats in nuts are an added benefit. Meredith Rizzo for NPR Trust me, I know […]
COVID emergency over, mental health a rising concern
The officially declared national public health emergency related to COVID-19 has now been over for two weeks. There were some risks associated with calling off the emergency – including the end to mandates for health insurers to reimburse for at-home COVID tests, changes to how vaccines are paid for and a loss of automatically continued […]
What we know about the health risks of ultra-processed foods
Above, an unprocessed apple. Ultra-processed foods are made from industrially manufactured ingredients that have been extracted from foods, processed, then reassembled to create shelf-stable, tasty and convenient meals. Meredith Rizzo for NPR This morning, while tidying up my office, I found an open box of packaged coconut and chocolate cookies that I’d bought sometime last […]
Can multivitamins improve memory? A new study shows ‘intriguing’ results
The brain requires a large number of nutrients for optimal health and efficiency, but micronutrients are typically absorbed better through foods than through supplements. Grace Cary/Getty Images Americans spend billions of dollars on supplements each year, and roughly 1 in 3 adults report taking a multivitamin. But there is a debate about whether this helps […]
Therapy at school? In these Minneapolis high schools, students get care on their own terms
At all nine of Minneapolis’ big public high schools, students can have weekly talk therapy appointments, get an IUD or any other form of birth control, test for STIs, get a physical, immunized and more — all within the walls of their school. The district has given its high school students the option to get […]
Minnesota sees an increase in suicide deaths
After a dip during the first year of the pandemic, suicide rates in Minnesota rose again during 2021 and 2022. A new report from the state Department of Health released Thursday said final data show 808 suicide deaths in 2021, and preliminary numbers show 831 suicide deaths in 2022. Suicide rates in Minnesota, and across […]
In some states, hundreds of thousands dropped from Medicaid
Alicia Celaya, David Cardenas and their son Adrian, 3, in Phoenix, Ariz. in April. Celaya and her family will lose their Medicaid coverage later this year, a result of a year-long nationwide review of the Medicaid enrollees that will require states to remove people whose incomes are now too high for the program. Matt York […]
Xcel: More radioactive water spilled in Monticello
Xcel Energy reported another, smaller, spill of radioactive water last weekend at its Monticello, Minn. nuclear plant, about 40 miles northwest of the Twin Cities. Crews have been pumping and storing water from the ground at the plant since a faulty pipe caused a leak of about 400,000 gallons of water contaminated with tritium in […]
How to take action on youth mental health
How worried are you about the mental health of a young person in your life? Young people were already struggling with their mental health before the pandemic and now depression, anxiety and thoughts of suicide have surged. In 2022, an all-time high number of Minnesota students reported mental health problems, according to the Minnesota Department of Health. […]
How to take action on youth mental health
How worried are you about the mental health of a young person in your life? Young people were already struggling with their mental health before the pandemic and now depression, anxiety and thoughts of suicide have surged. In 2022, an all-time high number of Minnesota students reported mental health problems, according to the Minnesota Department of Health. […]