Some 6.9 percent of Florida high-school students smoke cigarettes, but 15.8 percent use electronic cigarettes, which allow inhalation of vaporized nicotine.
health
8.8 Million More People Got Health Insurance Last Year, Largely Due to Obamacare
The increase, due to the Affordable Care Act, is unprecedented since the creation of Medicare and Medicaid 50 years ago. Expanding Medicaid–as Florida did not–would have added to the ranks of the insured even more.
I Had a Stroke at 29
Two weeks after her then-fiancé proposed to her, Kari Cobham had a stroke. The former News-Journal reporter and current executive producer of social media for Orlando’s WFTV writes of her experience for the first time, on World Stroke Day.
The Diagnosis
FlaglerLive Editor Pierre Tristam learned he had cancer over the holidays. He describes the experience and his travels since, mostly down and up the abyss that becomes a premier tourist spot for many of those coming to grips with the diagnosis, even though death row appears, in his case, a very long way off.
Virulent Flu Season Aside, Potent RSV Bug Is Taking a Toll on Florida Children
Respiratory Syncytial Virus, or RSV, is serious and highly contagious. There’s no vaccination around to keep your little one from catching it. And its seasonal duration is longer in Florida than in any other state, stretching from mid-August to March.
Thank You For Not Smoking: In Bated Defense of Flagler County’s New Rule
Steve Robinson remembers his days at CNN when Ted Turner’s edict, groundbreaking at the time, forbade smoking in the office–or anywhere. Whether it was enforced or not, it helped workers become healthier, and if people are the sum of their deeds, Robinson argues, then employers should have the right to impose similar restrictions.
Flagler Health Department Launches “Gospel” to Combat Twin Killers: Tobacco and Obesity
Two initiatives will be the centerpiece of the Flagler Health Department’s strategy in the coming year: Tobacco Free Flagler and an effort to reduce the incidence of overweight and obese residents through more awareness of good nutrition, BMI and healthier activities.
In a First, Flagler County Will Prohibit Legal Tobacco Use On and Off the Job For New Hires
It is the first time a local government has made new employment conditional on the prohibition of use of a legal substance, though numerous governments and private employers are increasingly taking the same approach, and Palm Cast and the school board may soon hop on board.
Coke’s Obesity Campaign: Get Real
For the first time, Coke is using its slick commercials to address obesity. But the company’s new ads, which are brimming with misleading statements, just put lipstick on this pig, argues Jill Richardson.
Fighting Obesity Like Cigarettes
America’s obesity epidemic has public health leaders looking at the war on tobacco for inspiration through more informative food labels, limits on marketing to children, and taxes on unhealthy products.
Flagler’s Quality of Health Ranks It 17th in the State; Smoking and Obesity a Problems
Department of Health Administrator Patrick Johnson cautions that Flagler’s health rankings should not be overdramatized–for good or ill–but that they still point to trends that should clarify where the county’s health priorities should be.
World Guy Erik Bendl Globe-Trots
Through Bunnell and Palm Coast for Diabetes
World Guy Erik Bendl has been walking across the country to raise awareness for diabetes for years, in memory of his mother. Here’s a video report as he walked US1 in Bunnell this week, on his way to Georgia.
FPC’s Boys Raced, Pink-Socked, in Breast Cancer Solidarity at Manhattan Invitational
Inspired by their coach, an idea started by Brad Walbert, to honor his grandfather, developed into team-wide solidarity for breast cancer victims–with unexpected and moving results as the boys raced in in New York City.