San Gabriel becomes first city to approve regional bicycle plan

The City Council Tuesday unanimously approved 32.5 miles of new bikeways in the city and became the first to adopt the San Gabriel Valley Regional Bike Plan proposing 32.5 miles of bikeways in the city.

The plan, prepared by nonprofits Day One and Bike SGV, proposes interconnected bike routes and lanes in the cities of San Gabriel, Monterey Park, South El Monte, El Monte and Baldwin Park. The plan was designed by ALTA Planning, funded through a grant from the Healthy Eating and Active Living initiative at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.

“It’s going to facilitate connections specifically for alternative modes of transportation,” said Javier Hernandez, program director for Bike SGV. “The other thing is that as residents of the San Gabriel Valley we all know traffic is pretty much a given anywhere you go. We are really hoping to change the landscape so that it is really conducive to bicycling so people .., start swapping out those short distance car trips to either biking or walking.”  http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/general-news/20140917/san-gabriel-becomes-first-city-to-approve-regional-bicycle-plan

U.S. nutrition program for mothers, infants sees falling demand

A government nutrition program for pregnant mothers and small children has not kept pace with technology and U.S. poverty experts say its paper voucher system is driving low-income women away from the program when they need it most.

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, known as WIC, has seen a sharp drop in participation since 2010, unlike food stamps and other anti-poverty programs that ballooned during the 2007-9 recession and the economic recovery that followed, government figures show.

"WIC providers are tearing their hair, beating their chests, 'what are they doing wrong?'" said Laurie True, California WIC Association director.  http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/19/us-usa-poverty-nutrition-idUSKBN0HE1AF20140919

Seattle to fine residents and businesses for wasting food

The Seattle city council has voted to fine businesses and residents that waste too much food.

Under the new rules, households will be fined $1 (£0.61) if their rubbish bins contain more than 10% food waste, and businesses and apartment buildings $50.

The city already recycles 56% of its waste but is aiming for 60% by 2015.

Seattle, in Washington State, is the second US city after San Francisco to make composting mandatory in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Composting is the processing of breaking down food and lawn refuse into useable soil through decomposition.

Up to 40% of food in the US is wasted, according to a report by the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Only 5% of food scraps are composted, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The city will begin issuing warning tickets on 1 January 2015 and fining customers on 1 July, according to the ordinance, which passed unanimously on Monday.  http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-29336968

Breath test for TB developed

Researchers have developed the first breath test for TB in the laboratory.

It provides rapid information on drug resistance that takes up to six weeks using standard methods, US scientists report in the journal, Nature Communications.

The bacteria emit a unique gas signature within 10 minutes of exposure to an inhaled antibiotic in rabbits.

TB infects 8.6m people each year worldwide and kills 1.3m, second only to HIV.

Early diagnosis and treatment are a priority in the global fight against TB, according to the World Health Organization.  http://www.bbc.com/news/health-29342006

U.S. diabetes rate levels off, but not for all

Overall adult diabetes rates appear to have leveled off during the past four years in the United States, in stark contrast to the two decades prior, which saw a doubling of the chronic disease, according to a new federal study.

The total number of people living with diabetes increased an average 0.6 percent annually between 2008 and 2012 while the number of new cases actually fell an average 5.4 percent, researchers for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported. That compared with an average 4.5 percent annual increase between 1990 and 2008, they said.

Not all groups in the United States have benefited, however. Diabetes rates continue to rise for blacks, Hispanics, the aging and the poorly educated, according to the report published in the Sept. 24 Journal of the American Medical Association.  http://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-diabetes-rate-levels-off-but-not-for-all/

Report Identifies Game Changers for U.S. Health Care

Imagine if doctors and hospitals got paid for providing better care, not more care, and consumers had better data for making informed health choices.

A new report suggests that's the direction the U.S. health system is headed.

The report, from the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics in Parsippany, N.J., identifies 10 "harbingers of change" -- recent events expected to alter the delivery of health care and use of medicines over the next decade.

The authors concede that poor adoption of new technologies, worries about data privacy and other obstacles could slow the pace of change, but their long-term outlook for patient care is hopeful.

"I think there can be optimism about the effectiveness of the care [patients] receive and even the cost of it," said Murray Aitken, executive director of the institute, as well as one of the study's authors.

One indication of what lies ahead: the entry of such technology juggernauts as Apple, Google and Samsung into the health care marketplace, according to the report.  http://consumer.healthday.com/general-health-information-16/doctor-news-206/report-identifies-health-care-game-changers-691988.html

Soda giants to cut calories 20% by 2025

Imagine the nation's beverage behemoths essentially asking folks to drink fewer sugary soft drinks — not more.

On Tuesday (9/23), Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Dr Pepper Snapple Group came close to that by announcing a shared goal to reduce the number of beverage calories consumed per person nationally by 20% by 2025.

The move, announced at the Clinton Global Initiative, does not reduce the actual calories in a 12-ounce can of conventional soda, which is about 150 calories. Instead, the beverage companies pledged to take specific actions to reduce soft drink calorie consumption — like selling smaller portion sizes and increasing promotion of products such as bottled water.

The companies jointly pledged to provide calorie counts and promote calorie awareness on the vending machines, fountain dispensers and retail coolers that they control nationwide.  http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/09/23/soft-drinks-beverages-coca-cola-pepsico-dr-pepper-snapple/16097945/