Health Highlights: Oct. 6, 2009
Oct. 7 -- Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:
Menu Calorie Info Doesn't Change Eating Habits: Study
A law requiring New York City restaurant chains to list calories on menus hasn't changed the eating habits of low-income people, according to a study published Tuesday.
New York University and Yale researchers studied people eating at Burger King, Kentucky Fried Chicken, McDonald's and Wendy's in lower-income neighborhoods with high obesity rates and found that half of the customers noticed the calorie information, CBS and the Associated Press reported.
Twenty-eight percent said the calorie postings influenced what they ordered and 90 percent of those people said they made healthier food choices as a result. However, the researchers analyzed the customers' receipts and found they ordered slightly more calories than the typical customer did before the law took effect in July 2008.
The findings show that calorie postings don't have enough impact, study lead author Brian Elbel, an assistant professor at the New York University School of Medicine, according to published reports.
The study was published in the journal Health Affairs.
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Eating Licorice During Pregnancy May Harm Child: Study
Eating large amounts of licorice during pregnancy could have a detrimental impact on a child's intelligence and behavior, say European researchers who studied 8-year-old children in Finland, where many young women consume licorice.
The study found that children born to women who ate a lot of licorice while pregnant scored lower on tests than other youngsters, BBC News reported.
A component in licorice called glycyrrhizin may enable stress hormones to cross through the placenta from mother to child. These hormones may affect fetal brain development and have been linked to behavioral disorders, the researchers said.
