You're Bending Over All Wrong

Childhood Obesity Gets Worse

Samantha Reinders for NPR Lost Art Of Bending Over: How Other Cultures Spare Spines Bending over seems like one of the most basic motions in the human repertoire. How hard can it be to do it the right way? Well, as NPR’s Michaeleen Doucleff reports, most of us in the U.S. look like cashew nuts when we’re bending, and that’s not good. We’d feel better if we kept our backs straight, parallel to the ground, and used our hips like the hinge of a door. People around the world do it that way. "It's called hip hinging," says Stuart McGill, who researches biomechanics at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. "And I've spent my career trying to prove it's a better way of bending than what we do." Fear not! You, too, can learn to hip hinge, and the chances are your back will thank you. Lawrence K. Ho/LA Times via Getty Images No Downturn In Obesity Among U.S. Kids We hate to be the bearers of bad news, but the obesity problem for America’s kids isn’t getting better.   A look at the latest federal data finds nearly 19 percent of kids ages 2 to 19 were obese in 2016. That’s up from 14 percent in 1999, NPR’s Rob Stein reports.   Lately, there’s been a big jump in obesity among the youngest kids and that increase bodes poorly for the future.   "The main take-home message for me is that, clearly, obesity remains a problem," says Duke University’s Asheley Skinner. "It's not improving."   Maxine Stanich celebrated her 90th birthday with friends and family in 2010, more than two years after her implanted defibrillator was deactivated by Dr. Rita Redberg to comply with Stanich's "do not resuscitate" directive. Courtesy of Susan Giaquinto/Kaiser Health News Too Late To Operate? Surgery Near End Of Life Is Common, Costly Nearly 1 in 3 Medicare patients undergoes an operation in the year before death, even though the evidence shows that many are more likely to be harmed than to benefit from it. Maxine Stanich cared more about improving the quality of her life than prolonging it. But at age 87, a doctor recommended she get a defibrillator implanted to jolt her heart back to a normal rhythm in case it strayed. Stanich complied but regretted it. Reporter Liz Szabo from our partner Kaiser Health News has Stanich's story. Your Shots editor, Scott Hensley   You received this message because you're subscribed to our Health emails. |  Unsubscribe  |  Privacy Policy | NPR 1111 N. CAPITOL ST. NE WASHINGTON DC 20002