An obesity toolkit crammed with practical tips and information isbeing launched to help people fight the flab and improve theirhealth. With almost a quarter of the adult population now classified as obeseand with the proportion of obese children rising by more than 40 percent between 1995 and 2004, an obesity toolkit is being published tohelp local councils and health bodies support people in their area tobeat the bulge. [click link for full article]

Two newspapers recently reported on Medicaid developments in Connecticut and Texas. Summaries of the coverage appear below.Connecticut: Connecticut Department of Social Services Commissioner Michael Starkowski on Tuesday agreed to release information on [click link for full article]

Policymakers are increasingly requiring that public preschool teachers have at least a bachelor’s degree, preferably in early childhood education. Rather than focusing solely on teachers’ educational attainment, however, they should take a broad approach, supporting effective and comprehensive professional development activities. [click link for full article]

Chronic reading problems and depression appear to be related, especially among low-income children, and the reading problems precede the depression.A new study done by researchers at the University of Delaware and West Chester University of Pennsylvania found that low-income children who take part in reading assistance programs in fifth grade are more depressed, anxious, and withdrawn than their peers, especially when they have chronic reading problems. [click link for full article]

The latest installment of a long-term study of child care in the United States has found that children who spent more time in center-based settings from birth through school entry have somewhat more problems with aggressive and disobedient behavior through sixth grade than children who spent less time in centers, regardless of the quality of care. [click link for full article]

Little children never cease to amaze. University of Washington researchers have found that 18-month-old toddlers engage in what they call “emotional eavesdropping” by listening and watching emotional reactions directed by one adult to another and then using this emotional information to shape their own behavior. [click link for full article]

Replacing faulty or missing cells with new insulin-making cells has been the object of diabetes research for the last decade. Past studies in tissue culture have suggested that one type of pancreas cell could be coaxed to transform into insulin-producing islet cells. Now, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have demonstrated that these pancreatic acinar cells do not become insulin-producing cells in an animal model. [click link for full article]

NicOx S.A. (Eurolist: COX) today announced that it has initiated the second pivotal phase 3 trial for naproxcinod in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee (the 302 study). The trial is expected to enroll approximately 1020 patients at around 120 clinical centers in the United States. The objective of the study is to confirm naproxcinod’s efficacy and provide additional blood pressure data, a key factor to differentiate naproxcinod from existing treatments. [click link for full article]

Scientists at Weill Cornell Medical College have identified a protein called Rab10 as an important partner in the insulin-mediated uptake of glucose by cells, opening the way to potential new drug targets for the prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes. Senior study author Dr. Timothy E. McGraw, professor of biochemistry at Weill Cornell Medical College, explains: “Glucose gets into muscle and fat cells assisted by a special transporter called GLUT4. [click link for full article]

New research has identified an association between mental disorders and nicotine dependence among pregnant women in the United States, not unlike what has been reported in the general population. The presence of these mental disorders in nicotine addicted pregnant women may make quitting smoking more difficult. Published in the April 2007 issue of [click link for full article]