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Children with obesity should receive intensive counseling to promote healthy diet and exercise habits starting at age 6, according to a draft recommendation issued by a panel of U.S. experts on Wednesday. The government-backed U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) had recommended in 2017 that screening for obesity start at age 6. Research since then has shown the effectiveness of intensive behavioral interventions - defined as at least 26 hours of counseling with one or more health professionals - for achieving a healthy weight and improving the quality of life for children and adolescents, the panel said. The recommendation did not specify a timeframe. (Lapid, 12/12)

Things are not necessarily better for American women today than they were for their mothers and grandmothers, according to a new report. In recent years, the most important markers of women’s safety and health have declined, the data showed. The Population Reference Bureau created an index of women’s well-being, identifying the factors that best indicated the general status of poverty, education, incarceration, political representation, physical and mental health, and participation in the labor force. (Holcombe, 12/11)

Women who use marijuana during pregnancy may be putting their babies’ health at risk, with risk increasing as use goes up, a new study suggests.An analysis of data from more than 9,000 moms-to-be from across the U.S. revealed that cannabis exposure during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of unhealthy outcomes, especially low birth weight. Moreover, the more cannabis moms-to-be consumed, the higher the risk, according to the report, published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. (Carroll, 12/12)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Listen To The Latest '�鶹Ů�� Health News Minute' 

This week on the �鶹Ů�� Health News Minute: People seeking food and cash assistance are getting lost in the bureaucracy as states purge their Medicaid rolls, and a tip for how listeners can avoid pricey bills for routine bloodwork. (12/12)

A new state health report pinpoints racism as a public health crisis while also noting Illinois needs to improve in the areas of maternal and infant health, mental health and substance use disorders. The broad goals are laid out in a draft of the State Health Improvement Plan, which will be finalized and presented to the Illinois General Assembly next year. The SHIP is part of Healthy Illinois 2028, a five-year plan outlining the major public health crises the state hopes to address. (Raju, 12/13)

Overcrowding at Virginia’s public psychiatric hospitals is creating unsafe conditions for patients and workers, prompting a staff exodus and causing delays in care for those in crisis, according to a comprehensive study of the system. The 159-page report by a body that oversees state agencies for the General Assembly found breakdowns in many facets of the nine-hospital system and recommended closing a troubled facility for children despite a decade of changes aimed at bolstering how the state cares for some of its most vulnerable residents. (Jouvenal and Portnoy, 12/12)

Sonoma County is expanding its mobile mental health crisis response teams to be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and will create a dedicated hotline and dispatch center by the end of the year. ... "Up until now, the mobile support teams are accessed by the public through 911. And many times the public is not very excited, a lot of our clients at least, are not too excited to be calling the police when they're having a crisis" Jan Cobaleda-Kegler, director of the Sonoma County Behavioral Health Division, told the county's Board of Supervisors at its meeting Tuesday. (12/12)

A student’s quick action in making a report to Colorado’s anonymous Safe2Tell program stopped a suicide attempt in progress in a child’s home, state officials revealed Tuesday. A peer who saw another student’s social media post about wanting to kill themselves made a report to the school safety program, which resulted in police officers driving to the student’s home. They found the student “actively attempting suicide” and took the student to a hospital, according to information released by the state Attorney General’s Office, which oversees the Safe2Tell program. (Brown, 12/12)