Are Swedes having less sex? The government wants to know

STOCKHOLM — Worried that Swedes aren't having enough sex, the government wants to analyze the bedroom activities of its citizens in a major new study.

It's been 20 years since the last in-depth study of the sex habits of the Scandinavian welfare state, so Public Health Minister Gabriel Wikstrom says it's high time for another survey.

One of the goals of the investigation, set to be completed in 2019, is to find out whether there's any truth to Swedish tabloid reports that Swedes are having less sex than they used to.

"It's important to investigate whether that is the case and if so, what the reason is," he wrote Friday in an opinion piece in the Dagens Nyheter newspaper.


If stress and other health issues are affecting Swedes' sex lives, he said, "that is also a political problem."

Morgan Eklund, an official in Wikstrom's office, said the minister was referring primarily to a 2013 survey of 3,000 people by the Aftonbladet tabloid, which found that lovemaking is on the wane in Sweden, a country with a reputation of being sexually liberated.


Eklund said the survey was not scientific enough to be used as the basis of government policies "but it points in a direction that can be interesting to follow up."

In a separate article on the government's website, Wikstrom said the Social Democratic-led government needs better information about people's sex habits to guide its policies related to sexual and reproductive health.

"Sex is an area that strongly influences people's health, so we can't just talk about things like, for example, venereal disease, but also things that are positive and lust-filled about sex," Wikstrom said.

The study will be carried out by the Public Health Agency of Sweden.

source: philstar.com

Obama declares emergency over foul water in Michigan

WASHINGTON DC - US President Barack Obama declared a state of emergency in Michigan on Saturday, freeing up federal aid to help an area affected by contaminated water, the White House said.

Authorities in the state have been dealing with a major health crisis over lead-contaminated water that arose from cost-cutting measures implemented in the city of Flint, home to some 100,000 people.

Problems arose after state officials ignored months of health warnings about the foul-smelling water as residents complained that it was making them sick.

On Thursday, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder submitted a request to the president to call a state of emergency.

However it was just four years ago that the governor named a state-appointed manager to take control of Flint's troubled finances.

As part of cost-cutting, the city began drawing water from the Flint River in April 2014 rather than continuing to buy it from Detroit. That's when problems began.

Obama declared that "an emergency exists in the state of Michigan and ordered federal aid to supplement state and local response efforts," a White House statement read.

The move was "due to the emergency conditions in the area affected by contaminated water," it added.

Efforts to be implemented by the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) include providing water, water filters, water filter cartridges, and water test kits, among other supplies, for up to three months.

The state's environment department had allowed water to be taken from the Flint River, even though the city's treatment plant was not able to produce water that met state and federal standards, according to a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Residents soon began complaining that the foul, cloudy water was making them vomit, break out in rashes, and lose their hair.

DHS and FEMA will coordinate efforts to ameliorate "the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population," the White House said.

The move is meant "to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe," it added.

source: interaksyon.com

US to ban artificial trans fat in processed foods

WASHINGTON DC -- Artificial trans fat, which has been linked to an increased risk of coronary heart disease, will be banned in food supply by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The FDA announced its preliminary determination in a statement that partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs), the primary dietary source of artificial trans fat in processed foods, are not "generally recognized as safe" for use in food.

The agency said the preliminary determination is based on available scientific evidence and the findings of expert scientific panels.

FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said: "While consumption of potentially harmful artificial trans fat has declined over the last two decades in the United States, current intake remains a significant public health concern."

Hamburg added that the ban on use of trans fats in processed food could prevent an additional 20,000 heart attacks and 7,000 deaths from heart disease each year in the United States.

Consumption of trans fat raises low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or "bad" cholesterol, increasing the risk of coronary heart disease. The independent Institute of Medicine (IOM) has concluded that trans fat provides no known health benefit and that there is no safe level of consumption of artificial trans fat.

The IOM also recommends that consumption of trans fat should be as low as possible while consuming a nutritionally adequate diet.

In recent years, many food manufacturers and retailers in the U S have voluntarily decreased trans fat levels in many foods and products they sell.

However, trans fat can still be found in some processed foods, such as certain desserts, microwave popcorn products, frozen pizzas, margarine, and coffee creamers. Numerous retailers and manufacturers have already demonstrated that many of these products can be made without trans fat.

Since trans fat is required to be listed on the Nutrition Facts label of foods in 2006, trans fat intake among American consumers has declined from 4.6 grams per day in 2003 to about 1 gram per day in 2012, the FDA said.

The agency has opened a 60-day comment period on this preliminary determination to collect additional data and to gain input on the time potentially needed for food manufacturers to reformulate products that currently contain artificial trans fat should this determination be finalized.

Following a review of the submitted comments, if the FDA finalizes its preliminary determination, PHOs would be considered "food additives" and could not be used in food unless authorized by regulation, the agency said.

The FDA said its preliminary determination is only with regard to PHOs and does not affect trans fat that naturally occurs in small amounts in certain meat and dairy products.

source: interaksyon.com