Almost one-third of teens have changed their health habits after looking up information on the Internet, study suggests

A decade-long study by researchers at Northwestern University about how teenagers use the Internet for health information found that almost one-third of adolescents report changing health habits after looking for information online, Lena H. Sun writes for the Washington Post.

The study also found that almost 25 percent of teens check the Internet to find information about health conditions their family and friends have. "While most teens rely on digital resources to learn more about puberty, drugs, sex and depression, among other issues, a surprising 88 percent said they did not feel comfortable sharing their health concerns with friends on Facebook or on other social networking sites," Sun writes.

"I mainly find it kind of moving because it really illustrates that a lot of teens are grappling with very real, very important health challenges and that the Internet is empowering them with the information they need to take better care of themselves," said Vicky Rideout, a co-author of the study.

Although the study found that parents are still the leading source of health information—55 percent of teens reported learning "a lot" of health information from parents—and health classes in school, doctors and nurses came in second and third, the Internet is the fourth-largest source of health information. "Eighty-four percent of teens said they turned to the Internet for health information," Sun reports.

Teens are still asking their parents health questions, and only 13 percent of those surveyed said they consult the Internet because they couldn't talk to their parents. "The Internet is not replacing parents, teachers and doctors; it is supplementing them," the researchers wrote.

Participants in the study were 1,156 American teenagers between 13 and 18 years old. "We need to make sure there is good information for teens online," Rideout said. Teenagers need to learn digital literacy skills and acquire the ability to tell the difference between advertising and content. (Read more)

Mount Sterling follows lead of another KentuckyOne Health hospital, in Bardstown, to host monthly 'Walk With a Doc'

Saint Joseph Mount Sterling is the second KentuckyOne Health hospital to host monthly "Walk With a Doc" events as part of a nationwide program that promotes walking as a great way to improve your health, while at the same time offering a place to get to know your local physicians in an informal setting as you walk together. The program also offers a complimentary health screenings at the event, says a news release from KentuckyOne Health.

Flaget Memorial Hospital in Bardstown, also part of KentuckyOne Health, began its "Walk With a Doc" program in March.

"According to America Walks, brisk walking has been shown to reduce body fat, lower blood pressure, increase high-density lipoprotein and even reduce risks of bone fracture. Not only that, it is also associated with lower mortality rates from cardiovascular disease and cancer," says the release.

The Mount Sterling walks begin at 9 a.m. on Saturday, April 25 at Easy Walker Park, located at 1395 Osborne Rd. For more information call 859-497-5556.

Bardstown hospital sponsors monthly 'Walk With a Doc'

Here's an interesting idea to promote physical activity and maybe even health literacy: take a walk with your doctor.

Flaget Memorial Hospital in Bardstown hosts monthly "Walk With a Doc" events as part of a nationwide program. Participants can also receive complementary health screenings at the event, says a news release from KentuckyOne Health, which owns Flaget.

"According to America Walks, brisk walking has been shown to reduce body fat, lower blood pressure, increase high-density lipoprotein, and even reduce risks of bone fracture," the release says. "Not only that, it is also associated with lower mortality rates from cardiovascular disease and cancer."

The walks begin at 10 a.m. on the second Saturday of each month, so the next one is March 14. The walks begin at the Court Square in the middle of Bardstown. For more information, call 502-350-5040.

Almost as many Kentuckians support health reform as oppose it, but half say they don't know how it may affect them

By Al Cross and Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News

The federal health-reform law is gaining support from Kentuckians, to the point that they are almost evenly divided about it.

Those are among the results of the latest Kentucky Health Issues Poll, conducted for the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky among a random sample of almost 1,600 Kentucky adults Oct. 8 through Nov. 6, the final month of an election season in which the law was an issue.

After two years in which opinion of the law was clearly unfavorable, the poll found that 39 percent view it favorably while 41 percent view it unfavorably. That is well within the poll's error margin of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points, which applies to both numbers.

The findings are similar to a national survey taken at about the same time. The October 2014 Kaiser Health Tracking Poll found that 36 percent of U.S. adults had favorable views of the law; 43 percent were unfavorable, and 20 percent did not know or offered no opinion.

In the Kentucky poll, about as many people reported a negative impact from the law (21 percent) as a positive impact (18 percent). The positive-impact number rose form 7 percent in the 2013 poll, which was taken just after enrollment for expanded Medicaid and subsidized health insurance had opened.

Notably, 51 percent of those polled said they didn't have enough information to know how the law would affect them personally. That was down from 57 percent a year earlier.

Most of those who reported not having enough information, 64 percent, had not graduated from high school. Almost half of Kentuckians (47 percent) said they understood how the law would impact them personally. Sixty-six percent said the law had no effect on them.

“KHIP data trends show overall support for the ACA has risen since 2013 as more Kentuckians have gotten information about the law," Susan Zepeda, President and CEO of the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky, said in a press release. "More work is needed to educate people about the law’s provisions and potential impacts on families.”

The poll was also conducted for Interact for Health, formerly the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati, by the Institute for Policy Research at the University of Cincinnati. It used landline and cell phones.

Opinions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, often called Obamacare, are still driven partly by politics. The survey found that 58 percent of Democrats had favorable views of the law and 64 of Republicans had unfavorable views. Among independents, 42 percent had unfavorable views and 31 percent were favorable.