Princess Health andCrittenden County Elementary School is latest school in area to restrict nuts to protect the health of those with nut allergies.Princessiccia

Princess Health andCrittenden County Elementary School is latest school in area to restrict nuts to protect the health of those with nut allergies.Princessiccia

allergies education food allergies nutrition school health school lunch schools

Gusty 12:44 Add Comment

This story has been updated to include information about other Western Kentucky schools with nut restrictions.

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are a lunchbox staple for many American children, but they can also pose a serious health risk to those with peanut and tree-nut allergies, especially in the young. The risk has prompted the Crittenden County school district to become the latest in the area to restrict the use of nuts at the Crittenden County Elementary School in Marion.

"Peanut and tree nut allergies plague an estimated 19 million Americans and the number of children with peanut allergies in the U.S. has nearly doubled in just over a decade," The Crittenden Press noted.

After researching the issue and how other schools have dealt with it, the school's parent-teacher council and wellness committee created a policy that restricts but doesn't ban nuts, the Press reports.

The policy asks everyone to be aware that nut products are dangerous to some of the students and asks them to not send those products to school, Principal Melissa Tabor told the Press. She said at least five students have proven nut allergies.

Several other Western Kentucky schools have peanut restrictions,Genevieve Postlethwait reports for The Paducah Sun, including Carlisle County and Fulton County schools, with Paducah and Hickman County schools having restricted peanuts for varying periods of time in the past. (Story is behind a pay wall.)

"We do it on a case-by-case, year-by-year basis," Penny Holt,the district's nutrition director, told Postlethwait of Paducah schools' approach to restricting peanuts and other allergens. "If a child has an allergy that is that serious, we're not going to risk it," she said, noting that they are seeing an increase in all kinds of food allergies.

Another school, Heath Elementary, has a child with an airborne peanut allergy so the school does not serve any peanut products or cook with any peanut products, Sara Jane Hedges, food services director for McCracken County schools. told Postlethwait. Students are still allowed to bring peanut butter products, but " "It's just taken care of very carefully," Hedges said.

Crittenden County Elementary school's policy does not require school personnel to check backpacks or lunchboxes for nut-containing products, but if they see children have one of these products, they ask them to sit at a designated table for that day, where they can ask a friend to join them.

The school sent home a list of nut-free snacks, including safe name brands that do not contain peanut oil, to help parents re-think what to pack in their child's lunch or to send for school snacks or for school parties.

So far, the principal said, parents have been receptive to the policy, and one parent told her that they had successfully switched to a soy butter that tastes like peanut butter because their child wants peanut-butter sandwiches for lunch.

The policy states that those with severe allergies to peanuts or nut products may be at great risk of anaphylactic shock, "an allergic reaction causing swelling, difficulty breathing, itching, unconsciousness, circulatory collapse and sometimes death," if they ingest or are exposed to these products.

"Because of the possibility of cross-contamination, a campus-wide, comprehensive avoidance of foods containing nuts was deemed to be the best solution to reduce the health risks to students with allergens," Tabor told the Press.

Crittenden County School Supt. Vince Clark told the weekly newspaper that he supports the school's policy, despite the argument that it creates a burden to parents of students who love peanut butter.

�There are valid points on each side of the issue,� he told the Press. �Ultimately, we have to support efforts to offer a safer learning environment for the children.� (Read more)

Princess Health andHeart attacks are leading cause of death while on the job in Kentucky; being struck by objects is No. 2, and falling is No. 3.Princessiccia

Princess Health andHeart attacks are leading cause of death while on the job in Kentucky; being struck by objects is No. 2, and falling is No. 3.Princessiccia

accidents cardiovascular disease heart health safety workplace health

Gusty 15:03 Add Comment

Heart attacks are the number one killer of Kentuckians who die on the job, according to a study conducted by the state Labor Cabinet.

The study found that in the last three years, 87 Kentuckians had fatal heart attacks while on the job. Their average age was 52. Ten of them were truck drivers, seven were machine operators and six were maintenance workers.

The study found that 28 of the victims were struck by an object, 19 fell, 17 had transportation crashes, 13 were being caught in or between objects, seven were electrocuted, and one each suffered hyperthermia or suffocation. Eight deaths in the workplace were from natural causes, such as stroke, brain aneurysm and failure of the pancreas.

Kentucky ranks 48th in the nation in cardiovascular deaths, with more than 12,000 per year, a state press release said. �Employers should do everything they can to raise awareness about cardiovascular health, and everyone needs to keep an eye on their blood pressure and cholesterol levels while paying close attention to diet and exercise,� Labor Secretary Larry Roberts said.

The study includes workplaces under the jurisdiction of the Kentucky Occupational Safety and Health Program, and do not include those monitored under federal agencies, such as the Mine Safety and Health Administration or the Federal Railroad Administration.

Princess Health andEvent at UK library features discussion of Kentucky food traditions, how they are changing and how to capitalize on them.Princessiccia

Princess Health andEvent at UK library features discussion of Kentucky food traditions, how they are changing and how to capitalize on them.Princessiccia

food food industry healthy food local food vegetables

Gusty 13:26 Add Comment

Story and photo by Melissa Landon
Kentucky Health News

Local food experts gathered at the University of Kentucky April 9 to discuss how Kentucky food tradition is changing and how to develop local food culture through businesses and other means.

"From Plows to Plates: A Journey Through Kentucky Foodways" was an event sponsored by the UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center. It included a panel discussion, book signings by local food authors and food samples. Panelists included anthropology professor John van Willigen, author of Kentucky's Cookbook Heritage: 200 Years of Southern Cuisine and Culture; Ouita Michel of Midway, chef and proprietor of several restaurants; Tiffany Thompson, horticulturist and manager of the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment's Community Supported Agriculture program; and Kristy Yowell, marketing manager of the Good Foods Co-Op in Lexington.

"I want to elevate Kentucky food culture way above restaurants," Michel said. "Restaurants are not food culture." She said Kentucky is known for its chain restaurants, such as Kentucky Fried Chicken, but she wants to focus on helping young chefs and small businesses succeed.

Emma Yetter talks about vegetables via community supported agriculture.

Yowell said, "We want to make affordable, healthy food for everyone. That shouldn't be a privilege."

Thompson said Kentucky's history has had a lot to do with tobacco, which is becoming less prominent. He said community supported agriculture, in which local residents agree to buy produce in advance, has much potential. "What can Kentucky agriculture do to positively influence health? Make more vegetables! CSA is growing, and I'm really excited about it."

The college's CSA Vegetable Program allows people to sign up to receive weekly seasonal vegetables throughout the spring, summer and fall. It costs $19 per week for the smallest "share" of vegetables, which is enough for a single person or a couple, said Emma Yetter, who works events and does deliveries for the program.

Associate Dean of Libraries Deirdre A. Scaggs, author of The Historic Kentucky Kitchen, said at the event that her inspiration for the book came from working in the Special Collections Research Center. She found old recipes, many of which were hand-written, and decided to try them out. She collected over 100 recipes, tested them and modified some of the instructions so a modern audience could understand them.

Princess Health andMost Kentuckians don't think insurance rates should be higher for the obese, but are divided on increasing smokers' rates.Princessiccia

Princess Health andMost Kentuckians don't think insurance rates should be higher for the obese, but are divided on increasing smokers' rates.Princessiccia

Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky health insurance obesity poll smoking tobacco

Gusty 10:51 Add Comment

By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News

By a very small margin, Kentuckians think insurance rates should be higher for smokers if the insurance company provides a free smoking cessation program, but most don't think rates should be higher for those who are overweight, says the latest Kentucky Health Issues Poll.

The poll, taken Oct. 8 to Nov. 6, found that 50 percent of Kentucky adults said it would be justified to set higher insurance rates for people who smoke, while 45 percent said it wouldn't be justified. Five percent were undecided. This finding was basically the same whether the person had insurance or not.

The poll's margin of error was plus or minus 2.5 percentage points, which applies to each number, so the results were right on the error margin. That means in 19 of 20 cases, the results would be the same if the entire adult population of Kentucky were asked the question.

The poll found that most Kentuckians who have never smoked (63 percent) said insurance companies should not set higher insurance rates for people who smoke. Former smokers, at 51 percent, were less likely to agree with that opinion.

With about 27 percent of Kentuckians smoking, Kentucky leads the nation in smoking percentage, lung cancer and lung cancer deaths, which collectively come with a price tag.

Smoking cost the state $1.92 billion a year for health-care expenditures directly as a result of tobacco use, which amounts to $988 million a year in total taxpayer cost from smoking-related expenses, or $591 per household, Wayne Meriweather, chief executive officer of Twin Lakes Regional Medical Center in Leitchfield, representing the Kentucky Hospital Association, told legislators in December.

The poll also found that the majority of Kentucky adults, 67 percent, think it is unjustified to set higher insurance rates for people who are significantly overweight. Opposition was higher, 77 percent, among those who reported being in fair or poor health; among those who said they were in excellent or very good health, only 58 percent were opposed.

Kentucky ranks fifth in the nation for adult obesity, with one in three Kentuckians considered obese, according the "States of Obesity" report. This also comes with a price tag.

A study in the American Journal of Health Promotion found that a morbidly obese employee costs his or her employer approximately $4,000 more in health care and related costs every year than an employee of normal weight.

The poll was sponsored by the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky and Interact for Health, formerly the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati, and was conducted by the Institute for Policy Research at the University of Cincinnati. It surveyed a random sample of 1,597 adults via land lines and cell phones.

Princess Health andTennessee churches encourage healthier living.Princessiccia

Princess Health andTennessee churches encourage healthier living.Princessiccia

churches politics public health religion rural health walking

Gusty 19:28 Add Comment

Sulphur Wells Church of Christ in Henry County, Tennessee, a few miles away from Paris, Ky., is challenging people to eat and think healthier, Amber Hall reports for Public Radio International.

Bob Palmer, lead pastor at the church, said, "We do draw some hard lines on alcohol and tobacco use and tattoos�we think, 'Oh, you're not taking care of the our temple that God has given you.'" He said the church hasn't looked at the issue holistically. "We've just kind of picked out the things we weren't going to do anyway, and we feel self-righteous about that�that we don't do them."

Then Palmer saw the County Health Rankings, a project by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that measures health risks, Hall writes. He said that "when we confirm someone's spiritual health and give them a thumbs up and an A-OK, that's often the end of the rehabilitation process." However, he said if he were outside the church and had only the health indicator numbers to look at, "it might make me run in the opposite direction."

In Tennessee, the Governor's Foundation for Health and Wellness is helping groups such as churches improve health in evangelical hubs through the "Healthier Tennessee" initiative, which is a "wellness program and an online wellness tool that provides faith leaders with tips, ideas and actions to get their members healthier," Molly Sudderth, the director of communications at the foundation, said.

One of the suggestions is called Walk and Worship. "You can walk and pray for those you feel need extra prayers or are going through difficulties . . ." said Barabara Kelly, a public-health educator.

About 150 churches statewide are participating in Healthier Tennessee's "Small Starts" program, but none of the churches in Henry County have joined yet. Palmer said "there could be some stigma tied to healthy living in this largely conservative area," Hall writes.

"Right-wing religious folk have kinda viewed that as 'liberal' thinking," Palmer told him. "But that hasn't been correct, I don't think. At all. Just read through early Genesis, and the very first commission that God gives anyone is to essentially take care of this created world. We don't talk about that very often for some reason�to our detriment, and these numbers reflect that." (Read more)

Princess Health andBaby is born on Interstate 65 in Louisville during traffic blockage for President Obama's motorcade; father, nurse tell story.Princessiccia

Princess Health andBaby is born on Interstate 65 in Louisville during traffic blockage for President Obama's motorcade; father, nurse tell story.Princessiccia

babies emergency medical service

Gusty 13:29 Add Comment

Nurse and EMT worker and baby
Photo from Floyd Memorial
Hospital Facebook page

A baby boy was born along Interstate 65 April 2 in Louisville because the road was closed for President Barack Obama's motorcade and they couldn't get to the hospital.

Because he stayed in Washington to announce the nuclear deal with Iran, Obama was three hours late, putting him in Louisville right at the beginning of rush hour and causing a traffic nightmare.

MetroSafe told WAVE-TV it received a call at 5:25 p.m. saying a woman was in labor on I-65. And just before 6 p.m., the baby, an 8-pound, 9-ounce boy, Arley Keith Satterly, son of Jessica Brown and Zakk Satterley was born, WHAS reports. �We couldn't get nowhere, so I called 911,� Satterly said.

After Brown and Satterly realized that the baby was coming and they were in "traffic gridlock," Satterly began to ask the cars around them for help, Shalanna Taylor reports for WLKY-TV. �I started asking people in different cars if they knew anything about having a baby,� Satterly said.

One of them was a nurse, Tonia Vetter, Gill Corsey reports for WDRB-TV. "I told the dad, I said, 'I'm a high-risk nursery nurse at Floyd Memorial'," the hospital in New Albany, Ind., Vetter said. "It actually happened very, very quickly. ... I think she pushed one time and the head delivered, and then she pushed again and the baby was born." Other drivers provided a shoestring for the umbilical cord and a blanket to keep the baby warm, Corsey reports.

"I've attended a lot of deliveries, but I've never delivered a baby on my own, and I've certainly never delivered one in the middle of an interstate," Vetter said. "God was definitely watching over me, the baby, the mom, because she could have hemorrhaged. The baby could of had a cord or a shoulder or any number of complications could've happened."

An ambulance took Brown and Arley to the University of Louisville Hospital, where a spokesperson said the mom and baby were doing just fine and were in good condition.

Princess Health andLiving in a community with high income inequality is bad for your health, study says, and much of Ky. is high in inequality.Princessiccia

Princess Health andLiving in a community with high income inequality is bad for your health, study says, and much of Ky. is high in inequality.Princessiccia

Gusty 07:38 Add Comment

A study by researchers at the University of Wisconsin for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation found that not only factors such as smoking and crime rate but also income inequality influenced lifespan, Margot Sanger-Katz writes for The New York Times.

This close-up of a New York Times graphic shows income inequality in Kentucky,
Tennessee and parts of surrounding states. Lighter areas have less inequality,
and darker areas have more inequality.

"It's not just the level of income in a community that matters�it's also how income is distributed," said Bridget Catlin, the co-director of the County Health Rankings and Roadmap project. "The effect of inequality was statistically significant, equivalent to a difference of about 11 days of life between high- and low-inequality places," Sanger-Katz reports. "The differences were small, but for every increment that a community became more unequal, the proportion of residents dying before the age of 75 went up."

Other research shows that income inequality affects life expectancies of citizens in countries around the world. Why exactly this happens is debatable. One idea is that though money buys better health, "It makes a bigger difference for people low on the income scale than those at the top," Sanger-Katz writes. That means a having very few poor individuals in an area will improve average health more than having very few rich individuals will reduce it.

Another theory is that areas where wealthy individuals can "buy their way out of social services may have less cohesion and investment in things like education and public health that we know affect life span," Sanger-Katz writes. Also, some research indicates that living around richer people is stressful, causing mental health problems or cardiac disease.

To measure inequality, the researchers compared incomes of individuals living in a certain area who earned the 80th percentile with the incomes of those who earned the 20th percentile. They recorded all those who died before age 75 and the age at which they died, calculating "potential life years lost." A person who died at 70 would have lost five years of potential life.

"For every one-point increase in the ratio between high and low earners in a county, there were about five years lost for every 1,000 people," Sanger-Katz writes. "That's about the same difference they observed when a community's smoking rate increased by 4 percent or its obesity rate rose by 3 percent."

Through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Americans at the lower end of the income spectrum are receiving health insurance, at least in states like Kentucky that have expanded Medicaid eligibility, and researchers will track whether those provisions will reduce the effects of inequality in the coming years. (Read more)