Public health campaigns intended to reduce unhealthy behaviors like binge drinking and eating junk food often focus on the risks of those behaviorsb but a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research suggests a relatively simple but surprisingly effective strategy to improve consumer health based on common sense: like the risky behavior with an 'out' group.

Authors Jonah Berger from the University of Pennsylvania and Lindsay Rand from Stanford University found that linking a risky behavior with a group that the targeted audience doesn't want to be associated with caused participants to reduce unhealthy behaviors.

The studies began by identifying groups of people who study participants liked, but with whom the participants would not want to be confused — "outgroups." In the first study, the participants were undergraduates and the "outgroup" was graduate students. When participants were led to believe that graduate students consumed more junk food, they chose 28% fewer junk-food items than participants who thought their group ate more junk food.

Scientists at Aston University in Birmingham, UK are carrying out a unique study using the eyes to detect early signs of health problems which could lead to diabetes, and they’re looking for volunteers to help.

A team of scientists from Aston’s Ophthalmic Research Group (ORG) are looking for healthy 20-65 year olds to take part in a free health check - results of which could help in detecting risk for diabetes or early diabetic changes. The scientists are particularly interested in the differences in these factors between the South Asian community and Caucasian population in Birmingham.

Business veterans claim you cannot teach ‘experience’ but a group of European researchers say you can. They developed software that helps players acquire real-life skills and realistic experiences through game playing. But this game is no executive toy.

The interactive software, ChangeMasters, has caught the imagination of business colleges in the USA and elsewhere and it has prompted interest in corporate Europe as well.

The researchers believe it gives students real-world skills through ‘experience.’ “Experience is the best and simplest way to learn anything, that is why it is so valued in the business world,” explains Professor Albert Angehrn.

Fast food and coke instead of fruits and vegetables: the consequences can already be seen in children – more and more of them suffer from overweight and adiposity. But what are the reasons?

In what way are they connected, for example, with social status and body weight of the parents?

On the trail of overweight, the health scientist Prof. Dr. Günter Eissing, Technische Universität Dortmund, carefully examined 432 Dortmund children at the age of three, in cooperation with BKK Hoesch, Public Health Authority and the city’s statistical department. More precisely, he measured them.

Based on height and weight, Prof. Eissing calculated the Body Mass Index (BMI), compared it with birth certificate data and medical examination documents, and found out: after the first three years of their lives, 22 percent of the boys and eleven percent of the girls are overweight.

Medical care for athletes competing at the Beijing Olympics involves more than just basic emergency care during the events. Pre-treatment and a thorough understanding of sports trauma, physiology, cardiology and biochemistry are all a requisite to ensure that the world’s top athletes are able to compete, safely and at the highest levels.

A new journal, SMARTT (Sports Medicine, Arthroscopy, Rehabilitation, Therapy and Technology) has been established to facilitate the rapid transmission of knowledge amongst the multidisciplinary community who support the health of athletes. This peer reviewed open access journal will inspire clinicians, practitioners, scientists and engineers to work together towards a common goal of improving the quality of life and performance of the international community of athletes.

Together with colleagues from the Department of Dermatology and Allergy and the Center for Allergy and Environment (ZAUM) of the Technische Universität München, scientists at the Helmholtz Zentrum München have pinpointed a major gene for allergic diseases. The gene was localized using cutting edge technologies for examining the whole human genome at the Helmholtz Zentrum München.

The newly discovered FCER1A gene encodes the alpha chain of high affinity IgE receptor, which plays a major role in controlling allergic responses. The team of scientists led by Dr. Stephan Weidinger from the Technische Universität München and Dr. Thomas Illig from the Helmholtz Zentrum München found that certain variations of the FCER1A gene decisively influence the production of immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies. IgE antibodies are a particular type of antibody that is normally used to protect against parasites. In Western lifestyle countries with less contact, however, elevated IgE levels are associated with allergic disorders.