Public Health News Roundup: February 9

HHS Launches Strong Start initiative to Reduce Preterm Births
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced more than $40 million in grants to help reduce the number of preterm babies born in the U.S., as well as a public campaign to reduce early elective deliveries.

More than half a million infants are born prematurely in America each year, a trend that has grown by 36 percent over the last 20 years. According to HHS, children born preterm require additional medical attention and often require early intervention services, special education and have conditions that may affect their productivity as adults. Read more on maternal and infant health.

U.S. Trans Fat Consumption Declines in White Adults
Blood levels of trans-fatty acids (TFAs) in white adults in the U.S. decreased by 58 percent from 2000 to 2009, according to a Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

CDC researchers selected participants from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in years 2000 and 2009 to examine trans-fatty acid blood levels before and after a Food and Drug Administration regulation, which took effect in 2006, requiring manufacturers of food and some dietary supplements to list the amount of TFAs on the Nutrition Facts panel of the product label. Also during this period, some local and state health departments required restaurants to limit their use of TFAs in food and increase public awareness campaigns about the health risks associated with TFAs. Additional CDC studies are under way to examine blood TFAs in other adult race and ethnic groups, children and adolescents. Read more nutrition news.

Cadmium, Lead Linked to Delayed Pregnancy
Higher blood levels of cadmium in females, and higher blood levels of lead in males, delayed pregnancy in couples trying to become pregnant, according to a study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health and other research institutions and published in the journal Chemosphere.

Cigarette smoke is the most common source of exposure to cadmium. Common sources of lead exposure in the United States include lead-based paint in older homes, lead-glazed pottery, contaminated soil, and contaminated drinking water. Read more on the public health effects of tobacco.