Harvard Health Content API

From carnivals to birthday parties, kids love jumping around inside inflatable bouncers. But thousands of them are hurt every year, a new study shows. And the number of injuries is soaring. The study found that about 30 children a day now are being treated in emergency rooms for bouncer injuries. Researchers got their numbers from the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Bouncer injuries treated in hospitals increased from fewer than 1,000 in 1995 to nearly 11,000 in 2010. The numbers doubled just since 2008. Researchers said they were surprised by the rapid increase. Kids most often got hurt by falling inside the bouncer or tumbling out of it. Bumping into other kids also caused injuries. Broken bones, sprains and strains were the most common injuries. Some children had only bruises. But about 7% had concussions. Manufacturers have guidelines designed to promote safe use.

Nearly all adults and older teens should get tested for HIV at least once, a top group of experts says. The advice comes from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Doctors and insurance companies often follow this group’s advice on preventive care. The task force recommends that people ages 15 through 64 get the test as a routine part of a checkup. In the past, tests were recommended only for people at high risk of infection. But the new advice is based on growing evidence that treatment not only lengthens life but also greatly reduces the chance of spreading the virus to others. Experts estimate that 20% of those who are infected don’t know it and therefore are not getting treatment. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has backed widespread HIV testing for some time. But most doctors still don’t do the tests routinely.

U.S. diabetes rates are getting worse faster in some states than others, a study shows. The fastest growth was in Oklahoma. Diabetes rates there tripled in 15 years. Southern states also had big increases. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) did the study. It was based on phone surveys of adults done in 1995 and 2010. People were asked if a doctor had ever told them they had diabetes. Nationwide, about 8% said yes. Several states exceeded that nationwide average. Mississippi, which has the nation’s highest obesity rate, also had the top diabetes rate, almost 12% in 2010. Oklahoma’s rate jumped to 10% in 2010. In several Southern states, the rates doubled. They rose to more than 9% in Kentucky, 10% in Georgia and 11% in Alabama. The CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report published the study. The Associated Press wrote about it November 15.

Most teens are trying to build up or tone muscles, a new survey suggests. And some are doing this in potentially dangerous ways, the study finds. The study was based on a survey of about 2,800 middle and high school students from the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. More than 90% of boys and 80% of girls said they exercised more in order to build or tone muscles. About two-thirds of boys and nearly that many girls said they had changed their eating habits for the same reason. One-third of boys and one-fifth of girls had used protein powders or shakes. Some teens even used potentially dangerous supplements or drugs. About 5.9% of boys and 4.6% of girls said they had used steroids. About 10.5% of boys and 5.5% of girls had used creatine, amino acids, hydroxyl methylbutyrate (HMB), DHEA or growth hormones. The journal Pediatrics published the study.

U.S. adults get almost as many calories from alcohol as from sugar-sweetened drinks, a new government study has found. The study was based on interviews with more than 11,000 people. They were asked detailed questions about what they ate and drank in the last 24 hours. Sugar-sweetened drinks accounted for about 6% of calories and alcohol added about 5%. One-third of men and one-fifth of women had consumed some form of alcohol on the day in question. The average was about 150 calories a day — equal to a beer — for men. For women, the average was about 50 calories a day, roughly half a glass of wine. Men drank mostly beer. Women drank beer, wine and liquor, with no clear favorites. Younger adults drank more than older ones. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the study. The Associated Press wrote about it November 15.