WEDNESDAY TOP NEWS LINKS:

Men’s Health magazine has consistently ranked Houston among the fattest cities in the USA, including four times at #1.

As one of the nation’s consistently ranked “fattest cities,” Houston just got a new diagnosis.

Andrew Pollack, New York Times
The American Medical Association has officially recognized obesity as a disease, a move that could induce physicians to pay more attention to the condition and spur more insurers to pay for treatments.

In making the decision, delegates at the association’s annual meeting in Chicago overrode a recommendation against doing so by a committee that had studied the matter.

“Recognizing obesity as a disease will help change the way the medical community tackles this complex issue that affects approximately one in three Americans,” Dr. Patrice Harris, a member of the association’s board, said in a statement. She suggested the new definition would help in the fight against Type 2 diabetes and heart disease, which are linked to obesity.

Nonprofit seeks to improve the shape of Houston’s future.

To some extent, the question of whether obesity is a disease or not is a semantic one, since there is not even a universally agreed upon definition of what constitutes a disease. And the A.M.A.’s decision has no legal authority.

Still, some doctors and obesity advocates said that having the nation’s largest physician group make the declaration would focus more attention on obesity. And it could help improve reimbursement for obesity drugs, surgery and counseling.
(Read the full story at the New York Times)

RELATED STORIES:
• AMA Backs Disease Classification For Obesity (Forbes)
• Medical group recognizes obesity as a disease (USA Today)

LOCAL AREA HEADLINES:

• How The Houston School District Plans To Cover A $24 Million Deficit With 2-Cent Tax Hike (KUHF Public Radio)
• How Students Follow In Astronauts’ Footsteps … Literally (KUHF Public Radio)
• Houston group protests gun control outside Jackson Lee’s office (Chron.com)
• New splash pad opens in Houston’s Fifth Ward (KIAH 39 Newsfix)
• Pasadena woman attacked by Africanized honey bees (KPRC 2 News)
• A marine’s 200 mile ride, The hard way (KRIV 26 News)
• Do You Need Help Evacuating Before A Hurricane? Galveston Wants To Know (KUHF Public Radio)
• JETT tourniquet helps save first civilian (Chron.com)
• A&M prof’s plan to study human cancer using pets goes national (Chron.com)

STATE HEADLINES:

• How to Put a Wind Turbine in the Texas Gulf (State Impact Texas)
• TWIA Board Agrees to Steps to Address Financial Woes (Texas Tribune)
• Southeast Texas jail was ‘rape camp,’ inmate lawsuit alleges (Chron.com)
• Price to pollute hits record high (Houston Chronicle)

NATION & WORLD:

• House Passes Bill That Would Ban Abortions After 20 Weeks (NPR)
• Arizona Legislature passes Medicaid expansion (Chron.com)
• Smartphones Help Bridge Gaps In Electronic Medical Records (NPR)
• Immigration Law Changes Seen Cutting Billions From Deficit (New York Times)

While the NFL is under pressure to curb concussions, the impact and concern over this issue is resonating through the rest of the sport at the college, high school, an lower levels. Area coaches, organized by USA Football and the Methodist Concussion Center, are being trained in how to get their players to be head-smart on the field.
(Video: KIAH 39 Newsfix)

Resource Link: “Heads-Up on Concussions”

It’s not a big slip, but Houston’s ranking as the #1 most charitable city fell in 2012-13 to San Diego, according to the latest national annual survey of America’s by Charity Navigator

The report compiled yearly by the nonprofit watchdog website, is the only comprehensive report on the performance – both Financial Health and Accountability & Transparency – of the 30 largest philanthropic marketplaces in America. And although Houston lost its standing at the top overal, it still shows us with some of the nation’s fastest growing charities.

In its study, Charity Navigator compared the median performance and size of the largest nonprofits in the 30 largest metropolitan markets   These markets account for 52% of the more than 6,300 charities evaluated by Charity Navigator and they generate 67% of the total revenue and 67% total spending.  The study revealed that regional factors, such as the cost of living, a market’s maturity and a city’s tendency to support one or two specialized causes, greatly influence the ability of the charities in each city to raise money, manage costs as well as their adherence to good governance policies and procedures. Here is an overview of the Houston picture compared to national averages.

Read more on the 2013 Market Survey at Charity Navigator.