PUBLIC HEALTH

A Ban on Trans Fat

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently signed a measure (AB 97) making the Golden State the first to ban the use of trans fats in restaurants and bakeries. Trans fats are oils that have been "partially hydrogenated," or oils with added hydrogen atoms, making them more saturated. The resulting product prolongs the shelf life and appearance of packaged goods and helps make food cooked in fast-food restaurants crisp and flavorful, according to the New York Times. However, studies have shown that trans fats can lower levels of "good" cholesterol and increase "bad" cholesterol, thereby increasing the risk for coronary heart disease. The law prohibits the use of trans fats in oil, shortenings and margarine by California restaurants effective Jan. 1, 2010. Beginning Jan. 1, 2011, California bakeries must stop using trans fats; bakeries were given an extra year because pastries are difficult to make without trans fats. Local health inspectors will enforce the ban. Fines would start at $25 and increase to as much as $1,000 per violation. The law does not apply to packaged foods. The movement to ban trans fats from foods is being led by scientists, physicians and consumer advocates, according to the Times. New York City and Philadelphia also ban trans fats.

…and a Fast Food Moratorium

The Los Angeles City Council recently voted to approve a year-long moratorium on new fast-food restaurants in the South Central district of the city, where public health officials say such eateries goes hand-in-hand with obesity. "Our communities have an extreme shortage of quality foods," City Councilman Bernard Parks told the Los Angeles Times. The moratorium aims to give the city time to try to attract restaurants that serve healthier food and grocery retailers into the area. Critics of the moratorium, which could be extended to up to two years, say the effort is misguided. Fast food "is the only industry that wants to be in South L.A.," California Restaurant Association spokesman Andrew Casana told the Times. "Sit-down restaurants don't want to go in. If they did, they'd be there." But public health officials argue that the situation has reached critical proportions. A report by the Community Health Council found 73 percent of South L.A. restaurants were fast food, compared to 42 percent in West Los Angeles. The result: according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, 30 percent of adults in South L.A. are obese, compared to 19.1 percent for the metropolitan area and 14.1 percent for the affluent westside. Minorities are particularly affected: 28.7 percent of Latinos and 27.7 percent of blacks are obese, compared to 16.6 percent of whites.

New School Requirements

A new Iowa law (House File 158) requires students in elementary and high school to have a dental screening prior to enrolling. Parents or guardians of elementary school children will be required to provide evidence of a dental screening (done no earlier than age three and no later than age six) by a dentist, dental hygienist, physician, nurse or physician's assistant. High school students will be required to provide evidence of a screening by a dentist or dental hygienist. The new statute went into effect July 1, 2008. The law also requires that children have blood lead tests before the age of six in order to enroll in school. The requirement applies to children enrolled in public and private schools, as well as to those who are home-schooled.

WORKFORCE

Taking it National

A comprehensive national health-care workforce planning initiative is what the doctor ordered, according to a new report released in July by the Association of Academic Health Centers. Out of Order, Out of Time: The State of the Nation’s Health Workforce asserts that the United States is overdue for a solution to the current severely flawed health workforce system. The report calls for creation of a national workforce planning body that would include all interested stakeholders, including states. But the authors stop short of prescribing the form that planning process should take. Some states have taken steps to try to make workforce planning more rational. For example, Minnesota, Virginia and other states have established independent review committees that examine proposed scope of practice changes and make recommendations to lawmakers. However, the report contends that such problems are too big for states to tackle individually. Turf battles between professions, varying licensure requirements between states and other issues are best evaluated and decided on a national level, the association says.