European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 24, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday March 242007 stars and stripes paoc45 americans still shunning fruits and veggies an Orange or Apple a Day helps keep the doctor away the Washington Post imagine a medical breakthrough that simultaneously helps prevent cancer heart disease diabetes and obesity is cheaper than almost any Medica Tion currently on the Market can be taken orally in Stead of by injection and is even widely acclaimed As tasting Good that breakthrough exists in the form of fruits id vegetables but new research indicates that americans Are them just As much As they have for de Cades despite growing publicity about their health benefits Federal dietary guidelines recommend at least two Servings of fruits and three Servings of vegetables every Day to see whether that message is affecting behaviour researchers at the Johns hop Kins medical institutions in Baltimore reviewed dietary data obtained from almost 25000 individuals most of the data stretched Back to 1988 and much of it extended to As recently As 2002 their analysis found that 28 percent of Ameri cans met the minimum consumption guidelines for fruit and 32 percent attained the minimum for vegetable intake fruit consumption rates were Flat Over the 20year period while vegetable consumption declined slightly of those surveyed 62 percent said they do not eat any fruit on a typical Day and 25 percent said they do not eat vegetables All told 11 percent ate the recommended number of Servings of fruits and vegetables Tiffany Gary and colleagues found Given that two thirds of americans Are Over weight or obese the findings should alarm Public health officials and professionals the team re ports in the april Issue of the american journal of preventive Medicine released monday got a question ask my ust we with us my j a Crew iia this Sti ouse club about Wolf i t v v1 v v v u lyi1 i child i a spouse Send your questions to Ssu ifs debuts april 1 with your weekly Spene stars Chuck University of British Columbia psychology student Sarah Mcgiven is wired for a study on mind wandering Lack of attention getting attention by Malcolm Ritter the associated press new York researchers Are studying a pervasive psycho logical phenomenon in which an individuals mind wanders mainstream psychology has not paid much attention to this common mental habit but a spate of new studies is Chipping away at its mysteries and scientists say the topic is beginning to gain visibility someday such research May turn up ways to help students keep their focus on textbooks and lectures and Drivers to keep their minds on the Road it May reveal ways to reap payoffs from the habit and it might shed Light on Atten Tion deficit hyperactivity disorder which can include an unusually severe inability to focus that causes trouble in multiple areas of life More generally scientists say min wandering is Worth study ing because it is just too common to ignore Michael Kane a psychologist at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro sampled the thoughts of students at eight ran Dom times a Day for a week he found that on average they were not thinking about what they were doing 30 percent of the time for some of the 126 participants it was Between 80 and 90 percent of the time if you want to understand peo Ples mental lives this is a phenomenon we ought to be thinking about Kane said of course a lot of min wander ing is harmless As when you think about a work problem while munching a cheeseburger the problem comes when it distracts you from something you should be paving attention to one goal of the research is find ing ways to help people realize when their mind is wandering and bring it under control school or said he plans to test whether meditation training might help but theres even a More Basic question he said Why is the brain wired to wander what could possibly be Good about that min wandering is probably More often helpful than harmful Kane said for one thing the Cost is Low despite notable exceptions life usually Doest demand our full attention a lot of human daily life is autopilot he said