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Healthy Foods for the Holiday Season

by TRENT ROWE, food editor Here’s to Uncle Harry. He’s your mom’s roly-poly brother who always plays Santa because he doesn’t need a pillow for padding. When it comes to dinner his favorite phrase isn’t, “ho ho ho”, but “Please pass the gravy.” It’s too bad too, because Uncle Harry is a really nice guy.…
Polk County Initiative Seeking to Instill Healthy Habits in Schools

by CHERYL ROGERS The Building a Healthier Polk School Health Team is teaching kindergarten through 12th grade students how to live healthier by making wise food choices and staying active. In an age of video games and fast foods, it’s easy to slip into bad health habits at an early age. But during…
Facts and Statistics About Arthritis

by ERIKA ALDRICH Florida may not be locked into a deep freeze during the winter months like the majority of the other U.S. states, but The Sunshine State can still experience cold temperatures during the winter months. Those periodic days of cold and freezing weather can spell pain and agony for those suffering from arthritis.…

Medical Advice: Your flu prevention to-do list

AS YOU GATHER your “to-do” lists and prepare for the holiday season ahead, the Florida Department of Health in Polk County recommends you add one more important step — get a flu shot! The flu shot is the best way to protect our families and communities against the spread of influenza. When you make it…
Family Health: Flu shots for seniors

HE FLU is nothing to sneeze at. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 200,000 people will be hospitalized this year with the influenza virus, and it has been estimated that 50 to 70 percent of those hospitalized are people age 65 and older.
Word of Mouth: Your dentist is key to early cancer detection

IT SEEMS LIKE you hear about many different kinds of cancers these days, but one that isn’t being talked about enough is oral cancer. Cancer in the mouth and throat are diagnosed in nearly 50,000 Americans a year, and statistics show that only 57 percent of those diagnosed still will be living in five years.