Health – Happiness – Page 155

Was Sweden right about Covid all along?

The Telegraph

Was Sweden right about Covid all along?

Fraser Nelson – March 10, 2023

This article was originally published on 23 February 2022.

While Britain locked down like the rest of the world, Sweden became the defiant outlier

To understand Sweden, you need to understand a word that’s hard to explain, let alone translate: lagom. It means, in effect, “perfect-simple”: not too much, not too little. People who are lagom don’t stand out or make a fuss: they blend right in – and this is seen as a virtue.

Essays are written about why lagom sums up a certain Swedish mindset – that it’s bad to stand out, to consider yourself better or be an outlier. That’s why it’s so strange that, during the lockdowns, Sweden became the world’s defiant outlier.

Swedes saw it the other way around. They were keeping calm and carrying on: lockdown was an extreme, draconian, untested experiment. Lock up everyone, keep children out of school, suspend civil liberties, send police after people walking their dogs – and call this “caution”? Anders Tegnell, Sweden’s state epidemiologist, never spoke about a Swedish “experiment”. He said all along he could not recommend a public health intervention that had never been proven.

Tegnell also made another point: that he didn’t claim to be right. It would take years, he’d argue, to see who had jumped the right way. His calculation was that, on a whole-society basis, the collateral damage of lockdowns would outweigh what good they do. But you’d only know if this was so after a few years. You’d have to look at cancer diagnosis, hospital waiting lists, educational damage and, yes, count the Covid dead.

The problem with lockdowns is that no one looks at whole-society pictures. Professor Neil Ferguson’s team from Imperial College London admitted this, once, as a breezy aside. “We do not consider the wider social and economic costs of suppression,” they wrote in a supposed assessment of lockdown, “which will be high.” But just how high? And were they a price worth paying?

As Sweden abolished all domestic Covid restrictions, it emerged with one of Europe’s lower Covid death tolls: the rate is 1,614 per million people, just over half the amount of Britain (2,335). Given that our death tolls were comparable at first (both among the worst anywhere), it’s hard to argue that there’s some demographic force which meant Covid was never going to spread in Sweden.

Nor is it possible to argue that Sweden was some hedonistic party-nation: its people were incredibly cautious. But unlike Brits, they had a government that trusted them.

There were some Swedish diktats: a “rule of eight” was set up for a while. Bars, restaurants and cafes were all socially distanced and, at one point, had to close by 8.30pm. For a few weeks, Swedes even had vaccine passports. But that was about it: the rest was guidance, and it was followed.

What no statistic can convey is just how careful Swedes were; something that struck me whenever I’d visit. It was perfectly legal to meet up in bars and for a fika in a coffee shop, but most didn’t. A friend of mine had a rule that she’d only ever meet friends outside – even in the Stockholm winter (she did this so much that she got frostbite). In summer last year, studies showed Swedes working from home more than in any other European country.

This kept Covid low, while the lack of rules allowed for people to use their judgement while minimising economic and social damage. Sweden’s GDP fell by 2.9 per cent in 2020, while Britain’s collapsed by 9.4 per cent.

The cost of the various Covid measures is best summed up by the debt mountain: an extra £8,400 per head in Britain, and £3,000 in Sweden.

Swedish schools kept going throughout, with no face masks. Sixth-formers and undergraduates switched to home learning, but the rest of Swedish children went to school as normal. That’s not to say there weren’t absences as the virus spread: it was common to see a third, at times even half of the class absent due to sniffles or suspected Covid. But there were no full-scale closures and, aside from some suspicions about minor grade inflation (the average maths grade sneaked up to 10.1, from 9.3), there is no talk in Sweden about educational devastation.

In Britain, there is calamity and cover-up. By doling out more A grades than ever before – and telling universities to make more space – young people could be shovelled through the system with lost ground never recognised or quite made up.

With coronavirus restrictions lifted, life in Sweden is returning to normal - Nora Lorek/Bloomberg — With coronavirus restrictions lifted, life in Sweden is returning to normal – Nora Lorek/Bloomberg

Grade inflation was staggering: the number of A-level students marked at A or A* jumped to 45 per cent, up from 26 per cent pre-pandemic, but no one doubts that these students learned far less. By some measures, educational inequality has been set back 10 years. But some problems are too big to admit.

Academics suggest the effect of lost education is permanent: less education inevitably means lower salaries and slower career progression. The Institute for Fiscal Studies talks about £40,000 of lost lifetime earnings per pupil in Britain, £350 billion in all. Swedish studies estimate that Covid’s impact (on absenteeism and home-learning) could mean an £800 million overall hit – far smaller than the impact on Britain’s lost school days.

The impact on hospital waiting lists is also very different. Fear of a virus keeps people away – at the peak of the first wave, attendance at Swedish A&E was 31 per cent lower than normal; in Britain, it collapsed by 57 per cent. Routine operations were down by 20 per cent in Sweden and 34 per cent in England, so waiting lists grew in both countries. As they did pretty much world over.

But no country, anywhere, has had a waiting list grow as big as Britain’s: from 4.4 million pre-pandemic, it will peak at about 9.2 million, according to NHS modelling – that’s equivalent to one in five adults.

Anders Tegnell, Sweden’s state epidemiologist, said from the start that he could not recommend a public health intervention that had never been proven - MAGNUS ANDERSSON/TT News Agency/AFP via Getty Images — Anders Tegnell, Sweden’s state epidemiologist, said from the start that he could not recommend a public health intervention that had never been proven – MAGNUS ANDERSSON/TT News Agency/AFP via Getty Images

A top-down health service is more easily disrupted if it’s ordered to transform into a Covid service (and people are told to “protect the NHS” by not using it). Sweden’s waiting lists, 130,000 pre-pandemic, hit 170,000 in October 2021. Even adjusting for population, it’s nowhere near the size of Britain’s problem.

Sweden will not declare victory. No one was properly prepared for Covid, and The country’s failure to protect care home residents is still seen as a national scandal. Sweden also took a bigger hit than its neighbours: Denmark, which did lock down, has more to shout about when it comes to combining a lower Covid hit with minimal economic disruption.

But, as Tegnell would say, it’s still too early to say – with any finality – who got it right and who didn’t.

This Is the One Spice You Should Add to Your Diet if You’re Insulin-Resistant

Parade

This Is the One Spice You Should Add to Your Diet if You’re Insulin-Resistant

Emily Laurence – March 10, 2023

It will add a nice kick to your meals too.

If you’re prediabetic or have Type 2 diabetes, you’re likely already familiar with the role insulin plays in the body. It’s not something most people think about—until there’s a problem. Insulin is a hormone produced in the pancreas and allows glucose to enter the body’s cells and provide energy. When muscles, fat and liver don’t respond as they should to insulin, it’s called insulin resistance. This can elevate blood glucose levels and, over time, lead to prediabetes or Type 2 diabetes.

Here’s the good news: It’s possible to reverse insulin resistance through diet and lifestyle habits. This can help prevent or even reverse Type 2 diabetes. What we eat is that powerful. While it’s important to take into account your entire diet, registered dietitians who work regularly with people who are prediabetic or diabetic say that there’s one spice in particular that can be especially beneficial to add to your diet: turmeric.

How Turmeric Helps With Insulin Resistance

Turmeric has long been used medicinally, with its origins dating back nearly 4,000 years to Southeast Asia, where it was used in religious ceremonies. Turmeric is still an important spice in South Asian culture, used regularly in cuisine.

“Several studies have shown that turmeric has several benefits in lowering blood sugar,” says Lori Zanini, RD, a registered dietitian and author of The Diabetes Cookbook and Meal Plan for the Newly Diagnosed. Zanini explains that turmeric help improves insulin resistance by “turning off” several blood sugar-rising pathways.

Lauren Harris-Pincus, MS, RDN, a registered dietitian and author of The Everything Easy Pre-Diabetes Cookbook, explains that turmeric, and its main component curcumin, decrease inflammation and decrease glucose production in the liver, other ways the spice is particularly beneficial for someone who is insulin resistant.

Harris-Pincus says that while there hasn’t been a specific amount of turmeric directly linked to improving insulin resistance, she says that studies have included doses from 250 milligrams to a few grams. “Studies have also shown that doses of up to 12 grams per day of curcumin are safe, tolerable and non-toxic,” she says. Zanini adds to this by saying that it’s generally recommended to consume between 500 to 2,000 milligrams of turmeric a day if you are consuming it specifically for its health benefits.

“It’s important to know that turmeric is poorly absorbed and quickly excreted, so more research needs to be done to determine appropriate doses and potential methods of delivery to improve absorption and utilization,” Harris-Pincus says. Want to ensure your body absorbs as much as possible? Scientific studies show that pairing it with black pepper can help.

Other Benefits of Regularly Consuming Turmeric and 10 Other Herbs To Try

Both dietitians say that turmeric is a beneficial spice for everyone to consume regularly, not just those who are insulin resistant. In addition to helping lower blood sugar, Harris-Pincus says that scientific research shows that consuming turmeric regularly can help with joint and muscle soreness. So if you are an athlete or have arthritis, it’s worth it to add more turmeric to your diet.

Additionally, scientific research shows that turmeric also supports immune health and brain health. Since the curcumin in turmeric is anti-inflammatory, consuming it regularly truly benefits the whole body and can help play a role in preventing chronic diseases and dementia.

While the vast majority of people can benefit from having more turmeric in their diets, Harris-Pincus says that turmeric supplements may not be safe for people on certain medications like blood thinners or non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs). “They may also contribute to gastrointestinal issues with long-term use, so speak to your doctor before adding turmeric capsules to your regimen if you take prescription medications or have medical conditions, especially gastrointestinal problems,” she says.

What if you aren’t into turmeric? Both dietitians say that there are other herbs that can help with insulin resistance. “Additional spices that have shown anti-diabetic properties include cinnamon, clove, cumin, fenugreek, ginger, licorice, marjoram, nutmeg, oregano and rosemary,” Harris-Pincus says. So if turmeric isn’t for you, integrating any of these herbs into your diet will have a similar effect.

Remember, insulin resistance can be reversed. Talk to your doctor or a registered dietitian about how you can use food to support your health and help keep blood sugar levels from rising. Incorporating more herbs into your diet is just one way to do it. And, bonus, it will make your meals taste even more flavorful too.

If You Want To Lose Visceral Fat, Dietitians Say You Should Avoid These Foods

She Finds

If You Want To Lose Visceral Fat, Dietitians Say You Should Avoid These Foods

Georgia Dodd – March 9, 2023

Some types of body fat—like the visceral fat that lies deep in your abdomen and surrounds your internal organs—are more harmful to your health than others. Visceral fat increases your risk for certain health conditions, including breast cancer, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. But, luckily, exercising, cutting calories, and limiting certain foods can help minimize it.

To learn more about foods that you should avoid if you want to lose visceral fat, we spoke with Trista Best, a registered dietitian at Balance One Supplements, and Pam Hartnett MPH, a registered dietitian-nutritionist, owner of The Vitality Dietitians and health/nutrition writer. They agree that refined carbohydrates and sugary beverages should be avoided at all costs because they contain high levels of high-fructose sugar and are full of “empty calories.” Read on below to learn more!

Visceral fat

Before we get into which foods to avoid, let’s first define “visceral fat.” Visceral fat, or abdominal fat, can be detrimental to your overall health for a plethora of reasons. “First, it is carried at the front of the body where it creates significant stress on the heart and other vital organs. This puts the individual at risk for heart disease and stroke, among other chronic conditions. Second, if allowed to persist it will form around organs and tissues which makes it difficult to lose, also increasing the risk of chronic disease,” Best explains. “Third, visceral belly fat can be a hidden danger for those who otherwise have a normal body weight. A person with a healthy BMI may be carrying a lot of belly fat while other areas of the body are relatively thin. This can create a false sense of reassurance that they do not need to worry [about] health or weight loss.” When you put on enough visceral fat, you may end up with a hard “pot belly” or a more apple-shaped physique.

Refined Carbohydrates

Refined carbohydrates are grain-based foods. They have the bran and germ extracted during the refining process. Not only does the process of refining a food remove the fiber, but it also removes much of the food’s nutritional value, including B-complex vitamins, healthy oils, and fat-soluble vitamins. Without fiber, refined carbohydrates provide no actual sustenance and only increase visceral fat. Some popular examples of refined carbohydrates include white bread and pasta.

“White bread,” Best says, “is made from refined flour, which is high in simple carbohydrates. Simple carbohydrates are quickly digested and absorbed, causing a rapid spike in blood sugar levels. This can lead to insulin resistance, which can increase the accumulation of visceral fat.”

Similarly, refined pasta “is low in fiber, which can further contribute to blood sugar spikes and insulin resistance,” she says. “Fiber helps to slow down the digestion process, which can help to regulate blood sugar levels and reduce the accumulation of visceral fat,” Best continues. Consuming too many refined carbs can lead to stomach inflammation which will only worsen visceral fat.

Sugary Beverages

Sugary beverages like soda, sweet tea, and high-sugar coffee drinks, only increase visceral fat. “Sugary beverages are often sweetened with high fructose corn syrup. High fructose corn syrup is rich in fructose (hence the name), a type of sugar that is converted into fat by the liver. People who consume excess fructose intake can develop non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, which is linked to an increase in visceral fat,” Hartnett says. “High sugar intake and rapid spikes in blood sugar can be inflammatory. Chronic inflammation can result in excess fat storage in the abdominal region.”

The high sugar content in soda and coffee (learn how heavily sweetened coffee can stall weight loss goals!) can cause a rapid spike in blood sugar. “Over time, your calls may become less responsive to the hormone insulin, resulting in insulin resistance. Insulin resistance has been linked to increased visceral fat accumulation,” Hartnett says.

Instead of refined carbohydrates and sugary beverages, Hartnett suggests opting for healthy fats. Consuming avocados, nuts, seeds, and fatty fish (like salmon, which is also good for boosting hair thickness and shine!), can help to reduce inflammation in the body and help prevent visceral fat accumulation. And, these foods can also keep you fuller, longer so you won’t feel the need to over-snack later in the day. But, dieting by itself won’t get rid of significant amounts of visceral fat. It’s best if you also exercise, too. Try some of these exercise methods to tone up your stomach and back fat!

Red tide has overtaken much of Florida’s southwest coast. See the hot spots.

USA Today

Red tide has overtaken much of Florida’s southwest coast. See the hot spots.

Orlando Mayorquin and Kimberly Miller – March 8, 2023

'Red tide' toxic algae bloom kills sea life and costs Florida millions

Dead fish are washing up on the Southwest Florida coast thanks to a toxic algae known as red tide that can pose a risk to humans.

The algae, which is known formally as the single-cell Karenia brevis, has concentrated near Tampa and neighboring communities.

Scientists have found the algae at rates ranging from 10,000 cells per liter to more than 1 million cells per liter – levels that result in fish kills and breathing difficulties in exposed humans, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

The FWC said Wednesday that red tide was detected at concentrations greater than 100,000 cells per liter in samples from the following counties: Pinellas, Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee, Collier and Monroe.

The agency said red tide becomes harmful to people at 10,000 cells per liter.

Red tides produce a toxin called brevetoxin that can make humans ill if they breathe the toxin in through sea spray or get wet with contaminated water.

The illness can cause a range of symptoms, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including:

Coughing and sneezing
Shortness of breath
Eye, skin, and throat irritation
Asthma attacks

The FWC it had received multiple reports of dead fish respiratory irritation at communities through the Southwest Florida. One community, Indian Rocks Beach, decided to cancel a beach festival slated for next month amid red tide concerns.

Red tides are a naturally occurring phenomenon that have been observed in the Gulf of Mexico since the 1800s. Nascent studies have connected nutrient-laden runoff from farms and developments to increased levels of red tide along the coast.They begin to form on the coast beginning in the fall, and typically clear up by Spring.

Here’s where you can find red tide in Florida.

Florida red tide map

Fighting chronic Lyme disease, healthcare policies in Indiana

The Star Press

Fighting chronic Lyme disease, healthcare policies in Indiana

Jayde Leary – March 6, 2023

Editor’s Note: The following is part of a class project originally initiated in the classroom of Ball State University professor Adam Kuban in fall 2021. Kuban continued the project this spring semester, challenging his students to find sustainability efforts in the Muncie area and pitch their ideas to Deanna Watson, editor of The Star Press, Journal & Courier and Pal-Item. Several such stories are being featured this spring.

MUNCIE, Ind. − Chronic Lyme disease patients in the state of Indiana and all over the United States have been struggling to find affordable treatment due to the disease itself not being covered by insurance past the 30-day treatment that is provided.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Lyme disease is transmitted to humans through being bit by infected blacklegged ticks. Patients who experience symptoms of pain, fatigue or difficulty thinking more than six months after they finish treatment have a condition called Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome, also known as chronic Lyme disease.

Most cases of Lyme disease can be treated successfully with a two-to-four-week course of antibiotics. According to an article by Medical Bill Gurus, insurance companies are not required to cover treatment per the Infectious Disease Society of America guidelines. Therefore, insurance companies do not recognize chronic Lyme disease and use these guidelines to deny coverage for long-term treatment.

A majority of all Lyme Literate Medical Doctors are not in-network with any major insurance companies, and this leaves those patients who still experience symptoms after the provided few weeks of antibiotics with slim options.

Lyme disease patients who continue to have symptoms after that four-week mark may not be able to get the treatment they need due to the lack of financial help. According to a 2022 study by Samantha S. Ficon published in “Nursing Continuing Professional Development”, the disease can be harmful and deadly if it is not treated effectively early on, and 10% to 20% of patients previously treated for Lyme disease still experience symptoms for more than six months after finishing antibiotic treatment.

Kimberly Sharp, director of pain management for Community Health Network, has worked in the field of chronic pain management for over 20 years.

“There is currently no evidence supporting the long-term use of antibiotics, and the CDC does not officially recognize chronic Lyme. There are limited dollars for care, so insurance companies must draw the line somewhere on what is covered,” Sharp said.

Many insurance companies are not covering what chronic Lyme patients need.

Riley Sims, senior art major, working on her schoolwork in the L.A. Pittenger Student Center at Ball State University. According to Tick Check, there were 2,013 cases of Lyme disease confirmed in the state of Indiana from 2000 to 2020.

Riley Sims, senior at Ball State University, was diagnosed with Lyme disease in May 2020 and struggles with the chronic illness daily. She said she has to work twice as hard to keep up with her schoolwork and day-to-day tasks, and she has no choice but to seek treatment. Sims looks to her mother and father for financial help in order to cover her chronic Lyme expenses. Due to being a busy college student, she does not have enough money at this point in time to cover the costs of treatment and appointments.

[Insert photo of Riley Sims in front of Beneficence]

“I take supplements for my chronic Lyme disease that are suggested by my doctor, and I also have to get many blood tests, but none of it is covered by insurance, not even my doctor appointments,” Sims said.

According to Global Lyme Alliance, patients can suffer for years not only from the symptoms of chronic Lyme, but from the financial impact as well. Patients end up paying out-of-pocket costs and hope for reimbursement. This leaves patients who become too sick to work with large financial struggles.

Mitchell Goldman, MD, senior associate dean for Graduate Medical Education and professor of medicine for the Department of Medicine/Infectious Diseases at the University of Missouri School of Medicine, previously worked at the Indiana University Medical Center and has experience with Lyme disease patients.

“Insurance companies often require an approval process to provide therapies beyond usual guidelines, and this requires a physician or other provider to plead the case to the insurance company that may accept or deny a therapy beyond usual time,” Goldman said.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were 34,945 reported cases of Lyme disease in the United States in 2019. Compared to other tickborne illnesses, this number is high. There were 5,655 Anaplasmosis cases, 5,207 Spotted Fever Rickettsiosis cases, 2,420 Babesiosis cases and 2,093 cases of Ehrlichia chaffeensis ehrlichiosis. Many patients suffer daily from chronic Lyme disease with no help from their insurance providers, and some of them may even be forced to quit treatment due to financial challenges.

[Insert picture of Riley Sims working on schoolwork]

Sims said the Lyme Treatment Foundation has helped her tremendously and that other patients seeking financial help should look more into other non-profit organizations like this.

“Lyme disease is like a rollercoaster. I just wish we had more help riding it,” Sims said.

‘I just found myself struggling to keep up’: Number of teachers quitting hits new high

USA Today

‘I just found myself struggling to keep up’: Number of teachers quitting hits new high

Matt Barnum – March 6, 2023

Why some US school districts are seeing extreme teacher shortages

The data is in: More teachers than usual exited the classroom after last school year, confirming longstanding fears that pandemic-era stresses would prompt an outflow of educators. That’s according to a Chalkbeat analysis of data from eight states – the most comprehensive accounting of recent teacher turnover to date.

In Washington state, more teachers left the classroom after last school year than at any point in the last three decades. Maryland and Louisiana saw more teachers depart than any time in the last decade. And North Carolina saw a particularly alarming trend of more teachers leaving mid-school year.

The turnover increases were not massive. But they were meaningful, and the churn could affect schools’ ability to help students make up for learning loss in the wake of the pandemic. This data also suggests that spiking stress levels, student behavior challenges, and a harsh political spotlight have all taken their toll on many American teachers.

“Education had changed so dramatically since COVID. The issues were getting bigger and bigger,” said Rebecca Rojano, who last year left a job teaching high school Spanish in Connecticut. “I just found myself struggling to keep up.”

At risk: Despite ‘teacher shortage,’ coming layoffs could hit newly hired teachers of color hardest

The pandemic changed American education overnight: Some changes are here to stay.

Across 8 states, more teachers left the classroom following last school year

Since the pandemic threw U.S. schools into disarray, many educators and experts warned that more teachers would flee the profession. But in 2020, turnover dipped in many places as the economy stalled, then in 2021 it ticked back up to normal or slightly above-average levels.

As this school year began, widespread reports of teacher shortages suggested that turnover had jumped more significantly.

Data was hard to come by, though. The federal government doesn’t regularly track teacher quit rates. Many states don’t either, with education officials in California, New Mexico, Ohio and Pennsylvania saying that they don’t know how many teachers leave each year.

But Chalkbeat was able to obtain the latest teacher turnover numbers from eight states: Hawaii, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Washington. These figures encompassed turnover between the 2021-22 year and this school year.

In all cases, turnover was at its highest point in at least five years – typically around 2 percentage points greater than before the pandemic. That implies that in a school with 50 teachers, one more than usual left after last school year.

“I am struck by just how consistent these patterns are looking at all of these different states,” said Melissa Diliberti, a researcher at RAND, which has monitored teacher attrition during the pandemic.

In Louisiana, for instance, nearly 7,000 teachers exited the classroom last school year, or about 1,000 more than usual. That’s a turnover rate of 14%, up from between 11% and 12% in a typical pre-pandemic year.

Is there a teacher shortage? Here’s what the data says.

There was variation among the eight states. Mississippi’s teacher workforce was the most stable: Turnover was 13% this year, only slightly higher than the two years before the pandemic. North Carolina saw the largest spike: 16% of teachers left after last year, compared with less than 12% in the three years before the pandemic.

For Kimberly Biondi, who taught high school English for 21 years in a district outside Charlotte, her reasons for leaving were wrapped up in the politics of education. She advocated for remote instruction as well as in-school safety rules, such as masking, but faced personal criticism from a local group opposed to these measures, she said. Biondi was also worried that politics could eventually limit what she taught.

“I taught AP language where we were supposed to teach very controversial work. I taught Malcolm X. I taught all sorts of philosophers and speakers,” she said. “I could only imagine how I would be targeted for continuing to teach this.”

Five decades and yet: The fight for African American studies in schools isn’t getting easier

Other former teachers cited growing workloads and more difficulty managing student behavior.

Rojano said that student engagement plummeted as students returned to class in fall 2021, some for the first time in over a year. “A lot of these students are really hurting and suffering with intense emotional problems and high needs,” she said. “The needs just grew after the pandemic – I noticed a lot more emotional outbursts.”

It didn’t help, she said, that her class sizes were large, ranging from 25 to 30 students, making it hard to form close relationships with students. Plus, the school was short staffed and had many absences, forcing Rojano to constantly cover other teachers’ classes, losing her planning time.

Overworked, underpaid?: The toll of burnout is contributing to teacher shortages nationwide

She left in the middle of the last school year, something she never imagined doing because it was so disruptive for the school and her students. “It got so bad,” she said. “I was very overwhelmed and stressed. I was anxious and tired all the time.” Rojano ended up taking a job at an insurance company, where she is able to work remotely when she wants.

State reports hint that rising frustration has pushed more teachers out of the classroom. In Louisiana, the number of teachers who resigned due to dissatisfaction increased. In Hawaii, more teachers than usual identified their work environment as the reason for leaving. (In both states, personal reasons or retirement were still far more common explanations.)

A degree of staff turnover in schools is considered healthy. Some new teachers realize the profession just isn’t for them. Others take different jobs in public education, becoming, say, an assistant principal. But in general, research has found that teacher churn harms student learning – students lose relationships with trusted educators, inexperienced teachers are brought on as replacements, and in some cases classrooms are left with only long-term substitutes.

While the eight states where Chalkbeat obtained data may not be representative of the country as a whole, there are signs that higher attrition was widespread. In a recent nationally representative survey from RAND, school district leaders reported a 4 percentage point increase in teacher turnover. Data from a handful of districts show a similar trend. For instance, turnover among licensed staff, including teachers, spiked from 9% to 12% in Clark County, Nevada, the country’s fifth-largest district. In Austin, Texas, turnover jumped from 17% to 24%.

Other school staff appear to be leaving at higher rates, too.

Hawaii experienced a jump in aides and service staff who exited public schools. North Carolina saw over 17% of principals depart last school year, compared to an average of 13% in the three years before the pandemic. The RAND survey also found a sharp increase in principals leaving.

Thinking outside the box: Amid crippling teacher shortages, some schools are turning to unorthodox solutions

Why rising teacher turnover is concerning

A degree of staff turnover in schools is considered healthy. Some new teachers realize the profession just isn’t for them. Others take different jobs in public education, becoming, say, an assistant principal. But in general, research has found that teacher churn harms student learning – students lose relationships with trusted educators, inexperienced teachers are brought on as replacements, and in some cases classrooms are left with only long-term substitutes.

“Teacher attrition can be destabilizing for schools,” said Kevin Bastian, a researcher at the University of North Carolina, where he calculated the state’s turnover rate.

He found that effective teachers were particularly likely to leave the state’s public schools last year. Mid-year turnover, which is especially disruptive, increased from under 4% in prior years to over 6% in the 2021-22 school year in North Carolina. The state also ended up hiring fewer teachers for this school year than it lost, suggesting that some positions were eliminated or left vacant.

Biondi is now seeing the effects on her own children, who attend school in the district where she taught. “My daughter lost her math teacher in December,” she said. “They don’t have a replacement teacher – she’s struggling very much in math.”

This year, schools may have been in a particularly fraught position. Teachers appear to be leaving at higher rates, and there’s been a longer-standing decline in people training to become teachers. At the same time, schools may have wanted to hire more teachers than usual because they remain flush with COVID relief money and want to address learning loss. That’s a recipe for a shortage.

Typically, shortages hit high-poverty schools the hardest. They also tend to be more severe in certain areas including special education, math, and science.

Distance learning affected disadvantaged students most: The teacher shortages are just piling on.

Benjamin Mosley, principal of Glenmount Elementary/Middle School in Baltimore, has been buffeted by these pressures. He’s had multiple teachers leave in the middle of this year, and has not been able to replace them or some others who left at the end of last year.

On a recent visit to the school, students in a math class listened to a teacher based in Florida teach a lesson virtually; the class was supervised by an intervention teacher who was originally meant to provide small group tutoring. A social studies class, whose teacher had recently resigned, was being overseen by a staff member who had been hired to serve as a student mentor.

Mosley is still actively trying to find teachers and is now considering candidates whom he might have passed over in years past.

“We can put a man on the moon, but yet we can’t find teachers,” he said.

Teacher salaries become a bipartisan cause: Low pay ‘a major crisis in education’

Matt Barnum is a Spencer fellow in education journalism at Columbia University and a national reporter at Chalkbeat covering education policy, politics, and research.

Lawmakers unveil plan to keep Americans from claiming Social Security too early

Yahoo! Finance

Lawmakers unveil plan to keep Americans from claiming Social Security too early

Ben Werschkul, Washington Correspondent – March 6, 2023

Why you should delay Social Security benefits

Yahoo Finance columnist Kerry Hannon makes the case for why retirees should delay their Social Security benefits to age 70.

A bipartisan group of senators launched a multi-pronged effort this week to help Americans make better decisions about when to claim their Social Security benefits.

A letter and legislation released Monday said that Americans are confused about their options and that the Social Security Administration (SSA) needs to do a better job at communication — including bringing back paper statements.

“We believe that SSA should take more proactive measures to provide Americans with the tools and resources to determine how best to set themselves and their families up for financial security in retirement,” wrote Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Tim Kaine (D-VA) in the note.

Monday’s announcement comes after years of discussion on the issue. Groups like the Bipartisan Policy Center have pushed for reforms for years and were cited in Monday’s letter. In a 2020 report, the group said many people are hurting their long-term financial security by claiming Social Security too early.

UNITED STATES - DECEMBER 15: Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La., left, and Chris Coons, D-Del., talk before the Senate Policy luncheons in the Capitol, December 15, 2015. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call) — Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Chris Coons (D-DE) are two of the authors of the new letter. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

Americans are jumping in ‘at a financially sub-optimal time’

The Social Security program gives retirees an option of when to start getting their checks. They can begin as early as age 62, but with a trade-off: Those monthly benefits are locked in at a lower rate for the rest of their lives. The benefit amount gets bigger the longer you wait to claim, topping out with maximum benefits for Americans who wait until age 70.

That decision has far-reaching implications and experts say many Americans are getting it wrong by claiming too early.

A recent study from a group called United Income — also cited in Monday’s letter — estimates that retirees collectively lose $3.4 trillion because they claim Social Security “at a financially sub-optimal time” That works out to $111,000 per household.

The problem, experts say, is that Americans don’t fully understand the consequences of their choice even though more than half of 65-or-over households rely on Social Security for a majority of their income.

A central recommendation released Monday is around changing the nomenclature. Currently, seniors are presented with what these four senators say are a battery of confusing terms from “early eligibility age” to “full retirement age” to “delayed retirement credits.”

Instead, the lawmakers say, Americans should be given a choice among “minimum benefit age,” “standard benefit age,” and “maximum benefit age.”

The bill also includes a push to redesign and bring back paper statements to Americans.

After years of blasting out millions of letters each year, the agency cut back in the last decade and now largely only reaches out to Americans via the U.S. Postal Service when they are over 60 and not receiving benefits.

If the legislation is enacted, all Americans in the workforce would get updates of where they stand and an explanation of their options at least every five years with the frequency increasing to annual notes after age 60.

Why are Americans claiming so early?

The letter from Capitol Hill also asks the agency to analyze why so many Americans claim benefits early and to outline its plans to “educate the public about the trade-offs of early versus delayed claiming.”

A 2019 release from the SSA laid out how age 62 remains the most common age for Americans with nearly 35% of men and 40% of women jumping into the program then.

But some of the reasons that Americans are interested in getting money as early as possible may also have to do with the uncertain future of the Social Security program as is does with any lack of education. A recent government trustees report found that, with no action from Congress, Social Security only has the funds to continue paying out 100% of benefits through 2034. After that, benefits could be decreased by around 24%.

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In addition, Social Security has been a central issue in the ongoing debt ceiling fight. Democrats have charged that Republicans are looking to cut benefits in return for raising the debt ceiling. Most in the GOP adamantly deny this claim.

Polling has shown again and again that Americans are keenly aware of the perilous state of the program. In just one example, an AP-NORC poll in 2019 found that only 24% of Americans were confident Social Security would be able to pay out at least the same benefits in five years that it was paying out then.

Also in Washington, bipartisan talks are underway to shore up the program and give Americans more confidence. In recent months, those talks have been led by Sen. Cassidy (one of the co-signers of Monday’s letter) and Sen. Angus King (I-ME). In a statement Friday, the senators offered an update on those talks, noting that a dozen of options remained under discussion.

They pledged that “what we are discussing, millions would immediately receive more, and no one would receive less.” They hope to have “a fully developed plan” that can be released and debated in the months ahead.

Ben Werschkul is Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance.

Hazards of Gas Stoves Were Flagged by the Industry—and Hidden—50 Years Ago

Gizmodo

Hazards of Gas Stoves Were Flagged by the Industry—and Hidden—50 Years Ago

Kate Yoder, Grist – March 6, 2023

Newly uncovered documents reveal that the gas industry understood that its stoves were polluting the air inside homes 50 years ago — and then moved to conceal that information. It stands in stark contrast to the industry’s denial of the health dangers posed by gas stoves today.

In a draft report on natural gas and the environment in January 1972, the American Gas Association included a section on “Indoor Air Quality Control” that detailed its concerns with pollution from gas appliances like carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides. The document showed that the trade group was in the process of researching solutions “for the purposes of limiting the levels of carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides in household air.” But all that information disappeared from the final text, according to reporting by the climate accountability site DeSmog on Thursday.

That draft report was sent to the National Industrial Pollution Control Council, what was then a government advisory council made up of 200 business executives representing industrial heavyweights, including utilities. When the council’s final report was published in August 1972, those utilities had removed the section on air pollution concerns, according to the DeSmog article. Arguing that the fuel should replace the coal used for power, heating, and cooking in homes, the report spotlighted the pollution problems of burning coal while downplaying the dangers of natural gas.

In response to DeSmog’s investigation, Karen Harbert, the CEO of the American Gas Association, pointed to “a 1982 review of the available research that found no causative link between gas stoves and asthma, a conclusion shared by regulatory agencies.”

The concerns about indoor air quality in the report’s deleted section foreshadowed those held by health experts today. In recent months, studies have found that gas-burning stoves are responsible for nearly 13 percent of childhood asthma cases in the United States, and that they leak methane, a potent greenhouse gas, and benzene, a cancer-causing chemical, even when they’re shut off. Earlier this week, the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission made a formal request for information on the hazards of gas stoves. This is often the first step toward creating a regulation — although the commission has said it doesn’t plan on banning gas stoves entirely, after the mention of it sparked heated backlash.

The gas industry has pushed back against the peer-reviewed research showing that gas stoves increase the risk of childhood asthma. In January, the American Gas Association argued that the findings were “not substantiated by sound science” and that even discussing the asthma allegations would be “reckless.”

But the newly unveiled documents show that the gas industry itself was once concerned about the pollution coming from gas stoves — which the National Industrial Pollution Control Council called “the NOx problem” in 1970, referring to nitrogen oxides, a family of poisonous gases. Gas companies were even aware of the problem decades before, with the president of the Natural Gas Association warning of the dangers of emissions from gas stoves as far back as the early 1900s.

This article originally appeared in Grist at https://grist.org/accountability/gas-stove-hazards-documents-utilities-1972/. Grist is a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. Learn more at Grist.org

This Is the Absolute Best Food for Fighting Inflammation, According to Registered Dietitians

Parade

This Is the Absolute Best Food for Fighting Inflammation, According to Registered Dietitians

Emily Laurence – March 6, 2023

Plus, easy ways to incorporate it into your diet.

While inflammation isn’t inherently bad and plays an important role as part of the body’s natural defense system, high levels of chronic inflammation can cause all sorts of health woes. “Chronic, low-grade inflammation can cause a host of symptoms across the whole body. Digestive issues, brain fog, cardiovascular disease, chronic aches and pains, weight gain, hormone imbalances and autoimmune disease are all signs that the body is struggling to manage inflammation,” says functional medicine nutritionist Barbara Sobel, MS, CNS, LND. She adds that what we eat is one of the greatest modifiers of inflammation.

There are many, many foods and drinks that are anti-inflammatory, helping to prevent chronic inflammation. Coffee, tea, fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, fish and herbs are all anti-inflammatory and it’s best to eat a wide variety of these foods to get a wide range of nutritional benefits. But if you want to focus on adding one incredible anti-inflammatory food to your diet, there’s one in particular that healthy eating experts recommend: berries.

Why Berries Are So Beneficial for Preventing Chronic Inflammation

Whether your favorite is blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries or cranberries, there are specific properties that berries have in common that are linked to preventing chronic inflammation. According to Sobel, this includes antioxidants, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and polyphenols (a specific type of antioxidant).

Kristen Yarker, MSc, RD, a registered dietitian who leads a team of dietitians in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, says that since most of the scientific studies surrounding berries and health have been done on animals and in labs, it’s difficult to know exactly why they’re so powerful in protecting against inflammation, but there is a lot of research supporting the benefits of antioxidants, including polyphenols. Scientific studies show that antioxidants protect tissues in the body from damage caused by free radicals, which in turn prevents an inflammatory response.

Yarker also says that fiber—which berries contain—is also linked with preventing chronic inflammation. One reason why this is particularly noteworthy is because a full 90 percent of Americans don’t eat the recommended daily amount, which is 25 grams a day. Incorporating berries into your diet is an easy (and yummy!) way to up your amount. “A diet rich in fiber, especially soluble fiber, has been shown to dampen this inflammatory process,” Sobel says. She adds that blackberries and raspberries each have eight grams of fiber per cup, while strawberries and blueberries have closer to three or 3.5 grams of fiber per cup.

Besides antioxidants and fiber, both experts say that berries have other vitamins and minerals that are linked to preventing chronic inflammation. The types and amounts of these vitamins and minerals vary slightly based on the type of berry. Their advice is to switch up which ones you eat. That way, you get a wide range of nutrients.

How To Incorporate Berries Into Your Diet More

If you want to incorporate berries into your diet more, Sobel says that buying fresh or frozen are equally beneficial. The key, she says, is to avoid anything overly processed that contains added sugar, which can be found in some fruit cups, pre-made smoothies, or fruit juice. Also, it’s important to know that fruit juice doesn’t contain the beneficial fiber that makes berries so great for preventing inflammation.

There’s certainly no shortage of ways to incorporate berries into your diet. They can, of course, be eaten as is. Some breakfast ideas that include berries along with other anti-inflammatory foods include oatmeal, smoothies or Greek yogurt parfait. For lunch and dinner, berries can add an unexpected bit of sweetness to salads and grain bowls. And of course, there are plenty of dessert recipes that incorporate berries; just be mindful of the amount of sugar that’s used to keep it healthy.

While eating berries regularly can help prevent inflammation, both experts emphasize that it isn’t the only food to prioritize and that eating berries can’t cancel out a diet that is primarily full of foods that cause inflammation, such as simple refined carbohydrates, sugar and fried foods.

“Including a variety of different berries regularly in our diets along with a variety of other colorful plant foods, getting enough sleep, moving our bodies, managing stress, having close supportive connections with others, and addressing any microbiome imbalances all contribute to decreasing inflammation,” Sobel says.

To this point, consider upping your berry intake a starting point, not an end all be all. Through diet and lifestyle, you can work to prevent chronic inflammation, one healthy habit at a time.

Next up, learn more about the anti-inflammatory diet including what it is and what you can eat while following it.

Sources

Barbara Sobel, MS, CNS, LND, functional medicine nutritionist specializing in digestive, cognitive, and hormonal health
Kristen Yarker, MSc, RD, registered dietitian who leads a team of dietitians in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

You’re Now a ‘Manager.’ Forget About Overtime Pay.

The New York Times

You’re Now a ‘Manager.’ Forget About Overtime Pay.

Noam Scheiber – March 6, 2023

The Jack in the Box where Gonzalo Espinosa used to work in Roseville, Calif. on Feb. 23, 2023. (Max Whittaker/The New York Times)

For four years beginning in 2014, Tiffany Palliser worked at Panera Bread in South Florida, making salads and operating the register for shifts that began at 5 a.m. and often ran late into the afternoon.

Palliser estimates that she worked at least 50 hours a week on average. But she says she did not receive overtime pay.

The reason? Panera officially considered her a manager and paid her an annual salary rather than on an hourly basis. Palliser said she was often told that “this is what you signed up for” by becoming an assistant manager.

Federal law requires employers to pay time-and-a-half overtime to hourly workers after 40 hours, and to most salaried workers whose salary is below a certain amount, currently about $35,500 a year. Companies need not pay overtime to salaried employees who make above that amount if they are bona fide managers.

Many employers say managers who earn relatively modest salaries have genuine responsibility and opportunities to advance. The National Retail Federation, a trade group, has written that such management positions are “key steps on the ladder of professional success, especially for many individuals who do not have college degrees.”

But according to a recent paper by three academics, Lauren Cohen, Umit Gurun and N. Bugra Ozel, many companies provide salaries just above the federal cutoff to frontline workers and mislabel them as managers to deny them overtime.

Because the legal definition of a manager is vague and little known — the employee’s “primary” job must be management, and the employee must have real authority — the mislabeled managers find it hard to push back, even if they mostly do grunt work.

The paper found that from 2010 to 2018, manager titles in a large database of job postings were nearly five times as common among workers who were at the federal salary cutoff for mandatory overtime or just above it as they were among workers just below the cutoff.

“To believe this would happen without this kind of gaming going on is ridiculous,” Cohen, a Harvard Business School professor, said in an interview.

Cohen and his co-authors estimate that the practice of mislabeling workers as managers to deny them overtime, which often relies on dubious-sounding titles like “lead reservationist” and “food cart manager,” cost workers about $4 billion per year, or more than $3,000 per mislabeled employee.

And the practice appears to be on the rise: Cohen said the number of jobs with dubious-sounding managerial titles grew over the period he and his co-authors studied.

Federal data appear to underscore the trend, showing that the number of managers in the labor force increased more than 25% from 2010 to 2019, while the overall number of workers grew roughly half that percentage.

From 2019 to 2021, the workforce shrank by millions while the number of managers did not budge. Lawyers representing workers said they suspected that businesses mislabeled employees as managers even more often during the pandemic to save on overtime while they were short-handed.

“There were shortages of people who had kids at home,” said Catherine Ruckelshaus, general counsel of the National Employment Law Project, a worker advocacy group. “I’m sure that elevated the stakes.”

But Ed Egee, a vice president at the National Retail Federation, argued that labor shortages most likely cut the other way, giving low-level managers the leverage to negotiate more favorable pay, benefits and schedules. “I would almost say there’s never been a time when those workers are more empowered,” he said. (Pay for all workers grew much faster than pay for managers from 2019 to 2021, though pay for managers grew slightly faster last year.)

Experts say the denial of overtime pay is part of a broader strategy to drive down labor costs in recent decades by staffing stores with as few workers as possible. If a worker calls in sick, or more customers turn up than expected, the misclassified manager is often asked to perform the duties of a rank-and-file worker without additional cost to the employer.

“This allows them to make sure they’re not staffing any more than they need to,” said Deirdre Aaron, a former Labor Department lawyer who has litigated numerous overtime cases in private practice. “They have assistant managers there who can pick up the slack.”

Palliser said that her normal shift at Panera ran from 5 a.m. to 2 p.m., but that she was often called in to help close the store when it was short-staffed. If an employee did not show up for an afternoon shift, she typically had to stay late to cover.

“I would say, ‘My kids get out of school at 2. I have to go pick them up, I can’t keep doing this,’” said Palliser, who made from about $32,000 to $40,000 a year as an assistant manager. She said her husband later quit his job to help with their child care responsibilities.

She won a portion of a multimillion-dollar settlement under a lawsuit accusing a Panera franchisee, Covelli Enterprises, of failing to pay overtime to hundreds of assistant managers. Panera and representatives of the franchise did not respond to requests for comment.

Gassan Marzuq, who earned a salary of around $40,000 a year as the manager of a Dunkin’ Donuts for several years until 2012, said in a lawsuit that he had worked roughly 70 hours or more in a typical week. He testified that he had spent 90% of his time on tasks such as serving customers and cleaning, and that he could not delegate this work “because you’re always short on staff.”

Marzuq eventually won a settlement worth $50,000. A lawyer for T.J. Donuts, owner of the Dunkin’ Donuts franchise, said the company disputed Marzuq’s claims and maintained “that he was properly classified as a manager.”

Workers and their lawyers said employers exploited their desire to move up the ranks in order to hold down labor costs.

“Some of us want a better opportunity, a better life for our families,” said Gonzalo Espinosa, who said that in 2019 he often worked 80 hours a week as the manager of a Jack in the Box in California but that he did not receive overtime pay. “They use our weakness for their advantage.”

Espinosa said his salary of just over $30,000 was based on an hourly wage of about $16 for a 40-hour workweek, implying that his true hourly wage was closer to half that amount — and well below the state’s minimum wage. The franchise did not respond to requests for comment.

The paper by Cohen and his co-authors includes evidence that companies that are financially strapped are more likely to misclassify regular workers as managers, and that this tactic is especially common in low-wage industries such as retail, dining and janitorial services.

Still, lawyers who bring such cases say the practice also occurs regularly in white-collar industries such as tech and banking.

“They have a job title like relationship manager or personal banker, and they greet you, try to get you to open account,” said Justin Swartz, a partner at the firm Outten & Golden. “They’re not managers at all.”

Swartz, who estimated that he had helped bring more than two dozen overtime cases against banks, said some involved a so-called branch manager inside a big-box store who was the only bank employee onsite and largely performed the duties of a teller.

The practice appears to have become more difficult to root out in recent years, as more employers have required workers to sign contracts with mandatory arbitration clauses that preclude lawsuits.

Many of the cases “are not economically viable anymore,” said Swartz, citing the increased difficulty of bringing them individually through arbitration.

Some lawyers said only an increase in the limit below which workers automatically receive overtime pay is likely to meaningfully rein in misclassification. With a higher cutoff, simply paying workers overtime is often cheaper than avoiding overtime costs by substantially increasing their pay and labeling them managers.

“That’s why companies fought it so hard under Obama,” said Aaron, a partner at Winebrake & Santillo, alluding to a 2016 Labor Department rule raising the overtime limit to about $47,500 from about $23,500. A federal judge suspended the rule, arguing that the Obama administration lacked the authority to raise the salary limit by such a large amount.

The Trump administration later adopted the current cutoff of about $35,500, and the Biden administration has indicated that it will propose raising the cutoff substantially this year. Business groups say such a change will not help many workers because employers are likely to lower base wages to offset overtime pay.