The recent UNICEF report "From The First Hour of Life" looks at the present state of infant feeding, with particular focus on the benefits of breastfeeding, highlighting the barriers that exist and providing recommendations to overcome them. However, much of the data used to support these recommendations appear unrepresentative of a global population. This article will serve as part 1 of a series of articles attempting to validate the report in its entirety.

Of the 20 "Best" hospitals ranked by U.S. News & World Report, the Center for Medicare Services (which released its list a few days earlier) only agreed with one, giving it a 5-star rating. The two scoring systems came to some very different conclusions. So what does that mean for you?

1. Nigeria Today has an article called 2 Things to Avoid if You Want to Live Longer. They certainly get one thing right - if not a secret to living longer, at least wealthier.  That thing is not bothering with most supplements. They cite us as warning that it's the wild, wild west in supplement land - ironically, the kind of thing supplement buyers actually believe about science.

The occupational groups community & social services, and transportation & material moving, had the greatest percentage of workers who met two or fewer cardiovascular health metrics. That means these workers may be at the highest risk of cardiovascular disease as compared to everyone else.

Shutterstock

People prefer to ignore scientific reality in favor of politically correct myths. Specifically, we incorrectly interpret (positive) statements that describe the world as it is to be (normative) statements that prescribe the world as it ought to be. This confusion impedes scientific progress.

"Use by" and "sell by" labels are not about food safety, although it's easy to be confused by them. In fact, they're only pointers about when a food's quality might not be at its peak.

No one expected the DEA to claim marijuana is medical without any studies proving it, but it surprised the research community by removing a bottleneck on supply.

Obesity is considered a risk factor for several types of cancer — breast and colon cancer, for example. But some cancers might be considered risk factors for obesity — or at least weight gain, according to a recent study from Columbia University.

Credit: Shutterstock