UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES DIGEST

 Cellphone bans haven’t made roads safer, after all

“According to a study by the U.S. Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI), texting bans have actually increased accident rates.’’
 
 ‘’ According to the HLDI, it’s not the concept of preventing in-car typing that is driving the seemingly wonky statistics but rather the execution of the ban. In a classic be-wary-of-what-you-wish-for unintended consequence (…) drivers are simply holding their smartphones lower to escape detection, resulting in even greater distraction.’’ 

1 in 10 Smokers Keep the Habit Secret from Doctors

‘’Increased public health efforts to ban smoking in public places and create smoke-free workplaces may unintentionally lead smokers to feel marginalized, and less willing to discuss smoking with their physicians’’
 
Boy, 12, taunted about being 'chubby' had to be force-fed in hospital after eating just 50 calories a day

‘’ 'I was not fat but I was a bit chubby,' he said. 'Other children made comments and I wanted to be healthier, I wanted to lose weight. ‘’
 
‘’ Also while the healthy eating campaigns by people like Jamie Oliver do a lot of good, they can make children think about weight loss in the wrong way.'

Streatham pensioner died after smoking cigarette out of window

‘’ A pensioner plunged to her death after leaning out of her bedroom window for a cigarette, an inquest heard.
 
Smoker Elena Brennan, 79, died from the massive head injury she sustained after falling 20 feet onto a concrete ramp beneath her second storey flat at Coventry Hall in Polworth Road, Streatham. ‘’

The downside of a good education: food allergies

‘’ The link to higher education may be explained by what is called the hygiene hypothesis, the unproven idea that smaller families, cleaner homes, more use of antibiotics to treat infections and vaccines to prevent them have curbed development of the immune system, said Dr. Moshe Ben-Shoshan, who led the research. That in turn could make some people more susceptible to allergy.’’

Childhood obesity ads spark controversy in Georgia: 'Horrible!'

‘’ The childhood obesity ad is short, stark and to the point: A child named Tina says she doesn't like going to school because the other kids pick on her. "It hurts my feelings," she says.

Then text appears: "Stop sugarcoating it, Georgia."

"Horrible! As a 42 year old woman who struggled with anorexia as a teen and now a mother of a 6 year old girl who is taller and thicker than the average children her age and gets picked on by all ages including adults with inappropriate comments you have no idea obviously of the damage this will do with the ad. You will hurt more than you help. Self esteem is built with smiles and no pointing."  
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