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`U' study finds poor children fatter than rich

Lead researcher Charles Kuntzleman blamed the weight problem on declining opportunities for physical activity and the increasing lure of television and computer games.

"Children at one time had opportunities to participate in challenging physical activities," he said. "We weren't such a slave to automation. We did chores with our hands. The pattern has changed."

The study was based on height and weight checks of 36,281 students in 45 Michigan school districts during the 1994-95 academic year.

Among the study's findings:

n Percentage of Michigan young people who were overweight, ages 5-18: Boys 38, girls 36.9.

n Percentage of children ages 6-17 who are obese: Michigan 24.9, U.S. 22.

n Percentage of children ages 6-17 who are very obese: Michigan 11.3, U.S. 10.9.

The Michigan study also looked at the relationship between average family incomes and children's weight.

The results showed the students in the wealthiest fifth of school districts had significantly lower average body weights than those in moderate- and low-income districts.

`U' students use summer internships for research opportunities

This summer, 31 University students will travel across the world with the Minority International Research Training Program to conduct hands-on research in underdeveloped countries.

The trainees will focus on research in child health and development at their host sites in four countries -- Beijing, China; La Paz, Bolivia; Santiago, Chile; and Johannesburg and Durban, South Africa.

The program is working to promote qualities of leadership by expanding cultural perspectives, preparing the next generation of scientific leaders to work effectively in a global environment, and establishing linkages between U.S. scientists and institutions and established centers of biomedical research abroad.

New laser surgery helps shed old skin

Thanks to a new type of laser cosmetic surgery, looking younger may be easier.

The surgery, called laser resurfacing, employs a carbon dioxide laser that dries the skin, slowly removing unattractive layers of older skin.

Doctors perform the operation under general anesthesia or sedation, and have said that the precise laser allows them to remove very fine wrinkles.

-- From staff and wire reports.