People in Russia remember waiting more than eight hours to taste their first Big Mac. The line-up was hundreds of people long, snaking back and forth along the sidewalk. That was 1990, when the first McDonald’s restaurant opened in Russia, in Moscow’s Pushkin Square.
Health
Canada Gives Aid, Vaccine, Supplies To Fight Disease In West Africa
Canada is sending 300,000 medical face masks to West Africa.
The masks are to help healthcare workers there who are caring for people with a virus that was identified in Africa in March.
Blood Donors Needed: Canadian Blood Services
The organization that looks after Canada’s blood supply says the country’s supply is very low and they urgently need blood donors.
Canadian Blood Services is a non-profit organization that collects blood for use during operations or whenever it is needed in Canada.
Genetically Modified Salmon: Food or ‘Frankenfish’?
A company called AquaBounty Technologies has created a new type of salmon that grows twice as fast as regular salmon.
Now it wants permission to sell the salmon as food.
But many people, including some scientists, say the company should not be allowed to farm or sell the salmon until we know more about the possible effects it could have on the environment and on human health.
Lunches From Home Don’t Meet Nutritional Standards: Study
When researchers in the United States compared school lunches to home-packed lunches, parents got a failing grade.
Researchers from Tufts University, in Massachusetts, inspected lunches belonging to about 600 grade three and four students at 12 different schools in the state. They found that lunches packed at home were generally less nutritious than meals provided by schools.
The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge
Lots of people have been dumping buckets of ice cold water over their heads. It may sound a little strange, but it’s for a good cause.
It’s all part of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge and it has taken the Internet by storm.
Canadians Don’t Take Enough Vacation Time
Workers in Canada aren’t taking their vacations. A recent survey said that one-quarter of workers don’t take their full vacation time because they are afraid of having too much work to do when they get back.
Fewer Young American Children Are Obese: Study
Obesity rates in young children in the U.S. have dropped by 43 per cent.
In this case, obesity means “very overweight,” which is not good for a person’s health.
Over the last 10 years, the number of young children in the U.S. who are obese has gone down by a lot.
In 2004, nearly 14 per cent of American children aged two to five were obese. In 2012 the number went down to 8.4 per cent.
Sesame Street Characters Help Kids To Eat Right
Sesame Street may be where the air is sweet, but these days it’s also where the food… isn’t.
The children’s television show has started a program to help get kids eating food that’s better for them.
The program is called, “Food for Thought: Eating Healthy on a Budget.”
About one in four children in the United States does not get enough nutritious food to eat, often because parents can’t afford it.
That’s about six million children, according to the Sesame Street website.
Mexico Puts A Tax On Sugary Soft Drinks
The people of Mexico drink more soft drinks than people in any other country in the world.
Last fall, the government of Mexico made a decision to increase the taxes on soft drinks with sugar.
They said that soft drinks help to create health problems like obesity and diabetes. That tax is starting now.
In the past, Mexico has done other things to reduce sugar and fat in schools, like removing unhealthy foods from vending machines.
But some people say this kind of tax to make people healthier doesn’t work.
In 2011 another country, Denmark, put a tax on fatty foods for the same reason: to improve people’s health. But they removed it a year later because it caused more problems than it solved.
