Current Events in March 2017

The Department of Labor's (DOL) Consumer Price Index (CPI) posted its smallest advance since last July -- rising just 0.1% in February. That put the gain over the last 12 months at 2.7%.

The slight monthly increase came as gasoline costs fell, partially offsetting increases in other categories including food, housing, and recreation.

Energy down, food on the rise

Energy prices fell 1.0%, in February, its first decline since last July, with gasoline costs down 3.0%. Other major components were up, with natural gas rising 1.5% and electricity increasing 0.8% -- its first advance in four months. Over the past year, energy costs are up 15.2% with all of its major components rising.

Food costs were up 0.2% following January's 0.1% increase. Grocery prices, or food at home, rose 0.3% -- the sharpest advance since June 2015. Four of the six major grocery store food groups were higher: nonalcoholic beverages (+1.5%), dairy and related products (+0.8%), fruits and vegetables (+0.7%), and meats, poultry, fish & eggs (+0.2%). Cereals and bakery products and other food at home both fell 0.4%. Over the last 12 months, grocery prices are down 1.7%.

Food away from home (restaurant prices) rose 0.2% last month after an increase of 0.4% in January. Over the last 12 months, food away from home is up 2.4%, leaving the overall price of food unchanged.

Core inflation

Prices for all items, excluding the volatile food and energy categories, were up 0.2% in February, with the costs of housing, recreation, clothing, airline fares, motor vehicle insurance, education, and medical care among those that increased. Decliners included communication, used cars & trucks, new vehicles, and household furnishings and operations.

For the 12 months ending in February, this “core” rate of inflation was up 2.2% -- the 15th straight month it's been in the range of 2.1-2.3 percent. 

The complete report is available on the DOL website.

An attorney from the American Civil Liberties Union says that Facebook did the right thing when a Washington state law enforcement agency filed a search warrant against a local anti-Dakota Access Pipeline page. The Whatcom County Sheriff’s department last month filed a search warrant seeking messages, photos, and other private data from the Bellingham #NoDAPL Coalition Facebook page.

The search is the likely result of an anti-pipeline protest that people in Bellingham, a town about 90 miles from Seattle, organized last month on the I-5 highway, ACLU attorney Brett Kaufman tells ConsumerAffairs. Organizers stopped traffic for about an hour, and while no arrests were made, law enforcement after-the-fact accused the group of indirectly causing a car crash.

Facebook gives people behind protest page a warning

When Facebook was served with a search warrant last month, the site gave notice to the people who ran the Bellingham #NoDAPL page, allowing them enough time to seek ACLU’s help and challenge the warrant in court. An ACLU motion to stop the warrant is now pending.

“We haven’t seen one of these before, targeting a group that’s engaged in political advocacy," Kaufman tells ConsumerAffairs. “Facebook did what we hoped any tech company would do with this request,” by warning the users, he adds. But technology companies like Facebook don’t always have the leeway or ability to inform people that their internet or computer activities are about to be searched.

A gag order allows searches with no notice

In other tech search warrant cases, law enforcement sometimes asks for an accompanying gag order, or an order that bars a company from warning its customers that they have been served with a warrant regarding their private data.

“In many cases, either both on subpoenas or on warrants, the law enforcement can get a gag order the same time they get the legal process sorted out. That would prevent Facebook from notifying the user of what's going on,” Kaufman explains.

Tech companies have been attempting to fight this practice. Last year, Microsoft filed a lawsuit against the feds arguing that such gag orders are unconstitutional, writing that the gag order "absolves the government of the obligation to give notice to a customer whose content it obtains by warrant, without regard to the circumstances of the particular case."  

According to the suit, federal courts have issued more than 3,250 gag orders over a 20-month period. The case has been moving slowly, though last month a U.S. District court in Washington denied the feds’ motion to have the case tossed, allowing Microsoft to go forward with its suit.

The ACLU is also supporting Microsoft in this case. “Movants American Civil Liberties Union and American Civil Liberties Union Foundation are customers of Microsoft who rely on Microsoft’s email and cloud-computing services to store and transmit sensitive communications and data,” the advocacy group’s attorneys write in a legal motion.

“They seek to intervene in this suit to establish their constitutional right, as customers of Microsoft, to government notice of any search or seizure of their communications."

Facebook challenging gag orders in New York

Law enforcement have portrayed their search warrants and gag orders over user data as an inevitable aspect of doing their job. “Law enforcement is always going to be bumping up against privacy...I don’t think our statutes have yet caught up,” Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. told Newsday last month.

Vance’s office since 2013 has been investigating New York City police officers and firefighters who allegedly made false claims that they were too disabled to work after the September 11, 2011 terrorist attacks. Dozens of officers accused of fraudulently collecting disability have been indicted in that case already, and the alleged leader of the conspiracy has pleaded guilty, but the investigation continues.

The Manhattan District Attorney has so far filed 381 warrants to search the Facebook pages of the suspects along with a gag order to prevent Facebook from giving users notice about the search, which Facebook is also fighting. Last month, Facebook said in court  that the suspects, their families, and even the suspects’ sexual orientations are “all caught in a dragnet,” and that the gag order is unconstitutional. 

With the founder of Trump University in the White House, for-profit education is riding high once again. After years of increasing federal oversight, the for-profit college industry sees President Trump's regulation rollback as its ticket to renewed growth.

The Education Department last week announced it would delay enforcing the "gainful employment" rules drafted by the Obama Administration to crack down on schools that leave their students with huge debts and scant job opportunities.

“This action is taken to allow the Department to further review the GE regulations and their implementation,” the agency said.

The rules cut off access to taxpayer funds for colleges and vocational training institutions if their graduates spend at least 20% of their discretionary income, or 8% of their total earnings each year, paying off student debt.

Regulations challenged

Schools have challenged the data used to make the determinations. 

The industry's lobbying group, Career Education Colleges and Universities, has taken the position that all schools -- public, private, and for-profit -- should be treated equally.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is an advocate of private education and said during her confirmation hearings that she would work to promote trade schools as an alternative to four-year colleges. 

President Trump's now-defunct Trump University claimed to offer training in real estate and finance but closed after a series of lawsuits and challenges from regulators and former students who said they got little for their money but sales pitches.

In November 2016, Trump agreed to pay $25 million to settle a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of about 7,000 former students. 

One of the named plaintiffs in the case, Sonny Low, said he still had $9,000 in credit card debt and had to take a job at Home Depot to try to finally pay off the remainder, attorney Rachel Jensen said.

Consumers increasingly turn to review sites when searching for a doctor, but a new study finds that there is very little consistency in the ratings displayed by different sites, leading to questions about the credibility of those ratings.

The study, conducted by researchers at New York City's Hospital for Special Surgery, found it was "debatable whether these websites in their current form truly capture patient satisfaction and objectively evaluate the delivery of care," said Benedict Nwachukwu, M.D., who presented the findings at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting in San Diego today.

The researchers studied ratings on Healthgrades.com, Vitals.com, and Ratemds.com and found "a low degree of correlation in ratings for individual surgeons on the different websites." That, said Nwachukwu, is an important finding that had not been previously demonstrated. 

The inconsistency in ratings from one site to the next may be explained by the relatively low number of reviews submitted per doctor. In fact, the researchers noted, the number of reviews needed for a reliable rating is unknown and is a subject for more study. Also problematic is the unverified nature of the reviews. 

The sites, said Anil Ranawat, MD, senior investigator for the study, may be good businesses but whether they're truly useful for consumers is questionable. 

"Online rating websites are for-profit business enterprises, which at this point demonstrate significant growth potential," Ranawat said. "However, the low degree of correlation between these websites is concerning. It also questions the collective utility of these sites and potentially demonstrates the individually capricious nature of online physician reviews."

The study

To identify surgeons for the study, researchers accessed the online member directory of The American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine. Their query in May 2015 yielded 2,813 entries. Investigators selected every tenth surgeon profile on a continuous basis and came up with 275 sports medicine surgeons to include in their study.

The researchers compiled data on years in practice, location, academic affiliation, and ratings for each surgeon on the three websites. Patients' written comments were categorized as relating to surgeon competence, affability, and the process of care delivery.

With respect to factors that appeared to influence ratings, being female was a significant predictor of higher ratings on Healthgrades. Surgeons with an academic affiliation were also more likely to receive higher overall ratings.

A physician's online and social media presence, including Facebook, Twitter, and possession of a personalized website, did not influence the strength of ratings on Healthgrades, Vitals, or Ratemds. Surprisingly, across all three websites, an increased number of years in practice generally led to lower ratings.

Many consumers are becoming more health-conscious when it comes to what they eat and shop for, and companies are adapting to keep their customers interested and engaged.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that one such company, Caribou Coffee, is banning the use of artificial ingredients in its products. The company states that the measure represents a step in the right direction towards its “clean label” approach.

“When it comes to coffee, people deserve a clean break from the fake stuff. Which is why we are committed to pursuing only real ingredients in our handcrafted drinks,” the company states on its site.

“At Caribou Coffee, Clean Label means that our drinks are not made with artificial colors, artificial flavors, artificial sweeteners, artificial preservatives, MSG or high fructose corn syrup. Our reason is simple: we believe that real ingredients taste better.”

Natural ingredients

On its website, Caribou lists dozens of ingredients that it has refused to incorporate in its beverages, although the company says that they are present in “other coffee drinks.”

Many of the components sound distinctly scientific, such as sulfur dioxide and butylated hydroxytolune, but others may be recognized as types of sugar or artificial dyes. Some industry experts have stated that moving away from these ingredients makes good business sense.

“Almost all consumers are looking for, at least to some level, foods that are fresh, real and less-processed. That’s the holy grail for consumers right now,” said Laurie Demeritt, a chief executive at the Hartman Group, a consumer research firm specializing in food and beverages.

Finding substitutes for these ingredients has proven to be a difficult task, but Caribou says that it has done its best to find natural alternatives. For example, the company has replaced some of its artificial sugars with monk fruit extract to add sweetness to products. However, executives point out that finding one or two alternatives isn’t enough to satisfy their goals.

“It’s not just one or two pieces that we wanted to do. We are the hometown brand in Minnesota, but we are not the biggest in the [coffee] market. But our goal is to be the best,” explains senior director of product innovation Jenifer Hagness.

Higher cost of doing business

While moving to more natural products is sure to be attractive to some consumers, the company admits that doing so has translated to higher business costs.

Officials have said that the company will be absorbing much of that added cost, but some of it may trickle down to consumers. The question may eventually be whether or not consumers are willing to pay extra to satisfy their cravings for product integrity.

 “There is definitely a higher cost associated [with the ingredients], but we are doing as much as we can internally right now to stay cost neutral apart from inflation,” said Hagness.

The majority of working Millennials feel shamed for taking time off work, according to new research from Alamo Rent A Car.

“Vacation shame” was a familiar feeling for around half (49%) of U.S. workers, but young workers were most likely to report feeling shamed for planning and taking vacations from their jobs.

Last year, 59% of Millennials who responded to Alamo’s Family Vacation Survey said they felt vacation shamed. This year, the number rose to 68%. 

Millennials are more likely than non-Millennials to say that vacation shaming would keep them from planning or going on a vacation (40% compared to 17%). But across the board, feelings of guilt surrounding time off translate to unused paid vacation days.

Unused vacation days

Findings from the study showed that less than half of all workers (47%) are using all of their paid vacation days, compared with 60% in the 2015 study and 57% in the 2016 study.

Millennials were the least likely age group to say they used all of their vacation days, with 60% opting to leave unused vacation days on the table.

What’s more, nearly half (48%) of employees said they have felt the need to justify to their employer why they are using their vacation days. Of those who do muster up the emotional fortitude to use their paid time off, just one in five will actually go on a vacation. The majority choose to spend time staying home and running errands.

Forgoing rest and relaxation

"Our research shows roughly one in four U.S. workers say the biggest benefit of vacation is feeling less stressed at work -- yet, the majority still choose to limit their vacation days and forgo some much-needed rest and relaxation," said Rob Connors, vice president of brand marketing for Alamo Rent A Car.

"This year's survey suggests that American workers are putting a lot of pressure on themselves in workplaces when it comes to planning and taking vacations, especially in vacation-shaming environments,” he added.

Additional findings from the study showed that, overall, 54% of workers feel their colleagues are serious when they engage in vacation-shaming activities.

Interestingly, the generation most likely to feel vacation shamed is also the generation most likely to inflict guilt upon others. Millennials were more likely than non-Millennials to say they vacation shame their colleagues all of the time or sometimes (33% vs. 14%).

New car deals come and go. Manufacturers may offer generous incentives on one model one month, then not the next if sales suddenly surge.

The deals are designed to get consumers into the showroom and to try a particular model whose sales may have been lagging in recent months.

Kelley Blue Book (KBB) has analyzed the latest data and assembled its list of the 10 best March deals, breaking it down by leases, financing, and cash incentives.

"We're three months into 2017, and yet many dealers still have brand-new 2016 model-year vehicles sitting on their lots they can't wait to sell, and that presents a great opportunity for shoppers to get a good deal," said Jack R. Nerad, executive editorial director and executive market analyst for Kelley Blue Book's KBB.com.

Sometimes the model year makes a difference

Nerad says buying a 2016 instead of a 2017 won't make much difference if you plan to drive the car six or seven years, or longer. But it will if you plan to trade it in two or three years from now. A 2016 will be worth a little less than a comparable 2017, so keep that in mind.

The overall best deal, according to KBB, is the 2017 Infiniti QX30, priced at just over $30,000. This month KBB says you can lease the car for 39 months with $1999 down and $259 a month.

Number two on the list is the purchase of the 2016 Hyundai Veloster, which KBB says you should be able to buy for under $18,000. To sweeten the deal, you can get $4,000 cash back.

Sweet deal on a mini-van

Third on the list is a lease deal on the 2017 Toyota Sienna, which goes for around $35,000. Currently, Toyota is offering a 36-month lease for $289 a month with $1,999 down.

The 2017 Jeep Cherokee rolls in at the fourth best March deal on KBB's list. It can be purchased in most markets for just under $25,000 and comes with a $4,500 cash incentive.

The 2017 Lexus 200h is fifth, with a 36-month lease requiring $1,499 down and $249 a month on a price of just under $30,000.

The 2016 Ford Focus, 2017 Kia Optima, 2017 Volkswagen Passat, 2017 Buick Envision, and 2017 Nissan Sentra round out the top ten deals.

A "business opportunity" scheme that operated under a variety of names has been ordered to pay about $7.5 million to consumers who lost money by investing in supposed e-commerce businesses.

Using names including Building Money, Prime Cash, Wyze Money, and Titan Income, the schemes sold bogus online investment plans that typically included buying e-commerce websites or participating in a profit-sharing plan with existing sites.

Consumers paid as much as $20,000 for the "opportunities." A federal court halted the scheme and froze the defendants' assets after the Federal Trade Commission sued in October 2016.

The FTC’s complaint names the scheme’s owners, Susan Rodriguez, Matthew Rodriguez, and William “Matt” Whitley, and their companies, Advertising Strategies LLC, Internet Advertising Solutions LLC, Internet Resource Group Inc., Network Advertising Systems LLC, Network Professional Systems LLC and Network Solutions Group Inc. They are charged with violating the FTC Act and the Telemarketing Sales Rule, including calling numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry.

The cost of living one step shy of the consumer level -- referred to by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) as the Producer Price Index (PPI) for final demand -- rose at a seasonally adjusted rate of 0.3% last month.

For the 12 months ended February 2017, wholesale prices were up 2.2%, the largest advance since an increase of 2.4% in the 12 months ended March 2012.

Services and goods on the rise

Over 80% of the February advance was due to a 0.4% increase for services, the sharpest since last June. A major factor in the increase was the 4.3% surge in the price of traveler accommodation services. Costs for chemicals and allied products wholesaling; legal services; apparel wholesaling; health, beauty, and optical goods retailing; and architectural and engineering services also moved higher.

Offsetting those increases was a 10.0% plunge in the price of automotive fuels and lubricants retailing, along with declines in the costs of wireless telecommunication services and for securities brokerage, dealing, and investment advice.

Prices for goods were up 0.3%, the sixth consecutive rise. Over half of that was due to energy costs, which were up 0.6% with electricity prices surging 1.6%.

Prices for fresh and dry vegetables, jet fuel, liquefied petroleum gas, pharmaceutical preparations, and residual fuels also rose.

Gasoline costs were down 2.5%, while prices for beef and veal, and for search, detection, navigation & guidance systems, and equipment also decreased.

The core rate of inflation, which excludes the volatile food and energy categories, rose 0.3%.

The complete report is available on the BLS website.

Vulto Creamery of Walton, N.Y., is expanding its earlier recall of raw milk cheeses.

The products may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.

All lots of four additional cheeses have been added to the recall: Andes, Blue Blais, Hamden & Walton Umber.

In all, Vulto has recalled the following eight cheese items: Heinennellie, Miranda,, Willowemoc, Ouleout , Andes, Blue Blais, Hamden & Walton Umber.

Testing results have identified Ouleout product contamination, similar to the strain isolated from a cluster outbreak of Listeriosis responsible for six illnesses and two confirmed deaths.

The recalled products were distributed nationwide, with most being sold at retail locations in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states, California, Chicago Ill., Portland Ore., and Washington, D.C.

What to do

Customers who purchased the recalled products should return them to the place of purchase for a refund.

Consumers with questions may contact Vulto at 607-222-3995 Monday-Friday 9:00 am - 4:00 pm (ET) or by email at vultocreamery@gmail.com.

Hyundai Motor America is recalling 190 model year 2017 Santa Fe Sport vehicles.

The recalled vehicles have a tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) that may not have been set in the correct mode during vehicle assembly, and therefore will not provide an appropriate warning in the event of an underinflated tire.

As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 138, "Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems."

An underinflated inflated tire can increase the risk of a crash.

What to do

Hyundai will notify owners, and dealers will replace the TPMS sensors, free of charge. The recall is expected to being March 31, 2017.

Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-800-633-5151. Hyundai's number for the recall is 159.

The death of a three year-old girl in Harrisburg, Pa., over the weekend is being blamed on a hoverboard.

The child wasn't using the device. Authorities say it was plugged in and charging when it apparently overheated and triggered a fire that eventually engulfed the house, taking the child's life. Three other members of the family were critically injured.

The city's fire chief told reporters that family members heard the hoverboard making "sizzling and cracking" sounds shortly before it burst into flames. The fire chief told ABC News that hoverboards are "notorious for starting fires."

Hoverboards are self-balancing scooters that are powered by batteries. From the get-go, it seems these batteries have been a problem.

Warning to consumers

A year ago, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) counted 52 reported fires allegedly linked to hoverboards. At the time, it issued a warning to consumers to make sure any product they purchased had been tested by Underwriters Laboratories (UL). The agency said all hoverboards lacking the UL seal were subject to recall.

In a letter written 13 months ago to importers, retailers, and manufacturers, the CPSC said that unapproved scooters pose "an unreasonable risk of fire" because of problems with the lithium-ion batteries that power the self-balancing boards. At the time, it noted that at least two homes and one car had been destroyed by hoverboard fires.

Several retailers, including Amazon and Target, stopped selling hoverboards last year over safety concerns. By late 2015, most major airlines banned hoverboards from being brought onto aircraft.

What to do

If you own a hoverboard, UL recommends keeping it away from flammable materials while charging. It's also important not to over-charge the device. Follow the manufacturer's recommendation for charging time.

Also, you should only use the charger that comes with the product. If a fire does occur, call first responders immediately. UL notes that most fire extinguishers are not suitable for use with battery chemical fires.

In spite of Uber's recent clash with the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) over its driverless cars, the state appears ready to embrace the idea that cars don't need anyone behind the wheel.

Or even a wheel, for that matter.

The California DMV has come up with new regulations that would move autonomous vehicles from the testing phase to actually selling them to consumers and businesses.

The proposals are just that -- nothing has been approved. DMV says there will be a 45-day public comment period and the department will hold public hearings. The first hearings will be held on April 25 in Sacramento.

"Current law requires the department, upon application and payment of fees, to register vehicles that are being operated in the state," DMV said in the proposal.

As Wired Magazine notes in its coverage of the issue, there is no "driver's test," such as a human must pass before getting behind the wheel. The companies registering the autonomous vehicles simply "certify" that the vehicles have been tested and are ready to roll.

How is this going to work?

Drivers should probably ask themselves how comfortable they will be sharing the road with vehicles piloted only by a computer. Many safety advocates believe driverless cars will be much safer than those driven by humans, who increasingly plow into things because they are distracted.

Driverless cars are certain to be sharing the road with vehicles driven by people for many years because they are likely to be very expensive, outside the price range that the average consumer can afford. No one has really talked much about how the this mix of human and computer operated vehicles is going to work.

When Uber lauched a test of driverless vehicles in San Francisco last year, the California DMV ordered them off the road because the company had not applied for a permit. The state said Uber had to offer proof that it is financially sound, has qualified drivers, and guarantee that it will report collisions and other information to state regulators.

Rather than argue with the state, Uber moved its test of driverless vehicles to neighboring Arizona. It is also testing driverless cars in Pittsburgh.

Hot car-related deaths happen all too often in the U.S. Since 1998, an average of 37 kids per year have died from being left alone in a hot car, according to KidsAndCars.org.

Motivated by this statistic and the recent death of a 2-year-old boy from Florida, two dads set out to invent a way to keep senseless, hot car fatalities from occurring.

Fadi Shamma and Jim Friedman created the Sense A Life system, which is comprised of two parts: a foam disc that goes in the child’s car seat and a bluetooth sensor to be placed under the driver’s seat.

When the driver opens the car door, an audio alert reminds them to remove their child from the seat. If the child isn’t taken out of the car, the sensors communicate with the parent’s cell phone to let them know. If the child still hasn’t been retrieved one minute later, an alert is sent to the driver’s designated emergency contact.

Forgotten Baby Syndrome

The temperature inside a car can reach deadly levels in as little as ten minutes if the outside temperature is in the low 80s, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

When hot car tragedies occur, it is often the result of rapidly rising temperatures and a temporary glitch in a parent’s brain. While it might be tempting to think that you could never leave your child in a hot car, scientific studies say otherwise.

“Forgotten Baby Syndrome” is “where the parent completely loses awareness that the child is in the car,” David Diamond, professor of psychology, molecular pharmacology and physiology at the University of South Florida, told ABC News.

"It's our brain's habit system,” he explained. “It allows you to do things without thinking about it. That plan we have to stop a habit seems to get suppressed. We lose awareness of our plan to interrupt that habit. These different brain systems actually compete against each other."

‘Can happen to anybody’

Shamma and Friedman are also working with KidsAndCars.org to push for passage of a law that would require similar technology to be built into all new cars.

"It can happen to anybody," Shamma told The Tampa Bay Times. "You want to have that peace of mind." That peace of mind, he adds, shouldn’t come with an exceptionally high price tag.

“We want it to be in every car. We don’t want it to be a financial burden,” Shamma said. The goal is to keep the retail price under $100, the creators said.

Before bringing home their new bundle of joy, most parents take steps to ensure the nursery is filled with only the safest and most reliable products. But nursery products may not be as safe as parents think.

A new study published online today in the journal Pediatrics finds injuries to young children associated with nursery products happen at an alarming rate and the problem is only getting worse.

“We looked at nursery product-related injuries treated in hospital emergency departments across the U.S. over a 21-year period,” said Tracy Mehan, M.A., Manager of Translational Research at the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

Head injuries

“In the last eight years of the study, injuries increased almost 25 percent, and most of them were concussions or other head injuries, which can be very serious in young children,” Mehan said.

The study found that more than 66,000 children under the age of three are treated for injuries related to nursery products, such as cribs and baby carriers, each year. That’s an average of about one child every eight minutes.

Eighty percent of the injuries were caused by a child falling, and injuries were most commonly associated with baby carriers, followed closely by cribs/mattresses, and strollers. The majority of the injuries were to the head, face, or neck (81%)

Four Rs

To keep kids safe, the researchers recommend that parents and caregivers follow the 4 Rs before bringing nursery products into their home.

• Research. Go online and look at information from a trusted organization on what types or products are both useful and safe for your baby. Resources such as HealthyChildren.org, MakeSafeHappen, and cpsc.gov will have the newest research and most up-to-date recommendations.
• Check for recalls. Go to recalls.gov and search for the product you are considering purchasing to see if it has been recalled. You might also want to sign up to receive alerts about future recalls since there's a new recall for a nursery product about every two weeks in the U.S.
• Register your product. When you bring a new product into your home, register the purchase with the manufacturer. This will ensure you’re notified if the product is recalled.
• Read the manual. To reduce the risk of injury to your child, make sure you learn how the product works. Read the manual to learn when to lock it, when to buckle, where to use it, and where not to use it. Additionally, make sure that the product is the right one for your child’s age and size.

Volunteering is a great way to promote positive change and make a difference in your community, but researchers say that the benefits don’t stop there.

Two studies published by a team from Ghent University show that volunteers enjoy greater health benefits than the average person. After analyzing 40,000 European citizens, the researchers found that volunteers were, on average, as healthy as non-volunteers who were five years younger or natives of the area (as opposed to migrants, who generally enjoy fewer health benefits overall.)

“We found that, overall, volunteers have a health score which is statistically significantly higher than those who do not volunteer. This total association turned out to be substantial,” the researchers said.

Three possible explanations

But what is it about volunteering that imparts health benefits? The researchers believe that there are three possible explanations for the association.

The first is that volunteering improves access to psychological resources that non-volunteers don’t always have. The researchers point out that doing work on a volunteer basis can provide social support and improve self-esteem and self-efficacy, all of which has been tied to greater health outcomes.

Secondly, they state that volunteering increases physical and cognitive activity, which can help protect against functional decline and brain-related diseases like dementia in old age. Lastly, they explain that the activity releases certain hormones like oxytocin and progesterone, which regulate stress and inflammation in the body.

The researchers’ findings were gathered after analyzing information from 29 European countries that took part in the European Social Survey, which was conducted in 2012 and 2013.

The full studies have been published in Economics Letters and PLOS ONE.

Being bullied when you’re a child can leave some physical and psychological scars, but a new study shows that it can also lead to other lasting health problems.

Researchers from the Mayo Clinic have found that those who are bullied when they are young are at increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, and several other conditions when they become adults. They say the cause is likely related to chronic stress exposure.

"Bullying, as a form of chronic social stress, may have significant health consequences if not addressed early. We encourage child health professionals to assess both the mental and physical health effects of bullying,” said Dr. Susannah Tye. "Once dismissed as an innocuous experience of childhood, bullying is now recognized as having significant psychological effects, particularly with chronic exposure.”

Stress exposure

The Mayo Clinic study is not the first to investigate the health effects of bullying. Previous research has touched on its physical symptoms, many of which are recurrent and thus far unexplained. However, this new study comes in the wake of recent research on the negative health effects of chronic stress.

The researchers state that consistent exposure to social stress creates “wear and tear” on the body – a process called allostatic load -- that is distinct from short-term periods of stress.

"When an individual is exposed to brief periods of stress, the body can often effectively cope with the challenge and recover back to baseline," explains Tye. "Yet, with chronic stress, this recovery process may not have ample opportunity to occur, and allostatic load can build to a point of overload. In such states of allostatic overload, physiological processes critical to health and well-being can be negatively impacted."

The researchers tie several physical changes to allostatic load, including alterations to inflammatory, hormonal, metabolic, and stress responses. Over time, those changes can lead to conditions like depression, diabetes, heart disease, and a host of psychiatric disorders.

Preventing bullying

While Tye and her colleagues state that there is no proof of a cause-and-effect relationship between bullying and these various maladies, they say that monitoring bullying and stopping it early may go a long way towards improving consumers' health.

"It is important that we appreciate the biological processes linking these psychological and physiological phenomena, including their potential to impact long-term health. . . Asking about bullying...represents a practical first step towards intervening to prevent traumatic exposure and reduce risk for further psychiatric and related morbidities,” the team concludes.

The full study has been published in the Harvard Review of Psychiatry.