Blog Posts by Book of Odds

Posted By: Jessica Ruvinsky

Lauren Conrad calls her recent weight gain "the boyfriend layer," and scientifically speaking, she's right: Relationships are bad for your waistline. Young adults are more likely to become overweight or obese once they settle down with a partner-and the more settled, the more obese. According to a study published in 2009, getting married doubles the odds of weight gain.

The researchers wanted to know why couples tend to be similarly sized. Do fat people marry each other? Or does living together itself pack on the pounds? It wouldn't be hard to find a weight-matched mate; 1 in 3.91 (26%) US adults are obese. But only 22% say they are looking mostly for physical appearance in a potential date.

An ambitious longitudinal study called Add Health followed young adults for five years and found that getting married makes both men and women more likely to become obese. Moving in together instead of marrying is no solution-especially for women. Nutrition

Posted By: Jessica Tanenbaum
organic food;organicIStock Photo 5697170 © Stephanie Horrocks

With even Wal-Mart carrying organic produce, you might think America is on the fast track to a pesticide-free future. But hold your horseradish-it ain't necessarily so.

It's true that more and more consumers are keeping their eyes peeled for the "organic" label, which, no longer signifying the shriveled turnips and gritty lettuce leaves of its infancy, has blossomed into a sign of quality. No one wants to eat a pesticide-sprayed peach. But crunch into an organic apple, and according to popular opinion, you'll enjoy a delicious, healthy, and eco-conscious gift from Mother Earth.

Over a third of Americans, 1 in 2.56, believe organic food is yummier. If the White House's new organic veggies didn't taste good, would Michelle Obama really put in the work?

Consumers aren't just impressed with the taste of organic food. Most people-1 in 1.32(76%)-think organic food is healthier, and 1 in 1.27(79%) believe

Posted By: Zachary Turpin IStock Photo 3730371 © David Livingston

What do Mao Zedong and Howard Hughes have in common?

In maturity, especially later in life, neither one brushed his teeth. Ever.

Hughes-inventor of one of the largest planes in history, owner of Trans-World Airlines, blockbusting director, millionaire (for a while the world's wealthiest man), and aviation pioneer (a transcontinental airspeed record-holder)-was also a lifelong obsessive-compulsive germaphobe. His fixation on germs began in childhood, after a polio scare prompted his mother to keep him isolated. Later in life, a horrific plane crash exacerbated his paranoia and isolation, and led to a painkiller addiction. His aversion to the toothbrush stemmed from its ability to carry invisible contaminants.

The mastermind of China's Communist revolution and the author of the "Little Red Book," on the other hand, simply preferred not to brush. Instead, Chairman Mao rubbed his teeth with green tea leaves,

Posted By: Alison Caverly
The Bachelor;Bachelor finale;ABC

IStock Photo 2687503 © arsenik

Viewers of ABC's The Bachelor have come to expect certain things. There's always a heaping spoonful of envy- and alcohol- induced drama (prime instigator this season: Vienna). You can count on rose ceremonies (how many times can we hear, "the most dramatic rose ceremony yet"?), scenic helicopter rides, mood music (this season isn't called "On the Wings of Love" for nothing), tearful confessions ("I'm just not used to sharing my boyfriend with five other girls!"), hometown visits, hot tub escapades, and 24 women "sent home, broken-hearted." One thing The Bachelor's audience hasn't been conditioned to expect: a happy ending.

This season's Bachelor, Jake Pavelka-a commercial pilot and self-proclaimed "nice guy"-has made his intentions very clear. "Finding a wife is the most important thing in the world to me," the show's painfully earnest star maintains. But as the world gears up for Monday night's season finale, in

Posted By: Alyssa Demirjian
IStock Photo 3877454 © Stephan Zabel
Can exercise land you in the hospital, or even worse, the morgue?

In 2008, Max Gilpin, a 15-year-old offensive lineman for his high school football team, was running sprints up and down the field at a practice held in blistering Kentucky August heat. Coach David Jason Stinson was so relentless that one player collapsed and another quit. Max persisted, but his body gave out. Stretched across the ground, he drifted in and out of consciousness, his pulse rate and body temperature skyrocketing. Twenty minutes passed before an assistant coach called 911. By the time Max got to the hospital, his core body temperature was 107. He died three days later of heat stroke, septic shock, and organ failure.

Max was the third high school football player to die that year of heat-related injuries, but it is just one of many cases in which coaches push their athletes to injury. In 2006, a middle school gym teacher assigned a class

Posted By: Dan Loeterman

IStock Photo 9034086 © Andy Medina

Parents often warn: "Brush your teeth or you'll get a cavity; floss or you'll lose a tooth."

But here's one thing your mother didn't tell you: Clean those gums well, or you could end up with heart disease.

For years, studies have been conducted looking for links between gum disease and heart disease, but results varied, mainly because different methods were used. A recent meta-analysis, which reviewed 143 prior studies but only seven in depth, concluded that periodontal disease is a risk factor for heart disease "that is independent of traditional…risk factors, including socioeconomic status." And now there's a consensus from cardiologists and periodontists. However, they say more research is needed because a definitive study has not yet been done.

The call for the new study was made in July in a consensus paper co-authored by these two groups. The paper, which looked at the recent meta-analysis and other

Posted By: Renata Pomponi
teen;teen runaway

IStock Photo 1185545 © nuno

At some point, every adolescent imagines how life might be better away from parental influence; but the harsh realities of economic recession now seem to be pushing more of them to actually leave home, joining the growing number of teen runaways in the US. The odds a homeless person being sheltered is younger than 18 are 1 in 4.9. That's bad enough, but more more and more teens may be taking their chances on the street.

Government figures for teen runaways have not been updated since an estimate of 1.6 million per year was published in 2002, but informal evidence seems to indicate that the problem has been growing during the downturn, with more children turning to outreach programs over the past two years than ever before. Family financial stress is a major contributing factor. Police and social workers from cities as diverse as Atlanta, Salt Lake City, and Louisville have reported an increase in the number of runaways,

Posted By: Jessica Ruvinsky

IStock Photo 4424358 © Marie Fields

Most medical research suggests that vitamins are a good way to create expensive pee. Many of us take them anyway. Fifty-three percent of men swallow a multivitamin at least once a week, the same as the odds (1 in 1.89) that an adult drinks traditional coffee in a day. Even more women, 1 in 1.57 (64%), take their vitamins.

That's almost exactly the odds an adult considers him- or herself to be a healthy eater (1 in 1.56)-and hopefully not because he or she has a tablespoonful of vitameatavegamin after every meal. Nutrition can come from a balanced diet, even more easily now (thanks to fortified food) than when Lucille Ball declared "The answer to all your problems is in this little bottle."

It seems logical that multi-vitamins would be beneficial. Certainly, not having enough can be bad: vitamin C deficiency causes scurvy, vitamin D deficiency causes rickets. But having more than enough may not be better. The