The dramatic question Hollywood filmmakers is "To insure or not to insure?" are asking about Lindsay Lohan following her legal troubles this week.
It is an important question, too, because whether companies insure Lohan's future movies may determine whether she will quickly fall off Hollywood's A-list.

But Lohan fans have little to fear because no actor is uninsurable, say underwriting experts. While some producers may balk at conditions for hiring problematic stars, experts say that unless an actor is serving time in prison, even the most volatile can be covered -- albeit at a high cost.

"For a price, anything can be done, although an insurance carrier can make things so unpalatable that at times the makers of the film just won't be interested," said Ross Miller, partner with insurance brokerage D.R. Reiff & Associates Inc.

Lohan's arrest this week in Los Angeles on suspicion of drunken driving and cocaine possession has left Hollywood wondering if the actress, who shot to fame as a child in Disney films like "The Parent Trap," is too risky to cast in a film. Timeline: Lindsay Lohan's troubles »

It remains to be seen whether her latest relapse and brush with the law will cost her a role in "Poor Things," a film produced by and starring Oscar-winner Shirley MacLaine. Photo See a gallery of Lohan's films »

A statement was expected early next week on whether the movie, already delayed this spring due to an earlier rehab stint by Lohan, will proceed with or without her.

Insurance experts say the industry has long dealt with similar situations, although they may seem more frequent with the recent heavy media scrutiny of Lohan and fellow troubled party girls Paris Hilton and Britney Spears.

"I don't think it (a problematic artist) is any more of an issue," said Wendy Diaz, entertainment underwriting director at Fireman's Fund Insurance Co., the leading film underwriter. "It's pretty standard year to year."

But Diaz did say the terms for covering Lohan would likely be "serious at this point."

Don't Miss

She said Fireman's Fund, in such a case, would likely put in higher deductibles, or ask the star to put their salary into escrow to pay for any losses if production was disrupted.

Last July, a producer on Lohan's last film, "Georgia Rule," scolded her publicly for repeatedly showing up late on the set, costing the movie's makers hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Brian Kingman, a managing director with entertainment insurance broker Aon/Albert G. Ruben said covering situations like Lohan's required a lot of calculation and risk management.

Insurance rates for errant actors can range anywhere from 1 percent to 3 percent of a movie's production budget, which can range from $5 million to $100 million or more, he said.

"Filmmakers fall in love with certain actors for certain roles and my job is to find risk-takers to take on the risk," Kingman said.

He said actors were always required to undergo a medical exam before getting insurance. In certain circumstances, drug screening is conducted and actors are required to provide blood and urine samples. In cases of known drug abuse, "minders" are sometimes required on set to keep an eye on the actor.
Kingman said he had even helped craft policies for actors in the event they risked the possibility of incarceration.

"I have been successful in finding and creating incarceration coverage for certain actors on probation which can be revoked if they break certain rules," he said, citing the case of Robert Downey Jr., another high-profile star with a history of legal, drug and alcohol problems.


courtesy : Reuters

James Bain on applematter.com write nice review:
I find it worthwhile to do review updates, particularly when a company does something new or different with their products. A new version, for example, is certainly reason to revisit a product.

I have looked at both the iFrogz Tadpole children’s case for Video iPod, and their more adult cases before, but iFrogz has done something new. In both cases, we’re looking at more of a repackaging than an upgrade, but both are repackaged or represented in ways that I think notably improve their value.

The Tadpole case was meant for parents to pop a Video iPod into and then hand to their kids to watch some kid show or movie on. When I first looked at it, I said that I thought it was an excellent idea, but one that adults would have to consider carefully. Too much passive video isn’t really good, IMHO, for forming young brains, but darn it, there are times when being able to pull out a bit of Dora the Explorer would save the day. The case itself, to recap, has friendly big handles for little hands to hold onto, and just enough rubber to make sure your precious iPod doesn’t get whacked around too much. Coming with iFrogz’s signature cover screens and sticker art, you can customize it for either yourself or your small one.

Another thing, quantity of video consumed aside, that made me stop was the matter of headphones. The advisability of handing your only pair of earbuds, perhaps, to your child seems sort of reckless. And the usual earbud experience involves embedding them into your ears. Either the children’s ears might be too small for them or, most importantly, the sound could be made much too loud. It’s hard to adjust sound levels for something else and very few two-year-olds understand decibels. Dora just seems to be talking a bit louder, and they don’t notice the ear damage.

That’s verbose, but I thought that another pair of cheaper over-the-ear headphones would be advisable, and wanted everyone to be sure to use the volume limiting function on any iPod handed to a child. I can’t think of any way to force the Tadpole itself to limit volume, but their new package comes bundled with a very kid-friendly set of over-the-ear phones that are obviously designed for the less agile, younger, and perhaps a bit sloppier iPod user. All plastic, with no foam for very young kids to gnaw off, they wipe clean easily and are small enough not to fall off readily. Way too small for my head, they just barely fit my seven-year-old’s.

If you were at all leery about getting a Tadpole case for occasional sharing of your Video iPod with young children, I say look at this package. The headphones truly improve the product and they are really the first children’s headphones I have seen. There might be others out there, but I haven’t seen them.

Secondly, I have reviewed the iFrogz rubber cases before. They have a silky silicon rubber that doesn’t collect dirt and dust and are still my very favourite casual, non-ruggedized cases.

The problem with them, if you see it as a problem, is that you can’t buy them in stores. It’d be impossible. The great draw of them is their vast customizability. You can choose from a huge selection of click wheel art, or even get your own photos made into click wheel covers! Pick a cover colour and a side band colour and those together with your click wheel really do give you thousands and thousands of custom choices.

But what if you’re not feeling that creative, or want to give someone a case without worrying about whether your idea of what they would like is the same as what they’d like?

iFrogz have now bundled their cases in a package with one sleeve, a variety of matching bands, and a selection of theme-based click wheel art. It’s a great way to give a present immediately, without giving a gift certificate. And though I haven’t seen them yet in stores, I can now imagine retailers being able to carry a selection for anyone to choose and walk home with.

I enjoyed the anticipation of waiting for a custom case, but if you need one right away, either for a present or as a personal case, now is a good option too. Plus the iFrogz are such good cases that perhaps their real quality will push some of the really cruddy cases I’ve seen right out of the market. Which would be a good thing.

Take a look at their selection and I’m sure you’ll see something for someone you know who might be harder to buy for, or for yourself even.

So, two repackagings. Both great ideas and both well done. Very well done.

source

For all its swank and glamour, a formal afternoon tea still has a place in British society. Of course, you'll see Russians surrounded by shopping bags and bodyguards, Japanese photographing the teapot and Americans buried in guidebooks. But you'll hear British accents, too, as they celebrate, or seduce, or do a deal. (Meaning you should book that teatime at least six weeks ahead; these are popular spots.)

he Ritz has been serving tea ($72) in the flowery, domed Palm Court, where golden cupids frolic around the ceiling, for a hundred years. It's so romantically over the top that if you aren't in love when you sit down, you soon will be, if only with the baby-carrot cake. Waiters in swallow-tailed coats bear many silver trays of tea sandwiches; the smoked salmon ones are especially fine.

Once the tearoom at Brown's Hotel was quite, well, brown; now that the hotel has been given a stylish shake by new owner Rocco Forte, the golden oak paneling is joined by modern olive and cranberry low-slung chairs, attracting the trendy without scaring the traditionalists. The smart little pastries look like something from nearby art galleries, but there are also the tea-sopping cakes -- Victoria sponge, Dundee cake -- that have partnered with tea here forever ($65).

If you crave more of a high tea -- and remember, a high tea means a workingman's supper -- The Dorchester has a very highfalutin one ($85), with main courses like poached salmon. The Dorchester stands out for its emphasis on house-made treats and seasonal ingredients. Choices change with the chef's mood: One day may bring a caramelized-pineapple brûlée, another rose-petal jam. The afternoon tea starts at $57.
Don't Miss

* Budget Travel: Pinkies in! A guide to teatime
* Budget Travel: Five hotels: London

Sleek art deco drama is Claridge's keynote: The china lacks the rosy-posies you find elsewhere, and the room is lit for intimacy. Walls are hung with photos of past patrons, including the Duchess of Windsor, and there's a discreet buzz in the darkened room; it's not surprising, as champagne appears on many tables. This is a sensuous sort of teatime ($62), where the chocolate cake is an uncivilized ooze.

Another worthwhile tea ($39) is at The Wolseley, the clubby, high-ceilinged café on Piccadilly where the waiters barely stop short of kissing hands. The sparkling space is prime territory for the dealmakers and the diamond-adorned, the bankers and the Beckhams. After a subtle ogle at the crowd, eyes drop to the plates: Finger sandwiches march in precision, scones break open with a twist of the wrist. This is where old and new England meet at the tea table.

If you go ...

The Ritz London 150 Piccadilly, 011-44/20-7493-8181, http://www.theritzlondon.com/

Brown's Hotel 33 Albemarle St., 011-44/20-7493-6020, http://www.brownshotel.com/

The Dorchester 53 Park Ln., 011-44/20-7629-8888, http://www.thedorchester.com/

Claridge's 49 Brooke St., 011-44/20-7629-8860, http://www.claridges.co.uk/

The Wolseley 160 Piccadilly, 011-44/20-7499-6996, http://www.thewolseley.com/ E-mail to a friend E-mail to a friend

Copyright 2007. Newsweek Budget Travel, Inc.

Note:This story was accurate when it was published. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.


courtesy : Budget Travel Online

Maybe I'm the wrong ex-patient to be telling you this: Experimental surgery erased Stage III colon cancer from my shell-shocked body six years ago. But even I've got to admit that all is not well in America's operating rooms: At least 12,000 Americans die each year from unnecessary surgery, according to a Journal of the American Medical Association report. And tens of thousands more suffer complications.

The fact is, no matter how talented the surgeon, the body doesn't much care about the doc's credentials. Surgery is a trauma, and the body responds as such -- with major blood loss and swelling, and all manner of nerve and pain signals that can stick around sometimes for months.

Those are but a few reasons to try to minimize elective surgery. And I found even more after talking with more than 25 experts involved in various aspects of surgery and surgical care, and after reviewing a half-dozen governmental and medical think tank reports on surgery in the United States. Here's what you need to know about five surgeries that are overused and alternative solutions that may be worth a look.

Hysterectomy

There's long been a concern, at least among many women, about the high rates of hysterectomy (a procedure to remove the uterus) in the United States. American women undergo twice as many hysterectomies per capita as British women and four times as many as Swedish women.

The surgery is commonly used to treat persistent vaginal bleeding or to remove benign fibroids and painful endometriosis tissue. If both the uterus and ovaries are removed, it takes away sources of estrogen and testosterone. Without these hormones, the risk of heart disease and osteoporosis rises markedly. There are also potential side effects: pelvic problems, lower sexual desire and reduced pleasure. Hysterectomies got more negative press after a landmark 2005 University of California, Los Angeles study revealed that, unless a woman is at very high risk of ovarian cancer, removing her ovaries during hysterectomy actually raised her health risks.

So why are doctors still performing the double-whammy surgery? "Our profession is entrenched in terms of doing hysterectomies," says Ernst Bartsich, M.D., a gynecological surgeon at Weill-Cornell Medical Center in New York. "I'm not proud of that. It may be an acceptable procedure, but it isn't necessary in so many cases." In fact, he adds, of the 617,000 hysterectomies performed annually, "from 76 to 85 percent" may be unnecessary.

Although hysterectomy should be considered for uterine cancer, some 90 percent of procedures in the United States today are performed for reasons other than treating cancer, according to William H. Parker, M.D., clinical professor of gynecology at UCLA and author of the '05 study. The bottom line, he says: If a hysterectomy is recommended, get a second opinion and consider the alternatives.

What to do instead

Go knife-free. Endometrial ablation, a nonsurgical procedure that targets the uterine lining, is another fix for persistent vaginal bleeding. Health.com: Your guide to fibroid fixes

Focus on fibroids. Fibroids are a problem for 20 to 25 percent of women, but there are several specific routes to relief that aren't nearly as drastic as hysterectomy. For instance, myomectomy, which removes just the fibroids and not the uterus, is becoming increasingly popular. And there are other less-invasive treatments out there, too.

In France in the early 1990s, a doctor who was prepping women for fibroid surgery -- by blocking, or embolizing, the arteries that supplied blood to the fibroids in the uterus -- noticed a number of the benign tumors either soon shrank or disappeared, and, voila, Jacques Ravina, M.D,. had discovered uterine fibroid embolization.

Since then, interventional radiologists in the United States have expanded their use of UFE (typically a one- to three-hour procedure), using injectable pellets that shrink and "starve" fibroids into submission. Based on research from David Siegel, M.D., chief of vascular and interventional radiology at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, New Hyde Park, New York, 15,000 to 18,000 UFEs are performed here each year, and up to 80 percent of women with fibroids are candidates for it.

Another new fibroid treatment is high-intensity focused ultrasound, or HIFU. This even less invasive, more forgiving new procedure treats and shrinks fibroids. It's what's called a no-scalpel surgery that combines MRI (an imaging machine) mapping followed by powerful sound-wave "shaving" of tumor tissue.

Episiotomy

It can sound so simple and efficient when an OB-GYN lays out all the reasons why she performs episiotomy before delivery. After all, it's logical that cutting or extending the vaginal opening along the perineum (between the vagina and anus) would reduce the risk of pelvic-tissue tears and ease childbirth. But studies show that severing muscles in and around the lower vaginal wall (it's more than just skin) causes as many or more problems than it prevents. Pain, irritation, muscle tears, and incontinence are all common aftereffects of episiotomy.

Last year the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists released new guidelines that said that episiotomy should no longer be performed routinely -- and the numbers have dropped. Many doctors now reserve episiotomy for cases when the baby is in distress. But the rates (about 25 percent in the United States) are still much too high, experts say, and some worry that it's because women aren't aware that they can decline the surgery.

"We asked women who'd delivered vaginally with episiotomy in 2005 whether they had a choice," says Eugene Declercq, Ph.D., main author of the leading national survey of childbirth in America, "Listening to Mothers II," and professor of maternal and child health at the Boston University School of Public Health. "We found that only 18 percent said they had a choice, while 73 percent said they didn't." In other words, about three of four women in childbirth were not asked about the surgery they would soon face in an urgent situation. "Women often were told, 'I can get the baby out quicker,'" Declercq says, as opposed to doctors actually asking them, 'Would you like an episiotomy?'"

What to do instead

Communicate. The time to prevent an unnecessary episiotomy is well before labor, experts agree. When choosing an OB-GYN practice, ask for its rate of episiotomy. And when you get pregnant, have your preference to avoid the surgery written on your chart.

Get ready with Kegels. Working with a nurse or midwife may reduce the chance of such surgery, experts say; she can teach Kegel exercises for stronger vaginal muscles, or perform perineal and pelvic-floor massage before and during labor. Health.com: Me and my Kegels

Angioplasty

Every year in the United States, surgeons perform 1.2 million angioplasties, during which a cardiologist uses tiny balloons and implanted wire cages known as stents to unclog arteries. This Roto-Rooter-type approach is less invasive and has a shorter recovery period than bypass, which is open-heart surgery.

The problem: A groundbreaking study of more than 2,000 heart patients indicated that a completely nonsurgical method -- heart medication -- was just as beneficial as angioplasty and stents in keeping arteries open in many patients.

The bottom line: Angioplasty did not appear to prevent heart attacks or save lives among nonemergency heart subjects in the study.

What to do instead

Take the right meds. If the study is right, medications may be as strong as steel. "If you have chest pain and are stable, you can take medicines that do the job of angioplasty," says William Boden, M.D., of the University of Buffalo School of Medicine, Buffalo, New York, and an author of the study. Medicines used in the study included aspirin, and blood pressure and cholesterol drugs -- and they were taken along with exercise and diet changes. Health.com: Keep your heart healthy

"If those don't work, then you can have angioplasty," Boden says. "Now we can unequivocally say that."

Of course, what's right for you depends on the severity of your atherosclerosis risks (blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides) along with any heart-related pain. The onus is also on the patient to treat a doc's lifestyle recommendations -- diet and exercise guidelines -- just as seriously as if they were prescription medicines.

Heartburn surgery

A whopping 60 million Americans experience heartburn at least once a month; 16 million deal with it daily. So it's no wonder that after suffering nasty symptoms (intense stomach-acid backup or near-instant burning in the throat and chest after just a few bites), patients badly want to believe surgery can provide a quick fix. And, for some, it does.

A procedure called nissen fundoplication can help control acid reflux and its painful symptoms by restoring the open-and-close valve function of the esophagus. But Jose Remes-Troche, M.D., of the Institute of Science, Medicine, and Nutrition in Mexico, reported in The American Journal of Surgery that symptoms don't always go away after the popular procedure, which involves wrapping a part of the stomach around the weak part of the esophagus.

"That may be because surgery doesn't directly affect healing capacity or dietary or lifestyle choices, which in turn can lead to recurrence in a hurry," he says.

The surgery can come undone, and side effects may include bloating and trouble swallowing. Remes-Troche believes it's best for very serious cases of long-standing gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD, or for those at risk of Barrett's esophagus, a disease of the upper gastrointestinal tract that follows years of heartburn affliction and can be a precursor to esophageal cancer.

What to do instead

Make lifestyle changes. A combination of diet, exercise, and acid-reducing medication may help sufferers beat the burn without going under the knife. But it's a treatment that requires perseverance.

"It took me four years of appointments, diets, drugs, sleeping on slant beds -- and even yoga -- to keep my heartburn manageable," says Debbie Bunten, 44, a Silicon Valley business-development manager for a software firm, who was eager to avoid surgery. "But I did it, and am glad I did." Health.com: Feel better, naturally

Pose for a picture. Another technological development can make a heartburn diagnosis easier to swallow -- a tiny camera pill that beams pictures of your esophagus (14 shots per second) through your neck to a receiver or computer in the doctor's office; it passes harmlessly out of your system four to six hours later. The device can be used instead of standard endoscopy to screen chronic-heartburn sufferers for various esophageal complaints, including GERD, which can develop into the potentially precancerous Barrett's esophagus. Unlike an endoscopy, in which you're sedated and a lighted tube is snaked down your throat, a capsule camera leaves you wide awake and is finished within 20 minutes, says Pillcam guru David Fleischer, M.D., a staff physician in gastroenterology and hepatology, and professor of medicine at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine. If anesthesia makes you sick, the capsule camera may be for you.

Lower-back surgery

Since the 1980s, operations for lower-back pain and sciatica have increased roughly 50 percent, from approximately 200,000 to more than 300,000 surgeries annually in the United States. That rise is largely due to minimally invasive advances that include endoscopic keyhole tools used in tandem with magnified video output.

To its credit, surgery (endoscopic or the traditional lumbar-disc repair) does relieve lower-back pain in 85 to 90 percent of cases, docs say. "Yet the relief is sometimes temporary," says Christopher Centeno, M.D., director of the brand new Centeno-Schultz Pain Clinic near Denver, Colorado. And that adds up to tens of thousands of frustrated patients who find the promise of surgery was overwrought or short-lived.

What to do instead

Try painkillers and exercise. Despite the relentless nature of lower-back pain, the most common cause is a relatively minor problem -- muscle strain -- not disc irritation, disc rupture, or even a bone problem, experts say. Despite its severity, this type of spine pain most often subsides within a month or two. That's why surgery, or any other invasive test or treatment beyond light exercise or painkillers, is rarely justified within the first month of a complaint. Even pain caused by a bulging or herniated disc "resolves on its own within a year in some 60 percent of cases," orthopedists claim.

"Seventy to eighty percent of the time we can get to a concrete diagnosis, find a way to manage pain, and get patients off the drugs without surgery," Centeno says. "Or, more appropriately, never start the drugs."

"We used to prescribe 30 days bed rest for patients with herniated discs, but that was 15 to 20 years ago," says Venu Akuthota, M.D., medical director of the Spine Center at University of Colorado Hospital and associate professor of medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. "Actually, movement is very helpful for treating back conditions. Nowadays, we prescribe moderate, low-impact exercise, like walking, or working out on an elliptical trainer or treadmill." Health.com: The best new pain cures

Learn about stem cells. I've seen the future of back surgery firsthand. And it looked to me, from behind my surgical mask, as if a woman's bare behind was doing much of the work. Up close, huddled inside the Centeno-Schultz Pain Center, I joined a team of M.Ds., a Ph.D., and two nurses to witness orthopedic history in vivo: an adult stem cell transplant to help bones and joints grow anew.

In the midst of the huddle, Centeno, the back- and neck-pain specialist, is plunging a needle that looks big enough to use on a horse deep into the hip bone of a 54-year-old weekend athlete and skier who's been forced to the sidelines by injury and long-term lower-back pain. The patient is tired of pain pills but wary of major surgery. Instead she's undergoing one of the first ASC orthopedic transplants in the nation.

The harvested stem cells will be used to grow millions of new ones that will be implanted in her back to spur and regenerate more youthful, healthy joint tissue -- if all goes as planned in this part of an ongoing study approved by a medical research institutional review board, that is. So far, at least, it has. Early MRI pictures of related procedures have shown impressive growth of regenerative tissue. And there's even better news: By using the patient's own stem cells, the surgical team avoids the ethical debate over using embryonic tissue for research purposes. (by Curt Pesmen).


courtesy : HEALTH Magazine

Students who had more math courses in high school did better in all types of science once they got to college, researchers say.

On the other hand, while high school courses in biology, chemistry or physics improved college performance in each of the individual sciences, taking a high school course in one science didn't result in better college performance in the others.

Philip M. Sadler of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and Robert H. Tai of the University of Virginia surveyed 8,474 students taking introductory science courses at 63 U.S. colleges and universities. Their findings are reported in Friday's edition of the journal Science.

Science educators debate the effect of the order in which students take science courses. Since the 1890s biology has tended to come first, followed by chemistry and then physics.

Some educators argue that physics should be taught earlier because it will help students understand the other two science areas; others say having chemistry first will help in learning biology.

But in this study neither was the case.

Using a scale of 0-to-100 points, Sadler and Tai found that every year of high school math a student took added 1.86 points to their grade in college chemistry. Taking chemistry in high school added 1.72 points to the college grade, but taking biology or physics in high school had no significant impact on the college chemistry grade.

Likewise, students taking college biology got a 1.84 point boost for each year of high school math. Taking high school biology got them an extra 1.35 points, but high school chemistry and physics had no significant effect.

And for physics, each year of high school math added 1.28 points, high school physics gave a 1.32 point boost, while high school biology and chemistry had no impact.

"I was surprised," Sadler said in a telephone interview. "I had a very open mind about whether this kind of early preparation would pay off."

"The most important thing for high school science teachers is to make sure there is lots of math in whatever science course they teach," Sadler said. "Math is so important in college science."

The paper does note that other variables not measured in their study may also have an impact, such as a student's interest in a particular subject and their parents' occupations.

Gerry Wheeler, executive director of the National Science Teachers Association, welcomed the paper as a source of new data for making decisions on science teaching.

"The correlation with math makes sense," he said.

But Wheeler, who was not part of the research group, cautioned that a correlation isn't necessarily the same as cause and effect.

The research was supported by the National Science Foundation.


courtesy : The Associated Press

Matt Leinart's ex-girlfriend, Brynn Cameron, reveals that when it comes to parenting, she's the star quarterback.

"It's kind of hard for me as the mom, I'm with Cole" – her 9-month-old son with Leinart – "probably 99.9 percent of the time – to open a magazine or read a newspaper article with Matt saying, 'Oh, I love being a dad. I love changing diapers. I love doing this.' I'm like, Wait, what?" Cameron, 21, tells the Ventura County Star.

"It's been hard when I'm doing all the work, but he gets all the credit," she says.

Arizona Cardinals 6'5" quarterback Leinart, 24, and University of Southern California basketball Cameron dated briefly but later split in 2006. Cameron currently lives with her parents and the baby, whose full name is Cole Cameron Leinart.

Although Leinart recently gushed about being a father, Cameron has her own strong feelings. The former USC quarterback "comes and goes whenever he wants," she says.

"I don't want to sit here and bad-mouth his lifestyle," she says, "but it is hard because we are different people. He likes that Hollywood stuff and I don't like that."

Leinart, who has been linked to Paris Hilton, will join his Cardinals teammates at training camp in late July. Cameron plans to return to campus this fall.

"It's hard, but I have to raise Cole to be a strong, secure kid so he knows what's right and wrong, what's good and bad and what really matters in life, which isn't what's going on in Hollywood or who's dating who," says Cameron. ''That's not what it's all about, and I think he'll know that being raised by me."


courtesy : PEOPLE

The English-born Australian actress Naomi Watts has given birth to her first child, a boy, her publicist said Thursday.

Watts, 38, and partner actor Liev Schreiber, welcomed Alexander Peter Schreiber Wednesday, slightly ahead of schedule, said publicist Robin Baum.

"The parents are ecstatic, and both Mom and baby are doing great," Baum said.

Media reports said they were resting at a hospital near Watts' home in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Brentwood.

"King Kong" star Watts and Schreiber, who appeared in all three "Scream" movies, have been dating for two years. They appeared together in the 2006 film "The Painted Veil."


courtesy : AOL

It's been one year since Lance Bass revealed exclusively to PEOPLE that he is gay – and now he's celebrating the occasion on his blog.

The former 'N Sync heartthrob posted a lengthy message on his official MySpace page Friday proclaiming "Happy Anniversary! To me!" and thanking supporters before requesting a special gift.

Below is a portion of his message:
So it was a year ago that I decided to let the world know who I really am ... and I swear it has been the most amazing experience. Scary at times, but in the end the best thing I have ever done. I want to thank everyone that has been so supportive and showing that this world has and will continue to change in the right direction.

Also, as an Anniversary gift for me ... think about doing this ...
If you are having trouble being yourself, and are scared to tell someone you are gay – find that loyal friend, family member, or even hotline and tell someone.

Or, if you have always wanted to ask that family member or friend if they were gay ... do it now ... in a very positive and private way, tell them it is OK and you will always be there no matter what. Sometimes it's easier for someone to just flat out ask you.

Bass, 28, is currently linked to Brazilian model Pedro Andrade, but was dating Amazing Race winner Reichen Lehmkuhl when he came out last July. The couple split in January.


courtesy : PEOPLE

Despite having one of the best bodies in the business, Heidi Klum says she has struggled with her weight.

"I was never a skinny, skinny type – the more I tried, the worse it was. I'd think about food more than ever," the Project Runway host and judge, 34, tells Britain's Easy Living magazine.

"They'd say 'You have to lose weight', and I'd be like, 'All I can think about is muffins!' " she says. "I don't want to get too skinny. I still want to have a round, womanly figure."

The German-born mom of three (8-month-old Johan, Henry,1, and Leni, 3) and wife to singer Seal since 2005, claims that doing what makes you happy and being there for your children are the keys to a healthy lifestyle.

She further admits to trying to cut carbs and candy to lose some pregnancy weight, but is "not a freak with working out and food."

She admits, "I always eat the profiteroles. I eat the pasta when I want it."

And who can tell? Klum is smoking hot in photos from the September issue of Arena magazine, which are burning up the Internet.

"I used to complain that I couldn't seem to fit into the clothes for the edgy fashion shows, but I found my own path," she says in the Arena article accompanying the very revealing pics.

Stephen Colbert's disdain for all things left is growing.
The host of "The Colbert Report" revealed on Thursday night's show that he broke his left wrist while running around the New York studio before taping a recent episode. Colbert removed a large "No. 1" foam hand to unmask a small cast.

"I didn't want to draw attention to it. I didn't want to play on your sympathy," Colbert said before dramatically grimacing.

The fall happened June 27, before the show went on a two-week hiatus, a spokesman for Comedy Central said Friday. Colbert, 43, was only recently fitted with a cast.

"To be honest, I'm not entirely sure how it happened," the mock right-wing talk-show host told his audience. "My director Jimmy is suggesting I might have broken my wrist ... before the show."

Slow-motion footage was then shown of Colbert running around the set to "pump up" the crowd. Beyonce Knowles' "Ring the Alarm" was played over the footage, alluding to the singer's fall while performing the song during a concert Tuesday in Orlando, Fla.

As Colbert rounded his "C"-shaped desk and headed to high-five his audience, he slipped and fell backward.

"Yeah, that might have been it," he deadpanned.


courtesy : The Associated Press

The one issue of concern before starting a home-based business is the availability of resources necessary for the business.

• Next choose a legal form and a business name to register your home-based business.
• Consult an attorney who specializes in business law as to verify the procedure of registering your business.
• Once you have all the information you need to start the business you need to address the issue of taxes since you will need to file taxes yearly.
• You also need to obtain state permits and license if the products or services you put on the market are taxable.
• Having all this information in place is only the first step in starting a business.

The Need of a Business Plan

For a successful home-based business setup, what you require is a good business plan. You need to write a good business plan which includes an account of what you are selling, who could be the potential clients, how much money you would need for its setup and an advance book-keeping of the income and expenses.

Establishing Customer Base

Once the business is up and running you need to find the customer base for your product or service.

• Who, where and how are the questions that normally go through the minds of new entrepreneurs. It is necessary to start building a contact list of potential clients.
• Once the client list is established, you should work on getting business referrals so that these clients will not assume that your business is a scam. Having the list and referrals in place will enable the customers to do the advertising for you, by recommending your product or services.

• To bait them by stating that your services with them will greatly improve when payments are made on time.
• One way to eliminate this problem is to define payment terms in advance and having a percentage of the total money owed paid on order, and the balance on delivery. It is a good idea to have clients sign agreements that state the payments terms.
  

The satisfaction earned through creating and operating a successful home-based business is wonderful and rewarding. Indeed a home-based business setup is a great relieve in your business life.

Charlie Sheen is engaged to marry his girlfriend, aspiring actress Brooke Mueller, a representative for the actor said on Thursday.

According to Sheen’s spokesman, Stan Rosenfield says that Sheen, 41, and Mueller, 29, met last year at a party at the home of director Brett Ratner, and Sheen proposed on a recent trip to Costa Rica where he gave Mueller an 11-carat, natural yellow diamond ring.

The actor has enjoyed a long career in Hollywood that includes work on TV and in movies ranging from 1996 Vietnam war film “Platoon” to baseball comedy “Major League.”

In “Two and a Half Men,” Sheen earned the actor a nomination for an Emmy, the U.S. TV industry’s top honor. In many ways, the role mocks Sheen’s former real-life image as a Hollywood party boy.

Sheen is the son of actor Martin Sheen and brother to actor and director Emilio Estevez. He has been married three times, and has two children with his former wife, actress Denise Richards, from whom he was divorced last year.

Mueller, who is now a Los Angeles real estate agent, had a small role in 2004 film drama “A Love Song for Bobby Long.”

Britain's Prince William, second in line to the English throne, broke up with Kate Middleton in April as speculation swirled that the two were about to marry.

Prince William has persuaded his former girlfriend Kate Middleton to rekindle their relationship 12 weeks after they split up, a British newspaper reported Friday.

The report in The Sun citing an unidentified royal source came five days after Middleton attended a concert celebrating the life of William’s mother, Princess Diana, at Wembley Stadium , further fueling rumors that the two have reconciled.

William’s Clarence House office has declined to comment on media reports that the two are back together.

INGREDIENTS

3 cups slivered almonds, toasted 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar 3 large egg whites

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons amaretto liqueur
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

Gently squeeze a small handful: If it doesn't hold together without falling apart, add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring (or pulsing) after each addition until incorporated, continuing to test. (Do not overwork dough, or it will become tough.)

Turn out dough onto a work surface and divide into 2 portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather both portions of dough into 1 ball, then pat into a disk. Chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface into a 12-inch round and fit into a 9-inch round tart pan with a removable rim. Roll rolling pin over top of pan to trim dough flush with rim. Lightly prick tart shell all over with a fork.

Line shell with foil and fill with pie weights or rice. Bake in middle of oven 20 minutes. Carefully remove foil and weights and bake until golden, about 15 minutes more. Cool in pan on a rack.

Fill tart shell: Remove side of pan and slide shell onto a platter. Arrange one third of mozzarella in bottom of shell and drizzle with one third of pesto. Arrange one third of tomato slices, overlapping, on top of cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Repeat layering twice.

Cooks' note:
• Tart shell can be made 1 day ahead and kept, covered, at room temperature.

The full line-up has not performed on stage since Ginger Spice Geri Halliwell quit in May 1998.

The 11 dates announced include a London show on 15 December, eight days after the tour begins in Los Angeles.

"I think for us it was about celebrating the past, enjoying each other and it's about our fans. It was the right time," said Halliwell.

The only British date is in London, with the venue not yet confirmed. The other European dates are in Cologne and Madrid.

Earlier this month Mel Chisholm, also known as Sporty Spice, told the BBC she had resisted reforming the group in the past because "it was amazing, it was magical. We could never recreate it".

Asked why she had gone back on her word she said: "A girl is allowed to change her mind and also this is something that we have only seriously started this year really.

"I think really all of us have had our fears and doubts but we feel that the time is right."

Halliwell added: "For us it's about celebrating the past, enjoying each other and it's about our fans. It was kind of now or never."

All five women laughed and joked constantly with photographers and reporters, even good-naturedly booing one journalist.

There had been rumours they would perform at the Concert for Diana memorial show in London on Sunday, but with Emma Bunton currently pregnant they decided not to appear.

"We would have loved to have been there this weekend but the timing has been impossible for us," said Chisholm.

As the conference drew to a close, all five women left the stage holding hands as Brown shouted, "You have been spiced!".

The tour is being put together by Simon Fuller, whose 19 company masterminded the group's global success more than a decade ago.

Under his guidance, the five-piece notched up a string of hits - including Wannabe and 2 Become 1 - while also capitalizing on their fame with a stream of sponsorship deals.

Emma Bunton, Mel Brown, Mel Chisholm, Victoria Adams and Geri Halliwell quickly became household names - although they were better known as Baby, Scary, Sporty, Posh and Ginger.

They sold more than 55 million records around the world, and even starred in a film, Spice World.

Halliwell quit in 1998 citing "differences", leaving them to complete a sold-out world tour as a foursome.

Since 2001 each member has since pursued solo careers with varying degrees of success, while Posh Spice has become better known as fashion icon Victoria Beckham.

Business 2.0 Magazine reports a new version of the wireless technology will soon allow consumers to beam photos from cameras and use their cell phone to make purchases.

But that's chump change compared with the growth that analysts expect to see once a new version of the short-range wireless technology makes its way into products later this year.

Here's why: Pairing up Bluetooth devices is a laborious process that requires as many as 15 steps.

"The most significant challenge that Bluetooth has faced is making the technology more usable, especially when it comes to setting up connections," says Stuart Carlaw, an analyst with New York-based ABI Research. "There is no doubt that there are more viable business models for the technology. They just need to be better supported at the most difficult point" in the user's experience.

That should happen this fall, when the first Bluetooth upgrade in three years, Bluetooth 2.1, starts shipping.

Devices will be paired in as few as three clicks. Encrypted data transfer means no need for passwords. And lower power consumption means that Bluetooth 2.1 devices will have as much as five times the battery life of their predecessors.

All of which means that mass-market Bluetooth use is expected to expand far beyond the cyborg-style phone headset.

Users will be able to easily beam photos from cameras to printers or digital picture frames. Wireless keyboards, mice, and videogame controllers will get a boost too. Bluetooth 2.1 will be integrated with near field communication, or NFC, a standard for mobile payments, so consumers will have more opportunities to pay with their phones.

Companies like Jabra, Motorola (Charts, Fortune 500), and Plantronics (Charts) are developing Bluetooth 2.1 gadgets that should be out in time for the holiday season. The Bluetooth Special Interest Group -- a consortium backed by Intel (Charts, Fortune 500), Microsoft (Charts, Fortune 500), and Nokia (Charts) -- says the number of Bluetooth devices in the world should double to 2 billion by 2010.

"Clearly, one of the goals of the new specification is to drive use of the technology and help our members sell more products," says Kevin Keating, senior marketing manager at the Bluetooth SIG.

Sales of Bluetooth headsets alone, now at $8 billion, are expected to hit $14 billion within three years -- aided by an increasing number of bans on driving while talking on handsets. Such bans will go into effect in states like California and Washington by next year, creating millions of potential new headset customers.

"So far, the pairing aspect has been a barrier to entry compared with headsets that you plug into the phone," says Peter Hartmann, global product manager at headset maker Jabra. "Now it will be much easier for first-time users."

In 2008, Bluetooth 2.1 will itself be replaced by Bluetooth 3.0, code-named Seattle. That version is expected to integrate ultra-wideband technology, meaning Bluetooth that can handle the transfer of much larger amounts of data: Seattle should be a whopping 228 times faster than its predecessor.

Bluetooth's supporters expect that upgrade to have a major impact in the entertainment and consumer electronics industries, since it will enable users to transfer video between TVs and cell phones.

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 tablespoons butter, softened
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour an 8 inch square pan.
2. In a large saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter. Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat in 1/3 cup cocoa, 1/2 cup flour, salt, and baking powder. Spread batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Do not overcook.
4. To Make Frosting: Combine 3 tablespoons butter, 3 tablespoons cocoa, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 cup confectioners' sugar. Frost brownies while they are still warm.

For the past year, Mr. Wiseman has explored his ideas about social practice as art by staging color-themed tea parties in vacant lots, parks and public buses in Portland. “My favorite was the midnight party on Burnside Bridge,” says one habitué, tonight wearing a Granny Smith green leisure suit and fuzzy white fedora. “The theme was black, white and shades of gray.

Building on the success of established Portland tea businesses like Tazo Tea, Stash and Oregon Chai, the city is host to one of the most distinctive tea scenes in the country. Locally owned tea spots have sprouted throughout the city, supported by an epicurean population that travels miles for the perfect cup. From mushroom tea to tea paired with sake, these citizens of the Pacific Rim are thinking way beyond tea and crumpets. And no tea bags allowed.

Portlanders demand the best brew, wherever it's served. They usually visit the Barefoot Sage on scruffy, bustling Hawthorne Boulevard to get foot massage and fabulous tea in the same breath. Full-length curtains drape the glass storefront from inside, but the place still looks suspiciously like a hardware store. Inside is a hushed and shimmering world where clients sipping tea blends like “jasmine harmony” recline on enormous plum-velvet sofas, toes soaking in terra cotta basins filled with hot water and rose petals.

Most mainstream tea drinkers haven't heard of kombucha, a tea-based fermented beverage erroneously known as mushroom tea. A local legend, Steve Lee (a co-founder of both Stash and Tazo Tea), had begun a new venture aimed at bringing this ancient health-boosting brew to grocery stores. The homebrewed kombucha can be find at Tea Chai Té, (that's “tea” in three different languages). The owner, Dominic Valdes, who carries a wide selection of tea (including medicinal teas and herbs), plays Bob Marley on the stereo and stocks bottles of sparkling homebrewed oolong kombucha in the fridge.

“We're trying to take the doily out of the tea experience,” Mr. Valdes said. we can down the twinkling elixir in a few gulps — wispy culture and all. According to the Tea Chai Té brochure, the drink provides 14 distinct health benefits, all packed with a probiotic punch.

Matt Thomas, Mr. Valdes's former partner, struck out on his own, opening Townshend's Alberta Street Teahouse along artsy NE Alberta Street. Mr. Thomas says the area has attracted creative people fleeing the gentrification of the downtown Pearl district over the last few years. His lounge shows a revolving exhibit of work by local artists. Customers relax to mellow energy sounds from the British '70s folk musician Nick Drake to the New Jersey indie rockers Yo La Tengo.

“I don't want this to be a place where people feel like they have to whisper,” Mr. Thomas says as he whipped up a spicy homemade chai latte.

This accepting, experimental atmosphere is echoed at the TeaZone, in Portland's increasingly tony Pearl district. During the day, the TeaZone is a haven for tea aficionados.

On a Friday night, in the TeaZone's speakeasy-like back room, doing just that, a brand consultant from Virginia, Mr. Mattox is a recent but enthusiastic convert to fine tea in all its forms, and an excellent guide to the wacky selection of tea cocktails like the Genghis Kowboy (“an antioxidant workhorse of extra strength green tea and whisky served on the rocks”).

PORTLAND is also a magnet for those seeking serious knowledge about Asian teas and traditions. In the summer, local Japanese tea association members demonstrate the “way of tea” in the Japanese Garden in Portland. Every month, the Portland Wakai Tea Association is host to guests in an authentic Japanese teahouse on the wooded grounds of a private residence. Throughout the year, the Tower of Cosmic Reflections teahouse, in Portland's Classical Chinese Garden, provides a tranquil Ming Dynasty-style sanctuary where tea lovers from all over the United States come to channel the Middle Kingdom's venerable tea traditions.

At the Tao of Tea tasting room on SE Belmont Street, it's easy to feel as if you're in a traditional Parisian wine shop except that the sommelier is Veerinder Chawla, the founder and a respected tea merchant. And instead of dusty bottles, shelves groan under 100 metal canisters of rare leaf teas. The air smells sweet, not corky, and resonates with soothing, chanting monastic music.

Next door, Mr. Chawla has opened an Asian-style teahouse restaurant. Handsome in a homemade way, the space was created from reclaimed materials and bamboo. Here you can relax over a pot of ayurvedic holy basil tea and a plate of chewy, ginger-spiked green-tea tofu.

“Tea is the way I connect with people,” says a former Tao of Tea employee, Paul Rosenberg, who has recently left to start his own tea business. Sometimes Mr Rosenberg invite his guests to taste a costly 1970 pu-erh tea made of leaves culled from century-old wild tea trees in Yunnan Province in southwest China. The sparkling brown infusion tastes nourishing, like the scent of earth after a summer downpour. “This tea has serious chi,” Mr. Rosenberg says, using the Chinese word for life force.

VISITOR INFORMATION

The Barefoot Sage (tea and foot massage), 1844 SE Hawthorne Boulevard, (503) 239-7116; www.thebarefootsage.com. Forty-five-minute foot bath and “royal massage” combo, $75.

Tea Chai Té, 734 NW 23rd Avenue, (503) 228-0900; www.teachaite.com. Bottle of kombucha, $3.75.

Townshend's Alberta Street Teahouse, 2223 NE Alberta Street, (503) 445-6699. Medium cup of chai, $3.35.

TeaZone and Camellia Lounge, 510 NW 11th Avenue, (503) 221-2130; www.teazone.com. Cocktails range from $6 to $8.

Tower of Cosmic Reflections Chinese Teahouse, 239 NW Everett Street (inside Portland Classical Chinese Garden), (503) 224-8455; www.portlandchinesegarden.com. Pot of oolong gong fu style tea, $8.

Tao of Tea tasting room and teahouse, 3430 SE Belmont Street, (503) 736-0119; www.taooftea.com. Shanti ayurvedic tea is $4 a pot.

Wakai Urasenke Tea Association holds monthly Japanese tea ceremonies in English; www.teaandzen.com/presentations.htm.

Private tea and sake tastings, Paul Rosenberg, (503) 230-0953; www.heavenstea.com. Call or send an e-mail message for information.

The pioneer of digital video recorders, TiVo had introduced a service to let customers buy movies and television shows from the Unbox service of Amazon.com without using a personal computer.

Owners of some TiVo digital video recorders that have high-speed Internet access may download Unbox movies directly to their televisions.

Customers will be able to buy TV shows for $1.99 an episode and rent movies for $1.99 to $3.99.

The service, which started in March, previously required customers to download shows to their computers and either watch them there or transfer them to televisions.

It was available to more than 1.5 million TiVo customers.

Neither Andrew Pray, a TiVo spokesman, nor Drew Herdener, a spokesman for Amazon, would say how many customers used the service.

Shares of TiVo, based in Alviso, Calif., rose 25 cents, to $6.16 on Nasdaq yesterday. Shares of Amazon, which is based in Seattle, fell $1.79, to $70.28.

Looks can be deceiving when it comes to a child's size. In one survey, 49 percent of parents whose kids were overweight thought they were average size. The American Academy of Pediatrics advises that all kids ages 2 and up have their body mass index (BMI) measured by their doctor at least once a year. BMI is a calculation based on height and weight that's a good indicator of excess body fat. Unfortunately, not all pediatricians check it routinely, so make sure to ask for it.

But many people miss the signs that a child (especially a boy) is too chubby. In one study, only 21 percent of the moms of overweight preschoolers knew it. As more and more kids get heavier — the average child's waist has gone up two sizes in the past 20 years — kids who are overweight increasingly look "normal" to us. An overweight child's more likely to become an overweight adult, and that in turn can lead to many health problems.

So it's up to you to be alert to the signs that your child's overweight or gaining too quickly. "Our current lifestyle is putting kids at risk for serious health problems," says pediatrician Sheila Gahagan, M.D., of the University of Michigan's Department of Pediatrics and Center for Human Growth and Development in Ann Arbor, "but we can turn it around." The hard part: Improving their lifestyle usually means changing yours, too.

That means neither obsessive eating nor quick weight-loss plans, which are especially dangerous for children, whose growing bodies require nutrients from a broad variety of foods, including healthful fats. Instead, what's needed is a return to good nutrition centered on family meals, says Naomi Neufeld, M.D., a pediatric endocrinologist and director of KidShape, a family-based pediatric weight-management program in four states.

Nursing can reduce the risk of obesity in childhood and beyond. Compounds in breast milk help regulate appetite and body fat, and babies take in only as much milk as they need. If you bottle-feed your baby — whether with formula or expressed breast milk — resist encouraging him to finish that last ounce. Your baby knows when he's had enough.

Whether you're nursing or bottle-feeding, don't automatically feed your baby every time he cries. And don't rush to start on solids. It's best to wait until 6 months — especially if your baby's a little heavy to start with. When you do start, don't overfeed him. When he turns his head away, the meal's over.

Toddlers: 1 to 3 years
Toddlerhood is a time when many parents, without realizing it, set the stage for mindless consumption of empty calories. Limit sugary drinks, including 100-percent juice (low-fat milk and water are best), and avoid eating in front of the TV. And don't pacify your antsy toddler with food. Instead, read a book together or give him an activity to do. Between meals, offer healthy snacks, such as soft, bite-size pieces of fruit and vegetables, string cheese, or low-fat yogurt.

Preschoolers: 3 to 5 years
Even though your child is growing fast, it's important to practice portion control. A good rule of thumb: Serve one tablespoon of each food being offered per year of age. A typical meal for a 3-year-old might be three tablespoons each of pasta (try whole-wheat), peas, chicken, and fruit. If your child doesn't want it all, don't push him to eat. Remember that your child's tastes change, so don't stop serving broccoli just because he rejects it once. Keep offering a variety of healthful choices at every meal.

School-age kids: 5 years and up
Find fun ways to teach your child about nutrition, like making a sticker chart to log each time he eats fruit, veggies, or other healthy foods. And for treats, continue to keep portion sizes small — try "fun-size" candy bars instead of whole ones. Cut down on sugary or fatty foods as much as possible. For instance, mix sugary cereals with healthful look-a likes.

• Don't limit your child to playing fields. Let her play indoor volleyball with a beach ball and use the sofa as a net.

• Let the games grow with your child. She loves to run a circular path around the living room? When she's ready, put down cushions for her to jump over.

• Encourage your child to show off. Your preschooler will happily count how many times she can hop on one foot — so take advantage and get her moving.

• Get in on the action. A game of tag with your preschooler is a lot more fun than 50 crunches by yourself!

Babies: 0 to 1 year
Give your baby plenty of soft, safe toys to play with, as well as an unrestricted space, such as an area rug, where he can safely roll over, push and pull up, sit, crawl, and play movement games like patty-cake with you.

Toddlers: 1 to 3 years
Experts recommend that toddlers get at least 30 minutes of structured activity each day, and one to several hours of unstructured activity. Once your child is walking, let him act on his natural desire to keep moving. Spot him as he climbs the stairs, and give him a chance every day to play outside. When it's raining, dance with him or roll around on the rug. And when it's time to look for daycare or a preschool program, look for one with a daily schedule that includes both structured games like Duck, Duck, Goose and unstructured run-around time.

Preschoolers: 3 to 5 years
By age 3, kids need an hour of structured and one to several hours of unstructured play — and shouldn't be sedentary for more than an hour at a time. You don't need to do much to get kids moving at this age: If the weather's nice, go outside, or take a nature hike with a plastic bucket, which your child can fill with found "treasures." He's also old enough to play Frisbee, hop-scotch, kickball, and other games.

School-age kids: 5 years and up
Big kids should get about an hour of moderate to vigorous activity a day. It doesn't have to be all at once — 10 or 15 minutes at a time is fine. The great thing is, your child can now share more fully in family outings such as hiking, biking, and skating. And he's old enough for organized activities, such as soccer, softball, karate, gymnastics, hip-hop dance, and ballet. But don't forget simple things, like walking to school with friends, to help him stay fit.

Sleeping Habits

To make sure your child gets all the snoozing she needs:

• Stick to regular sleep and wake-up times, even on weekends.

• Create a calming bedtime routine, like a warm bath followed by a book.

• Limit caffeinated beverages, especially before bed.

• Keep her room dark and quiet at night, which means no TV.

• Encourage her to exercise (active kids tend to sleep better) — but not right before heading to bed.

• Make sure she has enough downtime, since stress can lead to sleep problems.

Now you can start to help your child avoid the obesity trap by starting good eating, exercise habits and sleeping habits when he's a baby. But even if he's picked up some unhealthy habits, it's never too late to help him learn to control his weight. Be a good role model yourself, and set consistent rules — such as limiting sugary and fatty foods and doing fun physical activities daily.