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New research shows that smoking bans spare many children with asthma from being hospitalized, a finding that suggests smoke-free laws have even greater health benefits than previously believed.

Other studies have charted the decline in adult heart attack rates after smoking bans were adopted. The new study, conducted in Scotland, looked at asthma-related hospitalizations of kids, which fell 13 percent a year after smoking was barred in 2006 from workplaces and public buildings, including bars and restaurants.

Before the ban, admissions had been rising 5 percent a year in Scotland, which has a notoriously poor health record among European countries.

Indiana wants to expand its innovative health plan for low-income adults despite Governor Mitch Daniels’ statements that Medicaid expansion under the federal health care overhaul would kill the state program, a document shows.

Anne Murphy, secretary of the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration, sent a letter to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services saying the Healthy Indiana Plan “provides the natural vehicle to provide coverage to Hoosiers that will become Medicaid eligible” in 2014 under the expansion of the state-federal health care plan for the needy.

Murphy’s May 17 letter to CMS Director Cindy Mann, obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, said Indiana invested more than $27 million in creating HIP.

Chef Cat Cora, right, cuts greens with Matthew Louhman, 7, from Hollin Meadows Elementary School in Alexandria, Va.,as they prepare a salad from the harvest from the White House Kitchen Garden, Friday, June 4, 2010, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington. First lady Michelle Obama called on chefs to get involved by adopting a school and working with teachers, parents, school nutritionists and administrators to help educate kids about food and nutrition. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

School lunches that are good for kids—and that kids will actually eat? That’s a job for America’s top chefs.

First lady Michelle Obama recruited hundreds of chefs gathered on the South Lawn of the White House Friday to join her anti-obesity campaign and help schools serve healthier, tastier meals.

Mrs. Obama is asking the chefs to partner with individual schools and work with teachers and parents to help educate kids about food and nutrition. She said healthy meals at schools are more important than ever because many children get most of their calories there.

Medical experts, owners of tanning salons give their take on tanning

Cristi Subart took over ownership of Color Me Bronze in Valparaiso in April. The salon has eight tanning beds and a spray-on tan booth. (Photograph by John Luke/The Times.)

After winter in the Midwest finally broke, people emerged from their homes, bare arms outstretched and faces lifted to the sky to welcome back a sorely missed friend—the sun.

Like many of the things we turn to for comfort, the sun is difficult to resist as it tempts us to indulge just a little more. But there are serious dangers to overindulgence, experts say.

Moderation and awareness are the keys to responsible sunning, experts say, whether it’s limiting exposure, blocking out harmful rays, opting for a spray tan or getting a grip on a tan salon addiction.

Graphic shows where source of most sodium and mean daily sodium intake density from food, by gender and age. (Associated Press)

Too much salt is hidden in Americans’ food, and regulators plan to work with manufacturers to cut back—but the government isn’t ready to go along with a major new recommendation that it order a decrease.

“We believe we can achieve some substantial voluntary reductions,” Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg told The Associated Press on Tuesday. “We are shaping a strategy, and that strategy involves working in partnership.”

Stimulus cash to pay for Aunt Martha’s clinic in Chicago Heights

U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., left, applauds shortly after state Sen. Toi Hutchinson, D-Olympia Fields, right, discussed Aunt Martha's Youth Service Center's plans to build a $6 million pediatric health and wellness center in Chicago Heights during a news conference Thursday at Prairie State College. (Photograph by Natalie Battaglia/The Times.)

Aunt Martha’s Youth Service Center unveiled plans last week to build a multimillion-dollar pediatric health center in the south suburbs.

Officials said the $11.8 million in federal economic stimulus cash awarded for construction and operation of the project represent the largest such award given to a health center anywhere in Illinois, and the third-largest Facilities Investment Project grant anywhere in the United States.

U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., who helped secure the grant, was at Prairie State College on Thursday to announce the grant. Jackson, D-Ill., helped secure the money through his position on the House Appropriations subcommittee for labor, health and human services and education.

In this photo taken March 10, 2010, Sen. Eric Powell, D-Corinth, grunts as he lifts weights while trying to balance on a exercise ball during a predawn workout at Millsaps College with about 100 other legislators and staff members from various governmental offices. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

In a gym at a tiny college in the capital of the most obese state in the nation, state Rep. John Hines dropped his chest to the floor, let out an “Aaaarrrrgggh!” and forced through a few final pushups.

Hines and 71 fellow lawmakers, 19 members of the governor’s staff—though not the portly governor himself—and 21 “civilians” have been working out several days a week since January to promote healthful living in a culture that prizes its sweet tea and fried food.

They’ve shed more than 1,300 pounds collectively, giving new meaning to cutting the fat out of state government.

Monica Manly, 16, is one of 40 ambassadors to make the trip

A Calumet City teenager will headed to the Capitol this week to make a personal plea to Congress to support epilepsy public health programs and more research toward a cure for the condition.

Manly, 16, is one of 40 young people from across the country participating in Kids Speak Up!, a national program coordinated by the Epilepsy Foundation. The program rallies young ambassadors with epilepsy between the ages of 8 and 17 to petition congressional leaders for aid in assuring better access to care, improved public education and more research toward a cure for epilepsy.

A prominent cardiologist accused leading heart organizations of being too cozy with industry and allowing those ties to influence its policies and education programs for doctors.

Cleveland Clinic cardiology chief Dr. Steven Nissen criticized the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology in a speech at the college’s annual scientific conference on Tuesday.

Industry influence has been a growing concern, especially its funding of education programs for doctors. Some high-profile scandals have drawn attention to a problem that some doctors believe has been exaggerated to demonize companies that take big financial risks to develop drugs.

Dr. Judy Monroe leaves Indiana after five years as state’s top public health official

Indiana’s top public health official is leaving her job for a position at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

State Health Commissioner Dr. Judy Monroe will become director of the CDC’s newly formed Office of State, Tribal, Local and Territorial Support.

During her five years as health commissioner, Monroe led Indiana’s response to the H1N1 influenza pandemic, created a medical errors reporting system and worked to decrease tobacco use among Hoosiers, increase physical activity and improve nutrition.