Top Stories - U.S. News & World Report

Everyone knows that kids are in the midst of, as pediatric exercise scientist Avery Faigenbaum calls it, an "unfitness epidemic." According to a July report on the nation's obesity problem, fewer than a third of kids between the ages of 6 and 17 take part in regular vigorous activity, defined as 20 minutes at a stretch of exercise intense enough to break a sweat and prompt heavy breathing. ...

As the deadline approached, the National Association of Realtors urged lawmakers to extend the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit, insisting that the perk had played such a vital role in the housing market's recent stability that its expiration was too risky. "Without congressional action now, the market and our national economy may freeze again--possibly as soon as this month," Ron Phipps, NAR's first vice president, told a Senate panel on October 20.

As the Supreme Court mulls over mutual funds' fees, analysts have lined up to read between the lines. And while a decision in Jones v. Harris Associates is probably months away, there is no shortage of opinions about its implications.

Last week we learned that male factory workers exposed to large amounts of BPA, a chemical in some plastics, had abnormally high rates of erectile dysfunction and other sexual performance problems. This week the news is about phthalates (pronounced THAL-ates). Researchers reported in the International Journal of Andrology that this family of chemicals, used in manufacturing polyvinyl chloride plastics, seems to make little boys behave a bit more like little girls. This small study isn't as worrisome as the headlines suggest. ...

Why do some people love the Toyota Prius, but others couldn't care less about driving a hybrid vehicle? Why do some of your friends spend hours trying to reduce their carbon footprint, while others wonder what's the point of even recycling?

I'm turning 40 next year and always figured that would be when I'd start having mammograms. Now I'm not so sure. New recommendations issued yesterday by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force advise women against routine screening in their 40s, saying instead they should make individual decisions. The guidelines also now recommend mammograms every two years, instead of annually, for women ages 50 to 74 and make no recommendation for women 75 and over. ...

If reforms out of Washington are poised to wreck the healthcare industry, somebody forgot to tell the stock market--including hundreds of professional investors who own healthcare stocks and get paid to assess their prospects.

One of the most common themes of questions I receive at Ask a Manager is: "How can I change my manager?" Or, how can I make her stop this annoying habit, or not be a jerk, or learn to manage her time better?

As the Supreme Court mulls over mutual funds' fees, analysts have lined up to read between the lines. And while a decision in Jones v. Harris Associates is probably months away, there is no shortage of opinions about its implications.

While searching for work alongside 16 million people who are angling for the same openings, getting a hiring manager to tell you why you didn't get hired is about as easy as actually getting the job. But one of the best things you can do is examine your job search with a critical eye: Is your résumé really a good advertisement for your skills? Does your nail-gnawing habit turn off prospective employers? Do you tend to make your interviewers a little nervous?

Sarah Palin's book tour, which starts this week, will be her most important political moment since she catapulted to fame as the Republican vice presidential nominee last year. As part of the rollout for Going Rogue, the former Alaska governor is expected to do a series of speeches and high-wire interviews, including tête-à-têtes with Oprah Winfrey, Barbara Walters, and conservative television commentators Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity.

As the Supreme Court mulls over mutual funds' fees, analysts have lined up to read between the lines. And while a decision in Jones v. Harris Associates is probably months away, there is no shortage of opinions about its implications.

Employer 401(k) contributions that were reduced or eliminated this year may reappear in 2010. About 35 percent of companies that suspended their 401(k) match plan to resume employer contributions in the next six months, up from just 5 percent that said they planned to do so in June, according to a recent survey of large employers by consulting firm Watson Wyatt. "When they cut the match, they did other things as well to reduce costs to the company. They laid off people and restructured other benefits," says Robyn Credico, Watson Wyatt's director of defined contribution consulting. ...

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force asked doctors last year to stop checking PSA levels in elderly men--the very men who are most likely to have prostate cancer. By age 75, the officials reasoned, doctors are more likely to keep tinkering with their patients until they die of treatment side effects or something other than prostate cancer altogether. This spring, the New England Journal of Medicine published two long-term studies that questioned whether knowing a man's PSA level actually helps men survive. ...

The career you have today is the cumulative result of the choices you have made up until now. The career you have next year, or 10 years from now, will stem from the choices you make starting today.

I know that the number one reason people leave a job is because they have a problem with their manager. Managers know this too, and as a result some of them take a resignation personally. They shouldn't.

Like warnings from the boy who cried wolf, pleas to some 46 million older consumers to carefully review their Medicare insurance risk are falling on deaf ears. After all, this advice is given every year as we approach the annual open enrollment period for Medicare, November 15 to December 31. But this year, the stakes are very high. Insurers have substantially cut back choices in Medicare Advantage and Part D prescription drug plans and have generally raised premiums in the process. ...

Even as the housing market continues to stagger, foreclosure filings in October declined for the third month in a row. Foreclosure filings were reported on 332,292 properties last month, or 3 percent fewer than September's tally, real estate firm RealtyTrac said today. Even though filings remained 19 percent higher than a year earlier, "[t]hree consecutive monthly declines is unprecedented for our report," RealtyTrac CEO James Saccacio said in a statement. ...

If there's any good news about the economy, it's the startling surge in corporate earnings. In the most recent quarter, about 80 percent of S&P 500 firms reported profits greater than Wall Street analysts expected, according to Thomson Reuters. That's the highest proportion of upside surprises since Thomson Reuters started tracking the data in 1994.

While many Americans can't wait to cook their turkeys and decorate their Christmas trees, anyone trying to sell a home in the coming months will have an entirely different perspective of the holidays. More than three years after home prices peaked, sellers are still facing an unaccommodating market. On average, it takes between seven and eight weeks to sell a home these days. That's up sharply from four to five weeks back in September of 2005, according to the National Association of Realtors. ...

Grandparents are pitching in. Students are working more, and eating less. Parents are taking out more and bigger federal loans.

For those without a lot of cash--or just starting out--exchange-traded funds offer a simple, low-cost way to invest and gain instant diversification.

With foreclosures continuing to mount, housing finance giant Fannie Mae has introduced a fresh approach to keeping struggling borrowers in their homes: turning them into tenants. Fannie Mae--which, along with Freddie Mac, owns or guarantees nearly $5.5 trillion in mortgages--announced last week its Deed for Lease initiative, in which property owners facing foreclosure can remain in their homes as renters. Under the program, a borrower who qualifies can transfer the deed for a home over to the lender and lease the home back for up to 12 months. ...

Don't be surprised if your children just can't ignore the fact that there's still Halloween candy in the pantry. Their brains are designed to be obsessed with Snickers, Nerds, and Reese's Pieces. And that inability to ignore the candy is what makes them such amazing learners and discoverers.

Bisphenol-A, better known as BPA, is the building block of polycarbonates and epoxy resins, plastics that have facilitated modern life. (They're in microwave containers, baby bottles, laptops, and even canned foods.) Tiny amounts circulate in the bodies of more than 90 percent of Americans. And now a team of Chinese and U.S. scientists says it has linked the stuff to sexual dysfunction in men. Even before today's news, plenty of people were getting the willies about BPA. Should this news make you feel less virile? Let's take a closer look.

Even though the recession has made it hard to move, many Americans are still trying to flee their cul-de-sacs and long freeway commutes for walkable neighborhoods closer to public transportation and their jobs.

Nothing is more frustrating than applying for a job you want and being told you're "overqualified." You figure that, "Hey, if I'm willing to take this work-work that my skills and experience clearly show I am more than capable of doing-then employers should be thrilled to have me."

When is it appropriate to rebalance a portfolio? This question, a close companion of the ever-popular "How high is too high?" dilemma, has plagued investors for years, largely because there is no right answer. But if you're open to suggestions, a relatively new Website wants to send them directly to your inbox--for a fee.