The guidelines are based on the first thorough review of scientific research about physical activity and health in more than a decade, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. A 13-member advisory committee appointed in April 2007 reviewed research and produced an extensive report in order to come up with the guidelines.

This gist of the guidelines is this: Adults gain substantial health benefits from two and a half hours a week of moderate aerobic physical activity, and children benefit from an hour or more of physical activity a day. In addition to preventing disease, physical activity can improve thinking ability in older adults and the ability to engage in activities needed for daily living.

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If you're familiar with ovarian cancer (or suffer from it), did you even know you had that type of cancer before it reached the later stages of its development? For many women, the answer is an emphatic "no."

But, the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition said this week that doctors across the country have finally gave in to patients who complained of cancer symptoms quite a while before they were officially diagnosed.

And, newer guidelines may help that situation in the future. A new type of test has been developed than accurately detected early stage ovarian cancer 57 percent of the time, which gives hope to millions of women who would like to screen themselves for this type of cancer before it's so far along treatment is mitigated (well, to a degree).

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I tend to excuse the 50 pounds and the 42 pounds I gained during my two pregnancies as understandable given the two whopper babies who emerged from my body. My first baby boy weighed 10 pounds, nine ounces. The second guy: 10 pounds, two ounces. I had to gain a lot of weight to support the monsters growing inside me. Or did I?

Nearly half of all pregnant women may be packing on excess and unnecessary pounds, say experts on the topic. As a result, the 1990 guidelines issued by the Institute of Medicine -- doctors still rely on these -- may soon be up for review. What do you think about these almost 18-year-old standards?

• Underweight women should gain 28 to 40 pounds. By the way, I was not in this category prior to my pregnancies.

• Normal weight women should gain 25 to 35 pounds. This is my category -- which means I surpassed my target by 15 and then seven pounds. That puts me in the "half-of-all-pregnant-women" category.

• Overweight women should gain 15 to 20 pounds.

• Obese women should gain at least 15 pounds.

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I was elated to read in my first-grader's school newsletter on Monday that first and third-grade students will have their Body Mass Index (BMI) measurements calculated during the month of October. I'm not sure why these two grades were chosen, but I'm happy to see some attention paid in the public school system to the issue of childhood obesity.

After I read this exciting BMI announcement, I flipped through a few more newsletter pages and landed right on the school's lunch menu. Interesting what I found. On October 9, kids can ingest loaded fries or a chicken patty -- fried or breaded, I assume -- and on October 10, they get to pick either a hamburger or a corndog. On October 17, the options are chicken fried rice or beef nachos. Chicken nuggets make the menu on many-a-day. So does mac and cheese. And pizza is served every Friday. Now I know there are nutritional guidelines that float around somewhere near where this food is prepared and perhaps I'm jumping the gun and making claims that are not warranted -- but I can't bring myself to believe these food items are very healthy. I do know fruits and vegetables are served as side dishes so that's a plus. Still, I'm just not OK with what comes out of our school cafeteria.

My question is this: If administrators are willing to screen kids for obesity, can't they do a little preventative maintenance and fuel our kids with the good stuff? I know crappy food costs less than healthy fare, but isn't the health of our nation's children worth it? I think so.