Does the United Nations spin up facts and dazzle the media with unverified numbers and studies? You bet, according to public health information.

Well, maybe not exactly. But, when UNICEF announced last week that child deaths had decreased to a record low of 9.7 million worldwide in 2005, another study indicated that a decrease in child mortality had actually slowed down. How can two different conclusions come out of the same thing here?

This is nothing new, as every agency charged with promoting disease prevention and medical success has probably fudged things to attract donations from time to time. As they say, there are liars, damn liars and statistics.

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Being skinny might be in your genes, according to a new study. A gene called Adipose (or adp) means the difference between fat and thin in mice and fruit flies, and researchers are wondering if the same could be said for humans in the midst of our obesity epidemic. The gene, when manipulated one way, caused mice to become obese, but when manipulated the other way, made them thin.

For years, researchers have been trying to uncover the 'thrifty gene' -- that is, the gene that causes humans to store food as fat in case of starvation. But this gene is being called the anti-thrifty gene. Of course, a lot more research will have to take place before the findings can be tested on humans, but the results so far are promising.

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