Monday, January 19, 2009

Cell Phone Health

How about a New Year's resolution to make healthier choices regarding our cell phone use? Our safety and often that of our children riding in the car seats behind us, depends on our alertness and defensive driving skills. A recent study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety provides evidence of the effects of cell phone use on injury crashes. IIHS revealed that drivers using phones are four times as likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves. And in case you are thinking that those statistics apply only to certain age, gender or racial groups, think again. There was no statistical difference between any of these groups. Additionally, implementing hands free technology doesn't decrease the risk. The bottom line is distraction - we need all pistons firing while we are at the wheel.

There is some evidence to suggest that cell phone use is potentially harmful to our overall health, and particularly to the health of developing children. I encourage you to research more on this topic and talk about safe cell phone use with your kids. There may be some simple solutions - check out: mybiopro.com/safecellphonenow for further information.

And finally, how is our cell phone use affecting our relationships? Do you find yourself checking your blackberry at dinner with your spouse or at the kids soccer game? Unless you are on-call, why not leave it on the charger and focus on the things that really matter? You deserve it and so do they.