Reuters - The link between poverty and being overweight first shows up among 15- to 17-year-olds as children become freer to choose fattening soft drinks and avoid breakfast and exercise, a study said on Tuesday.

Reuters - Merck & Co. Inc.'s vaccine to prevent the world's most prevalent sexually transmitted infection sailed through a panel of U.S. health experts, despite early fears of opposition from the Christian Right that it might lead to promiscuity and a false sense of security.

Reuters - Better strategies are needed to prevent unwanted pregnancies, HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases because safe sex messages in schools are not changing risky behavior, researchers in Mexico said on Friday.

AFP - Infectious syphilis -- rarely seen in New Zealand for decades -- is back with a vengeance, doctors said, warning it has the potential to become a serious public health threat.