Nuts about Abs

I've got two interesting health related articles from the New York Times to recommend to you today, one on the possibly misguided abdominals exercise craze and the other on the possibly misguided childhood nut exposure avoidance craze. Don't want to read the articles? Here's the gist--sit ups are not good for your back; there are three simple exercises that are probably all you need to maintain a strong torso (but not the aforementioned sit-up); and having all our kids avoid nuts is nutty if what we're after is a decrease in food allergies (besides, the incidence of severe allergic reactions is much much lower than parents might be led to infer from the paranoia evident at schools and daycare centers).