Tag: Georgia

On my mother’s sixteenth birthday, my dad gave her a silver promise ring with a single pearl. Two years later, he spent every penny of his paper route savings on a one-carat Tiffany diamond set in platinum.

Regardless of how you spell fun, having the time of your life is as easy as ABC in this hauntingly beautiful and culturally dynamic city.

Kids are illegally lighting up a lot in Georgia. Our state has the fifteenth highest rate of retailers breaking laws aimed at stopping the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products to underage youths, according to a new federal study.

We need to exercise more. A new report says 29.1 percent of Georgians are obese, making the Peach State the 20th most obese state in the country. Based on data released in July 2013, Louisiana is the most obese state and Colorado is the least.

Hospitals obviously fix ailing bodies. They're also pretty good for an ailing economy. Even in iffy economic times, hospitals in Georgia gave the state's economy $38.6 million in 2011, according to a report by the Georgia Hospital Association.

For the most part, it's not all that dangerous to work in Georgia. We're not a state filled with fishers and loggers (two of the deadliest careers), so maybe that's why we're smack dab in the middle of a new study citing the most dangerous states in which to work.

Life expectancy for people 65-plus isn't great if you live in the South. According to new information from the CDC, seniors can expect to live an average of another 19.1 years. But if you live in Georgia, make that 18.2 years. It's 17.5 in Mississippi (the lowest in the country) and 17.6 years in Alabama.

It's probably not something you talk about over coffee, but you could get it tested over lunch. Today, June 27, is National HIV Testing Day. The Georgia Department of Public Health is teaming up with Greater Than AIDS to offer free HIV tests to Georgians. Tests are available at select Walgreen's locations.

Does cursing make you feel better? You might want to move to Ohio.A study of the most profane states found the Buckeye State tops the list of most likely to curse -- followed by Maryland, New Jersey, Louisiana, and Illinois. Residents of Washington, Massachusetts, Arizona, Texas, and Virginia are least likely to let go with a four-letter word. Georgia only makes the "occasionally profane" category.

Georgia isn't necessarily a great place to grow old. When it comes to senior's health, we rank 43rd in a new ranking. The report takes into account nearly three dozen factors including physical inactivity, obesity, insurance coverage for medications, self-reported health status, and hospital readmission rates.