It might feel nice to kick up your feet and unwind by watching TV after work or to relax by the pool all day, but a sedentary lifestyle can be just as bad for your health as smoking, according to recent research.

Dr. David Coven, a cardiologist at New York’s St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center, told CBS.com San Francisco earlier this month that “Smoking certainly is a major cardiovascular risk factor and sitting can be equivalent in many cases.” Coven added that according to several new studies, a sedentary lifestyle is linked to the increased risk of heart disease, obesity, diabetes, cancer and premature death.

According to exercise science expert Steven Blair, as quoted in Science Daily, as many as 50 million Americans live a sedentary lifestyle. Not surprisingly, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that more than two-thirds of Americans are overweight and a third are obese.

Callie Durbrow, a personal trainer at Durbrow Performance Training in Cambridge, Mass., says, “It’s all an unfortunate chain of events: sedentary lifestyle leads to obesity, which, in turn, is a well known factor in heart disease, diabetes, and some types of cancer.” She adds that not getting enough exercise is a “recipe for disaster.”

So what can you do to get active if your day revolves around sitting at a desk at work and sitting in the car during your commute? Sneak “mini-workouts” in, says Durbrow. Durbrow recommends getting at least 30 minutes of “moderately intensive” physical activity five days a week.

“Finding time to exercise–maybe before or after work or during the lunch hour–can literally be a real life saver,” she says.

Here’s what you can do:

Take the stairs, and make this mini-workout session even more effective by running up and down instead of walking. “If you do it several times a day, every day, it’ll add up,” says Durbrow.

Get out and walk briskly, enough to get your heart rate up, instead of driving short distances.

Try to use your free time for exercise instead of watching TV or surfing the Web. “If you finally have a bit of free time, use it for some form of physical activity, not to sit around some more,” she says.

The improper use and disposal of smoking materials has been named the cause of Friday morning’s fatal fire in Ipswich, officials said. The Central Street fire took the life of one woman whose name has not yet been released.

“Even though fire deaths are generally decreasing, this has been a difficult winter,” State Fire Marshal Stephen D. Coan said in a statement. “Smoking remains the leading cause of fire deaths in the state.”

Ipswich Fire Chief Arthur Howe III said in a statement, “This fire is a terrible tragedy and our hearts go out to the victim’s family and friends. The fact that the fire sprinkler system was able to control the fire until firefighters arrived prevented anyone else from being hurt and kept property damage to an absolute minimum.”

Fire officials recommend taking the following precautions in order to prevent a smoking-related fire:

• Smoke outside of the home.
• Use a sturdy ashtray or a can filled with sand to collect ashes.
• Ashtrays should be set on a sturdy surface that is hard to ignite, such as a table.
• Make sure cigarettes are completely stubbed out in the ashtray.
• Soak cigarette butts and ashes in water before throwing them away.
• Never toss hot cigarette butts or ashes in the trash.
• Do not put ashtrays on chairs or sofas, which can quickly catch on fire.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health announced Tuesday that the risk of heart attack hospitalization dropped by 46 percent among MassHealth members who used a smoking cessation program provided by the state, according to a new study published in the online journal PLos Medicine.

The dramatic decline was evident in the first year after use of the benefit. The risk of hospitalization for other acute coronary heart disease diagnoses dropped by 49 percent in the first year after use of the benefit.

“These dramatic results demonstrate how the Commonwealth’s health care reform efforts have made a difference in just a short amount of time,” said Governor Deval Patrick, in a statement. “By making a comprehensive smoking cessation benefit available to MassHealth members, we have significantly reduced the number of expensive hospitalizations — helping people lead healthier lives and saving taxpayer dollars.”

This is the first time the health effect of the MassHealth smoking cessation benefit has been analyzed in such depth, DPH said Tuesday. In the first two and a half years of the benefit, over 75,000 MassHealth members used it to try to quit smoking, comprising 40 percent of all smokers on MassHealth, a state health insurance program.

“This study demonstrates that the Commonwealth’s efforts to help people quit smoking are a sound investment,” said Secretary of Health and Human Services Dr. JudyAnn Bigby. “It’s clear that MassHealth’s smoking cessation benefit has had a very real, positive health impact for people across the state, while at the same time lowering health care costs.”

Experts agree that smoking is the leading preventable cause of sickness and death. More than 8,000 Massachusetts residents die every year from the effects of smoking, and tobacco use is associated with $4.3 billion in excess health care costs in Massachusetts each year.

Furthermore, in Massachusetts, 77 percent of adult cigarette smokers say they want to quit, 60 percent of smokers have tried to quit within the past year, and 44 percent report that they plan to try to quit in the next 30 days.

The report is available online at: plosmedicine.org.

Ignorance doesn’t exist anymore. Everyone knows that smoking is bad for you. By now we’ve all seen the TV and magazine ads and read the surgeon general’s warning. We all know someone who’s gotten cancer.

Still, 1 in 5 American adults continues to smoke cigarettes and 40 percent of nonsmokers were exposed to secondhand smoke during 2007-2008, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Most disturbing: nearly all (98 percent) children who live with a smoker are exposed and have measurable levels of toxic chemicals in their bodies from cigarette smoke.

The CDC says that smoking rates dropped from 2000 through 2005. But since then, the rate has remained constant at about 20 percent.

Of note:

• In 2009, more men (nearly 24 percent) than women (about 18 percent) smoked.
• Smoking remains prevalent among the poor, as 31 percent of those living below the poverty line are smokers.
• Less than 6 percent of adults with a graduate degree smoke, but 25 percent of adults with no high school diploma smoke.

“Smoking is still the leading preventable cause of death in this country,” said CDC Director Dr. Thomas R. Frieden.  ”But progress is possible. Strong state laws that protect nonsmokers from secondhand smoke, higher cigarette prices, aggressive ad campaigns that show the human impact of smoking and well-funded tobacco control programs decrease the number of adult smokers and save lives.”

Last year, Mormon-heavy Utah had the lowest rates of smoking, followed by California. California has had strict tobacco laws for years. Adult smoking in California declined by about 40 percent during 1998-2006, and as a result lung cancer in California has been declining four times faster than in the rest of the nation, according to the report.

And if you need a subtle reminder from the CDC: “Smoking causes cancers of the lung, mouth, stomach, pancreas, kidney, colon, cervix, bladder and leukemia, as well as heart attacks, stroke, blindness, pneumonia, emphysema and other lung diseases, and many other health problems. Exposure to secondhand smoke causes sudden infant death syndrome and low birth weight, acute respiratory infections, middle ear disease, exacerbated asthma, respiratory symptoms, and decreased lung function in children. It also causes heart disease and lung cancer in nonsmoking adults.”

Salem State University will ban tobacco on its campus, Boston.com reported Tuesday.

In an email to faculty, staff and students, the North Shore college will expand its current ban of smoking in buildings to cover the entire campus, including all grounds and outdoor areas.

Chewing tobacco, and smokeless tobacco are also banned.

“The university has an opportunity to dramatically impact the health and welfare of the members of our community and guests by making a change in the currently accepted campus smoking practices,” Stanley P. Cahill, Salem State’s executive vice president, said in the message.

There are 10,000 students at Salem State, and 2,000 live on campus, Boston.com reported.

Students and employees will be offered assistance with quitting before the policy goes into effect on September 1, 2011.

QUINCY — Home oxygen equipment is a lifesaver. A medical device, it allows patients with breathing problems to stay in their homes and lead a normal life. But like any medical device, it can be deadly.

In Massachusetts several fatal fires have moved investigators to look more deeply into the dangers of home oxygen, especially when people smoke with this equipment in the house.

The Massachusetts Department of Fire Services has launched an educational campaign around this issue. Stephen D. Coan, the state fire marshal and top fire official, says he considers the issue a top priority.

"Smoking in homes where people use oxygen starts many fires each year that cause deaths and injuries," Coan said. "These fires force whole families and other building tenants out of their homes, destroy a lifetime’s possessions, and cause hundreds of thousands of dollars in property damage."

Home oxygen is pure O2 — the fuel required for fire to burn. In the presence of an open flame or spark, pure oxygen can ignite. And if a fire is already burning, bottles of home oxygen can suddenly and violently explode or release their contents into the fire, giving it more fuel, and quickly turning a small fire into a massive blaze. These fires can be more deadly for residents and more dangerous for responding firefighters.

Fire needs oxygen to burn, and the more oxygen there is in the air, the easier and faster things — furniture, clothing, bedding — will burn. Normal air is about 21 percent oxygen, while home medical oxygen is 100 percent. It’s the difference between a beer and pure rubbing alcohol.

In Quincy a woman died on the morning of Dec. 26 after fire officials said she was smoking a cigarette while using home oxygen. Donna Marani, 62, brutally burned to death in a two-alarm fire in her high-rise apartment complex. In her tiny apartment, the first thing that was visible was her front door, down a long hallway, where a sign warned passersby that home oxygen was in use and that people shouldn’t smoke. But inside the apartment, the remains of a pack of cigarettes and a lighter were visible on a table. On the floor, Marani’s oxygen unit was a charred mess. Quincy Fire Chief Joseph Barron said she was found in a hallway, between a couch where the fire started and her bathroom. The couch was burned down to the springs, with only the tatters of a Boston Red Sox blanket remaining.

"The investigation revealed the cause to be consistent with a smoking-related fire,” Coan said. "And there was home oxygen in the apartment.”

Marani was declared dead at the scene. Across the living room, a bookshelf full of Christmas cards and old photographs gave a sad reminder of the humanity surrounding the preventable danger.

"She was a smoker,” said Jenn Fell, 31, who lives in the Marani’s building with her two sons. "Several people in the building have warned her about smoking while on oxygen. … Everybody lost a really good friend out of this tragedy.”

Fell was allowed to return to her home, but the entire building, some 10 stories tall, housing low-income, elderly, and disabled city residents, smelled of smoke. Water damage seeped downstairs. Smoke and fire damage hit adjoining apartments. Two other residents were hospitalized.

On May 16, a house fire burned so intensely that firefighters in full gear and air masks were unable to reach a 73-year-old grandmother in the town of Whitman, Massachusetts. Helena Drass died in a fire that was violently accelerated by her therapeutic home oxygen containers. Fire investigators believe she was smoking a cigarette while her oxygen equipment was in use.

Drass was living with her daughter, who was out of town that night. A babysitter was hailed as a hero for getting Drass’ four grandchildren out of the house safely, but there was nothing that could be done for the grandmother.

“The fire was so intense — it did more damage in 10 minutes than most fires do in 30 minutes,” said Whitman Fire Chief Tim Grenno. Fire crews from four neighboring cities and towns helped put out the 2-alarm fire.

Elsewhere in Massachusetts, on March 27, 2004, a 39-year-old Salem woman died after she was overcome by heat and smoke when her apartment caught fire. Her roommate was using home oxygen and lit a cigarette. Six other people were hurt in the fire. On January 13, 2004, the town of Holbook battled a massive fire in a single-family home. A resident on oxygen dropped a cigarette that ignited the living room cough on fire. The fire caused several oxygen tanks in the room to rupture and explode. A firefighter was hurt. In 2003, a Boston man on home oxygen died in a flash fire. Even though his oxygen was off, there was enough remaining in the air to ignite his clothes when he lit a cigarette. He died and his wife and daughter were burned trying to save him.

On October 28, 2002, an 8-year-old girl died when her father, a smoker with lung disease, dropped a cigarette while he was using home oxygen. The tank exploded, and the little girl couldn’t escape the house.

Smoking is the leading cause of fire deaths in Massachusetts. Statewide since 1997, about two-dozen people have died and nearly 50 people have been injured in fires caused by smoking around home oxygen. According to the Quincy-based National Fire Protection Association, 46 people die each year around the country from fires sparked by improper use of home oxygen equipment — namely, smoking around such apparatus.

According to a National Fire Prevention Association research study, from 2003 to 2006, 1,190 people were burned per year in the United States from fires associated with home medical oxygen. Seventy-three percent of those fires were caused by smoking and 89 percent of victims suffered facial burns.

Coan’s office is circulating educational pamphlets to local fire departments, including a step-by-step guide for firefighters to educate residents on the dangers of smoking around oxygen. Essentially, oxygen users are told they should not smoke and should stay away from candles, gas grills, stoves, and any open flames.

"It’s a very dangerous thing. This is an issue that is extremely dangerous in homes," says Lorraine Carli, a spokeswoman for the National Fire Protection Association. "But like most fires and burns, they can be prevented by people taking some very simple steps."

Coan says that his campaign will target more than just residents and patients. He said that health care providers also have to take responsibility.

"Before sending a patient home on oxygen, health care providers must make sure the patient understands the dangers of smoking in an oxygen enriched environment," Coan writes in a statement. "Smokers should be asked about their intentions. If they are unwilling to quit, the risk of fire can outweigh the benefit of oxygen therapy."

There are simple ways to reduce risks that firefighters and officials are trying to teach. Patient on oxygen should avoid matches, lighters, cigarettes, candles, gas stoves, major appliances, electric razors, hair dyers and space heaters. Oil-based products like certain lotions or lip balms can also be dangerous for oxygen users. "You should not smoke. Your family and friends should not smoke around you," Coan said. "No one should smoke in your home. The fire danger is too great."

Massachusetts is one of the hardest states in America to have a smoke. You can’t smoke indoors. You can’t smoke in bars. Tobacco shops are disappearing. Cigarette taxes are through the roof.

And it’s all working.

A study shows 26 percent fewer Massachusetts low-income Medicaid participants smoke since 2006.

Researchers also found that there were 12 percent fewer claims for adverse maternal birth complications.

“It is clear from these latest findings that the Commonwealth’s efforts to help people quit smoking is a sound investment,” said Executive Office of Health and Human Services Secretary JudyAnn Bigby.

“As the nation debates the future of its health care system, the national significance of this research cannot be understated,” said Robert J. Gould, PhD, President and CEO of Partnership for Prevention. “These findings demonstrate that prudent investments in preventive health today will have a dramatic and positive effect on our health care system tomorrow.”

Smoking is, of course, the number one cause of illness and death in the United States, according to experts. More than 8,000 Massachusetts residents die annually from the effects of smoking, and tobacco use is associated with $4.3 billion in excess health care costs in Massachusetts each year.

“These early findings offer great promise,” said Nancy Brown, National CEO of the American Heart Association.

Take it all in — the scents, the tastes, the sugar. It’s about memories of little league games and summer camp.

We in Generation Y had it good. We saw the emergence of the sourest candies ever made, while the good old candies you could choke on were still there.

From our sugary amazingnesses to favorite fast food, here’s a list of 10 things that taste like our childhood.

1. Airheads

The originals are still available. (Media credit/Travis Hornung/Flickr)

After taffy, there were Airheads. These babies are flattened sugar with artificial flavoring. Mmmm.

Manufactured by Perfetti Van Melle of Erlanger, Kentucky for the past two decades, the mini ones are a tease, but the big, full size, foil-packaged Airheads really do bring back memories. You could get more than one for a dollar at the concession stand at the little league field. Watermelon is particularly good, but we also remember the sour varieties and the odd “white” Airhead.

Kids today know of Airheads because they’ve done a Spongebob variety and in 2007 and 2008, a new “BerryHot” flavor gets warm in your mouth, and “Chillin” flavors are supposed to have a “cold” feeling. They aren’t the same. The originals are still available, and that’s all that matters.

2. Play-Doh

You know you went for it at least once. (Media credit/WikiMedia)

You don’t have to admit that you might have nibbled on the product of your Fun Factory. It’s OK. You ate the Doh. We know it.

We didn’t have clay growing up. We had Play-Doh. Originally created in the 1940s as a wallpaper cleaner, the makers soon realized kids were playing with it. Play-Doh was born. The product may have had its golden age slightly before our generation, but you’ll be hard-pressed to find a single kid our age (and by kid, we mean mid 20s) that didn’t play with Play-Doh growing up.

And don’t worry; it’s non-toxic.

3. Atomic Fireballs

15 million Fireballs are consumed weekly (Media credit/pgh_shutter/Flickr)

Round, red, hot. Nello Ferrara’s 1954 contribution to the candy world was extremely popular in the 80s and 90s when we were sucking them down, and we might still be found trying to talk to our boss with an Atomic Fireball that leaves our mouth red.

The company claims that 15 million atomic fireballs are consumed by Americans every week.

This is one of those things that, when we’re 50, we can tell our kids that “back in our day, Atomic Fireballs were a nickel. A NICKEL!”

Atomic Fireballs are part of the Jawbreaker family. There are also four flavors of Atomic Sourball.

4. Plastic

Everything we touched was made of plastic. (Media credit/Kat Gloor/Flickr)

Sippy cups. Action figures. Furniture. Buttons. Pens. Soda bottles. Baby dolls.

Almost every freakin thing we touched — and subsequently put in our months — as kids was made of plastic.

We were born in the plastic revolution. Do you know what they used to use before plastic? GLASS!

We didn’t use glass. The only things made of glass back in our day were Gatorade bottles.

One Blast editor said she can’t smell plastic without thinking of her Glo Worm, which she’d always have in her mouth as a child.

Plastic has since been vilified. You don’t even see plastic bags at the supermarket anymore.

5. Fundip and Pixy Stix

Pure, tooth-rotting sugar (Media credit/WikiMedia)

This is candy. Pure, tooth-rotting sugar that will make you bounce off the walls 20 minutes before you pass out from the crash.

Fun Dip has been on the market since 1942, when it was called Lik-M-Aid. We remember the stick is called Lik-A-Stix. It was white and flavorless, and that’s how we liked it. Willy Wonka Candy Company ruined Fun Dip by making the stick flavored in the modern era.

Fun Dip is the same sugar as Pixy Stix. Three flavors come in a package, separated, of course. The stick becomes a yucky mess.

Good times.

6. Candy Cigarettes

I never got the urge to smoke. (Media credit/WikiMedia)

In 1991 the government tried to ban candy cigarettes.

They failed, but the fun chalky pretend cigarettes with a red tip are all but gone now. The bubblegum ones were not very good because the paper tasted, well, like paper. The chalky candy ones were fun to suck on and pretend we were having a good ol’ smoke.

I never had the urge to actually smoke because of candy cigarettes.

According to Wikipedia, candy cigarettes are banned Finland, Norway, Ireland, Turkey and Saudi Arabia .

Still, it was fun to buy a pack whenever the ice cream truck came up the hill when I was a kid.

7. McDonald’s French Fries

Hey Jimmy, what did you win in the Monopoly game? OBESITY! (Media credit/Scorpions and Centaurs/Flickr)

McDonald’s used to cook with trans fats. I think it even used animal fat before our time.

French fries are God-awful for you. Dietitians will tell you that they’re one of the worst things you could possibly consume.

Fuck that.

OK, so I have gone a whole year without eating a single French fry, but McDonald’s French fries are the best French fries in the world, perhaps second only to the Glenwood Drive-In in Hamden, Connecticut.

They’ve tasted the same since we were kids. They’re delicious, and we’re all fat today because of them.

But…memories…

8. Big League Chew

It comes in a pouch! Cool! You mean they make tobacco in a pouch too? Gross! (Media credit/thinkjose/Flickr)

Here’s another attempt by big tobacco to get kids hooked, right?

Horseshit.

The only bad thing about Big League Chew was that the taste didn’t last very long, and you always had to go “dipping” for more.

The original was good, but I always bit down on a big wad of watermelon when I was on the pitcher’s mound in my little league glory days. My teeth ache at the memory of chewing down on a golf ball-sized wad of gum.

9. Sunny Delight

I don’t know what’s in Sunny D. I don’t wanna know what’s in Sunny D. All I know is that it was better than soda, OJ and that purple stuff, and it’s got healthy junk in it.

10. Old-School Doritos

75 cents! Back in my day!

Jesus Christ, is it any wonder we’re all out of shape?

But do you remember old-school Doritos? Before “Nacho Cheesier” and “Collisions” came to be? Back when it was just a cheesy corn chip?

Really, all you needed were Doritos, Fritos, some pretzels and maybe some Smartfood Popcorn, and you’ve got yourself a party!

There were some failed experiments. Remember Doritos 3D?

Plus, Doritos always has great Superbowl commercials.

What did I miss? Share your favorite reminiscent tastes in the comments section!

Blast columnist Lindsay Milgroom and writers Sam Peters and Brooklynne Peters contributed to this report

It’s true that littered cigarette butts are a public nuisance, and not just for aesthetic reasons. The filters on cigarettes”"four fifths of all cigarettes have them”"are made of cellulose acetate, a form of plastic that is very slow to degrade in the environment. A typical cigarette butt can take anywhere from 18 months to 10 years to decompose, depending on environmental conditions.

But beyond the plastic, these filters”"which are on cigarettes in the first place to absorb contaminants to prevent them from going into the lungs”"contain trace amounts of toxins like cadmium, arsenic and lead. Thus when smokers discard their butts improperly”"out the car window or off the end of a pier or onto the sidewalk below”"they are essentially tossing these substances willy-nilly into the environment.

Studies done by Johns Hopkins University, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and even the tobacco industry itself show that these contaminants can get into soils and waterways, harm or kill living organisms and generally degrade surrounding ecosystems.

While individual discarded cigarette butts may be small, they add up to a huge problem. Some 5.5 trillion cigarettes are consumed worldwide each year. The non-profit Keep America Beautiful reports that cigarette butts constitute as much as one-third of all litter nationwide when measured by the number of discarded items, not volume. According to the Ocean Conservancy, a non-profit that advocates for stronger protection of marine ecosystems, cigarette butts are the most commonly littered item found on America’s salt and fresh water beaches according to feedback received by hundreds of thousands of volunteers taking part in the group’s annual Coastal Clean-up event.

While the tobacco industry may have its hands full just trying to stay afloat in the maelstrom of ongoing bad publicity, critics say it should be doing more to prevent cigarette butt litter. “Just as beverage manufacturers contribute to anti-litter campaigns, and have invested in public education on litter issues, so too should the tobacco industry” says Kathleen Register, founder and executive director of Clean Virginia Waterways, a non-profit that has spearheaded the fight against cigarette butt litter in the mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. She adds that cigarette manufacturers “need to take an active and responsible role in educating smokers about this issue and devote resources to the cleanup of cigarette litter.”

Register suggests a number of strategies including putting anti-litter messages on all cigarette packaging and advertisements, distributing small, free portable ashtrays, and placing and maintaining outdoor ashtrays in areas where smokers congregate. She also suggests putting an extra tax on cigarette sales, with proceeds going toward anti-litter education efforts and to defray the costs of cleaning up butts. “Picking up littered cigarette butts costs schools, businesses and park agencies money” she says. “By taxing smokers for anti-litter educational efforts, some of the costs of cleaning up cigarette butts will shift onto smokers.” One way or another, Register hopes, smokers will learn that the Earth is not one giant ashtray.

Photo courtesty lanier67, Flickr.

The war on cigarettes has taken another step forward. The FDA has announced a ban on cigarettes, in effect starting today, that are “flavored” like any fruit, candy, or clove as part of the new Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act.

Ninety percent of adult smokers started smoking when they were teenagers, so the FDA’s logic says that making cigarettes less appealing should keep more people form smoking. Likewise, 17 year old smokers are three times as likely as adult smokers to use flavored cigarettes.

The FDA has sent letters to tobacco industry officials explaining the law, and warning of stern penalties for those who continue to defy it.

“Youth are twice as likely to report seeing advertising for these flavored products as adults are,” said Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, a pediatrician and the FDA Principal Deputy Commissioner. “Marketing campaigns for products with sweet candy and fruit flavors can mislead young people into thinking that these products are less addictive and less harmful.”

The FDA is also looking into regulating menthol cigarettes as well as other flavored tobacco products.

LOS ANGELES — No, it wasn’t just a funny Penny Arcade cartoon, we saw it with our own eyes. Ubisoft is actually making a game for the Nintendo DS that encourages you to quit smoking through literature and minigames.

That should mix well with the new core audience of the DS, young teenage girls.