Your health

Dance it up

Drag those Dance Dance Revolution mats out from under the couch. New research backs up the fitness benefits of the game.

To play, you stand on a pad and move your feet to follow arrows that appear on the screen. In the two highest settings, the workout is the equivalent of riding a bike at 12 mph, say researchers at the University of Wisconsin in La Crosse.

The researchers tracked the heart rate and oxygen consumption of 24 teens and adults playing DDR. In the light mode, players burned about 6 calories a minute. In the standard mode, calorie burn went up to an average 6.7 calories a minute; the difficult setting burned about 8.1 calories per minute.

Napping 101

College students already skimp on sleep. For those who also hold down full- or part-time jobs, that fatigue can have dangerous consequences. The Accident Fund Insurance Company of America, which underwrites workers compensation insurance, says college students have twice the rate of job-related injuries as the general population.

Health directory:Œ

A new Web site will help you find hospitals, doctors' offices, nursing homes, pharmacies, specialists, support groups and other health care services close to home.

Compiled by librarians, Health-E Illinois lists thousands of providers throughout the state; you can search based on your location, type of provider or disease or health condition. The database is also linked to health information on MedlinePlus, a service of the National Library of Medicine.

To check it out, visit medlineplus.gov and click on "go local."

-- Susan Stevens