Your health

Walk this way

You know you're supposed to do at the equivalent of 30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity five days a week. But one person's "moderate" may be another's snail pace, or vice versa.

Now, researchers have figured out a simple and easy-to-remember guideline: "Moderate" is a rate of at least 100 steps per minute on level ground.

Do the math: Walk 3,000 steps in 30 minutes and you've got yourself a meaningful exercise program. So grab your wristwatch and a pedometer, and go.

The study will be published in the May issue of American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Say no to tanning

Maybe the burst of warm sunshine last week prompted you to take in some rays during your lunch hour. Or you might be headed to the beach for spring break.

So now's a good time for a reminder about sunscreen and skin cancer prevention. And if you pledge to get your glow from a bottle this year - sign up at jergens.com - Jergens will donate $1 to the Skin Cancer Foundation (up to $20,000).

Actress Rachel Bilson kicked off the campaign with her pledge, but the most pithy quote about tanning comes from Simon Doonan, creative director of Barneys New York: "Tanned skin is very '80s porn star."

Alphabet update

Melanoma is the least common skin cancer, but the deadliest. ABCD has always been the way to remember what spells danger in a mole: Asymmetry, border irregularity, color variation and diameter (bigger than a pencil eraser). Now, there's E (for evolving) as well as the "Ugly Duckling" rule: If a mole looks or feels different from your other moles, or changes differently from the others - even if it doesn't show ABCDE signs - get it checked out.

Poison prevention

To a child, a jug of windshield wiper fluid can look a lot like a favorite fruit drink. And 10 children in an Arkansas day care center were recently poisoned accidentally when wiper fluid was mistaken for Kool-Aid.

"Medicines that resemble candy and household cleaners that look like juice drinks can lead to accidental poisonings in children," said Dr. Michael Wahl, managing medical director of the Illinois Poison Center.

In 2008, the center handled 98,444 calls - and more than half involved children age 5 and younger. The toll-free number is (800) 222-1222.

Some tips from the poison prevention experts:

• Keep medicines and household products in their original containers with original labels.

• Teach children to ask first before eating or drinking anything.

• Never call medicine candy or make a game out of taking it.