The Food and Drug Administration is closely watching the marketing of these foods and wants to know more about their safety.

The FDA says it will look at the foods' effects on children in response to a caffeinated gum introduced this week by Wrigley. Alert Energy Gum promises "the right energy, right now."

The agency is already investigating the safety of energy drinks and energy shots, prompted by consumer reports of illness and death.

A coalition of medical groups representing more than 350,000 doctors has come up with dozens of overused or unnecessary tests and treatments.

For example, the groups say screening for a clogged neck artery isn't necessary when there are no worrisome stroke signs.

The warning being issued is that potentially needless care not only can waste money and time, but sometimes can harm.

The recommendations are part of a coalition called Choosing Wisely, formed by the American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation. The list is aimed at doctors and includes references to published studies. Consumer advocates are publicizing the information in more patient-friendly terms.

Last year, the coalition listed 45 overused tests and treatments. It adds 90 more this year.

The Daily Mail is reporting that an expert in bulletproof vests has come up with several articles that the average child can wear without drawing any more attention.<p/>

The maker already produces vests for national and international clients, mostly heads of state and other spotlight figures. He says the vests, which go for about 500 dollars, can withstand a handgun round at close range. However, they are not designed to stop bullets fired by high-caliber weapons like the ones used in the shooting in Connecticut.<p/>

McNeil Consumer Healthcare says it is recalling about 574,000 bottles of a grape-flavored version of the liquid medicine, which was distributed nationally.

The medicine bottle comes with a syringe and has a protective cover, or flow restrictor, at the top to help measure the right dose. McNeil says that restrictor has been pushed into the bottle in some cases when the syringe is inserted.

McNeil is one of three business segments for J&J, which is based in New Brunswick, N.J. The consumer division has issued about two dozen recalls in more than two years.

At the same time, the proposal also eliminates a decades-long practice of checking middle-school students for signs of the spine condition scoliosis.<p/>

Kentucky ranked third in the number of children ages 10 to 17 considered obese at 21 percent in a 2010 study

Starting next summer, if they don't protect against both, or the sun protection factor is below 15, then they have to carry a warning: "This product has been shown only to help prevent sunburn, not skin cancer or early skin aging."

The guidelines, which spent more than 30 years in bureaucratic limbo, are designed to enhance the effectiveness of sunscreens and make them easier to use.

The key takeaway for consumers: Look for a sun protection factor, or SPF, of 15 and above that also says "broad spectrum." That's the new buzzword from the Food and Drug Administration to describe a product that does an acceptable job blocking both types of damaging rays.

"These changes to sunscreen labels are an important part of helping consumers have the information they need so they can choose the right sun protection for themselves and their families," said Dr. Janet Woodcock, director of FDA's drug division.

The new regulations require that sunscreens be tested for the ability to block the more dangerous ultraviolet A rays, which can penetrate glass and pose the greatest risk of skin cancer and premature aging. Now, the FDA only requires testing for ultraviolet B rays that cause sunburn. That's what the familiar SPF measure is based on.

"For the first time, the FDA has clearly defined the testing required to make a broad-spectrum protection claim in a sunscreen and indicate which type of sunscreen can reduce skin cancer risk," said Dr. Ronald L. Moy, president of The American Academy of Dermatology Association.

Under the new rules:

• The FDA will prohibit sunscreen marketing claims like "waterproof" and "sweatproof," which the agency said "are exaggerations of performance."

• The FDA also proposes capping the highest SPF value at 50, unless companies can provide results of further testing that support a higher number.

• FDA says manufacturers must phase out a four-star system currently used by some companies to rate UVA protection.

In reviewing more than 3,000 comments submitted to the agency, the FDA decided the star system was too confusing. Instead, protection against UVA should be proportional to protection against UVB, which is already measured using SPF.

There is a popular misconception that SPF relates to time of solar exposure. Many consumers believe that if they normally get sunburn in one hour, then an SPF 15 sunscreen allows them to stay in the sun for 15 hours without burning. This is not true because SPF is not directly related to length of sun exposure.

The rules were decades in the making.

FDA announced its intent to draft sunscreen rules in 1978 and published them in 1999. The agency then put the plan on indefinite hold until it could address issues concerning both UVA and UVB protection.

Several companies have already adopted the some of the language. For example, all Coppertone products from Merck & Co.'s Schering-Plough unit and Neutrogena Sunblock from Johnson & Johnson already boast "broad spectrum UVA and UVB protection."

Most dermatologists recommend a broad spectrum, water-resistant sunscreen of SPF 30 or higher every two hours while outside.

Last year an estimated 68,130 people in the U.S. were diagnosed with melanoma — the most dangerous form of skin cancer — and an estimated 8,700 died, according to the National Cancer Institute. Nearly $2 billion is spent treating the disease each year.

The study says strokes and other health problems linked with estrogen pills appear to fade, and provides reassuring news for women who take the hormone in their 50's when menopause usually begins.

The latest study bolsters previous evidence that concerns about breast cancer and heart attacks are largely unfounded for those who take the hormone for a short period of time.

Estrogen-only pills are recommended just for women who have had a hysterectomy -- about 25% of women in menopause-- and the study focused on that group.

Doctors' advice remains about the same -- take the lowest hormone dose possible for menopause symptoms. The study is in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Most often, kids' fevers are caused by viruses, and they will go away without medicine and without causing any damage.

A co-author of the study, Dr. Henry Farrar, says parents tend to overtreat fevers, even waking up sleeping kids to give them fever-reducing medicine. He says to let them sleep.

The report was released online in the journal Pediatrics. It doesn't recommend any temperature cutoffs for when to treat or call the doctor. It emphasizes that a fever is not an illness but rather a mechanism that helps fight infection.

Doctors writing in the medical journal Pediatrics say the dangers include heart palpitations, seizures, strokes and even sudden death.

The ill effects are caused mostly by too much caffeine or similar ingredients. Some cans have 4 to 5 times more caffeine than soda.

The authors want pediatricians to routinely ask patients and their parents about energy drink use and to advise against drinking them.

The report says energy drinks often contain ingredients that can enhance the jittery effects of caffeine or that can have other side effects including nausea and diarrhea. It says they should be regulated as stringently as tobacco, alcohol and prescription medicines.

The group has developed an easy-to-read booklet about those choices, from standard care to symptom relief, and advice about the right questions to ask.

ASCO chief executive Dr. Allen Lichter says it is not a converstation that should happend "in the back of the ambulance on the way to the ICU at 3 in the morning."

The guidance and booklet are available at www.cancer.net.