NiCole Keith, associate professor in the Department of Physical Education at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, said she expected the study to show similar physical fitness levels between the two groups. The findings, however, show that the fitness center participants performed significantly better on each of the measures when compared to the CHC particpants.

The community health centers serve vulnerable populations, including those without health insurance; the medically affiliated fitness centers serve a more affluent population.

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Public health officials know that kids who watch their heroes smoke in movies are much more likely to begin smoking. And while those at the National Cancer Institute who track onscreen tobacco use say the incidents on film are dropping, there are still enough shots to be a problem.

In a report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Cancer Institute says for the fifth straight year, the number of incidents of smoking in movies rated G, PG or PG-13 has dropped.

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View full sizeAP fileBishop Leonard Blair of Toledo

TOLEDO, Ohio — An Ohio Roman Catholic bishop has told the parishes and schools of his diocese to stop raising money for a national breast cancer charity.

Toledo Bishop Leonard Blair said in a letter to priests and parishes over the weekend that he’s concerned that Susan G. Komen for the Cure might decide to fund embryonic stem cell research.

A spokeswoman for the Komen foundation in Dallas says the group has never funded stem-cell research.

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A young man who underwent the world’s first double leg transplant might be able to walk with the aid of crutches in six or seven months if his rehabilitation goes well, the surgeon who oversaw the operation said Tuesday

Dr Pedro Cavadas said the patient is a man in his 20s who lost his legs high above the knees in an accident, but gave no other details on him or the donor

The surgery started Sunday night at a hospital in Valencia in eastern Spain and lasted 10 hours Cavadas told a news conference the patient was elated upon seeing his new limbs

Doctors have previously transplanted hands, arms and even faces, but no legs have previously been transplanted That’s largely because artificial legs usually allow patients to walk and even run

Other doctors not involved with the surgery said the next few days would be crucial for establishing a strong blood supply in the patient’s new legs “That is the priority now,” said Dr Nadey Hakim, surgical director of the West London Transplant Unit at Hammersmith Hospital “If the blood supply stops, the limbs are gone”

Hakim reckoned that if all goes well, the patient might have 60 percent use of his new legs, based on the amount of function patients of hand and arm transplants have been able to regain “Whether he will obtain any strength in his transplanted leg muscles is a key question,” Hakim said He said the double transplant surgery was a very invasive procedure and questioned how successful it might ultimately be He doubted a similar surgery would ever be granted ethical approval in Britain

Cavadas said the key to the long period of rehabilitation that lies ahead will be how his nerves regenerate and join up with structures like muscles, joints and skin

Cavadas said he imagines the patient will be able to walk with crutches and perhaps even without crutches over the long term But this depends largely on the physiotherapy process

“If everything goes as we hope it does, it would be realistic to think that in six or seven months he could be walking” with crutches, Cavadas said

Still, other experts thought it might take a year or two before the patient is able to use his legs “Nerve regeneration usually occurs at the speed of about an inch a month,” said WP Andrew Lee, chairman of plastic and reconstructive surgery at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine He said it was uncertain just how much use the patient would get out of his legs and that unless the patient regains feeling in his feet and his legs, he wouldn’t be able to walk

He also questioned whether the potential benefits from the procedure outweighed the risks, since the patient will need to take anti-rejection medicines for the rest of his life, drugs that come with serious side effects including organ damage

Lee said that artificial legs offer most patients an excellent chance to regain mobility He was unsure whether the patient’s inability to use prosthetic limbs might also hurt his chances of regaining sensation in his donated legs

Spanish officials have said doctors tried artificial legs with this patient but they did not work because his amputation was so far above the knees

Cavadas is known for having carried out Spain’s first double hand transplant in 2006 In 2009 he carried out Spain’s first face transplant, which was also the first anywhere to include a new tongue and jaw

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AP Medical Writer Maria Cheng contributed to this report from London