Flu Vaccine

If you haven't thought about perhaps getting the flu vaccine, I encourage you to keep informed - especially if you're in the "high risk" group!

According to a recent post from the Public Health News Wire (from APHA), flu activity is accelerating and appears to be particularly hot and heavy this season - some say perhaps due to the mild winter we've had.

I've always been on the fence about getting the flu vaccine every year, since I don't feel I'm very high risk, but I've been reconsidering that this year and trying to keep on top of the research and recent news to inform my decision.  (So don't let the news folks scare you...Fear does not always lead to informed decisions, if ever!)

Here's a nice infographic from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (and explains what "high risk" mean):

Sugar Sweetened Beverages (SSBs)

I came across this news article from PublicHealthNewsWire.org (sponsored by APHA, American Public Health Association) via NewPublicHealth on my blogroll about some of the actions being taken to reduce sugar sweetened beverage consumption (e.g., sodas, fruit juices).

NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg proposed banning the sale of large SSBs in some public places (this was several weeks ago).  Recently, there was a National Soda Summit to address this issue - which is the primary topic of the news article:
‘National Soda Summit’ held to reduce soft drink intake, improve public’s health

I do think this is such an important topic, and something so pervasive and difficult to stop in our society.  I think we've normalized - and maybe even put on a pedestal for some drinks - these processed, 'easy' beverages.  Some purport health benefits, some tout the 'bandwagon effect,' the cool factor...
 For instance, my extended family on my partner's side treat Fresca as a 'special drink,' and I remember that Cheerwine was the IT beverage when I was younger because it was harder to find than some other drinks.

These stats were given in the article:
"Jacobsen said that intake of Pepsi-Cola beverages has dropped 46 percent since 1998 and 31 percent for Coca-Cola products, while Americans have doubled their water consumption during time span."

It's nice to see improvement in numbers, but I'd also like to see ways in which we help folks make the transition or reduction of SSBs to water consumption.  I know that I have trouble staying hydrated and water is rather...dull and flavorless (which is what we expect 'good' water to be!), so what are low/no-calorie, low/no sweetened ways of making water palatable?
Is it creative advertising, carbonated water, having more lemons/limes around?  What are your thoughts of decreasing SSBs and/or increasing water consumption?