Children in the United States eat the same amount of salt as adults, nearly 1,000 milligrams too much, or the same amount as in just one Big Mac. Extra salt leads to higher blood pressure, even in kids, but government research says those who are overweight and obese are expected to be most vulnerable to its impacts.
The new results were available online Monday in the journal of Pediatrics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Earlier findings have displayed similar results in adults but studies on salt, weight and blood pressure are scarce in children. The CDC researchers involved data on 6,200 kids with an age between 8 and 18 in 2003-08 national health surveys.
Overall, the Health sector showed a mixed trend on Friday, Pfizer Inc, Tenet Healthcare Corporation and Merck & Co., Inc are notable volume leaders in the industry.
Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) fell -1.86% to close at $23.80 and its overall volume during the last trading session was 59.03 million shares. PFE has earnings per share of $1.15. Its total market capitalization is 177.77 billion.
Earlier, Pfizer Inc. (PFE)’s chief executive officer said they are planning a joint venture with Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceutical Co. (600267) and have plans to hire 600 people in China by the end of the year.
Tenet Healthcare Corporation (NYSE:THC) surged +7.26% and closed at $5.76 with the total traded volume of 39.50 million shares. It has market capitalization of 2.40 billion while its total outstanding shares are 416.74 million and its beta value stands at 2.22 times.
Tenet, which operates 49 hospitals and over 100 freestanding outpatient centers in the U.S, is planning a $67M expansion for Sierra East Medical Center, located in El Paso’s rapidly growing Far Eastside, which will add more than 145,000-square-feet to the capacity.
Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) dropped -2.33% and closed at $43.62 with the total traded volume of 16.54 million shares. MRK has earnings per share of $2.19 with the net profit margin of 14.17% and operating margin of 18.86%.
MRK has current ratio of 2.11 and its debt-to-equity ratio was 0.34.
Biotech looks good overall. Geron looked good but much of it was just market excitement that is now gone. Investors should look for where the market is just starting to get excited and the fundamentals will prove strong in the long-term. This is true for CDXC. Teva Chairman Frost owns a major stake in ChromaDex (CDXC), which is to launch major breakthrough products in the anti-obesity space.