When it's holiday and flu season, you need your energy more than ever -- Santa can't get sick! We come bearing good news: "New moms have an increased ability to withstand and fight infections through their powerful immune system during this time of life," says Maureen Groer, Ph.D., professor of nursing at the University of South Florida College of Nursing in Tampa. The following tips can help you maintain your immunity edge throughout the season.Keep your baby close. Skin-to-skin contact or having her near you in a bassinet or co-sleeper raises your levels of the hormone prolactin, which increases immune function.Be friendly. No dinner party necessary, but social interaction -- a moms' group or a chat with a friend -- helps you stay healthy, according to research published recently in Scientific American Mind.Naps aren't just for kids. Fatigue can sabotage immunity. [Read the full article]

President Barack Obama signed a sweeping overhaul of child nutrition standards Monday, enacting a law meant to encourage better eating habits in part by giving the federal government more authority to set standards for food sold in vending machines and elsewhere on school grounds.Among other things, the $4.5 billion measure provides more money to poor areas to subsidize free meals and requires schools to abide by health guidelines drafted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. To help offset the higher cost of including more fruits and vegetables, the bill increases the reimbursement rate for school lunches.The bill is about "giving our kids the healthy futures they deserve," the president said during a bill signing ceremony at a Washington elementary school. "Right now across the country too many kids don't have access to school meals."Even when they do, he added, too often the meals aren't sufficiently nutritious. [Read the full article]

A Virginia federal judge on Monday found a key part of President Barack Obama's sweeping health care reform law unconstitutional, setting the stage for a protracted legal struggle likely to wind up in the Supreme Court.U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson struck down the "individual mandate" requiring most Americans to purchase health insurance by 2014. The Justice Department is expected to challenge the judge's findings in a federal appeals court.Hudson's opinion contradicts other court rulings finding the mandate constitutionally permissible."An individual's personal decision to purchase -- or decline purchase -- (of) health insurance from a private provider is beyond the historical reach of the U.S. Constitution," Hudson wrote. [Read the full article]