A Swedish study says the death rate for golfers is 40 percent lower than for other people of the same sex, age and socioeconomic status. That corresponds to an extra five years of life.

This may not strike you as particularly surprising.

“A round of golf means being outside for four or five hours, walking at a fast pace for (a few miles), something that is known to be good for health,” said Anders Ahlbom, who led the study at the Karolinska Institute.

But what might raise a few eyebrows is the discovery that golfers with the lowest scores lived the longest, on average.

Ahlbom said the reason is simple: “Maintaining a low handicap involves playing a lot, so this supports the idea that it is largely the game itself that is good for the health.”

This is one case where age isn’t a handicap.

+ GET ME THAT. STAT!

At least 40 percent of American infants and toddlers aren’t getting enough vitamin D, according to researchers at Children’s Hospital in Boston. Twelve percent are already deficient, and 28 percent are at risk.

Few foods naturally contain vitamin D, which is sometimes called “the sunshine vitamin” because the human body produces it internally when exposed to sunlight. However, as people have tried to reduce skin cancer danger by using sunscreens and limiting outdoor sun exposure, they’ve also reduced vitamin D levels. Doctors generally recommend vitamin supplements or vitamin-supplemented foods.

+ NEVER SAY DIET

The world’s speed-eating record for tiramisu is four pounds in six minutes, held by Timothy Janus.

+ NUMBER CRUNCHER

A classic Cinnabon cinnamon roll contains 730 calories, 216 from fat. That’s 37 percent of the recommended total fat intake for a 2,000-calorie daily diet.

A roll also contains 114 grams of total carbohydrates (38 percent) and 1.5 grams of dietary fiber (6 percent). The Cinnabon company does not post information on sugar content.

+ MEDTRONICA

Wall Street Journal health blog
blogs.wsj.com/health/

Given current economic woes, your wallet’s probably running on empty. This blog, produced by the nation’s premier business newspaper, won’t necessarily make it feel better. The stories tend to involve depressing stuff like HMO mismanagement and rising medical costs, but knowledge is power and, as the saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

+ PHOBIA OF THE WEEK

Agyiophobia - fear of crossing streets

+ BEST MEDICINE

Q: What does HMO stand for?

A: This is actually a variation of the phrase, “Hey Moe!” Its roots go back to a health care concept pioneered by Moe of the Three Stooges, who discovered that a patient could be made to forget the pain in his foot if he was poked hard enough in the eye.

+ OBSERVATION

Beautiful bodies and beautiful personalities rarely go together.

- Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung (1875-1961)