Health roundup: Study questions routine check-ups

Your Wednesday morning health roundup:

A check-up on check-ups: Showing up at your doctor's office for a battery of tests once every year or so may do nothing to extend your life, keep you out of the hospital or even improve your peace of mind, says a review of 14 trials carried out in healthy people in Europe and the United States. While some of the tests may have value, many can be done less frequently or can be fit in when patients come to the doctor for other reasons, researchers say. Some people with chronic conditions, such as diabetes and high blood pressure, do need regular monitoring, experts say. (NBC News)

E. coli at the fair: An outbreak of E. coli illnesses linked to a North Carolina fair has grown to 38 cases and killed a toddler. The source of the bacteria is not known, but fair officials suspect it came from animals in a petting zoo area -- raising new questions about the safety of such exhibits. (Los Angeles Times)

Meningitis investigation: The Food and Drug Administration has now sent criminal investigators into the New England Compounding Center in Framingham, Mass. The company produced medicine linked to a widespread outbreak of fungal meningitis. (New York Times)

Today's talker: The scourge of child obesity no doubt has many causes. But some school districts are taking aim at what they say is a particularly pervasive -- and messy -- suspect: Flamin' Hot Cheetos. The Rockford, Ill., school district has stopped selling the bright orange-red snack and districts in New Mexico and California are looking at bans on the bags chock full of artificial colors, calories, fat and salt, ABC News reports. Frito-Lay says it doesn't market Flamin' Hot Cheetos or other such snacks to kids under age 12. But convenience store operators tell the Chicago Tribune the spicy curls are breakfast for some kids and are most popular among high-schoolers.