• Barbara Palvin walked the Victoria's Secret runway six weeks postpartum.
• The model told outlets that she's just doing "what every woman does in America."
• The US is the only wealthy country to provide no national paid maternity leave.

Barbara Palvin is getting praise for walking the Victoria's Secret fashion show in lingerie six weeks postpartum, but she doesn't want it.

In multiple interviews, the Hungarian-born model downplayed the feat, saying it's common for new mothers in the US to be back at work within a similar timeframe.

"In the US, maternity leave is six to eight weeks. I'm six weeks tomorrow, so nothing major here. I'm just doing what every woman does in America," the 33-year-old told USA Today backstage at the fashion show, which took place in Los Angeles on October 18.

"And I only have to walk down a runway," Palvin told Page Six.

In 2025, the US was the only country among the 38 OECD countries, including the UK, Australia, and Japan, to have no national paid maternity leave, according to the OECD Family Database.

New mothers in the US are entitled to up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act, but they must meet certain eligibility criteria. The new mother must have worked for their employer for at least 12 months, worked at least 1,250 hours in the previous 12 months, and their employer must have 50 or more employees within 75 miles of their job site.

Federal workers are generally entitled to 12 weeks of paid leave, but private companies are not legally required to pay employees on parental leave. Some states, including California, New York, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Maine, have paid family leave programs, but the majority don't.

Data released this year from the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis suggests mothers in the US took an average of 7.2 weeks off to care for a new child.

Palvin, who has been married to actor Dylan Sprouse since July 2023, gave birth to her first child, a girl called Sylvie, on September 7.

Palvin was named a Victoria's Secret Angel in 2019. She first walked the Victoria's Secret fashion show in 2012. At the 2025 Victoria's Secret fashion show, Sprouse told reporters that Palvin had broken her foot four weeks earlier and was walking the runway with a "half-healed foot."

The first Victoria's Secret Fashion Show took place at The Plaza Hotel in New York City in 1995. It was broadcast online for the first time in 1999, and was so popular that the host site crashed.

• Ultra-processed foods are everywhere, but some additives are worse than others.
• Elizabeth Dunford is a nutrition epidemiologist who studies additives and health issues.
• She avoids two types of additives when she sees them on a food label.

Elizabeth Dunford isn't trying to make grocery shopping an impossible task.

Dunford is a nutrition epidemiologist who studies additives in ultra-processed foods and their impact on health.

It's not realistic to avoid packaged foods altogether, Dunford, who is based at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, told Business Insider. They make up around 70% of the US food supply.

So, she focuses on buying foods for her family that have a low "additive load" overall.

"I try and avoid things in general that have a lot of additives, but you can't avoid everything," said Dunford, who is a mom of two. "If you pick it up, you turn it over, and you don't recognize half the ingredients, it's probably not a good choice," she said.

She has taught her kids that eating enough vegetables, protein, and calcium will "keep their brains and bodies healthy," and that there's a time and a place for treats, but it's not good to have too many. "It is the everyday food and drink choices that really matter to me," Dunford said.

Ultra-processed foods contain ingredients you wouldn't find in a regular kitchen, like emulsifiers and thickening agents. They tend to be ultrapalatable, meaning they contain an irresistible combination of sugar, salt, and fat, and have long shelf lives. They can be anything from potato chips and soda to packaged bread and yogurt.

A diet high in this type of food has been linked to a higher risk of chronic diseases, including type two diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and depression.

While she finds it unrealistic to cut out all additives, Dunford shared the two additives that she won't buy.

Synthetic dyes

Dunford avoids buying products that contain synthetic dyes for herself and her family. "I will allow it at a birthday party. That's about it. Day-to-day, they're not allowed in our house," she said.

The dyes, which are typically made from petroleum, are used to give food products colorful appearances. If you're looking out for them on a label, scan for a color and a number.

Dunford said that although the dyes are common in candy and junk foods, they can be used in anything from blueberry bagels to spinach wraps. Instead of avoiding any particular food, she checks labels to find a version without synthetic dyes.

"There are definitely enough alternatives out there that there is no need to buy products for my kids that contain synthetic dyes," she said.

Synthetic dyes are not proven to harm everyone who consumes them, but evidence suggests they can worsen hyperactivity or attention-related behavior in children who are sensitive to them. Dunford said her son is on the ADHD spectrum, and that she would notice a difference in his behavior when he had brightly colored foods.

"My son, like many kids his age on the ADHD spectrum, and I noticed he became horrible when he would have brightly colored foods," Dunford said.

In January 2025, the FDA banned Red Dye 3, a dye that gives foods like candy, frosting, and bacon a cherry red color, because it was linked to cancer in an animal study. It has not been found to cause cancer in humans, but has also been associated with behavioral issues in some children.

In April 2025, the FDA announced that it would be phasing out a number of other synthetic dyes, including Red 40, Green 3, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1, and Blue 2.

Phosphate additives

Dunford tries to avoid buying products with phosphate additives such as phosphoric acid, dicalcium phosphate, tricalcium phosphate, disodium phosphate, sodium phosphate, and lecithin.

Studies suggest that phosphate-based additives are present in up to 56% of packaged foods in the US and that they raise blood phosphate levels more than the phosphate that naturally occurs in foods such as meat, seafood, and dairy. Soda, processed meats, and fast food all commonly contain phosphate additives, but they can also be used in everyday staples like yogurt and bread.

Dunford won't buy major culprits like soda at all, but for other products like yogurt, she makes sure to find versions without them.

"Children are getting really highly exposed to these additives and they can really cause a lot of problems with bone health, with kidney health," Dunford said.

The body needs phosphate, which is a mineral, for healthy bones, teeth, cells, and energy production. But too much phosphate in the blood can be harmful, especially for people with chronic kidney disease, whose kidneys are less able to remove excess phosphate.

Calcium and phosphate are both used to build bones, and the kidneys help keep their levels balanced in the bloodstream. When phosphate builds up, it can disrupt this balance and trigger hormonal changes, including higher levels of parathyroid hormone, a hormone that regulates calcium in the blood. Over time, this can cause calcium to be released from bones, weakening them.

Although studies suggest that phosphate additives can temporarily affect the phosphate-calcium balance in healthy people, more research is needed to understand if these ingredients can cause health issues over time. Regardless, Dunford prefers to err on the side of caution.

"You're not going to get it perfect. It's okay, but just take that extra step, look at the label," Dunford said.

• Kamala Harris says she's loving reformer Pilates right now.
• The former vice president told Keke Palmer she loves how it works all the smaller muscles in her body.
• Harris said Pilates helps her feel empowered in her daily life.

First she was Brat, now she's a Pilates girlie.

"You know what I've been doing though recently is Pilates," former vice president Kamala Harris told actor Keke Palmer on an episode of the "Baby, This is Keke Palmer" podcast, posted October 15.

Harris said that, along with a walk with her husband Doug Emhoff, time to cook, and a family dinner, the workout would be part of her perfect Sunday. Harris, who is 61, has no biological children, but she helped co-parent Cole, 32, and Ella, 27, Emhoff's kids from his previous marriage.

Harris said Pilates gives her "an overall feeling of well-being" and helps her feel empowered in her daily life.

"There's so much about empowerment that is about knowing your strength and recognizing it," she said. Through Pilates, which emphasizes the brain-body connection, she said she feels more connected to her physical strength.

"I'm just realizing that there are all of these muscles and areas that I have not been exercising," Harris said.

Originally popular among dancers, models, and celebrities, Pilates has become the workout du jour. It was the most-booked workout on ClassPass globally last year, with bookings up 66% from 2024, beating both strength training and running. And luxury hotels, including some Ritz-Carlton and St Regis locations, have installed Pilates studios as a buzzy luxury amenity.

Harris is in good company — celebs including Jennifer Aniston, Miley Cyrus, and Hailey Bieber have all professed to love it, too.

The longevity boom might also be partially to thank for the spike in Pilates' popularity.

The low-impact form of strength and mobility training uses controlled, precise movements to strengthen the core and the deep muscles that stabilize the joints. It can improve functional strength, posture, and balance — all things that keep a person mobile and independent as they age. A 2021 systematic review published in the journal Physiotherapy found that among the 1,650 participants age 60 or older, those who did Pilates had a significantly lower risk of falling, a serious risk factor for hip fracture, inactivity, and muscle loss.

Harris told Palmer, who qualified as a Pilates instructor earlier this year, that she prefers reformer, where exercises are done on a sliding carriage attached to weighted springs, to mat Pilates.

Harris didn't say how many times a week she does Pilates, but based off her excitement talking about it, she could be on her way to full Pilates girlie status.

Someone get this woman a matching set and iced matcha latte stat.