Whole Health and Family News

Emergent-Culture/Health Section: Vol. 1, Issue #3 April /9/09

Emergent-Culture Health News brings to you the latest evidence based news on the following health topics.

Whole Health Index:

Click on desired topic and click on any image to come back to index

• Featured Story:
  
• Environmental & Domestic Hazards
• Food & Drink Hazards
• General Health News
• Health Care Reform
• Men’s
• Mood & Mental Health
• Questionable Health Therapies
• Seniors
• Superfoods & Nutrition
• Supplements
• Weight Management
• Women
• Workplace
• Warning: Pharma, FDA, AMA & Gov. Hazards
• Site Wide Index of Subjects & Themes

Family, Parenting, Maternity & Schooling Index

Click on desired topic and click on any image to come back to index

• Featured Story: Raising Smart and Socially Well-Adjusted Children..
• Family Life
• Parenting
• Pre-teen & Teen
• Young Children 3-10
• Infant & Toddler
• Maternity & Prenatal
• School Matters
• Site Wide Index of Subjects & Themes

Featured Story

As if High Fructose Corn Syrup were Not Bad Enough

Quantities of mercury have been found in high fructose corn syrup, the ingredient that has replaced sugar in many of our processed foods. Reports have also come out that the FDA knew about traces of the toxic substance in food, and sat on the information.

(HealthDay News) — Almost half of tested samples of commercial high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) contained mercury, which was also found in nearly a third of 55 popular brand-name food and beverage products where HFCS is the first- or second-highest labeled ingredient, according to two new U.S. studies.

HFCS has replaced sugar as the sweetener in many beverages and foods such as breads, cereals, breakfast bars, lunch meats, yogurts, soups and condiments. On average, Americans consume about 12 teaspoons per day of HFCS, but teens and other high consumers can take in 80 percent more HFCS than average.

“Mercury is toxic in all its forms. Given how much high-fructose corn syrup is consumed by children, it could be a significant additional source of mercury never before considered. We are calling for immediate changes by industry and the [U.S. Food and Drug Administration] to help stop this avoidable mercury contamination of the food supply,” the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy’s Dr. David Wallinga, a co-author of both studies, said in a prepared statement.
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In the first study, published in current issue of Envonmental Health, researchers found detectable levels of mercury in nine of 20 samples of commercial HFCS.ir

And in the second study, the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), a non-profit watchdog group, found that nearly one in three of 55 brand-name foods contained mercury. The chemical was found most commonly in HFCS-containing dairy products, dressings and condiments.

More charming facts about high-fructose corn syrup

HFCS contains more fructose than sugar and this fructose is more immediately available because it is not bound up in sucrose. Since the effects of fructose are most severe in the growing organism, we need to think carefully about what kind of sweeteners we give to our children. Fruit juices should be strictly avoided–they are very high in fructose–but so should anything with HFCS…

…(Scientists conducted) studies with two groups of rats, one given high amounts of glucose and one given high amounts of fructose (the sugar found in corn syrup.)

The glucose group was unaffected but the fructose group had disastrous results.

The male rats did not reach adulthood. They had anemia, high cholesterol and heart hypertrophy–that means that their hearts enlarged until they exploded. They also had delayed testicular development.

Dr. Field explains that fructose in combination with copper deficiency in the growing animal interferes with collagen production. (Copper deficiency, by the way, is widespread in America.)

In a nutshell, the little bodies of the rats just fell apart. The females were not so affected, but they were unable to produce live young.

Vice President Joseph Biden Acknowledges that Corn Syrup and Coal pollution are far more Dangerous than any Terrorist threat

Environmental & Domestic Health Hazards

Death by Multiple Poisoning, Glyphosate and Roundup
OpEdNews…..Scientists pinpoint how very low concentrations of the herbicide and other chemicals in Roundup formulations kill human cells, strengthening the case for phasing them out, and banning all further releases of Roundup-tolerant GM crops. [...]

Officials Lie About Fluoridation Safety
OpEdNews…..The American Public Health Association cites references that do not prove fluoridation safety and/or effectiveness, but claims that they do. [...]

Long-term Ozone Exposure Linked To Higher Risk Of Death, Finds Nationwide Study
ScienceDaily:…….A study analyzing two decades of data for 450,000 people across the nation found that long-term exposure to ground-level ozone, a major component of smog, raises the risk of death from respiratory ailments. It is the first major study connecting chronic exposure to ozone to elevated mortality rates, and could be used in future evaluations of federal standards for acceptable ozone levels. [...]

Radiation Dangers Allowed to Proliferate for the Consumer
CultureChange.org ……Radiation issues are more than nuclear power and weapons related. We report on tritium and wireless as well. [...]

Toxoplasmosis Parasite May Trigger Schizophrenia And Bipolar Disorders
ScienceDaily:…..Scientists have discovered how the toxoplasmosis parasite may trigger the development of schizophrenia and other bipolar disorders. They have shown that the parasite may play a role in the development of these disorders by affecting the production of dopamine — the chemical that relays messages in the brain controlling aspects of movement, cognition and behavior. [...]

Artificial Night Lights Increase Cancer Risk
NaturalNews.com ……As you are sitting in a plane which is taking off or touching down late at night, or simply looking down at the world from a skyscraper, city lights are quite a sight to behold. You could almost say it’s a modern day paradise. But little do you know that these lights could well be damaging your health on a daily basis. Recent research conducted at the University of Haifa has found that countries which are illuminated with the most artificial lights at night have the highest incidences of prostate cancer.[...]

The CAFO stench is killing babies while the USDA laughs at farmers
OpEdNews ….A new study out of Wellesley proves babies are dying from CAFOs. Please, put this into the context of the “it’s a lie it’s about food safety” bills currently in Congress, and realize that the industrial ag corporations causing these deaths are the very ones promoting “food safety.” [...]

Food & Drink Hazards

Study: Hot tea, throat cancer linked
Raw Story Breaking News

Food Safety: Who’s really in charge here?
OpEdNews….Americans think they control Congress but in reality International Corporations are the ones in control. This article tells you how and why.[...]

In honor of Monsanto’s “Food Safety” bills: “Poison On The Platter”
OpEdNews -…..”Poison on the Platter” is a movie from India well timed to warn us about Monsanto’s “food safety” bills, brought by Rosa DeLauro whose husband works for Monsanto. The Clintons sicked Monsanto’s Michael Taylor and rBGH on all of us Hillary is back, Taylor is back wanting to run “food safety” for the country. Time to see what Monsanto is ACTUALLY doing to food.[...]

Stop Federal Takeover of Food Regulation in H.R. 875
NaturalNews.com….The Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund recently reported the unveiling of the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 (H.R. 875) on Feb. 4, 2009, by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), to both the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the House Committee on Agriculture. Cosponsored by 36 other Congressmen, all Democrats, H.R. 875 would essentially transfer all state control over food regulation to the Food Safety Administration (FSA), a newly-established federal bureaucracy to be created within the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Its implications point to the elimination of all independent, family farms as well as all organic farming operations due to overbearing federal regulations subjectively determined by FSA in favor of corporate factory farms.[...]

Too much sugar linked to aging
We know that lifespan can be extended in animals by restricting calories such as sugar intake.[...]

Household Cleaner Makers Must Disclose Ingredients, Says NY Law
Chelsea Green
A consortium of non-governmental organizations, including NYPIRG and Women’s Voices for the Earth, recently dusted off a nearly-forgotten New York law, on the books since 1976, that requires manufacturers of household cleaning products to disclose the ingredients in their products by proper labeling. The law also empowers the Department of Environmental Conservation to ban certain [...]

Processed Food equals Processed People

Jay Gorden MD Assistant professor of Pediatrics at UCLA Medical School

Bisphenol A found in most sodas…..Health Canada study of canned pop has found the vast majority of the drinks contain the chemical bisphenol A, a substance that imitates the female hormone estrogen and is banned in baby bottles.Out of 72 drinks tested, 69 were found to contain BPA at levels below what Health Canada says is the safe upper limit. However, studies in peer-reviewed science journals have indicated that even at very low doses, BPA can increase breast and ovarian cancer cell growth and the growth of some prostate cancer cells in animals.

Two Food Additives Have Previously Unrecognized Estrogen-like Effects
ScienceDaily
Scientists in Italy are reporting development and successful use of a fast new method to identify food additives that act as so-called “xenoestrogens” — substances with estrogen-like effects that are stirring international health concerns. They used the method in a large-scale screening of additives that discovered two additives with previously unrecognized xenoestrogen effects.

General Health News

Los Algodones, Mexico, has become “the latest boomtown for medical tourism,” with about 350 dentists providing care for prices that are up to 70% less than what U.S. residents typically pay, the Chicago Tribune reports. [...]

Tonic to aphrodisiac to energy drink
Mind Hacks
The journal Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine has an interesting open-access article about guarana, a stimulating Amazonian berry that was used by the local peoples but is now a global ingredient in energy drinks and ‘aphrodisiacs’.[...]

Increasing Number Of Americans Have Insufficient Levels Of Vitamin D
ScienceDaily:
Average blood levels of vitamin D appear to have decreased in the United States between 1994 and 2004, according to a new article.[...]

Physical Activity Improves Longevity: It is Never Too Late to Start
NaturalNews.com
A Swedish study recently published in the British Medical Journal has given those who have reached or passed middle age hope and encouragement to begin a new healthy lifestyle, having discovered that starting a solid exercise regime after the age of 50 can raise one’s level of longevity to that of those who have been exercising regularly all along.[...]

Vitamin B and Folic Acid Supplements Prevent Migraines
NaturalNews.com
(NaturalNews) Increased intake of folic acid and other B vitamins may reduce the frequency and severity of migraine attacks, according to a study conducted by researchers from the Genomics Research Center at Australia’s Griffith University.

..Steak and hot dogs linked to early death
New Scientist
Consuming lots of red and processed meats increases the chances of dying within a 10-year period, a large study finds

New data on link between cancer and nutrition
Medical News
European experts in cancer and nutrition are meeting in Zurich, Switzerland late this month to discuss cutting-edge research in one of the most important and fiercely debated topics in cancer prevention: the link between diet and cancer.

Cannabinoids, Wonder Drugs of the 21st Century
OpEdNews -
[Although cannabis was a medicinal plant for thousands of years, its medical use was suppressed and banned throughout most of the 20th century. While banned in the US, major scientific breakthroughs were made in Israel, Spain, Italy and Brazil. These breakthroughs are propelling the natural plant compounds called cannabinoids into "the wonder drugs of the 21st century".

Consuming a little less salt could mean fewer deaths
Medical News
For every gram of salt that Americans reduce in their diets daily, a quarter of a million fewer new heart disease cases and over 200,000 fewer deaths would occur over a decade, researchers said at the American Heart Association's 49th Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention.

Serious flaws in study on vitamin C treatment in cancer
Medical News
Serious flaws in a recent study, which concluded that high doses of vitamin C reduce the effectiveness of chemotherapeutic drugs in the treatment of cancer, are revealed in the current issue of Alternative and Complementary Therapies.

Health Care Reform

Insurance Industry is Simply a Parasite Feeding on the US Health System
OpEdNews -.....The health insurance industry adds nothng to health care. It is simply a parasite, sucking out resources while keeping billions of dollars that could go to actual care, while keeping millions from getting access to the care they need.[...]

Health Care Reform, Obama Style
OpEdNews……Under Obama, real reform is off the table – profits again trump people needs.[...]

Newly Formed 150,000-Strong Nurses’ Union Pushes for Single-Payer Healthcare

It’s time for the government to prioritize the wellbeing of people over the wellbeing of insurance companies.

New evidence-based educational guidelines advise paradigm shift in physician education
Medical News….New evidence-based educational guidelines evaluate the effectiveness of current continuing medical education (CME) practices and provide the first set of recommendations on how those practices need to change in the future..[...]

Krugman, Stiglitz Join Dr. Oliver Fein : Single Payer Health Care a Must
The Rag Blog [...]

Men’s Health

Omega-3 fatty acids appear protective against advanced prostate cancer
Prostate Cancer News …..Omega-3 fatty acids appear protective against advanced prostate cancer, and this effect may be modified by a genetic variant in the COX-2 gene, according to a report in Clinical Cancer Research , a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.[...]

Vitamin C Intake Associated With Lower Risk Of Gout In Men
ScienceDaily:……Men with higher vitamin C intake appear less likely to develop gout, a painful type of arthritis, according to a new report.[...]

Anger And Hostility Harmful To The Heart, Especially Among Men
ScienceDaily:…….Anger and hostility are significantly associated with both a higher risk for coronary heart disease (CHD) in healthy individuals and poorer outcomes in patients with existing heart disease, according to the first quantitative review and meta-analysis of related studies. Management of anger and hostility may be an important adjuvant strategy in preventing CHD in the general public and treating CHD patients, according to authors.[...]

Sugary Soft Drinks Linked To Increased Risk Of Gout In Men

Freezing Prostate Cancer Does A Man’s Body Good
ScienceDaily: ……The so-called “male lumpectomy” — a minimally invasive interventional radiology treatment for prostate cancer — is as effective as surgery in destroying diseased tumors and can be considered a first-line treatment for patients of all risk levels and particularly those who have failed radiation, according to new studies.[...]

PSA Levels Accurately Predict Prostate Cancer Risk In African-American Men, Study Finds
ScienceDaily:…….PSA levels appear to be more predictive of three year prostate cancer risk in African-American men compared with Caucasian men with a family history of prostate cancer, according to new research.

Eating lots of vegetables reduces risk of prostate cancer
Prostate Cancer News…..In the online edition of Molecular Nutrition and Food Research, Ruth Chan and collaborators provided a review on prostate cancer (CaP) and vegetable consumption.[...]

Folic acid appears to double risk for prostate cancer
A study led by researchers at the University of Southern California (USC) found that men who took a daily folic acid supplement of 1 mg daily had more than twice the risk of prostate cancer compared with men who took a placebo.

Penile Extender Increased Flaccid Length By Almost A Third, Clinical Study Reports
ScienceDaily…….Men who used a penile extender every day for six months saw the length of their flaccid penis increase by 32% and their erectile function increase by up to 36%. Researchers at the University of Turin suggest that the treatment could provide a viable alternative to surgery, as the results were significant and patient satisfaction with the technique was high. The measurements were taken six months after the men had stopped using the device.

Mental-Emotional Health

Love and Fear of Love
Gudrun Frerichs, PhD
Although most people long for love and a partner that gives them a sense of belonging, safety, and purpose, it is surprising how many people confess how much they protect themselves from love. The fear most mentioned is the fear of being rejected, abandoned, ridiculed, hurt, or exploited. Many people are afraid to put themselves into a position of vulnerability and closely protect their heart. The Fear of love can even be so dominant that people convincingly tell themselves that they don’t need love.[...]

How to Increase Love in your Life?
Gudrun Frerichs, PhD  How much love we experience in our life is to some extend dependant on what we are paying attention to. Here again comes Positive Psychology with some really good examples. If you focus on all the things that are wrong in your life and that make you unhappy, you will miss the acts of love.[...]

If you, however, focus on exercises such as “Three Blessings” (noticing each evening three things that occurred during the day that were good) or you use the gratitude journal and reflect each evening on the things you can be grateful for, you will be surprised how much love has been extended to you without you taking much notice of it. Over time you train your mind to pay more attention to the loving people show you.

Questionable Health Therapies

Therapists Still Offering Treatments For Homosexuality Despite Lack Of Evidence
ScienceDaily: …….A significant minority of psychiatrists and therapists are still attempting to help lesbian, gay and bisexual clients become heterosexual despite lack of evidence that such treatment is beneficial or even safe, according to research funded by the Wellcome Trust.[...]

Seniors

Study: Antipsychotics Killing, Injuring Elderly With Dementia At Shocking Rate
Furious Seasons…..I really don’t know what other headline to put on this Archives of Internal Medicine paper that came out yesterday from researchers showing that patients with dementia face a risk of death or other serious event at more than 3 times the rate of other elderly with dementia who don’t get an antipsychotic. [...]

Elderly Improve With Exercise, Too
The 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans strongly urge people to engage in regular physical activity and avoid sedentary pastimes. That’s because previous research has provided evidence that physical activity and nutrition work together for better health. Scientists now report on how the elderly also can engage in physical activity to improve quality of life.

Older People Who Diet Without Exercising Lose Valuable Muscle Mass
A group of sedentary and overweight older people placed on a four-month exercise program became more fit and burned off more fat, compared to older sedentary people who dieted but did not exercise. The new study also showed that when older people diet without exercising, they lose more lean muscle compared to those who exercise. When they combined weight loss with exercise, it nearly completely prevented the loss of lean muscle mass….

Superfoods & Nutrition

Reports in the Journal of Nutrition show soy is beneficial for heart and bone health
Life Extension Daily News:

Drink Green Tea For Healthy Teeth And Gums
ScienceDaily: ……A new study shows that drinking green tea may help reduce periodontal disease.[...]

Evidence continues to mount for strawberry nutrition benefits
Life Extension Daily News

Green, Black Tea Can Reduce Stroke Risk, Research Suggests
ScienceDaily: …….Drinking at least three cups of green or black tea a day can significantly reduce the risk of stroke, and the more you drink, the better your odds of staving off a stroke, according to new research[...].

Curry ingredient curcumin makes membranes behave for better health
Medical News……Revered in India as “holy powder,” the marigold-colored spice known as turmeric has been used for centuries to treat wounds, infections and other health problems.[...]

Supplements

Extra vitamins can counteract faulty genes
‘Nutrigenomics’ has been criticised for misleading consumers, but a new study could help put the field on a sounder scientific footing..[...]

Weight Management

Influence Of ‘Obesity Gene’ Can Be Offset By Healthy Diet
ScienceDaily:……Children who carry a gene strongly associated with obesity could offset its effect by eating a low energy density diet, according to new research.[...]

Eat right to manage weight
Life Extension Daily News:

Fructose Sets Table For Weight Gain Without Warning

Limiting Fructose May Boost Weight Loss, Researcher Reports

Research May Provide New Link Between Soft Drinks And Weight Gain

Women’s Health

Eating Soy Early In Life May Reduce Breast Cancer Among Asian Women
ScienceDaily: ……Asian-American women who ate higher amounts of soy during childhood had a 58 percent reduced risk of breast cancer, according to a new study.[...]

Drug Used To Treat Skin Conditions Is A Marine Pollutant
ScienceDaily:…….Clotrimazole is a common ingredient in over-the-counter skin creams. Recent results from research in Sweden now show that it is associated with major environmental risks. “The pharmaceuticals and chemicals in everyday use form a mixture in the ocean that has a direct impact on the growth and reproduction of organisms,” says scientist Tobias Porsbring.Exercise lowers breast cancer risk: Fit women three times less likely to die of the disease[...]

Thumbs Down For New Testosterone Patch To Boost Women’s Sex Drive
ScienceDaily:……A new testosterone patch, designed to pep up a woman’s flagging sex drive after womb and ovary removal, may not work, and its long term safety is not proven, says Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin.[...]

Color of wine makes no difference when it comes to breast-cancer
Cancer News…….The largest study of its kind to evaluate the effect of red versus white wine on breast-cancer risk concludes that both are equal offenders when it comes to increasing breast-cancer risk.[...]

Why Do Women Store Fat Differently From Men?
ScienceDaily:……..It’s a paradox that has flummoxed women for generations — their apparent ability to store fat more efficiently than men, despite eating proportionally fewer calories. While it has long been suspected that female sex hormones are responsible, a new research review has for the first time drawn a link between one hormone — estrogen — and its impact on fat storage for childbearing.[...]

Scientists Warn Against Testosterone Patch to Boost Female Libido
NaturalNews.com……Last year, citing a study in The New England Journal of Medicine, health news headlines in the mainstream media proclaimed that postmenopausal women who have lost interest in sex could kick-start their sex lives with a testosterone patch. There was a downside mentioned, however — several women in the study developed breast cancer while none on the placebo did. Now two new studies out of the United Kingdom (UK) question not only the safety of testosterone therapy in women, but whether the angdrogen hormone has much of an impact at all on flagging sexual desire[...].

Workplace Health

What Family Leave?
MotherJones.com…..The nation’s workplace policies are on par with those of some Third World countries.[...].

Shift Work Linked To Organ Disease, Study Suggests
Disruption of an individual’s natural sleep-wake cycle has been determined to be a contributing factor in the development of organ disease. The human body works according to a natural 24 hour sleep-wake cycle, also referred to as a circadian rhythm, which controls body temperature, sleep/wake timing, and the way our organs and body systems work together..[...]

Long-term pesticide exposure may increase diabetes risk
Medical News……Licensed pesticide applicators who used chlorinated pesticides on more than 100 days in their lifetime were at greater risk of diabetes, according to researchers from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The associations between specific pesticides and incident diabetes ranged from a 20 percent to a 200 percent increase in risk, said the scientists with the NIH’s National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI).[...].

WARNING!!! Pharma, FDA, AMA & GOV. can be Hazardous to your Health

RealAge Test Is Actually Pharma Marketing Scam
Furious Seasons…….I’m sure most of you have seen those ads all over the ‘Net beckoning one and all to click to find out their “real age.” Clicking through takes you to realage.com where you can fill out various surveys, be told an approximation of your age and so on and then you start getting all manner of emails, tailored to what your alleged health concerns are or should be. It turns out, according to this New York Times article, that the website is in league with the Devil, meaning that people who sign up end up getting loads of email from pharma companies, some of which push them to particular products or make suggestive diagnostic inferences about the person. Seriously. And people who sign up don’t know about any of this.[...]

Seroquel Documents: Study 15 Shows Seroquel Not Efficacious
Furious Seasons…….As noted elsewhere today, I’ve obtained a copy of Seroquel Study 15 which was conducted in the mid-1990s and which AstraZeneca suppressed and did not submit anywhere for publication, as the Washington Post and others have reported. The study was before Seroquel was approved by the FDA, was completed in 1996, and sought to measure Seroquel’s efficacy at treating psychosis versus Haldol.[...]

Inappropriate Drug Prescriptions Wasting Millions, Raising Health Risks
ScienceDaily:…….A recent study in Oregon suggests that drugs designed for treating the most severe mental illnesses are often prescribed at inappropriately low doses and at considerable expense, for use in conditions where their benefit has not been established.[...]

A Listing of the Twenty-One Fabricated Studies by Dr. Scott Reuben
NaturalNews.co……..The health community is up in arms over the discovery that a highly-respected and influential clinical researcher, Dr. Scott Reuben, fabricated the data used in over twenty pharmaceutical studies published in peer-reviewed medical journals.

These studies promoted the safety and “benefits” of drugs like Bextra (Pfizer), Vioxx (Merck), Lyrica, Celebrex and Effexor. The lead researcher on these studies, Dr. Scott Reuben, was being paid by Pfizer and Merck, so there’s a verified financial connection between this clinical researcher and at least two of the drug companies that benefitted from his fabricated findings. [...]

FDA Running Extortion Racket: Supplement Companies Threatened with Arrest if They Don’t Pay Up!….(NaturalNews) Natural News has learned the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is running a criminal extortion racket designed to drain cash from health supplement companies and shift it into the pockets of top FDA contractors. This organized crime operation has been running for years, and it has operated with impunity because each company targeted by the scam feels isolated and alone, unable to face the astronomical legal bills of going to court and battling the FDA. So one by one, they agree to “settle” with the FDA for crimes they[...]

Drug companies are ‘funneling money through universities for advertising and trying to disguise it as education.’

JAMA Article Critical Of Chantix
Furious Seasons
I’ve not written much about Chantix since last year, simply because the noise around Pfizer’s stop-smoking pill had seemed to die down after oodles of reports of suicide, suicidality and odd behavior connected to the drug. Now, JAMA has a news article out on the drug and its problems, and the fact that it appeared in JAMA is significant. It’s one of two medical journals that almost every doctor in America reads (at some point) and it’s not usually too harsh on meds (in my experience at any rate).[...]

Family, Parenting, Maternity & Schooling Section

Family Health, Parenting & Schooling News

Emergent-Culture Health News  brings to you the latest evidence based advice and news on the following family topics.

• Back to Main Index
• Featured Story
• Family Life
  
• Parenting
• Pre-Teen & Teen
• Young Children 3-10
• Infant & Toddler
• Maternity & Prenatal
• School Matters
• Site Wide Index of Subjects & Themes

Featured Story

Raising Smart and Socially Well-Adjusted Children…..by Thomas

The ongoing data is becoming exceedingly clear. If you want to see normal social, emotional and cognitive development in your children, then you must allow them the opportunity for free and imaginative play.

In her article published in the Scientific American, The Serious Need for Play, Melinda Wenner sums up the data this way: “imaginative play is crucial for normal social, emotional and cognitive development” and such play as a youngster “makes us better adjusted, smarter and less stressed.”

When it comes to play, the emphasis is on the word free. Wenner stresses the latter word stating, “Imaginative and rambunctious free play, as opposed to games or structured activities, is the most essential type.”

And while the impact of free play is most critical to social and emotional development, the overall impact on cognition is considered very significant as well, particularly when children involve the world of make believe.

The Research
Wenner notes the research of several people. She begins with psychiatrist Stuart Brown of the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston who spent some time working with Charles Whitman, the man who climbed to the top of a University of Texas Tower in 1966 and shot 46 people.

Later in a small pilot study, Brown also took a look at another 25 convicted murderers. The professor found that the majority of the killers, including Whitman, “shared two things in common: they were from abusive families, and they never played as kids.”

In the 42 years since that initial study, Brown has gone on to interview some 6,000 additional people. His findings suggest “that a lack of opportunities for unstructured, imaginative play can keep children from growing into happy, well-adjusted adults.”

According to Wenner, “a handful of studies support Brown’s conviction that a play-deprived childhood disrupts normal social, emotional and cognitive development in humans.”

One of the more interesting developments Wenner refers to is a 1997 study of children living in poverty and at high risk of school failure, published by the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation in Ypsilanti, Mich.

The data reveals that those kids that were enrolled in a play-oriented preschool were more socially adjusted later in life than the kids who attended a play-free preschool. Therefore, pre-schools that focus entirely on instruction by teachers are missing a golden opportunity to help children become more socially well-adjusted.

In the area of stress relief, it is believed that free play helps kids work through anxiety and stress. Wenner discusses a study from Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry where three- and four-year-old children on their first day of preschool were split into two groups after being assessed for anxiety.

Those labeled anxious were further divided into two groups while those labeled not anxious were similarly divided. One group of anxious and one group of non-anxious students were combined and given the opportunity to play alone or with their peers for a period of 15 minutes. The remaining students were paired and assigned to sit at a small table and listen to a teacher for the same period of time.

Those allowed to play but deemed anxious at the outset had a twofold decrease in anxiousness as compared to those who had to listen to the story. However, one rather interesting development was the fact that those who played alone were calmer than those who played with peers.

Current Trends
Today there is growing data that free play is no longer something most children engage in. A paper published in 2005 in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine indicates free-play time for children fell 25% between 1981 and 1997.

The belief is that the parents of today are forgoing free playtime and replacing it with more structured activities. These structured games with rules can be great sources of fun and they do provide learning opportunities for children. They no doubt offer some assistance towards improving social skills of youngsters.

But free play results in games without rules, so kids actively use their imagination to try out new activities and game variations while moving in and out of different roles. The lack of rules allows children to be more creative, a step that challenges their developing brain more than following a set of predetermined rules.

Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects is that the free-play activity “should not have an obvious function in the context in which it is observed—meaning that it has, essentially, no clear goal.”

One of the critical skills children learn relates to social interaction. They very quickly learn that they will have no one else to play with if they are not fair with others or let their peers take a turn at a specific role. Simply stated, free play helps children learn negotiating skills.

The Effect on Cognition
While the impact on social and emotional development seems quite intuitive, the research also points towards play actually helping make kids smarter. Wenner quotes one study that clearly suggests play fosters creative thinking in youngsters.

Even play fighting, a staple of young boys, appears to have a positive intellectual impact. In yet another study, Wenner notes that “the more elementary school boys engaged in rough-housing, the better they scored on a test of social problem solving.”

In addition, free play with peers fosters communication skills in a youngster. That communication translates to help with language development, a critical component for academic success in the classroom.

Wenner concludes by pointing to Tufts University child development expert David Elkind. Play is “a way in which children learn,” Elkind says, “and in the absence of play, children miss learning experiences. Curiosity, imagination and creativity are like muscles: if you don’t use them, you lose them.”

Conclusion
The bottom line is actually quite simple:

“Parents should let children be children,” asserts Wenner, referring to Elkind as she writes. “Not just because it should be fun to be a child but because denying youth’s unfettered joys keeps kids from developing into inquisitive, creative creatures.”

Family Life

Regular Family Meals Result In Better Eating Habits For Adolescents
ScienceDaily: ……Good eating habits can result when families eat together. Researchers report on one of the first studies to examine the long-term benefits of regular family meals for diet quality during the transition from early to middle adolescence. In general, the study found adolescents who participated in regular family meals reported more healthful diets and meal patterns compared to adolescents without regular family meals.[...]

Children seriously affected when a parent suffers from depression
Medical News…….Life is hard for the children of a parent suffering from depression.[...]

Parenting News

Parenting for a Peaceful World
SlowPlanet.com……..We just finished a 6 week book group around the amazing book, Parenting for a Peaceful World written by Robin Grille. We’ve had over a dozen such groups in the past year and I have been lucky enough to co-facilitate them with my SLow Family Living co-founder, Carrie Contey. The book details the approach to childhood throughout the ages and even delves into some of the dark periods where infanticide and abandonment were the standards. It then brings it up to modern day methods and speaks of the bridge we are on in the evolution of it all. The move from the socialized mode to the helping mode of parenting, the move from authoritarian to authoritative. It speaks of the five “rights” of childhood – the right to exist, need, freedom, want and love. It offers methods for supporting your child’s emotional intelligence and how your own childhood has influenced your emotional makeup.[...]

Pre-Teen & Teen

Not enough vitamin D in the diet could mean too much fat on adolescents
Pediatrics News…….Too little vitamin D could be bad for more than your bones; it may also lead to fatter adolescents, researchers say.[...]

One in seven American adolescents is vitamin D deficient
Medical News……..One in seven American adolescents is vitamin D deficient, according to a new study by researchers in the Department of Public Health at Weill Cornell Medical College[...]

Low levels of vitamin D linked to several risk factors in teenagers
Medical News……Low levels of vitamin D were associated with an increased risk of high blood pressure, high blood sugar and metabolic syndrome in teenagers, researchers reported at the American Heart Association’s 49th Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention[...].

Seven steps to success for overweight children
Pediatrics News ……..Overweight children and adolescents, with the active involvement of their parents and families, can successfully lose weight by following the Seven Steps to Success described in the current issue of Obesity Management [...]

Even More Evidence Of Placebo Effect In Teen Depression Trials

Sex education
Dr Petra Boynton……Today I was on ITV’s ‘This Morning’ programme talking about sex education and teenage pregnancy in relation to a launch of a new booklet. ‘Talking to your teenager about sex and relationships’ will be freely available in UK pharmacies and covers tips on how/when to talk, STIs and contraception. I’ll be blogging about the booklet later, as it’s a talking point in itself.

The conversation on ‘This Morning’ was, I thought, very balanced. In fact I think it’s the first time I’ve had a conversation in the media about issues of sex education that hasn’t turned into a moral debate or me having to defend the need for sex ed. All the contributors (including a young mum) were in agreement we need sex education and it’s the responsibility of schools and parents to deliver.

Young people are getting STIs and children are becoming parents because of multiple factors. Many of them have nothing to do with sex. Poverty, lack of aspirations, boredom, lack of adult role models, dysfunctional relationships, peer pressure, misinformation in the media and living in a massively sexualised culture are all contributory factors.[...]

Young Children 3 to 9

Inadequate Fruit And Vegetable Consumption Found Among U.S. Children
ScienceDaily:……Children and adolescents aren’t meeting guidelines for fruit and vegetable consumption, according to researcher.[...]

Gesturing enhances learning in children
Deric Bownds’ MindBlog……. Human development brain plasticity memory/learning language
Goldin-Meadow and collaborators, whose work on the role of gesture in language development I have mentioned previously in two posts, now demonstrate that gesturing helps children learn math:[...]

New recommended levels of Vitamin D
Current Vitamin D Recommendations Fraction Of Safe, Perhaps Essential Levels For Children:
The current recommended daily allowance (RDA) of vitamin D for children is 200 International Units (IUs), but new research reveals that children may need and can safely take ten-times that amount. According to new research this order-of-magnitude increase could improve the bone health of children worldwide and may have other long-term health benefits.[...]

Obesity Isn’t Genetic, It’s Taught: Kids Learn Food Habits From Parents
NaturalNews.com
(NaturalNews) Children as young as two years old notice what foods their parents are bringing into the house and tend to mimic those food choices, according to a study conducted by researchers from Dartmouth Medical School and published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.[...]

“The data suggest that children begin to assimilate and mimic their parents’ food choices at a very young age, even before they are able to fully appreciate the implications of these choices,” the researchers wrote.[...]

Infant & Toddler

Link discovered between anesthesia exposure and learning disabilities in children
Pregnancy News…..Mayo Clinic researchers have found that children who require multiple surgeries under anesthesia during their first three years of life are at higher risk of developing learning disabilities later.[...]

Artificial Omega-3 Enhanced Infant Formula Under Fire for Using Non-Human Fatty Acid Additives…..The report notes that infant formulas supplemented with the artificially synthesized oils DHASCO and ARASCO, produced by Martek Biosciences Corporation to contain DHA and ARA, respectively, have been linked to serious side effects such as nonstop diarrhea. In infants, this can be a life-threatening condition……[...]

Maternity & Prenatal

Hospital newborn child practices strongly impact breastfeeding rates
Pediatrics News Feed…..Hospital practices, such as supplementing newborns with formula or water or giving them pacifiers, significantly reduce the chances that mothers who intend to exclusively breastfeed will achieve that intention, according to a new study led by a Boston University School of Public Health researcher.[...]

Perinatal Environment Influences Aggression In Children
ScienceDaily:…….Even after being socialized, seven percent of boys will continue to be hyper-aggressive until the age of nine. According to a new study, this small sub-group of aggressive children has a different makeup than non-aggressive children.[...]

Toxoplasmosis Parasite May Trigger Schizophrenia And Bipolar Disorders
ScienceDaily:…..Scientists have discovered how the toxoplasmosis parasite may trigger the development of schizophrenia and other bipolar disorders. They have shown that the parasite may play a role in the development of these disorders by affecting the production of dopamine — the chemical that relays messages in the brain controlling aspects of movement, cognition and behavior.

A mother’s experience can alter her offspring’s memory performance.

Six Baby Bottle Manufacturers Quietly Agree to Remove Bisphenol-A (BPA) from Baby Bottles
NaturalNews.com…….After years of insisting Bisphenol-A (BPA) posed no threat to the health of babies, six larger manufacturers of baby bottles have announced they will stop shipping new baby bottles made with the chemical. No existing baby bottles are being recalled, however. Nor are they being taken off the shelves of retailers. The baby bottles being purchased and used by babies right now still contain BPA, a hormone disruptor chemical linked to serious health problems like breast cancer and reproductive abnormalities.

Alcohol in pregnancy may give kids a taste for booze
New Scientist …….The reason exposure to alcohol in the womb may prime children to drinking more as adults may be because it tastes better, suggests a study in rats[...]

Perinatal environment influences aggression in children
Pregnancy News ……It’s a well-documented fact that children from zero to two can be spontaneously aggressive and that boys can be among the worse culprits.[...]

Schooling

Schools: How to handle group cyberbullying?
NetFamilyNews……I have a question for you, but first here’s what it’s about: A recent group cyberbullying incident involving two high schools in Palo Alto, Calif., has “sparked intense discussion” among parents, school administrators and general community members “about the proper role of the school district” when cyberbullying involves students but doesn’t happen on school grounds,” Palo Alto Online reports. School officials called the parents of[...]

Click on images to go back to index.

Site Wide Index of Subjects & Themes

Partial Index listing of site wide titles, themes and subjects that existing or subsequent articles will cover under the principal theme of….

Our Culture,

Our Inheritance,

Our Burden

The Way In and

a Way Out

from the

Nightmare of History

The Remergence and Rise of the Feminine Power; Gender balance as a prerequisite to a healthy and just society.

The Cave Walls of Culture

A Maze 6000 years in the Making

Socio-Economic Engineering or simply Cultural Engineering

How Deep is the Rabbit hole? “The Matrix” as cultural commentary

The Invisible Process of Indoctrination and Enculturation: Mind Control at its best

The Grand Illusion

Who’story?, Origins of Religion & Myth: Why you believe what you do

Warrior King as God: Anthro-theocracy the Roots of the Abrahamic Religions (Christianity, Judaism and Islam)

The Judeo-Christian Culture Complex: In a Class by Itself

Westernization: The Plague of Colonialism Past and Present

All the way to Plutocracy: A Primer in Cultural Engineering

The Cradle of Imperialization 2500BC: Birthplace of the Military-Industrial Complex or Economic Militarism

A Brief story about the Long History of War: The Engine of Western Civilization

The Ultimate Consequences of Civilization as we know it.

The Genie is Out, but for How Long? Why Governments Hate and Fear the Internet

Disinheriting our History

The Rise of Emergent Culture

Showdown: Prevailing Culture Versus Emergent Culture

The Mayan Calendar and Dec. 21, 2012: The Facts, the Fiction and the Marvels pt. 1

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