Hot MedFax

They're all the rage.  Open floor plans .  But did you know they could make you eat more? According to a new study, dining environments can have serious consequences for eating behaviors, newswise.com reports.  Although the research was conducted on a college campus, it may still have relevance for the rest of us. The study, which was conducted with 57 college students in the Food and Brand Lab at Cornell, made use of folding screens to manipulate the arrangement of kitchen and dining areas during the service of buffet-style meals, and two-way mirrors for the unobtrusive observation of variously sized groups of student diners. “Although more research is needed,” researchers say, “the results of our study suggest that the openness of a floor plan, among many other factors, can affect how much we eat. Eating in an ‘open concept kitchen,’ with greater visibility and convenience of food access, can set off a chain reaction. We’re more likely to get up and head t...

Damn. Looks like my husband was right again.  A new study has found that getting kids to bed at the same time every night (read: early) is a very good thing. Researchers found that a good night’s sleep is linked to better performance in math and languages – subjects that are powerful predictors of later learning and academic success, according to newswise.com.  In findings published recently in the journal Sleep Medicine , the researchers reported that “sleep efficiency” is associated with higher academic performance in those key subjects. Sleep efficiency is a gauge of sleep quality that compares the amount of actual sleep time with the total time spent in bed. While other studies have pointed to links between sleep and general academic performance, these   scientists examined the impact of sleep quality on report-card grades in specific subjects. The upshot: with greater sleep efficiency, the children did better in math and languages – but don't ...

My son weighed one ounce less than nine pounds when he was born, a week early.  The doctors took him at 39 weeks because they were afraid he'd be 10 or 11 pounds if he went full-term. Now a new study is saying that a higher birth weight can mean better performance in school. It's really a no-brainer, in the end. It’s no secret that low-birth-weight babies face significantly greater risks for certain health problems early on, such as respiratory distress or infection. Now, a new study from researchers at the University of Florida (UF) and Northwestern University shows that lower weights at birth also have an adverse effect on children’s performance in school, which is likely due to the early health struggles small babies often face. Studying birth and school records of almost 2 million children in Florida from 1992 to 2002, researchers found the higher the weight at birth, the better children performed on reading and math tests in school. I'm bragging, I admit,...

Don't get mad if your child is caught doing drugs in school.  A new study has found that t eens caught drinking or using marijuana at school should be screened for exposure to trauma, mental health problems and other serious health risks, according to newswise.com. It may be a cry for help. UCLA researchers found that the use of substances at school was associated with significantly increased odds of serious problems such as depression, being the victim of intimate-partner violence and attempting suicide, the Web site reports. "At-school substance use is not just an isolated event requiring simple disciplinary action but an important signal identifying teens in need of urgent psychosocial assessment and support," said lead author Dr. Rebecca N. Dudovitz, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA and the UCLA Children's Discovery and Innovation Institute, at newswise.com. In the study, students who reported using either alcoh...

Let's hear it for helicopter parenting.  Well, maybe not. I admit, I'm one who practices it.  My son is nearly 12 and I'm still trying to arrange play dates (only now they call it "hanging out"). I'm obsessed with his homework and don't relax till it's done (yes, I let him do it). Also, who he's talking to on Skype.  And, I admit it, try to get him to eat his vegetables. But an essay in The New York Times' Sunday Review stopped me dead in my tracks.  Eli J. Finkel and Grainne M. Fitzsimons quoted studies that have found that the more helicopter parenting we do, "the less satisfied college students feel with their lives." I'm a little ways away from college but still it got to me.  The two reported that "certain forms of help can dilute recipients’ sense of accountability for their own success."  Duh.  If Mom and Dad do everything, why  bother? Now I'm not nearly as bad as the parents who, trying to get the...

Big surprise.  Physically fit kids do better in school.  Wish I could get my son off the computer!!!! http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/physically-fit-students-do-better-in-school-than-others-study-finds/2012/12/14/6e181614-6a25-11e1-acc6-32fefc7ccd67_story.html

Great.  Just when kids' obesity rates are starting to come down, now we have schools deciding to cut back on the veggies, bowing to parents (parents!) and politicians. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/12/11/healthy-school-lunches-vegetables/1760527/