BACKGROUND:
It is commonly assumed that there are clear lines of demarcation between anxiety and depressive disorders on the one hand and psychosis on the other. Recent evidence, however, suggests that this principle may be in need of updating.
METHODS:
Depressive and/or anxiety disorders, with no previous history of psychotic disorder, were examined for the presence of psychotic symptoms in a representative community sample of adolescents and young adults (Early Developmental Stages of Psychopathology study; n = 3021). Associations and consequences of psychotic symptomatology in the course of these disorders were examined in terms of demographic distribution, illness severity, onset of service use, and risk factors.
RESULTS:
Around 27% of those with disorders of anxiety and depression displayed one or more psychotic symptoms, vs 14% in those without these disorders (OR 2.23, 95% CI 1.89-2.66, P < .001). Presence as compared with nonpresence of psychotic symptomatology was associated with younger age (P < .0001), male sex (P < .0058), and poorer illness course (P < .0002). In addition, there was greater persistence of schizotypal (P < .0001) and negative symptoms (P < .0170), more observable illness behavior (P < .0001), greater likelihood of service use (P < .0069), as well as more evidence of familial liability for mental illness (P < .0100), exposure to trauma (P < .0150), recent and more distant life events (P < .0006-.0244), cannabis use (P < .0009), and any drug use (P < .0008).
CONCLUSION:
Copresence of psychotic symptomatology in disorders of anxiety and depression is common and a functionally and etiologically highly relevant feature, reinforcing the view that psychopathology is represented by a network or overlapping and reciprocally impacting dimensional liabilities.

Consistent with previously published research, parent BMI change was the only significant predictor of child’s weight loss.

Still allowing plastic in your kitchen? In your food? In your children's toys?

Children and adolescents participating in moderate to vigorous physical activity have a lower cardiometabolic risk profile. [Physical activity correlated with better waist circumference, blood pressure, triglycerides, HDL cholesterol, and insulin in study subjects] regardless of the amount of time they spend sedentary.
[Based on the findings,] children should be encouraged to increase their participation in physical activity] rather than decrease the amount of time they spend sedentary, "as this appears more important in relation to cardiometabolic health."
[In pooled data from 14 studies (1998-2009) connected to the International Children's Accelerometry Database.] the time spent in moderate to vigorous physical activity has a weak to moderate association with the amount of time children spend sedentary, and this had suggested that both variables might be independently associated with cardiometabolic risk.
[A]ctivities ingrained early in life set the stage for what individuals do in their later and older years. "We're living in an age right now where it's so easy to do no physical activity at all...kids can basically go through an entirely normal childhood existence where, unless they're forced or choose to play sports, they don't have to do anything. This study shows that the more activity that you do, even if it's outside the context of typical exercise, really does make a difference."
In the ICAD analysis, 20,871 children and adolescents from Australia, Brazil, Europe, and the US had [physical-activity levels] monitored for an average of 5.2 days using the accelerometer, and the mean daily time spent engaged in moderate to vigorous physical activity was 30 minutes. The mean daily time spent sedentary was 354 minutes.
Kids in the [most active] tertile spent more than 35 minutes per day engaged in moderate to vigorous physical activity, whereas those in the bottom tertile were moderately or vigorously active just 18 minutes per day. The mean difference in waist circumference between the most active and least active kids with the most sedentary time was 5.6 cm [and 3.6 cm] in those with less sedentary time. Similarly, the difference in systolic blood pressure between the most active and least active kids with the most sedentary time was 0.7 mm Hg[, while there was a 2.6-mm-Hg difference] between the most active and least active kids who reported less sedentary time. The variations in HDL cholesterol, insulin, and triglyceride levels were similar when analyzed by physical-activity levels and sedentary time.
Overall, the results showed that higher levels of physical activity were associated with better cardiometabolic risk factors across the tertiles of sedentary time. In contrast, sedentary time was not associated with any of metabolic outcomes independent of the time engaged in moderate and vigorous activities. The researchers note that they did not qualify what specific activities the children were engaged in while being sedentary. For this reason, reducing television viewing time is still considered an important goal of parents and public-health policy because TV watching is also associated with other unhealthy behaviors, such as snacking and drinking soda.

Awareness Day Social Media February 2012

In general, the risk of diabetes for a sibling of a patient with type 2 diabetes is about the same as that in the general population. However, there are some exceptions to this general statement. If the patient developed diabetes despite being lean, then the sibling’s risk is about twice the general population risk. Or, if the patient has a parent with type 2 diabetes, the sibling’s risk is almost three times the general population risk. If both parents have type 2 diabetes, the sibling has a fourfold risk, or nearly a 50% chance of developing diabetes.
The genetics of type 2 diabetes is complex. While type 2 diabetes may have a strong genetic basis in some patients (something less than a third of them), the development of diabetes in most patients is dependent upon the effects of environmental and behavioral factors (obesity and sedentary lifestyle) on an underlying susceptibility that is poorly understood....
Joslin researchers and others have identified about six genes that produce MODY[—maturity-onset diabetes of the young, a rarer form of type 2—but they only account for the diabetes in about one-third of affected] families....Similar patterns can be found in studies of families with the more common form of type 2 diabetes, only the age of onset differs.
The susceptibility to certain diabetes complications also seems to be linked in some ways with genetics. For patients with susceptibility genes for complications, good blood glucose control is still an important mitigating factor.

Dr. Money forced the twins to rehearse sexual acts involving "thrusting movements" with David playing the bottom role. As a child, David Reimer painfully recalled having to get "down on all fours" with his brother, Brian Reimer, "up behind his butt" with "his crotch against" his "buttocks". In another sexual position, Dr. Money forced David to have his "legs spread" with Brian on top. Dr. Money also forced the children to take their "clothes off" and engage in "genital inspections". On at "least one occasion", Dr. Money took a "photograph" of the two children doing these activities. Dr. Money's rationale for these various treatments was his belief that "childhood 'sexual rehearsal play'" was important for a "healthy adult gender identity".
For several years, Money reported on Reimer's progress as the "John/Joan case", describing apparently successful female gender development, and using this case to support the feasibility of sex reassignment and surgical reconstruction even in non-intersex cases. Money wrote: "The child's behavior is so clearly that of an active little girl and so different from the boyish ways of her twin brother." Notes by a former student at Money's lab state that during the followup visits, which occurred only once a year, Reimer's parents routinely lied to lab staff about the success of the procedure. The twin brother, Brian, later proved to be schizophrenic.
Reimer had experienced the visits to Baltimore as traumatic rather than therapeutic, and when Dr. Money started pressuring the family to bring him in for surgery during which a vagina would be constructed, the family discontinued the follow-up visits. From 22 months into his teenaged years Reimer urinated through a hole surgeons had placed in the abdomen. Estrogen was given during adolescence to induce breast development. Having no contact with the family once the visits were discontinued, John Money published nothing further about the case to suggest that the reassignment had not been successful.
Reimer's account, written with John Colapinto two decades later, described how - contrary to Money's reports - when living as Brenda, Reimer did not identify as a girl. He was ostracized and bullied by peers, and neither frilly dresses (which he was forced to wear during frigid Winnipeg winters) nor female hormones made him feel female. By the age of 13, Reimer was experiencing suicidal depression, and told his parents he would commit suicide if they made him see John Money again. In 1980, Reimer's parents told him the truth about his gender reassignment, following advice from Reimer's endocrinologist and psychiatrist. At 14, Reimer decided to assume a male gender identity, calling himself David.

David Reimer was born an identical (non-intersex) twin boy in 1965. At the age of 8 months, David and his brother each had a minor medical problem involving his penis, and a doctor decided to treat the problem with circumcision. The doctor botched the circumcision on David, using an inappropriate method and accidentally burning off virtually all of David’s penis. At the advice of psychologist John Money at Johns Hopkins University, David’s parents agreed to have him “sex reassigned” and made into a girl via surgical, hormonal, and psychological treatments—i.e., via the system Money advocated for intersex children.

For many years, John Money claimed that David (known in the interim as “Brenda”) turned out to be a “real” girl with a female gender identity. Money used this case to bolster his approach to intersex —the approach that is still used throughout much of the U.S. and developed world—one that relies on the assumption that gender identity is all about nurture (upbringing), not nature (inborn traits), and that gender assignment is the key to treating all children with atypical sex anatomies.

As it turns out, Money was lying. He knew Brenda was never happy as a girl, and he knew that as soon as David found out what happened to him, David reassumed the social identity of a boy.

The case of David Reimer has been used by the proponents of the “gender is inborn” (nature) theory as proof that they are right. We like to point out that what the story of David Reimer teaches us most clearly is how much people are harmed by being lied to and treated in inhumane ways. We don’t think we can ever predict, with absolute certainty, what gender identity a person will grow up to have. What we can predict with a good degree of certainty is that children who are treated with shame, secrecy, and lies will suffer at the hands of medical providers who may think they have the best of intentions and the best of theories.

Anderson and colleagues suggest that this association between early childhood experiences and teen obesity has origins in the brain. The limbic system in the brain controls responses to stress as well as the sleep/wake cycle, hunger and thirst, and a variety of metabolic processes, mostly through the regulation of hormones.
“Sensitive parenting increases the likelihood that a child will have a secure pattern of attachment and develop a healthy response to stress,” Anderson said. “A well-regulated stress response could in turn influence how well children sleep and whether they eat in response to emotional distress – just two factors that affect the likelihood for obesity.”
Obesity may be one manifestation of dysregulation in the functioning of the stress response system. Parents help children develop a healthy response to stress by protecting children from extreme levels of stress, responding supportively and consistently to normal levels of stress, and modeling behavioral responses to stress.
“The evidence here is supportive of the association between a poor-quality maternal-child relationship and an increased chance for adolescent obesity,” Anderson said. “Interventions are effective in increasing maternal sensitivity and enhancing young children’s ability to regulate their emotions, but the effect of these interventions on children’s obesity risk is not known, and we think it would be worth investigating.”

Mollison’s new book, “Where Children Sleep,” had its origins in a project...for a children’s charity several years ago. As he considered how to represent needy children around the world, he wanted to avoid the common devices: pleading eyes, toothless smiles. When he visualized his own childhood, he realized that his bedroom said a lot about what sort of life he led. So he set out to find others.
His subjects came from Boy Scout troops and sumo wrestling clubs. They were introduced through friends of friends. Mr. Mollison posed his young subjects—more than 200 of them—in front of blank white backgrounds for their portraits, leaving their bedrooms to do the talking. More than 50 pairings are in the book, which has a glow-in-the-dark cover (a nod to the glow-in-the-dark stars on so many childhood ceilings).
As much as the project is about the quirkiness of childhood, it is, more strikingly, a commentary on class and on poverty. But the diversity also provides a sense of togetherness.

“Mommy, Kurt and Blaine are boyfriends.” <br />
“Yes, they are,” I affirm. <br />
“They don’t like kissing girls. They just kiss boys.” <br />
“That’s true.” <br />
“Mommy, they are just like me.”

A corpus of nearly 150,000 maternal word-tokens used by 53 low-income mothers in 263 mother-child conversations in 5 settings (e.g., play, mealtime, and book readings) was studied. Ninety-nine percent of maternal lexical input consisted of the 3,000 most frequent words. Children's vocabulary performance in kindergarten and later in 2nd grade related more to the occurrence of sophisticated lexical items than to quantity of lexical input overall. Density of sophisticated words heard and the density with which such words were embedded in helpful or instructive interactions, at age 5 at home, independently predicted over a third of the variance in children's vocabulary performance in both kindergarten and 2nd grade. These two variables, with controls for maternal education, child nonverbal IQ, and amount of child's talk produced during the interactive settings, at age 5, predicted 50% of the variance in children's 2nd-grade vocabulary.

Hart and Risley’s Three Key Findings:<br />
<br />
1. The variation in children’s IQs and language abilities is relative to the amount parents speak to their children.<br />
<br />
2. Children’s academic successes at ages nine and ten are attributable to the amount of talk they hear from birth to age three.<br />
<br />
3. Parents of advanced children talk significantly more to their children than parents of children who are not as advanced.<br />
<br />
* “With few exceptions, the more parents talked to their children, the faster the children’s vocabularies were growing and the higher the children’s IQ test scores at age three and later.”<br />
* “The data revealed that the most important aspect of children’s language experience is its amount.”<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
* “Differences in the amount of cumulative experience children had ... were strongly linked to differences at age three in children’s rates of vocabulary growth, vocabulary use, and general accomplishments and strongly linked to differences in school performance at age nine.”

A brief narrative description of the journal article, document, or resource. Notes that vocabulary has long been recognized as a strong determinant of reading success. Discusses how children's vocabulary knowledge is largely determined by informal factors, such as parental interaction and other sources, such as the television. Addresses individual differences in vocabulary acquisition; amount of vocabulary needed for successful learning; the predictable sequence of vocabulary acquisition; the need for direct instruction for vocabulary growth; and methods of promoting vocabulary knowledge. (PM)

Talking and listening to young children develops [social and literacy skills; reading aloud is a good way to practise.]. <br />
Babies love [parents' voices and reading aloud can calm during times of distress or unease. [Their favourite book or character can soothe your child and help build bonds.] <br />
Books [help children learn to express] thoughts and emotions. <br />
Stories [help overcome adult inhibitions about talking and listening to children, and provide topics.]<br />
Reading together gives babies and young children the chance to respond. A gurgle in anticipation of a favourite story ending, or a smile of enjoyment, shows [that even the youngest children like to communicate.]. <br />
Characters, words and sounds [in books can be talked about outside story] time. Books are an important source of new vocabulary....<br />
Reading aloud combines the benefits of talking, listening and storytelling...and helps to build the foundation for language development. <br />
[Most] brain development occurs in the first 3 years...

Read yourself! Set a good example by sharing your reading. Let your children see that you value books and keep them at home.<br />
<br />
Keep books safe. Make your child their own special place to keep their books. Show them how to turn pages carefully.<br />
<br />
Point out words all around you. Help your child to read the words around them: on food packets in the supermarket, on buses, in newspapers, in recipes.<br />
<br />
Visit your library – it’s free to join! All libraries have children’s sections. Many also have regular storytelling sessions.<br />
<br />
Make time to read. Read a bedtime story with your child every night. Encourage them to share reading with grandparents, brothers and sisters and aunts and uncles.<br />
<br />
Keep in touch with school. Make sure your child swaps their home reading books regularly at school and try to make a regular time slot of about 10 minutes to hear them read.<br />
<br />
If English is not your family’s first language: You can buy dual language books. You can talk about books and stories in any language.

1 Apr 2009<br />
<br />
According to Helen Bromley, many children feel more confident talking outdoors, in an environment free from the tyranny of tables and chairs. She believes that young children's vocabulary, imagination and natural curiosity can all be enhanced significantly by time spent in the company of supportive adults, who can recognise and exploit the potential of this rich environment.<br />
<br />
Similarly to being indoors, young children will need a variety of contexts in which to talk outdoors. Opportunities for talk about emotions and changes in the environment are possible when children are able to be outside in all weathers. Bromley reminds us to include poetry, rhyme and song in outdoor talk. She says: "Bathing children in the rhythmic tunes of such language not only enhances vocabulary and develops listening skills, but also brings an exuberant physicality to literacy that is not always practicable indoors."<br />
<br />
(Nursery World, April 09)

Children's test scores were lowest when poverty had persisted across the generations, and highest when material advantage was long-lasting. <br />
Parents' cognitive abilities and other childhood circumstances [correlate strongly to the gap between test scores of richer and poorer children. Nearly one-fifth of the gap suggested a 'direct' link between childhood cognitive abilities of parents and] of their children [even after controlling for a wide range of environmental factors and taking into account channels through which cognitive ability might operate, such as parents’] educational attainment, adult socio-economic position and attitudes to education....<br />
[A strong intergenerational correlation showed]between a] variety of other attitudes and behaviours, such as whether a parent reads to their child every day, and parental expectations for advanced education. The passing of such traits across generations [corresponds to the persistent disadvantage] children from poor backgrounds face...

Babies who are slow to develop their motor skills at 9 months are significantly more likely to be identified as behind in their cognitive development, and also likely to be less well behaved at age 5... <br />
London University's Institute of Education analysed the progress of 14,853 children, born in 2000 and 2001...The children's cognitive development was assessed at the age of 5 through a series of vocabulary, spatial reasoning and picture tests, and their results compared with those from separate assessments years earlier. <br />
The results at 5 were strongly linked to the babies' abilities in tests for gross motor development, such as crawling, and fine motor development, such as holding objects with their fingers, at 9 months. The researchers also found that children who are read to every day at 3 are likely to [flourish] in a wide range of subjects by the age of 5. <br />
The correlation [was] significant even after the researchers considered the impact of poverty on children's development.

Recent research commissioned by the educational charity, the Sutton Trust, has found that children growing up in the poorest families are almost a year behind middle-income families in their vocabulary levels by the time they start school.<br />
<br />
The research was based on 12,500 British five-year-olds in 2006 and 2007 in the Millennium Cohort Study. It found that just under half of children from the poorest families were read to daily at the age of three, compared with eight in ten from the richest families. This lead the researchers to conclude that good parenting and a supportive home environment were the most important factors leading to better test scores at the age of five.

1. Play lays the foundation for literacy. Through play children learn to make and practise new sounds. They try out new vocabulary...and exercise their imagination through storytelling. <br />
3. Play encourages adults to communicate with [children]. Adults support play by giving children the opportunity to [play, and by knowing when and whether] to intervene. <br />
7. Play gives adults the chance to learn how to play again. One of the most challenging parts of play is incorporating yourself in it. <br />
8. Play allows adults to learn their child’s body language. Knowing when you should incorporate yourself in your child’s play is key. <br />
9. Play teaches adults patience and understanding. If you do choose to join in your child’s play make sure that you do not try to take it over and force incorporation of your ultimate learning objectives into their play. Structured adult-led activities have their time and place but remember to allow for time for children to control and decide their own play.

[A child saying 'Give me that teddy!' communicates their wish but lacks an understanding of] appropriate language. A child's developing language skills are...inextricably linked to their personal, social and emotional development. <br />
In the early years setting, children must specifically:<br />
* [Develop] knowledge and understanding about how language works.<br />
* Develop a range and variety of vocabulary...<br />
* [Develop awareness of] audience—to whom they are speaking. ([Evidence suggests that by age 4, children learn] to adjust their speech according to different audiences).<br />
* Think about [appropriate language according to circumstances].<br />
* [Speak with confidence.] <br />
'Children will learn to understand and be aware of other points of view [by observing] strategies such as listening, turn-taking and initiating and sustaining a conversation gently and respectfully. They will increase their knowledge and use of such conventions, such as for asking, initiating, refusing and greeting...'

* The most avid reader reads in two days what the most reluctant reads in a year.<br />
* The amount that someone reads makes a difference not just to development of reading ability, but to the growth of vocabulary and general knowledge.What you know is directly related to the amount that you read. <br />
* Children with poor reading skills and habits are in danger of low educational attainment....<br />
Books are the source of most of the new words that children learn once they are in school. Of course, children learn new words from television and through conversation, but the research shows that the majority of new vocabulary comes from books. <br />
<br />
Research has also shown that children who read more have wider vocabularies. This is not just to do with social advantage or intellectual ability - research has found that the beneficial relationship between reading ‘volume’ (amount) and vocabulary is not affected by a child’s intellectual ability.

[Children in the poorest fifth of families are already nearly a year behind children from middle income families in vocabulary by age 5] according to research commissioned by the Sutton Trust... <br />
Good parenting and a supportive home environment emerge as the most important determinants of better test scores at age 5, accounting for half of the explained gap between low-income and middle-income children... <br />
[J]ust under half (45%) of children from the poorest fifth of families were read to daily at age 3, compared with 8 in 10 (78%) of children from the richest fifth of families[. N]early half (47%) of children from the poorest fifth of families were born to mothers aged under 25; just under two-thirds (65%) do not live with both biological parents by the time they are five...<br />
[G]ood parenting behaviour, such as reading daily to children or ensuring regular bedtimes, is associated with more advanced development at age 5 - whether children are from the poorest or richest households.

Part of the explanation can be traced to gender differences in the cognitive abilities of middle-school students. In late elementary school, females outperform males on several verbal skills tasks: verbal reasoning, verbal fluency, comprehension, and understanding logical relations (Hedges & Nowell, 1995). Males, on the other hand, outperform females on spatial skills tasks such as mental rotation, spatial perception, and spatial visualization (Voyer, Voyer, & Bryden, 1995). Males also perform better on mathematical achievement tests than females. However, gender differences do not apply to all aspects of mathematical skill. Males and females do equally well in basic math knowledge, and girls actually have better computational skills. [Tests of] mathematical reasoning and geometry shows the greatest difference (Fennema, Sowder, & Carpenter, 1999). Males also display greater confidence in their math skills[:] a strong predictor of math performance (Casey, Nuttall, & Pezaris, 2001).

pedagogy ethnicity identity senstive issues censorship

there is work from a lot of other labs that suggests that as a function of growing up bilingual, babies are learning something more general.<br />
<br />
FLATOW: So we should not try to teach them just one language. Having a bilingual family is an advantage.<br />
<br />
Dr. WERKER: Well, I think that's what the work shows. And I don't think it's the case that if you are monolingual you should run out tomorrow and try to learn a new language so that you can grow - you know, so you can speak two languages to your child and give them the opportunity to grow up bilingual.<br />
<br />
I think what the work shows is that if you - if in your home more than one languages is spoken, that that's something to be comfortable with, and it's an opportunity to provide your infant with both languages because there may be advantages that accrue.

LiveScience: Is there any reason to think these differences could affect other types of learning, beyond language?<br />
<br />
Werker: Well, yeah. I think Aggie Kovács and Jacques Mehler's work suggests it can lead to more flexibility in learning more generally. In learning one rule, and then learning a second rule. So that's really interesting.<br />
<br />
So I think there is evidence that growing up with two languages confers certain cognitive advantages. But I wouldn't go so far as to say you have to grow up bilingual to have those cognitive advantages. I think this is one natural route. And I think more generally what the work shows is that babies are just as prepared to learn two languages from birth as they are one, and that if parents speak two languages in the home they should be comfortable continuing to do so.

[Infants raised in homes where both Catalan and Spanish were spoken could discern different languages at four, six and eight months old,] whereas monolingual infants who also had the ability to discern those languages at four and six months lost this ability by the time they were eight months old.... <br />
The infants who were part of the study were shown silent videos of talking faces speaking English and French[; researchers] found that the bilingual-exposed babies were able to distinguish between French and English simply through facial clues. <br />
"These findings, together with our previous work on newborn infants, provide even stronger evidence that human infants are equally prepared to grow up bilingual as they are monolingual," said Werker, Canada Research Chair in Psychology and director of UBC's Infant Studies Centre. <br />
"The task of language separation is something they are prepared to do from birth -with bilinguals increasingly adept over time."

Children who have acquired a level of fluency in two languages have been reported to have higher levels of metalinguistic awareness, greater and earlier awareness of language structure, wider perspectives, and more social skills (Ben Zeev, 1977; Genesee, Tucker, & Lambert, 1975; Goodz, Legare, & Bilodeau, 1987; Ianco-Worrall, 1972). The acquisition of fluency in more than one language is accompanied by a greater awareness of the linguistic features of languages and the cultural ways in which the respective languages are used in various interactions (Thompson, 1999). This body of recent research supports the conclusion that children acquire language knowledge not only at the linguistic level, but at the metalinguistic knowledge level and level of metalinguistic knowledge verbalization as well.

By supporting their children’s wish to dress as gender-benders, parents may inadvertently put them at greater risk for taunting. When Harry, the Los Angeles boy whose father gave him a Barbie, was 2, he attended a dress-up birthday party for his sisters’ friend, in costume. One father called him “Little Liberace;” another compared him to an L.A. drag queen. The second-grade brother of CJ, star of the Raising My Rainbow blog, is teased. “The boys say, ‘Why does your brother like girls’ toys, that’s so gay,’ and run from him,” his mother said. <br />
Parents say their job is not to change their children, but to help them withstand cruel comments. A 2010 study by the Family Acceptance Project at San Francisco State University that focused mainly on adolescents found strong correlations between positive family attitudes toward their lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender children and decreased risks of depression, substance abuse and suicide.

According to these data, prevalence of pica was estimated at 2.44%. This value may seem an underestimation when compared to the values reported in the medical literature, which range from 9 to 25%. Additionally, among the 108 hospitalized infant patients, none fulfilled DSM IV criteria, which is surprising, as pica is relatively common in childhood.

65 years old or older. Aging can weaken the heart muscle. Older people also may have had diseases for many years that caused heart failure. Heart failure is the most common reason for hospital visits among people on Medicare. <br />
African Americans are more likely than people of other races to have heart failure. They’re also more likely to have symptoms at a younger age, have more hospital visits due to heart failure, and die from heart failure. <br />
Excess weight puts strain on the heart. Being overweight also increases your risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes. These diseases can lead to heart failure. <br />
Additionally, men have a higher rate of heart failure than women. <br />
Children who have congenital heart defects also can develop heart failure. These defects occur if the heart, heart valves, or blood vessels near the heart don’t form correctly while a baby is in the womb. Congenital heart defects can make the heart work harder and weaken the heart muscle, leading to heart failure.

[Increased risk for diabetes and coronary heart disease can be predicted even from "normal" BMI (<25 Kg/m2). Each one-unit rise in BMI correlates to ~10% increased risk for early adulthood DM2, and a 12% increase in heart disease risk. Higher risk is significant at an age-17 BMI of ≥ 23.4 Kg/m2 for diabetes and ≥ 20.9 Kg/m2] for heart disease. <br />
[BMI at age 17 predicts diabetes risk mainly by correlating with BMI later in life. For heart disease, BMI at adolescence and at adulthood independently predict risk].... <br />
"[A teen with relatively high BMI who becomes a lean adult practically eliminates added diabetic risk. That person's heart disease risk remains elevated compared to the lean teen who became a lean adult, though still] lower than that of the heavier teen who became an obese adult.... <br />
[Eating habit modification can halt and even reverse] progression of atherosclerosis, the underlying process of heart disease.

Constantly engaging this executive control function is a form of mental exercise, explains Bialystok, and some researchers, including herself, believe that this can be beneficial for the brain. Bilingual speakers have been shown to perform better on a variety of cognitive tasks, and one study Bialistok did found that dementia set in four to five years later in people who spent their lives speaking two languages instead of one.<br />
<br />
"They can get a little extra mileage from these cognitive networks because they have been enhanced throughout life," said Bialystok.<br />
<br />
And the advantages of bilingualism may be due to more than just "mental fitness." Bialystok says there's some preliminary evidence that being bilingual may physically remodel parts of the brain. It's something researchers are only beginning to look into, but she says there is reason to believe that speaking a second language may lead to important changes in brain structure as well.

New research supports the current American Academy of Pediatrics' recommendation to begin solid foods at four to six months of age. The study involved data from 847 children who are part of a broader study known as Project Viva, which included a questionnaire that asked mothers about the timing of the first introduction of 10 solid foods‚ including cereal‚ vegetables‚ fruit‚ eggs‚ and sweets. At four months‚ 67 percent of the 847 babies were at least partly breast-fed and 33 percent were only formula–fed. The formula–fed babies who were given solid food before four months had a six–fold increase in the risk of becoming obese at age three compared with the formula–fed babies who first received solid food between four and five months. Children were considered obese at age three if they had a body–mass index at or greater than the 95th percentile on children's growth charts‚ which can indicate obesity later in life‚ putting them at risk of conditions such as diabetes and heart disease.

Feeding Babies Solids Early Tied to Obesity: Formula-fed infants who start on solid foods before the age of four months have a higher risk of obesity by three years compared to those who start solid foods later‚ according to Harvard researchers. Researchers found no association between the timing of weaning and obesity in breast–fed infants. This new research supports the current American Academy of Pediatrics' recommendation to begin solid foods at four to six months of age. The study involved data from 847 children who are part of a broader study known as Project Viva. The formula–fed babies who were given solid food before four months had a six–fold increase in the risk of becoming obese at age three compared with the formula–fed babies who first received solid food between four and five months.

It is well established that [type 2 diabetes and its risk factors] at this early stage of life significantly increases the likelihood of suffering from heart disease and other chronic conditions. [Now there is] a connection to weak bones. <br />
For the study, investigators examined 140 overweight children between the ages of 7 and 11. They measured the participants' body fat percentage, blood sugar levels and bone density and asked questions about how much physical activity they got on a regular basis. <br />
The researchers found a strong association between risk factors for Type 2 diabetes and poor bone health. A total of 30 percent of the participants showed signs of poor blood sugar regulation. These children had an average of 4 to 5 percent less bone density than participants with healthy blood sugar regulation. <br />
Given the fact that a large percent of an individual's lifetime bone density is developed before reaching puberty, the researchers said that their findings depict a major problem.

RT @ebertchicago: What's it like to believe anyone deserves eternal torment?

[Experiments at UCSF show] that when rats have a new experience, like exploring an unfamiliar area, their brains show new patterns of activity. But only when the rats take a break from their exploration do they process those patterns in a way that seems to create a persistent memory. <br />
[Imaging studies of people's brains show major cross sections becoming surprisingly active during downtime, suggesting] that periods of rest are critical in allowing the brain to synthesize information, make connections between ideas and even develop the sense of self... <br />
[T]hese studies have particular implications for young people, whose brains have more trouble focusing and setting priorities. <br />
“Downtime is to the brain what sleep is to the body...But kids are in a constant mode of stimulation...[B]ring back boredom,” added [Harvard's] Dr. Rich, who last month gave a speech to the American Academy of Pediatrics entitled, “Finding Huck Finn: Reclaiming Childhood from the River of Electronic Screens.”

The Missing Golden Ticket and Other Splendiferous Secrets, which contains a secret ending to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, a fudge recipe, and excerpts from Dahl’s many horrid report cards. How horrid? In 1931, his teacher wrote, “Vocabulary negligible, sentences malconstructed. He reminds me of a camel.”

Three [bonobos] — Kanzi, Panbanisha, and Nyota — have engaged in an English-language-acquisition research program with Sue Savage-Rumbaugh and colleagues, from a young age. The other three —Matata, Maisha, and Elikya — have not participated in the research program and represent, in scientific parlance, the “control group.” <br />
Participation entails learning to communicate with humans via a “lexigram board” displaying some 400 abstract symbols that denote words, both for objects – apple, M&Ms, backpack – and for concepts – secret, tomorrow. The three language-competent bonobos can, when requested to point to the symbol for a word, do so with ease. More importantly, they will spontaneously point to, for example, the ball symbol when they wish to play with one. They also readily put symbols together, such as ball + outside, and readily respond to novel spoken requests, like Put the keys in the refrigerator. Videos illustrating these activities are referenced in an earlier blog [link].

Both simple visual patterns and text activated a similar area of the visual cortex, while both written and spoken words caused activity in both the temporal and frontal language areas. [In this case, literacy seems to use brain structures] already specialized for specific tasks.
However the activity within the visual cortex was distributed differently in literate and non-literate individuals. [The visual word form area] was activated by text to the exclusion of other categories, such as images or patterns....Literate individuals [showed] reduced activity when looking at [faces, and increased activity when looking at text-like patterns—black-and-white images, horizontal checkerboards].
[Decreased activity in response to faces occurred in those who learned to read as children (one of the only differences between them and adult learners). T]he area that responds to faces normally expands with age, and learning to read may limit this expansion by putting nearby brain areas to other uses.

Once they were weaned, the young rats were removed permanently from their mothers and went about doing things that juvenile rats do...[A]t about 100 days of age, the sexually mature male rats from these initial litters were introduced, individually, to one of two receptive female rats....Prior to their introduction to the males, Fillion and Blass had coated one of these females perivaginally with citral scent, and they left the other with her vagina smelling au naturel. Although the citral-scented female genitals made little difference to males from the two other litters—they were happy to have sex with either female—those males that, as pups, had suckled from a mother whose teats and vagina were redolent with lemon ejaculated significantly faster when they were now paired as adults with a lemony female sexual partner. In fact, the investigators reported that these males even had trouble achieving orgasm when mating with the odorless (...odorless as far as rat vaginas go) females.

These animal studies show that a father's brain is significantly and beautifully intertwined with his offspring's. For whatever reasons, be they biological, evolutional, or societal, the onus of human parenthood has traditionally fallen on the mother. But the evidence is showing that a father has direct influence on his child's neurodevelopment—and indeed, his brain can benefit as well.
My nephew, bolstered by a healthy set of brain connections, formed in response to something as simple as [his father's] touch, may already have the required tools to meet with behavioral and emotional challenges as he [grows. W]hile I can't exactly probe Jack's brain to see if he's sprouting neurons, I noticed an undeniable change in his focus, as his new bond took hold. Small movements and sounds from Landon that went unnoticed by most mysteriously caught Jack’s attention. It’s comforting to think that, in some way, there’s a small set of neurons tucked away in Jack’s head solely dedicated to his son.

Then there was a 4-year-old with impulse control issues...[A]bout a year after he had been at the cooperative, he and a 3-year-old were making a puppet show. The younger child started knocking things down....
[Teacher]: 'And the older boy who was four, said, “I want to hit him, I shouldn’t hit him.” And I said, yes, that’s right. And the boy said, “My anger fish is here.” And I said, Oh, what’s it like? And he said, “Anger fish wants to drink up all the water.” Which, to me, was a child having an insight about what anger does in the mind....When we’re angry, the anger wants to take up all the clarity of our mind, and this is how the child was saying that in a child’s way...as a picture.
'And I said, "Yes, but can he drink up the whole ocean?" And the child said, “No, I’m bigger than the anger fish.” And suddenly, he had this experience that his mind, that his awareness, was bigger than his anger...[T]he joy, and the sense of empowerment in him, in that moment...was just amazing.'

A Danish study...found puberty occurring earlier in children regardless of body mass index at age 7. Factors may include a diet...increasingly high in sugar and fat, declining physical activity and exposure to endocrine disrupters [in the environment]. "Kids today are exposed to plastic much more than they were 10 or 20 years ago"...[Ongoing study will] look at biomarkers that reflect potential environmental exposures.
Studies have linked [early development in girls] to various health risks including a poor body image, reduced self-esteem, higher rates of eating problems, depression and earlier onset of sexual activity....Studies have linked a younger age at the first menstrual period to a higher risk of breast cancer after menopause.
Parents may be able to influence the timing of puberty [through] encouraging a healthful diet and physical activity, and avoiding lotions, shampoos and other products for children and babies that contain phthalates, which are known endocrine disrupters.

[Relationships seen in adolescents between insulin sensitivity and fatty liver, belly fat, and total body fat, along with additional potential early markers of insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome, have been found] in healthy 7-9 year-old children, including fat in muscle cells, blood pressure, physical activity, and birth weight....
The study of more than 100 healthy children, ages 7-9, found that fat in the liver, abdominal fat, and fat oxidation predicted insulin resistance and appear to be early markers for the metabolic syndrome via a mechanism of impaired lipid metabolism and fat oxidation. Impaired metabolic function may be due, in part, to pre-and post natal factors that are modified by current physical activity. Therefore, race, low or high pregnancy weight and/or birth weight, and low physical activity collectively create a phenotype for poor metabolic function leading to increased risk for insulin resistance in young children.

'A toddler has twice as many neuron connections as an adult. As [its brain grows,] connections are pruned away—[strengthening and maintaining] only the circuits most important for intellect and skills. [A] child’s daily activities, such as coloring or listening to a bedtime story, actively mold the brain....
'[A]t birth a baby already recognizes its mother’s voice. Babies can also differentiate between two sounds from any language—something no adult can do, because the ability to recognize subtle phonetic differences in languages other than one’s own disappears with age...
'[A] child’s intellectual growth doesn’t have to be all about formal lessons; parents and other caregivers foster brain development just by taking walks to the park or playing peek-a-boo and tag. “Playing not only strengthens muscles, it strengthens the connections in the brain...Infants don’t come into the world ready to sit still and listen; they need time to develop these abilities."'

[The] concept of matching coiffure appears to Hemingway to have been almost unbearably exciting:

'“If you don’t think about it maybe it will grow faster. I’m so glad you remembered to start it so early.”
'We looked at each other and laughed and then she said one of the secret things …
'“How long will it take?”
'“Maybe four months to be just the same.”
'“Really?”
'“Really.”
'"Four months more?”
'“I think so.”
'We sat and she said something secret and I said something secret back.'

Gosh. And this...is merely an amuse-bouche for the main course of another unfinished Hemingway effort, “The Garden of Eden,” at the end of which it seems that hair must be discarded altogether, and shaved heads become the sexual totem. Not even Adam and Eve went so far in their admission of guilt and nakedness, but perhaps a man whose mother once dressed him as a girl and trimmed his crop to suit, and crooned to him as “Ernestine,” had some old scores to settle in the androgyny column.

"This program is awesome," said...a sixth grade student and participant in the Citizen Schools program at Keith Middle School. "You learn about all sorts of new stuff you wouldn't know about if you just went home watched TV."
'Citizen Schools operates a network of...after-school programs based in middle schools throughout Massachusetts, as well as several other states.  Citizen Schools' programs complement traditional classroom curriculum by engaging students in hands-on learning projects led by adult volunteers and supported by a staff of professional educators...
'"[E]veryone comes together to take their piece of making this possible," said Sarah Angers, the Citizen Schools' campus director at Keith Middle School. [Several middle schools in New Bedford,] Boston, Malden, Revere and Springfield...host Citizen Schools' programs.  Community volunteers are engaged and encouraged to share their knowledge with the students through the development of real-world projects.'

'“The world is new to them and they want to figure things out,” says Professor Matthews, who has written extensively about children and philosophy. “Young children very often engage in reasoning that professional philosophers can recognize as philosophical, but typically their parents or teachers don’t react in a way that encourages them. They might say, ‘That’s cute,’ but they don’t engage the children in thinking further about whatever the issue is"....
'“Our current educational system is about standards and efficiency,” says Joe Oyler, programs coordinator for the [Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children at Montclair State University. “Philosophy]’s not fast and it’s not clean. We help children become comfortable with ambiguity and responding to it, so it’s tough to fit in.”'

'[I]nability to direct attention has important consequences when it comes to learning about uncertain events. [I]magine you are playing a guessing game: You have to choose...either A or B, one of which leads to a prize, and one of which does not. After a few rounds, you notice that about 3/4 of the time the prize is at A, and the rest of the time it is at B, so you decide to guess “A” 75% of the time and “B” 25% of the time. This is called probability matching[: the pattern most adults] adopt in these circumstances. [But] if the goal is to win the most prizes...you should always pick the more frequent outcome (or, in this case, always pick “A”).
'[Toddlers playing this game use] the maximization strategy almost immediately[; they may] lack the cognitive flexibility that would allow them to alternate between A and B. [U]nable to selectively switch between responses, they can only choose the most likely option. Fortunately for them, in this...scenario, maximization is the right choice.'

'Nuru was formed by Jake Harriman, a platoon commander in the Infantry and an elite unit of Marines called Force Recon. Harriman served two tours of duty in Iraq where he realized that the key to ending terrorism was to end extreme poverty. Harriman’s thoughts can be seen in a video called “The End.” In his words, “terrorists rely on an endless supply of people living in extreme poverty, with no other options in life. The only chance we have to see the end of terrorism, is to end extreme poverty.” Nuru is setting up what it calls seed projects, where the organization focuses on five areas of development: Agriculture, Water & Sanitation, Healthcare, Community Economic Development and Education. Douglas Scott, Nuru’s Chief Marketing Officer, explained to The Loop that they go into a community, sit down with the people and listen. He said Nuru wants to know what the people feel they need to help themselves, instead of making the assessments and moving ahead on their own.

'Gross national happiness (GNH) is an attempt to define quality of life in more holistic and psychological terms than gross national product. The term was coined in 1972 by Bhutan's former King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, who...opened up Bhutan to the age of modernization...It signaled his commitment to building an economy that would serve Bhutan's unique culture based on Buddhist spiritual values...[I]t serves as a unifying vision for Bhutan's 5-year planning process and [the documents] that guide the economic and development plans of the country. While conventional development models stress economic growth as the ultimate objective, [GNH is] based on the premise that true development of human society takes place when material and spiritual development...complement and reinforce each other. The four pillars of GNH are the promotion of sustainable development, preservation and promotion of cultural values, conservation of the natural environment, and establishment of good governance.'

“The key element is the difference between shame and guilt,” Dr. Tangney says. Shame, the feeling that you’re a bad person because of bad behavior, has repeatedly been found to be unhealthy...whereas guilty feelings focused on the behavior itself can be productive. But it’s not enough..for parents just to follow the old admonition to criticize the sin, not the sinner. “Most young children...eally don’t hear the distinction between ‘Johnny, you did a bad thing’ versus ‘Johnny, you’re a bad boy.’ They hear ‘bad kid.’ I think a more active, directive approach is needed.” [Tangney] recommends focusing not just on the bad deed, but more important, on how to make amends. “Both children and adults can be surprisingly clueless about whether and how to make things right,” Dr. Tangney said. “Little kids are overwhelmed by the spilled mess of milk on the floor. Parents can teach and support them to say ‘I’m sorry’ and to clean it up, maybe leaving the kitchen a little cleaner than it was before.”

[A] child's self-control at age 3 or 4 may be associated with weight status at age 11 or 12.
Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine: Seeyave DM, et al "Ability to delay gratification at age 4 years and risk of overweight at age 11 years" Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2009; 163(4): 303-308.
Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine: Francis LA, Susman EJ "Self-regulation and rapid weight gain in children from age 3 to 12 years" Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2009; 163(4): 297-302.

"Traumatized kids who come to the attention of schools and social service agencies overwhelmingly experience trauma in the context of intimate relationships," van der Kolk said. "These children have come to organize their neurobiology and psychology in response to seeing the world as a threatening and overwhelming place"....A focus of therapy is improving heart rate variability...[Three primary therapeutic foci are] establishing the child's capacity to regulate his or her internal states of arousal, learning to negotiate safe interpersonal attachments, and integration and mastery of the body and mind[:] "Mastery is most of all a physical experience...the feeling of being in charge, calm, and able to engage in focused efforts to accomplish goals. [Traumatized children experience] hyperarousal and numbing on a deeply somatic level[, shown] in their inability to relax and in their high degree of irritability."