Sex Education Reduces Teen Pregnancies
March 31, 2008
Sex education might reduce unwanted pregnancies in teenagers, according to an article in the April issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health. Pamela Kohler and her colleagues at the University of Washington School of Public Health and Community Medicine looked at kids who got abstinence-only education, sex education that included discussions of birth control, or no sex education at all. In short, those teenage girls who heard about sex and learned about birth control were the least likely to end up pregnant. Moreover, the results did not show that learning about sex and birth control led to more intercourse. If anything, it led to less.
So kids are less likely to have sexual intercourse if they learn about it in school.
Teach Giving in Kids
March 28, 2008
We’ve all heard: It’s better to give than receive, but Elizabeth Dunn, PhD and her colleagues tested this idea. It turns out to be true, especially in terms of making people happy. Here’s more: It doesn’t take giving much. Dunn and her colleagues found that giving as little as a $5 donation provides a happiness boost.
So to get happier kids, teach them to give. For some approaches, see Teaching Kids to Give.
Secondhand Smoke Starts Heart Disease in Kids
March 27, 2008
A 2- to 5-year-old exposed to secondhand smoke will show signs of blood-vessel damage. Judith Groner, MD, and her colleagues at the National Children’s Hospital studied 128 toddlers and found that they absorbed more nicotine than young teenagers in the same environment. The difference comes in part from the toddlers breathing faster and probably being in the house more.
Worse still, the toddlers also had significantly higher levels of a biochemical called ICAM, which is a marker in the blood that indicates artery damage. Such damage increases the risk of later heart disease.
So here’s the take-home message: Kids—especially toddlers—exposed to secondhand smoke could be at higher risk of heart disease.
Any Activity Reduces Weight in Kids
March 26, 2008
The Trial of Activity for Adolescent Girls recently reported that after-school programs—say, at a YMCA—can keep kids a bit more fit. But it’s just a tiny bit. Giving kids these after-school opportunites for exercise only encouraged the average female in middle school to increase her moderate-to-virgorous exercise by two minutes per day.
It doesn’t sound like much, but the study’s authors say that even two minutes could fight off about two pounds a year. Okay, but I really want to see more.
Yesterday’s post (Cut Kid Screen Time) reported that kids spend about 20 hours a week in front of a TV or computer screen. That’s 171 minutes a day. I think that we can find ways to cut that screen-time figure and raise the exercise time by a bit more than two minutes.
For some ideas, visit We Can!
Cut Kid Screen Time
March 25, 2008
Some kids sit in front of a computer or TV screen for 50 hours a week. That’s more than 7 hours a day! Luckily, that’s not all kids. But even the average 7th grader takes up 20 hours a week with screen time. That’s what Tracie A. Barnett, PhD reported at the American Heart Association’s Joint Conference - 48th Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention -and- Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism - 2008.
The news gets even worse. For example, more than half of the 7th-grade boys studied spent more than 40 hours a week in front of a screen!
How many hours do your kids spend in from of a TV or computer screen? Would they be smarter and healthier if they used some of that time for studying or being active?
