Kids' lack of self-control tied to extra pounds

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Preschoolers who had less patience and worse self-control while waiting for treats in a classic behavior study ended up weighing slightly more as adults, a new analysis shows.

Although the link between childhood patience and extra pounds in adulthood was "not particularly large," researchers said it might still help hint at which little kids are at risk of growing into overweight adults - and give their parents and teachers a chance to intervene.

"This is a skill or set of skills that really emerges through the preschool years," said Alison Miller, a developmental psychologist from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Self-control "is really developing for kids, and there are a lot of things that you can get in there and teach," she told Reuters Health.

Researchers said teaching patience and self-control to little kids may also have other long-term benefits, such as better grades and overall health.

"This is a struggle that all parents face," said Lori Francis, who has studied kids' self-regulation at Penn State University in University Park.

But, she told Reuters Health, "The idea that children have something to look forward to and there is this awesome reward if you learn how to be patient and wait... that has so much relevance for other things that kids will encounter in life."

Previous research has suggested self-control in preschoolers is tied to their weight as preteens. But for the new study, Tanya Schlam from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison and her colleagues wanted to look farther into the future.

They mailed health questionnaires to adults who had taken part in a delayed-gratification experiment in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when they were four years old.

For the test - which has now become standard in developmental psychology - kids are offered a treat like a marshmallow or cookie immediately or told they will get two marshmallows, for example, if they can wait 15 minutes.

The longer children are able to hold out for a bigger reward, the greater their self-control.

In the original marshmallow study, the average kid was able to wait about six and a half minutes for a treat. About a quarter had enough self-control to make it the full 15 minutes and get the extra snack.

By linking those test results to adults' reports of their own height and weight 30 years after the experiment, the researchers calculated that each extra minute four-year-olds were able to wait for marshmallows was tied to a 0.2-point decrease in their adult body mass index.

Body mass index, or BMI, is a measure of weight in relation to height. A difference of 0.2 points is equivalent to about one pound in most adults.

The majority of the 164 adults included in the final study were considered in the normal range for weight, according to findings published Thursday in The Journal of Pediatrics.

The study can't prove lack of self-control causes kids to become heavier adults, the researchers noted. They also didn't have information on other factors that could predispose people to gain more weight - such as whether or not their moms were also heavy.

Still, they think childhood self-control and patience play a role.

"Self-control is associated with so many outcomes important to society: weight... but also health, financial stability (and) likelihood of being convicted of a crime," Schlam told Reuters Health.

Francis, who wasn't part of the research team, said there could be basic differences between kids who are or aren't good at self-regulating - such as their environment growing up or their families' beliefs - that go on to influence eating and weight.

"The big question mark is explaining why this relationship exists," she said.

Of course, the typical four-year-old isn't exactly known as the model of patience and self-control. But Schlam said meditation, yoga, martial arts and mindfulness can all promote greater self-control, even in young people.
Miller, who also wasn't involved in the new study, said simply talking through self-regulation with kids - like validating their feelings that yes, it's really hard to wait - can help build basic patience skills. So can encouraging kids to distract themselves by thinking about something else in situations that require waiting.

SOURCE: bit.ly/NsrjeR The Journal of Pediatrics

Drinking in Pregnancy Shows Up in Child's Growth: Study

(HealthDay News) -- Children who had significant prenatal exposure to alcohol may have delayed weight gain during infancy and alcohol-related growth restriction from early infancy until 9 years of age, researchers report.

Weight, height and head circumference are indications of brain growth, the study authors pointed out. Persistent reductions in these measurements among children exposed to alcohol in the womb suggest the effects may be permanent and could affect their mental development, according to the study published online Aug. 15 and in the November print issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.

"These effects may be detrimental to the children as growth deficits have been shown to be related to other health problems, such as lower IQ," study corresponding author Dr. R. Colin Carter, an instructor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, said in a news release from Children's Hospital Boston. "Furthermore, the effects of alcohol on growth were much more severe if the child had iron deficiency anemia as an infant, a condition that is common in the U.S. and worldwide."

The study involved newly pregnant women in Cape Town, South Africa. The researchers divided the women into two groups based on their drinking habits. In the first group, there were 85 women who drank two or more drinks per day or four or more drinks at a time. The second group included 63 women who did not drink at all or drank less than one drink daily.

While pregnant, the women described their smoking habits and alcohol and drug use to researchers, and provided demographic information. Their babies were measured for length, weight and head circumference when they were 6.5 months and 12 months old. These measurements were also taken when the children were 5 years and 9 years old.

Children whose mothers drank heavily while they were pregnant had reduced weight, height and head circumference, compared to children who were not exposed to as much alcohol, the study revealed.

"This alcohol-related growth restriction was present in early infancy and persisted through to 9 years of age. What is important is that these effects were exacerbated by iron deficiency in infancy," Carter said. "By contrast, iron deficiency at 5 years of age and food security did not impact the effects of alcohol on growth."
Children with significant prenatal alcohol exposure had a delay in weight gain at 12 months old, the study found. In addition, the children with fetal alcohol syndrome and partial fetal alcohol syndrome had leaner body composition than other children who did not have these conditions.

The study authors said that growth restrictions should be used as a marker for prenatal exposure to alcohol.
"We saw a postnatal delay in weight gain at 12 months, which may have relevance for postnatal nutritional interventions," Carter said. "The leaner body composition seen in children with [fetal alcohol or partial fetal alcohol syndrome] could be attributable to decreased nutritional intake, for example, total energy or protein, increased metabolic needs, for example, from increased catabolism or physical activity, or a deficit in nutrient utilization in alcohol-exposed children."
-- Mary Elizabeth Dallas

Source : medicinenet.com

Pregnancy May Raise Risk of Cerebral Bleeding in Some Women

(HealthDay News) -- Pregnant women are at higher risk of bleeding in the brain from vessel abnormalities known as arteriovenous malformations, a new study indicates.

Arteriovenous malformations are tangled bits of veins and arteries that can affect circulation, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

Ruptured arteriovenous malformations can lead to death or serious disability, the researchers noted.
In conducting the study, Dr. Bradley Gross and Rose Du, from Harvard Medical School, reviewed information on 54 women with confirmed arteriovenous malformations between 2002 and 2010. They calculated the women's overall risk of bleeding, as well as their risk of bleeding during a total of 62 pregnancies. The study revealed four of the women had a total of five bleeding events while they were pregnant.

As a result, the researchers concluded that women with arteriovenous malformations had an 8 percent risk of rupture and bleeding during pregnancy. In contrast, the rate of bleeding while the women were not pregnant was about 1 percent per year, according to the report published in the August issue of Neurosurgery.
In following the women to the age of 40, the investigators found the risk of bleeding during pregnancy increased. At this point, it was 18 times higher than when the women were not pregnant.

The study authors noted that in the four cases of bleeding events during pregnancy, the arteriovenous malformations caused sudden headache and other symptoms between 22 and 39 weeks of pregnancy.

Prompt treatment, however, saved the lives of the women and their babies, they pointed out in a journal news release.

The researchers advised that all women with arteriovenous malformations who plan to have children be treated. If an arteriovenous malformation is discovered during pregnancy, women should be counseled on the risks of treatment versus careful monitoring during the pregnancy. They also recommended that women with the malformation have a cesarean-section delivery.
-- Mary Elizabeth Dallas

Source : medicinenet.com

Pregnancy Changes Mom's Gut Bacteria

Having a kid changes everything, from your sleep schedule to the status of that formerly spare room. The stable of bacteria that live in a woman’s gut is also transformed when their host becomes pregnant. So finds research in the journal Cell. [Omry Koren et al, Host Remodeling of the Gut Microbiome and Metabolic Changes during Pregnancy]

The study looked at women in Finland. The women’s microbial makeup changed dramatically between the first and third trimesters. The array of microbes in the gut went from looking normal in the first three months of a pregnancy to resembling what’s found in patients suffering from metabolic disease in the last three.

But some of the symptoms of that condition – like weight-gain and slower sugar metabolism – can be beneficial to pregnant women, supporting energy storage that helps a fetus develop. Other symptoms, like inflammation, demonstrate that the immune system is functioning properly as a pregnancy comes to term.

Scientists don’t yet fully understand what brings about the changes in gut bacteria – immune function is a suspect, but factors like hormonal signals aren’t ruled out. The research suggests that other changes to the body, like puberty or old age, could also bring about microbial makeovers.
—Ian Chant

Source : ScientificAmerican.com

Consider Your Childbirth Options

Your baby's kicks and stretches are a daily reminder that you'll soon get to see your little one's smile. Have you thought about how and where you want to bring your newborn into the world? Do you want a natural childbirth in a home-like setting? Or would you feel more comfortable with all the conveniences of modern medicine close at hand?

While today's mom's-to-be have more options than ever before, you may be limited by certain factors:

• Where your provider practices
• What your insurance covers
• Whether you have a high-risk pregnancy
• Where you live and what hospitals are close by

The type of birth experience you want is a very personal decision. The following overview can help you sort through your options.

Hospital Birth

The vast majority of women in the U.S. give birth in a hospital. If you have a high-risk pregnancy or want to try having a vaginal birth after a cesarean delivery (VBAC), then a hospital is the safest -- and often the only -- place you can deliver your baby. Even if you have a low-risk pregnancy, you may want to give birth in a hospital where you have ready access to the latest in medical technology.

Fortunately, the old stereotype of delivering your baby in a cold hospital room with your feet up in stirrups is long gone. Now, many hospitals provide one or more of these options:

Traditional hospital birth. In some hospitals,you may move from one room to another depending on what stage of labor you are in. For example, you may go through labor and delivery in one room, recover in another, then move to a semiprivate room. Your baby may be brought to your room for feedings and visits, but stay in the hospital nursery the rest of the time. Not all hospitals follow the same routine, so ask what you can expect during your stay.

Family-centered care. Many hospitals now offer private rooms where you can go through labor, delivery, and recovery all in the same room. Often your partner can stay with you. These rooms are often decorated with pictures on the walls, soothing colors, and cabinets that hide medical equipment when it's not in use. After birth, your baby stays in your room with you.

In-hospital birthing center. These centers are either within a hospital or next to a hospital. They offer natural childbirth in a home-like setting. If problems occur during labor, you are just steps away from expert staff and medical equipment to help you and your baby.
Many hospitals also offer:

• Childbirth and parenting classes and lactation consultants.
• Certified nurse-midwives on staff.
• The ability to have an unmedicated, "natural" delivery.
• Birthing pools or tubs for water births.
• Birthing stools, birthing balls, and other equipment to help you feel comfortable during labor.
• The option to wear your own clothes during labor and delivery.
• The option to have friends and family attend the birth and to videotape your delivery.

Source : webmd.com

U.S. kids downing more diet drinks

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The number of U.S. children who drink sugar-free beverages has doubled in the past decade, a new study finds - though the health implications of the trend, if any, are unclear.

Using data from a federal health survey, researchers found that by 2008, 12.5 percent of children were drinking artificially-sweetened beverages. That was up from six percent a decade earlier.

U.S. adults are downing more diet drinks too. One-quarter of Americans surveyed in 2007-2008 said they'd had a diet drink in the past day, versus 19 percent in 1999-2000, the researchers report in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

It's not surprising to see such trends, but the size of the increase among kids was a bit unexpected, according to senior researcher Dr. Miriam B. Vos, of Emory University in Atlanta.

And whether the pattern is good or bad is unknown.

"We do want children to drink less sugar," Vos said in an interview.

"But the challenge," she added, "is that there are no studies that have looked at the long-term health effects of artificial sweeteners in growing children."

That's not to say they are unsafe, Vos said. But she added that animal research has raised some potential concerns. For instance, animals fed artificial sweeteners have shown weight gain - suggesting there could be some effect on metabolism.

"We don't know if anything like that happens in children," Vos stressed.

But before anyone can make widespread recommendations that kids should have diet drinks instead of sugary versions, she said there should be studies into the possible effects on weight and health.

Sugar substitutes include artificial sweeteners like aspartame, saccharin and sucralose; the herbal sweetener stevia is available as a dietary supplement in the U.S.

With the rapid expansion of Americans' collective waistline in the past couple of decades, diet versions of sweet drinks and foods are increasingly popping up on supermarket shelves.

No one knows if that's helping. Vos noted that large population studies have not shown diet-beverage drinkers to be doing better weight-wise - and they tend to weigh more than people who favor water.
But it's hard to know what to make of that, Vos said. People who drink diet beverages may already be overweight and trying to shed some pounds, for instance.

The current findings are based on more than 42,000 Americans who took part in a periodic federal health survey. It included questions on what respondents had to eat and drink in the past 24 hours.

The fact that the questions covered only one day is a limitation of the study, according to Vos. There's no way of knowing how often kids may be having diet drinks, for instance.

Vos said she thinks studies that follow kids over time, to see whether there's a link between diet drinks and weight gain or health, are needed.

Besides the animal research, some studies have found that diet-beverage lovers have increased risks of diabetes, heart problems and stroke. But those reports point only to correlations, and do not prove that artificially-sweetened drinks are to blame.

Vos said that when she counsels families, she suggests that kids stick with water and milk, which has protein, calcium and other nutrients.

SOURCE: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Should Parents' Religious Beliefs Determine Kids' End of Life Care?

A child is on life support with little hope of recovering. The parents, who are deeply religious, want treatment to continue—despite doctors’ pessimism—believing a miracle will occur.

What should be done?

The morals behind such scenarios are the subject of a study in the Journal of Medical Ethics. Researchers reviewed 203 cases over three years in the UK that dealt with children’s end of life issues, the treatment their parents wanted, the treatment recommended by the medical staff, and how the cases were resolved.

In 186 cases both the parents and healthcare professionals came to an agreement about stopping treatment that was aggressive but considered ineffectual.

In the other 17 cases parents and the medical team were at loggerheads, with parents wanting to continue full treatment and doctors wanting to stop existing or future treatment based on medical evidence.

In 11 of those 17 cases parents’ decisions to continue treatment were based on religious beliefs. Those beliefs—which included Christian fundamentalism, Judaism, Islam and Roman Catholicism—included faith in a divine intervention for a cure and a distrust of doctors’ opinions.

Five of the 11 cases found resolution after meetings with religious leaders, and one case went to court. The remaining five went unresolved, and medical treatment continued. Four children eventually died, and one lived but with severe brain damage.

While the study authors said they understand why parents would want to try every medical avenue possible to save their child, they question the humanity of continuing extraordinary care. They also argue that since very young children can’t choose a religion, perhaps their parents’ beliefs shouldn’t be considered the default position.

The authors also said that in a number of cases they found “unorthodox interpretations of religious teaching. … The use of religious teachings to perpetuate a situation that appears futile and which may result in distress to the child needs to be questioned.”

They added that existing ethical and legal principles should be reconsidered, and courts should be readily accessible when children’s best interests may be compromised by parents’ expectations of a miracle cure.
The paper was followed by four editorials released this week writtten by Oxford University professors who offered other views of dealing with ethical and medical impasses, such as talking with ultra-religious parents on their own terms and that idea that neither religious nor secular beliefs should be put in the way of the best interests of the child.

Should religious parents be allowed to determine end of life care for their children? Let us know in the comments.


Jeannine Stein, a California native, wrote about health for the Los Angeles Times. In her pursuit of a healthy lifestyle she has taken countless fitness classes, hiked in Nepal, and has gotten in a boxing ring.

Source : news.yahoo.com