Strollerderby : research study

They Say: Obesity During Pregnancy Raises Risk of Birth Defects

Kate Tuttle — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 20:01:00 GMT

A new study looking at data from dozens of earlier research efforts has concluded that women who are obese cduring pregnancy are more likely to give birth to children with birth defects, in particular spina bifida and other neural tube defects. Other problems, such as hydrocephaly, cleft palate, and some heart and limb anomalies, are also found at higher rates when children are born to mothers who were obese during pregnancy.

The rate of spina bifida was strikingly higher in these cases, with obese mothers 2.2 times more likely to have a child with that condition; spina bifida ranges in severity but can cause paralysis, incontinence, and other serious medical challenges.

The paper, which appeared this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association, looked at the results of 39 previous studies and was authored by Judith Rankin, a researcher at the Institute of Health and Society at Newcastle University in the UK. Rankin told the New York Times that she and her co-authors had also found increased risk to the children of mothers who were classified as overweight, rather than obese, but that further research was needed.

Pregnant women and women planning to become pregnant are routinely advised to take folic acid to lower the risk of neural tube defects, but some doctors now suggest a link between those defects and insulin resistance and undiagnosed diabetes.

Whatever the precise mechanism, the message is pretty clear -- losing weight before conceiving is in the best interest of your future child. How that advice is played out in doctor's offices and homes is another story entirely -- we live in a time and place of mixed messages about weight and health, in which we are bombarded with advertisements for unhealthy food and at the same time urged to lose weight at all costs (and often merely to look good, rather than to improve health). I hope that studies like this can help shine a clear light onto what really matters -- women's health and healthy babies.

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NY Times (and I) Post Crap Study on Bullying

Kelly Mills — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 21:31:00 GMT

I'm a big fan of digging deep when it comes to science reporting. It generally isn't that hard to find some serious flaws: Small samples, questionable methodology, and conclusions that stretch far are sometimes par for the course. But when I posted about a study showing bullies may actually enjoy inflicting pain on others, I didn't poke into it much at all.

At least I'm in venerable company, because the New York Times did the same thing.

At Slate they point out some very serious problems with the study, which used MRIs to study the response of "bullies" to images of pain inflicted on others. For example, the study didn't image brains during actual bullying, so the results have more to do with how subjects responded as observers than perpetrators. And teh sample was made up of people who could probably be more accurately characterized as sociopaths than just bullies. The results of the scans themselves are open to pretty wide interpretation.

Slate uses this story to show how the Times reporter just drew from the press release with very little independent reporting. I'm on this one because it was a good reminder to me to think critically when looking at studies getting a pass in the press. Especially when I'm adding to the chorus.

The Painful Reason Bullies Bully

They Say: Why Your Kid's A Bully Magnet

The Painful Reason Bullies Bully

Kelly Mills — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 18:27:00 GMT

There's an idea that kids who bully lack empathy or simply don't feel for their victims. But a new study indicates the truth might be more disturbing than that. Researchers took an admittedly small sample of eight boys, ages 16 to 18, with aggressive conduct disorder, and a group of eight adolescent boys with no obvious aggressive behavior. They showed both groups video footage of someone inflicting pain on another person, and used MRI to track the brain patterns of both groups.

What they found was pretty creepy: The boys with aggressive conduct disorder showed high activity in two areas of the brain that regulate pleasure, but less activity in the region involved in self-regulation. In other words, the bully group actually derived pleasure from seeing others in pain. This might seem somewhat obvious, but it does counter the theory that bullies simply feel nothing towards their victims. In fact, they may just get off on hurting others.

The researchers say more investigation with a larger sample is in order. However, they were impressed by the striking difference in brain activity between the two groups of kids. And boy, am I grateful I'm not in high school any more--though I've met some adults who probably fit this description as well.

Boy Tells Your Mom Joke, Boy Goes To Jail

They Say: Here's Why Your Kid's a Bully Magnet

Pain in Childbirth May Be, Well, Pointless Now?

Kelly Mills — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 21:33:00 GMT

Hmmm, this is real interesting. Some natural childbirth advocates suggest that the pain in childbirth adds something valuable to the birth process, helping mothers bond with their babies and even bringing um, sexual pleasure (in some cases, but not mine, oh lordy no!) However, a study discussed here in Salon (via Jezebel) suggests that theory may be backwards. Instead, labor and delivery pain might have served to signal to the mother that she should seek assistance, and in fact drive her to desire "companionship and security" from others. From an evolutionary standpoint, this could have meant people who sought help and protection during times like childbirth and illness were more likely to survive. (Hey, if the degree of labor pain indicated individual evolutionary fitness, I would have totally had it made! Um, it doesn't, by the way.)

So, if pain has simply functioned to drive delivering mothers to seek companionship (personals ad, anyone?) then perhaps it's a perk we don't really need any more. And it could be that people are suffering without it serving any real need. Cough.

Okay, I'm sorry, but I like this take on things, curmudgeon that I am. I do think in some circles there's a strange sort of romanticism attached to labor pain, and even the idea of "natural" childbirth as being somehow noble or righteous. Buuut, that said, there are risks attached to the interventions designed to alleviate the pain of labor, and women should be informed of those as well before making any decision. I think the problem is that childbirth is so fraught with anxiety for so many of us---not only because it hurts, but because lots of us want to make the "right" choice for our babies and ourselves. Turns out "right" for me was an blessed, welcome epidural administered after I tried to go natural for a long time, but I would not think of telling you it ought to be the right way for you.

Only 43% of British Moms Offered Home Birth. Outrage!

They Say: Antibiotics For Preterm Labor May Do More Harm Than Good

Come Again? Orgasmic Childbirth

Related on Babble:

Insufferable: Why do people talk about managing birth pain, not eliminating it?

Addicted to Food Because of Genes?

Kelly Mills — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 14:31:00 GMT

I've read about a quadrillion studies on obesity research, and it's rare that one actually makes me reconsider my behavior. This latest one, on a gene variant and the pleasure derived from food, actually did give me pause though. It also might make you think twice about how to feed your kids. Here's what I mean.

It might seem logical that people who are overweight or obese get more pleasure from food than skinny folks, and that's why they overeat. But the study says the opposite might be true. Researchers gave chocolate milkshakes (mmm) to 77 young women. Some were lean, some were obese, and some had a gene variant that makes them respond less to dopamine (a chemical important to the pleasure response.) Here's what they found: Obese women had less of a pleasure response to the milkshakes; this was even more so for women with the gene variant; and women with the gene variant had gained more weight a year later. In the words of one resarcher: "'If you look at the brain response when people are about to get the milkshake, obese individuals show greater activation of the reward circuitry, not less. So, ironically, they expect more reward but seem to experience less.'" Which kinda makes sense---if anticipate something will be better than it is, you might keep eating it in an effort to get satisfaction.

The researcher suggests that eating a small amount regularly of something high in fat and sugar might not be the way to go, because it could make it hard to stop eating. Perhaps cutting the food out entirely would actually do more for reducing cravings and overeating. And this applies to kids because, well, it may be easiest to build in good habits when you are young. Sigh. I'm a cupcake addict, and my kid likes her daily dessert, but this study might make me re-evaluate the frequency of our treats. Um, maybe. No promises.

Does anyone let their kids eat candy on halloween anymore?

Keep kids from getting fat - get a dog.

It's hard out there for a mom who says 'no'

They Say: Spanking is the Gateway to Abuse

Madeline Holler — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 20:01:00 GMT

After unleashing a little whoop-ass on rampant corporal punishment in U.S. schools in an earlier post, I came across a report on a soon-to-be-released study about spanking within the home. Looks like moms who say they or their partners spank also tend to use other, harsher forms of physically abusive punishment on their children. Harsher forms include beating, burning, kicking, hitting with an object somewhere other than the buttocks, or shaking a child less than 2 years old.

Which is not to say every spanker goes this far. A good thing, too. Because while some surveys show a slight decline in the use of spanking as a form of discipline in the last 30 years, guess how many Americans report spanking their 3- to 5-year-old children at least once in a while:

90 percent! So now you know you're not the only one.

But lets look at these harsher punishments and the connection between them and spanking. Around 1,400 mothers in North and South Carolina were surveyed on the phone. Here's what they found (from UPI):

The study, published in the September American Journal of Preventive Medicine, said 45 percent of the mothers reported they or their partners had spanked their children in the previous 12 months, 25 percent reported spanking with an object on the buttocks and 4 percent reported using harsher forms of punishment.

"This study demonstrated that parents who report spanking children with an object and parents who frequently spank children are much more likely to report other harsh punishment acts consistent with physical abuse," Zolotor said in a statement.

Here's the upshot: nearly every parent has resorted to a thwack on the bottom at some point in their parenting history. Of those who didn't then want to collapse in a corner, rocking themselves through the waves of guilt and regret -- in other words, the ones who use the paddle/hand as a go-to discipline of choice, no prob -- they were more likely (though not guaranteed) to also have used a harsher forms of physical punishment (the burning, etc.).

So let's hear it: do you spank? Have you spanked? What do you think of this survey (just North and South Carolina? There's evidence that spanking is more accepted in the South ...). What about other people (teachers) spanking your kids?

Is it ever OK to hit your kids?

Should You Intervene When Strangers Hit Their Kids?

Photo: medicineworld.org

They Say: BPA-Larded Plastic Bottles Safe and Delicious

Madeline Holler — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 13:03:00 GMT

The European Union's top safety officials say that the tiny amount of BPA found in plastic baby bottles -- you know, the ones you threw out a few months ago and replaced with heavy glass -- isn't enough to harm humans. Or baby humans. Only rats. And baby rats.

From MSNBC:

A scientific panel of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has looked into how people metabolize BPA and concluded that tiny amounts of the chemical to which humans are exposed leave body quick enough to cause no harm, EFSA said Wednesday.

The tests that got everyone in an uproar were done on rats and humans, turns out, are different from rats.

I don't know, though. The cats out of the bag on this one for me. I'm one of those that went through the cabinets and tossed most of our sippies and kiddie cups (not much of a sacrifice since my youngest is old enough to drink from unlidded glass cups). We also cut down on our bottled water consumption, which can only be a good thing in the broader picture. So I don't think this study will get me to go back to plastic just yet.

What about you? Did you throw out the babies bottles with the earlier BPA study? Think you'll go back? Or are you going to sit tight like me and see what else comes out about this?

Photo:

Kid Food Is Mostly Crap, and It's a Little Shocking

Kelly Mills — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:02:00 GMT

I doubt most parents would assume a box of waffles with a picture of SpongeBob on the front was necessarily health food. But what if the box also had a label saying, "high in essential nutrients for growing kids"? Even if you don't consciously think about it, you might soften in your approach to the waffles. Well, I got news for you: That food is most likely junk.

See, researchers in Canada analyzed more than 360 products marketed to children. They did NOT include junk food, so there's nowhere to run to, nowhere to hide on this study. Instead they covered what is sometimes packaged as "fun food", products with cartoon characters and so on pimping the contents, such as prepackaged dinners. And guess what? Nearly 90 percent did not meet established nutritional standards, measured by percent of calories from fat, and the amount of sugar and/or sodium. Worse still in my book, 62 percent of the foods researchers identified as being of poor nutritional quality had claims of health on the packaging, like "low fat" or containing "essential nutrients".

So yes, the food industry is not above using shady marketing (such as pictures of kids playing sports on a box of sugar-salt crack) to fool parents about the health value of foods. And of course, there's the issue of directly marketing to kids, by putting appealing and familiar characters on the packaging. Just be forewarned that the fun, convenient food you buy at your kid's request is highly likely to be straight-up junk.

Tyson Foods Big Fat Liars

Locally Grown Ain't All That

Pregcellent: Eat Well, Period. Prenatal Diet Influences Puberty Onset

Kelly Mills — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 13:34:00 GMT

Just when the pregnant ladies thought they got enough flack about what they ingest during gestation. Now check this out: Researchers say a mother's prenatal diet can influence the early onset of puberty. Sheesh, I was chalking it up to non-organic milk and Bratz dolls. You mean my nutritional choices during the most hormonally insane period of my life are to blame for my daughter's precocious eye-rolling?

Well, in case you were wondering, it's a high-fat diet that the researchers tie to the age of your offsprings' puberty. And of course we are talking about girls going through early puberty, because no one seems to care if boys sprout a little peach fuzz early and start spending hours in their rooms with blacklight posters at an early age. The folks who studied this say prenatal diet may have more influence on menstruation happening young than early childhood nutrition. Of course, the study was on rats, so we can always hold out hope for an species reprieve from regular pregnancy Ben & Jerry's transgressions.

They Say: Celeb-Watching Boosts Self-Esteem

Madeline Holler — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 19:01:00 GMT

Does your daughter feel bad about herself? Take her to a Hannah Montana concert! Is your son not the confident boy he used to be? Make sure he has a subscription to People magazine! As for you? Don't listen to Adrienne -- keep following every move of your favorite celebrity mom and you're gonna love yourself in the morning, every morning.

Why? Because, they say, this is going to make you stronger.

A new study from SUNY-Buffalo shows that admiring celebrities can actually boost your low self-esteem, not drive it down. Who knew?

One hundred undergraduates in the study described their favorite celebrity in an open-ended essay. Self-evaluations in these essays were then assessed using a self-esteem scale. Apparently, the students' "relationships" with the celebrity provided some benefits that real relationships didn't.

From UPI:

These parasocial relationships, which have very low risk of rejection, offer low self-esteem people an opportunity to reduce their self-discrepancies and feel closer to their ideal selves, the researchers said.

Huh. So Angelina loves me? She really loves me? Suddenly, I feel fabulous!

Photo: lovebscott.com

Gasp! Childhood Obesity Not Exploding

Kelly Mills — Tue, 27 May 2008 23:10:00 GMT

Hey, remember how a little while back we were told childhood obesity was a horrific epidemic ravaging the land? And then every thirty seconds or so a study and accompanying news story would appear, saying that juice or distant mothers or text messaging was one of the causes? (Side note: News outlets almost always use one of maybe three pictures of overweight kids for these stories. I do hope those kids are getting royalties or something.) It seemed like you almost couldn't go a week without at least one "such-and-such is contributing to the fattening of our youth" story appearing somewhere.

Well, now there's more news in the kid and weight front. Apparently childhood obesity has leveled off. In fact, the rates of obesity have remained basically unchanged since 1999. The experts say it's too soon to get all hopeful, but maybe public health campaigns are perhaps responsible for the leveling. I don't know--I'd like to hear an alternative theory. Oh, but racial and economic disparities do persist, and poor folks and those in certain ethnic groups are still more likely to be obese. And we can probably in part thank the fast food industry and the dearth of healthy food options in lower income communities for that.

They Say: Your Stuff Does't Make You Happy

Madeline Holler — Sat, 03 May 2008 18:36:00 GMT

Bad news for "retail therapy" seekers everywhere: more stuff won't make you happy. At least, not for very long.

This feels like old news, but it's probably worth repeating the results of a new study anyway. Especially since we're not getting richer, food and gas cost more and we're likely in -- or entering into -- a recession.

Here's the deal: we apparently get used to our stuff rather quickly and it stops making us happy. Although, the same study found that stuff CAN make you happy, it's just up to you to keep appreciating it.

"Simply having a bunch of things is not the key to happiness," [one researcher] says in a statement. "Our data show that you also need to appreciate those things you have. It's also important to keep your desire for things you don't own in check."

Turns out, wanting what you have and having what you want are completely separate things, both of which affect our psychologies.

What do you think? Does shopping boost your mood? Does it last? What do you want that you're just sure is going to make you happy? What do you have that no longer makes you happy?

Photo:

Weekly Check-Up: Men Are Not All the Same

Kelly Mills — Thu, 01 May 2008 21:01:00 GMT

Researchers from the Kinsey Institute have made this groundbreaking discovery: Men are not all from Mars. "We're probably from a whole bunch of different planets," says one of the study's authors. What the hell are we talking about? Well, men vary widely in frequency of sexual desire, in what turns them on, and in what an erection means. You mean they don't all just need a picture of Pamela Anderson in a bathing suit and ten minutes in the shower? Yeah. So I guess dads are just as diverse in their interests and the amount of hummada hummada they want as moms. This should be news to anyone who never met more than one man in their entire life.

Guess what turned on an overwhelming majority of guys? Being outdoors, like for camping or a picnic. Maybe it's time to make that family trek to Yosemite a couples-only thing. And while I'm mocking this thing a little, since the idea that all guys are simple creatures who want it all the time is completely dumb, it is good that studies like this actually quantify what many of us know, that men are as complicated and varied as women. I did recently read that male lack of sexual desire was the biggest unspoken taboo nowadays, and it's not uncommon. Oh, and the researchers say that "as many as 30 percent of women may be more easily sexually aroused than most men" so ladies, don't feel bad if you are the lusty one in your relationship.

Pregcellent: Weird Cravings Are Up

Kelly Mills — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 21:02:00 GMT

You know that yen for a deli roast beef sandwich, extra mayo, with cheddar cheese potato chips inserted inside the sandwich that struck you suddenly while pregnant? Just me? Apparently not, because the BBC reports that pregnancy cravings are up. Three-fourths of women today experience some kind of craving while knocked up, compared with 30 percent just fifty years ago. Oh, and chocolate topped the list, because pregnant women are not stupid.

However, the cravings were not just for weird food stuff. In fact, a third were for odd things like coal, soap, toothpaste, ice, and sponges. These non-food items are probably cravings for smells and textures. I've never said to myself, "I could really go for some coal right now" but I'm not knocking it either. One theory on the craving increase is that we have a real variety of foods available to us now, so we can act on our desires. But nobody knows for sure, and some pregnancy researchers say it's unlikely the cravings are due to any actual deficiency.

So, what interesting things did you crave?

Weekly Check-Up: Pain Relief For Preemies

Kelly Mills — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 20:32:00 GMT

Parents and nurses report that one of the hardest things about having a premature baby in neonatal intensive care is the number of invasive and painful medical procedures the babies have to endure. However, a new study has one method for easing some of that preemie pain, and it's pretty simple and cost-effective, if you ask me.

So what's the miracle way to soothe the littlest infants? Being cuddled tightly against mom's bare skin. Doesn't that sound nice? I think I'm regressing just thinking about it. Anyhow, the cuddling, known as "kangaroo mother care," had been shown in past studies to help older infants recover from pain, but preemies had not yet been studied. The researchers found that premature infants who got kangaroo mother care before and after a heel lance procedure recovered in about a minute and a half, while babies placed in incubators were still suffering more than three minutes after the procedure. This delay could have an impact on preterm baby health, according to the researchers. Plus, um, if it's at all feasible, how can you go wrong with a good snuggle?

Pregcellent: Who's Having All Those Babies Out of Wedlock?

Kelly Mills — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 20:35:00 GMT

I'm going to try and write this without once referring to the movie Juno. (Crap, does that count?) Remember back in the day, when you could easily wax hysterical over the issue of teen pregnancy? When we were freaked about babies having babies? Well, in the U.S. teen pregnancy rates are falling, so it's going to be that much harder to whip ourselves into a lather, and that is good. In 2004, only 12 percent of pregnancies were to teen moms, compared to 15 percent in 1990. Oh, and one likely factor in the drop is the more frequent use of birth control methods. Imagine that.

However, there is another group who are having babies outside of marriage, and I guarantee you we'll see more fear-mongering stories about at least some of them. Turns out birth rates are going up for unmarried women in their twenties, and also for older women. Maybe twenties is the new teens? Now while teen pregnancy is obviously not ideal, I'm curious to see how these women under thirty fare with babies. Anyhow, let's just be glad more of the kids are using condoms.

Health Agency: Um, Oops! Some Plastics Might Be Dangerous

Madeline Holler — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 20:34:00 GMT

The federal government has reversed its stance on the risks of certain plastics. The agency in charge is now saying that BPAs actually might be harmful, especially to the very young.

Bisphenol A (BPA) is used in everything from dental fillings to sports water bottles. It's also found in most baby bottles and is also used to line the inside of formula cans.

Breastfeeders, you're not off the hook either. Apparently it's not unusual to have harmful amounts in breastmilk, too.

From the WashingtonPost.com

The National Toxicology Program, part of the National Institutes of Health, released a draft report today that says exposure to the chemical may be linked to breast cancer, prostate cancer, early puberty in girls and such behavioral changes as hyperactivity. It urged further study.

Earlier, the agency said small amounts don't carry much of a health risk. But now they're saying even low doses pose a risk. If the EPA adopts the findings, they may act to impose limits on the amounts of the chemical that can be used in various products.

BPA-free products are available, but they can cost a fortune. Still, with these findings, don't you feel like less of a sucker for buying some?

Photo: green-mommy.com

Weekly Check-Up: Your Stress Makes Your Kid Sick

Kelly Mills — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 18:32:00 GMT

Feeling anxious and depressed? Well, now you have one more thing to angst about, because a new study suggests parental emotional stress can make kids more vulnerable to illness. Like it is enough that stress makes you more likely to get sick, now your children have to be felled by the latest bug as well. I totally knew that stomach flu my kid got was my fault, I just hadn't figured out how I caused it yet.

Researchers based the finding on both reports from parents on instances of their children's sniffles and fevers and so on, and on measurements of immune cells in kids. The scientists admit that parental reports might be slightly skewed, but say the study still suggests a link. However, one stress and health researcher says parents shouldn't get too upset just yet, and that more longterm studies are needed because it's possible there aren't lasting effects. "I believe that children are highly resilient, and their systems are sufficiently robust to cope with this. Although it is a good study, parents should not let it worry them unduly." Especially because if you get anxious about it, your kid might get sick. Heh heh, catch 22.

The Internet is Not the Devil

Kelly Mills — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 22:31:00 GMT

It seems that every generation views bashing the up-and-coming one as a kind of sport, and this one is no exception. Where older folks once lamented rock music and long hair as markers of the end of civilization, now we have teenagers who are ignorant and narcissistic and spend so much time online that they can no longer interact with real people in the real world. Well, Emily Goldwasser at Salon isn't buying it, and she says the internet is not a danger and a disaster for our kids. She's responding in part to a phone survey of teens that showed a "stunning ignorance" of history and literature.

Boy, does she make some good points in this excellent article: She highlights that with blogs and social networking sites, we now have a generation of kids who are (gasp) voluntarily writing. The internet has "created a generation, perhaps the first, of writers, activists, storytellers" and all our screaming isn't going to stop that juggernaut. In addition, the kids today also know how to find information online, and therefore google has freed up their brains to dig deeper into topics. The real problem, it seems, is that this makes us very nervous. "We're afraid. Our kids know things we don't. They drove the presidential debates onto YouTube and very well may determine the outcome of this election. They're texting at the dinner table and responsible for pretty much every enduring consumer cultural phenomenon: iPod, iTunes, iPhone; Harry Potter, 'High School Musical'; large hot drinks with gingerbread flavoring." You know, I do believe she's right. I just hope when my kid is a teen, she'll have my back.

Quitters Have Happier Babies

Madeline Holler — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 15:26:00 GMT

A new formula for getting the happiest baby on the block -- and it doesn't involve swaddling! It involves smoking. And not smoking. But not not smoking.

Here's what I mean: a new study found that pregnant mothers who quit smoking had significantly happier babies than those born to mothers who smoked through pregnancy. The smokers' kids were grumpy (and totally ashed all over the new crib sheets).

But get this: babies born to non-smokers were also a little fussier than the babies whose moms quit smoking during pregnancy. Well, dammit! What do these kids want from us?

Interpreting the results we get a lot of speculation.

From Reuters:

"What we think: quitting smoking is a really difficult thing to do at any time. And we do know that most women who quit smoking when they are pregnant start smoking again afterwards," she said.

"So what they are doing is taking a very specific maternal action to protect their babies. We are seeing it as a marker for other characteristics of women who manage to quit. It may also be a marker for their easy temperament."

But what does that mean about the non-smokers? Too uptight to start smoking and they pass that along to the young'uns?

Photo: Reuters

Dads Aren't Slacking, Are Getting Some

Kelly Mills — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 19:29:00 GMT

There has been a glut of "guys do housework, get laid" stories out lately, and some of them frankly sound like a bid to get laundry help. You know, men who do housework are hot, if women aren't tired they feel more in the mood, and so on. If it doesn't make you feel like a low-paid call girl, I suppose you could even work out some sort of direct exchange of chores for hummada hummada, but I doubt either party really wants to feel like there's an ulterior motive behind the acts of cleanliness and love.

No matter how you look at it though, a new report says guys are pitching in on housework and childcare more, and possibly getting laid for it. They cite that men's contributions to housework have doubled since the 60's, and pitching in on childcare has tripled since 1965. Great. Maybe now people will stop asking dads with kids in tow, "Oh, are you babysitting?" And if there's a happy ending (in every sense) to this more equitable division of labor, then three cheers for parents today.

Weekly Check-Up: Eating Disorders On the Rise In Young Kids

Kelly Mills — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 13:31:00 GMT

With all the news about the rise in childhood obesity and how we have to do something about it, it's interesting to see coverage of another topic: Increasing numbers of elementary school-aged children may be developing eating disorders. An eating disorder treatment center reported a 300 percent increase in calls for pre-teen patients. Oh, and get this: 80 percent of preteen girls are dieting. WTF? Dieting is linked with an increased liklihood of developing an eating disorder, which makes sense, cuz it's often just a matter of crossing a line a few too many times.

Treatment centers aren't the only ones who are worried: 63 percent of elementary school teachers say they are worried about eating disorders in their classrooms. Oy. And in case you thought maybe kids didn't get the message about how important it is to be thin, 81 percent of ten-year-olds are afraid of getting fat. The adverse health effects of anorexia and bulemia are much clearer than the health effects of being overweight, by the way. Perhaps as we loudly wage a war on an obesity "epidemic," we might want to spend some time looking at what other messages we are sending our kids.

Is Peeing When You Sneeze a Disorder?

Madeline Holler — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 22:14:00 GMT

Does this study make you pee your pants? Or do you pee your pants all the time anyway? Because it turns out loads of women -- like one in three -- have some kind of pelvic floor disorder and often that disorder involves some kind of leaking.

One in three? That's a lot of women who suffer frequent urination, urinary incontinence, prolapsed organs (!) and, the big mama of pelvic floor disorders, anal incontinence. Of course childbirth is pointed to as a possible cause -- nearly 80 percent of the 4,000 women studied had given birth.

But what's got me all pissy about this report -- in addition to not knowing how many of those who had disorders had ever given birth -- is there is no information on what about those births may have caused or contributed to the problems. Instead of just living with these disorders or finding ways to fix them, I bet a lot of women would like to prevent them.

Namely, I'm thinking of episiotomies and having women push babies out on their backs -- which has been shown time again to needlessly stress and even tear the perineum. Also, some say these bladder disorders can be a side-effect of c-section.

Doctors participating in the study recommend sufferers educate themselves about the disorders online and by talking to their docs. Often physical therapy can improve matters. And they also recommend, in some cases, reconstructive surgery of the pelvic floor. No word on keeping the floor clear of these problems in the first place.

Photo: aol.com

Pre-eclampsia Linked With Herpes

Madeline Holler — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 21:09:00 GMT

In today's continuing coverage of STDs, this next report should raise plenty of eyebrows from now on whenever a new mom discusses preterm birth or high blood pressure during her pregnancy.

Researchers in Australia have linked exposure to viral infection -- especially the herpes type -- to both.

From Science Daily:

The research discovered the presence of viral nucleic acid in heel-prick blood samples from 1326 newborn babies, taken over a 10-year period. More than 400 of these babies were diagnosed with cerebral palsy.

High-blood pressure during pregnancy has been an enduring mystery for medical researchers, so these findings are exciting.

Now, of course all herpes viruses aren't of the STD variety. Chicken pox and shingles are also brought on by herpes. Which brings up plenty of questions besides, like the chicken pox vaccine or women who had chicken pox.

But finding a connection is good news in any case. Pre-eclampsia is a difficult and serious condition. Again, Science Daily:

Pregnancy hypertension (high blood pressure) occurs in up to 10% of first pregnancies throughout the developed world, such as in the UK, the United States and Australia. When untreated, it can lead to uncontrolled epileptic fits of eclampsia with loss of baby and mother. It is a common cause of maternal death in Third World countries.

Weekly Check-Up: Identical Twins Not So Identical

Kelly Mills — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 13:32:00 GMT

Until relatively recently, scientists believed identical twins were completely identical right on down to the DNA level. But this left some puzzles: Why, for example, would one twin develop a disease like Parkinson's while the other did not? It seemed odd that this could be explained by environmental exposures alone. And on a totally anecdotal and unscientific level, I've known identical twins with different personalities, and it also seems unlikely that those variations could be explained entirely by subtle differences in the way the twins were treated in the same family.

Now researchers have found possible DNA factors that complicate the picture and offer some reasons for differences among twins. When humans receive chromosones, sometimes there are pieces of DNA missing, or mutations cause a few copies of the same piece of DNA. This is called copy number variation (CNV) and in a study of identical twins, researchers found differences in CNV between sets of twins. Now maybe this will explain how a good person can have an identical evil twin... Mwah ha ha.

Anyone notice differences in their twins?

Strollerderby : research study

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The Internet is Not the Devil

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Is Peeing When You Sneeze a Disorder?

Pre-eclampsia Linked With Herpes

Weekly Check-Up: Identical Twins Not So Identical