Childhood obesity rates are through the roof. In the past 30 years, the percentage of overweight kids has nearly tripled in every age group, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Obesity in children is defined as a body mass index, BMI, at or above the 95th percentile for children of the same age and sex.) The …
Parenting
Lie Back, No Need to Think: Insemination Aided by Position
The (possibly apocryphal) advice given to Victorian women who weren’t fond of sex to “lie back and think of England,” may actually be useful to increase the odds of conception, at least following intra-uterine insemination (IUI).
A new study found that 27% of women who were advised to lie still for 15 minutes after insemination …
More Evidence Favoring Flu Vaccines in Pregnancy
Pregnant and considering whether or not to get a flu vaccine? Three new studies—as well as a growing body of research related to the effects of flu on the developing fetus—suggest that vaccination is the best option. In the studies, vaccinated women who were pregnant during flu season were much less likely to have premature or …
More Good Fertility News: Egg Freezing, IVF and Academics
More good news on fertility: three new studies presented at a recent meeting of fertility doctors found that frozen eggs are as good as fresh– and that babies conceived via in-vitro fertilization (IVF) appear to be smarter than those conceived the old-fashioned way.
The research was presented at the latest meeting of the American …
Drinking By Either Partner Cuts Odds of IVF Success
Couples having difficulty conceiving may want to skip one item that is ordinarily considered helpful to the process—alcohol—at least if they are using in-vitro fertilization (IVF). A new study of 2,574 couples undergoing 5,363 IVF cycles between 1994 and 2003 found that couples in which both partners drank four or more alcoholic …
Obese moms struggle to manage pregnancy weight gain
Any woman who has given birth knows that shedding baby weight can be a long and arduous process. Now scientists are finding that women who start off with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher—technically obese—are at a huge disadvantage. According to the new study, slated to appear in next month’s issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology, …
As early as age 10, kids feel pressure to have a “perfect body”
According to a study published in the journal BMC Public Health, children as young as 10- and 11-years-old already have notions about the ideal body. An analysis of more than 4,000 students from Nova Scotia revealed that young girls’ happiness with their body image is directly linked to how thin they are. Boys, on the other hand,
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The best strategy for fighting flu
When it comes to pandemic flu, the best strategy for the U.S. is not to vaccinate those at highest risk of illness, but rather to vaccinate those at highest risk of transmission. That’s the best way to protect the country’s most vulnerable people, according to a new study published today in the journal Science. The theory goes: If you …
70,000 U.S. kids overdose each year — accidentally — on everyday household meds
Some 100,000 kids end up in U.S. emergency rooms each year because they’ve accidentally been poisoned. No, they’re not all raiding the cupboard full of cleaning supplies. Close to 70% of those visits are from are overdoses of everyday over-the-counter drugs or prescription medications, according to a recent study by researchers at the …
Breastfeeding may lower risk of cancer
Women who breastfeed appear to have lower risk of developing pre-menopausal breast cancer than those who don’t, according to a new study released today in in the Archives of Internal Medicine. The stats are especially compelling for women with a family history of the disease. Among that group, women in the study who’d breastfed had just …
How dogs think
You may believe that toddlers in your family are budding young geniuses. But according to canine expert Stanley Coren from the University of British Columbia, two-year-old kids are in fact no smarter than dogs. The average canine can learn more than 150 words, understand basic arithmetic and intentionally deceive other dogs and humans to …
Like mother, like daughter
When it comes to spanking children, reading to them, or showing affection, mothers are strongly influenced by the way their own moms acted — but dads aren’t. That’s the finding of study that followed two generations of parents, starting in the late 1970s, and checked up on moms’ and dads’ parenting practices through the years. Women …