How Job Loss Can Make You a Better Parent

When the economy falters and money gets tight, one of the many things we worry about is becoming less of a father or mother. Job loss only exacerbates the fears. That’s because most of us equate a good portion of parenting with providing. But a recent study published in the Journal of Political Economy found that children’s health actually improves during economic downturns.

But before digging into the details of that study, I want you to meet my neighbor, Rick. He’s in his 40s and out of work for the first time in his life. Since he has four kids and a big house, he’s pretty distressed about it. But he’s been staying busy by helping his eldest son fix up his first car and coaching the others in soccer. He even set up two big nets in his front yard.

That study I mentioned was conducted in Colombia, South America — a long way from Rick’s home in suburbia. Researchers there matched coffee prices over a 36-year period with various indicators of child health. They discovered that when the coffee market was booming, illness and mortality rates increased among kids. Conversely, when the market tanked, child health dramatically improved.

You don’t need a Ph.D. to figure out what’s happening here. In boom times, Mom and Dad are working so much that their time and attentiveness are compromised. But in tough years, the situation is reversed. Although parents may have less money, they have more of life’s most previous resource: time. And as a result, their priorities shift.

If you’re thinking that the situation in Colombia is in no way applicable to America, you’re wrong. Other studies have found the same correlation in the U.S. and other well-off nations.

So when I look out my window and see Rick helping his son change the oil in his car or dribbling a soccer ball, I think that no matter how stressful and humbling being out-of-work may be, the memories and bonds he’s creating now with his boys will make him (and them) far richer in the long run.

As we continue to muddle through whatever we’re in, try to keep that in mind if you’re an out-of-work parent. Although you may not be smiling, your kids most certainly are. In fact, they might even be healthier for it.

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Posted in: Better,Parent

Study: HPV Tests Better at Predicting Cervical Cancer Than Pap Tests

No Significant Gain From Combining the Tests, Study ShowsBy Brenda Goodman
WebMD Health News

Aug. 22, 2011 -- DNA tests that detect the most virulent strains of human papillomavirus, or HPV, may find more advanced precancerous cells that can lead to cervical cancer than traditional Pap smears, a new study shows.

The study, which is published in The Lancet Oncology, suggests that testing for HPV strains 16 and 18, which cause about 70% of all cervical cancer, could replace Pap tests as the primary screening tool for the disease.

“We’re not there yet, but this trial gives us more data that shows that it is reasonable to consider HPV as a standalone test,” says Therese Bevers, MD, medical director of the Cancer Prevention Center at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. 

The study of more than 40,000 healthy women over age 25 found that HPV testing correctly detected nearly 40% more advanced precancers than Pap smears did.

“There are still points to be worked out, but clearly this study is providing more data to say that this may be a strategy that’s reasonable to consider,” says Bevers, who was not involved in the research.

Importantly, the study also found that combining HPV and Pap testing, as many doctors do, only found about 5% more advanced precancers and cancers, but it increased the number of women who falsely tested positive by more than one-third.

“You get a 5% gain for a 35% over-referral,” says study researcher Mark H. Stoler, MD, professor of pathology and clinical gynecology at the University of Virginia Health System in Charlottesville, Va.

Those false-positive tests lead to more frequent or invasive testing to rule out cancer, more anxiety for patients, and more expense for individuals and insurance companies.

“The study suggests that if you’re really concerned about efficiency with very little penalty, then HPV testing should be the first test,” Stoler tells WebMD.

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Posted in: Better,Cancer,Cervical,Predicting,Study,Tests

Comment on Using Apps to Build a Better Body by Randy

February 11, 2011

I’ll be honest: I’m not a big social-media enthusiast. Nor do I own an iPhone, Blackberry, or any other pocket digital device.  But that’s me… plenty of others can get some inspiration from this NYT article by Owen Thomas, which details how he used his apps and social networks to lose a whopping 63 pounds.

For 315 days straight, I logged into a Web site or popped out my phone and confessed what I ate, how much I exercised and what I weighed. When I went to the gym, I also checked in on Foursquare, announcing my location to friends and eventually winning the rank of “mayor” of my local gym. When I completed my food and exercise diary, the computer informed my Facebook friends; when I lost weight, it broadcast the news to the world on Twitter.

This sort of oversharing drives some people crazy. EE Times, a publication for engineers, once asked its readers why they disliked Twitter. More than half cited this reason: “I don’t really care what you had for breakfast.”

Yet in my experience, a small set of friends turned out to be intensely interested in what I had for breakfast. And lunch. And dinner. Moreover, they wanted to know whether that added up to my caloric target for the day.

And it seems their sustained obsession with my obsession has helped me stay on track. Since last March, when I first got an iPhone, downloaded a host of helpful apps and hooked them up to my Twitter and Facebook accounts, I’ve lost 63 pounds. In the year before, when I dieted and exercised in digital isolation, recording my calories in and out in a so-last-century Moleskine notebook, I lost only 20 pounds.

It’s a limited experiment, without a control set. But Mike and Albert Lee, the developers of MyFitnessPal, the calorie-tracking app I depend upon, say I’m not an isolated case.

Check out the rest of the story!

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Posted in: Better,Build,Comment,Randy,Using

Milk Better Than Water To Rehydrate Kids

Main Category: Nutrition / Diet
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Article Date: 18 Aug 2011 - 1:00 PDT window.fbAsyncInit = function() { FB.init({ appId: 'aa16a4bf93f23f07eb33109d5f1134d3', status: true, cookie: true, xfbml: true, channelUrl: 'http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/scripts/facebooklike.html'}); }; (function() { var e = document.createElement('script'); e.async = true; e.src = document.location.protocol + '//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js'; document.getElementById('fb-root').appendChild(e); }()); email to a friend   printer friendly   opinions  

Active children need to be watered with milk. It's a more effective way of countering dehydration than a sports drink or water itself, say researchers at McMaster University.

That's particularly important during hot summer weather, says Brian Timmons, research director of the Child Health and Exercise Medicine Program at McMaster and principal investigator of the study.

"Children become dehydrated during exercise, and it's important they get enough fluids, particularly before going into a second round of a game. Milk is better than either a sports drink or water because it is a source of high quality protein, carbohydrates, calcium and electrolytes."

He added that milk replaces sodium lost in sweat and helps the body retain fluid better. As well, the milk provides protein needed by children for muscle development and growth which is not found in the other drinks.

The study of eight to 10-year-olds involved exercising in a climate chamber, then receiving a drink and being measured for hydration.

Timmons, an assistant professor of pediatrics of the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, said active children and adults usually don't drink enough to stay hydrated during exercise, so they often have a "hydration disadvantage" when they start their next period of exercise.

He said that one per cent dehydration can have up to a 15 per cent decrease in performance, with an increased heart rate, core temperature and less ability to keep going. More significant dehydration comes with an increased risk of heat-related illness such as heat stroke.

Source: McMaster University

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Posted in: Better,Rehydrate,Water

How Job Loss Can Make You a Better Parent

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Posted in: Better,Parent