Television is one of the most prevalent media influences in kids' lives. According to Kids' Take on Media, a survey conducted in 2003 by the Canadian Teachers’ Federation, watching TV is a daily pastime for 75 percent of Canadian children, both boys and girls from Grade 3 to Grade 10.
How much impact TV has on children depends on many factors: how much they watch, their age and personality, whether they watch alone or with adults, and whether their parents talk with them about what they see on TV.
To minimize the potential negative effects of television, it's important to understand what the impact of television can be on children. Below you will find information on some areas of concern.
Violence
Over the past two decades, hundreds of studies have examined how violent programming on TV affects children and young people. While a direct "cause and effect" link is difficult to establish, there is a growing consensus that some children may be vulnerable to violent images and messages.
Researchers have identified three potential responses to media violence in children:
Parents should also pay close attention to what their children see in the news since studies have shown that kids are more afraid of violence in news coverage than in any other media content. Fear based on real news events increases as children get older and are better able to distinguish fantasy from reality.
Effects on healthy child development
Television can affect learning and school performance if it cuts into the time kids need for activities crucial to healthy mental and physical development. Most of children's free time, especially during the early formative years, should be spent in activities such as playing, reading, exploring nature, learning about music or participating in sports.
TV viewing is a sedentary activity, and has been proven to be a significant factor in childhood obesity. According to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada almost one in four Canadian children, between seven and 12, is obese. Time spent in front of the TV is often at the expense of more active pastimes.
A Scientific American article entitled "Television Addiction" examined why children and adults may find it hard to turn their TVs off. According to researchers, viewers feel an instant sense of relaxation when they start to watch TV—but that feeling disappears just as quickly when the box is turned off. While people generally feel more energized after playing sports or engaging in hobbies, after watching TV they usually feel depleted of energy. According to the article "this is the irony of TV: people watch a great deal longer than they plan to, even though prolonged viewing is less rewarding."
As well as encouraging a sedentary lifestyle, television can also contribute to childhood obesity by aggressively marketing junk food to young audiences. According to the Canadian Paediatric Society, most food advertising on children's TV shows is for fast foods, candy and pre-sweetened cereals. Commercials for healthy food make up only 4 per cent of those shown.
Sexual content
Kids today are bombarded with sexual messages and images in all media—television, magazines, advertisements, music, movies and the Internet. Parents are often concerned about whether these messages are healthy. While television can be a powerful tool for educating young people about the responsibilities and risks of sexual behaviour, such issues are seldom mentioned or dealt with in a meaningful way in programs containing sexual content.
According to a 2001 study from the Kaiser Family Foundation, entitled Sex on TV, three out of four prime time shows contain sexual references. Situation comedies top the list: 84 per cent contain sexual content. Of the shows with sexual content, only one in ten included references to safe sex, or the possible risks or responsibilities of sex. In shows that portrayed teens in sexual situations, only 17 per cent contained messages about safe and responsible sex.
Americans spend billions of dollars every year on bottled water. People choose bottled water for a variety of reasons including aesthetics (e.g., taste), health concerns, or as a substitute to other beverages.
If you have questions about bottled water, make sure you are informed about where your bottled water comes from and how it has been treated. The standards for bottled water are set by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA bases its standards on the EPA standards for tap water.
In order to keep your heart strong and your cholesterol in the healthy range, consider making a few simple but significant changes to your diet. Incorporating these six so-called "super foods" into meals and snacks on a regular basis can make a big difference.
1. Oats and Fiber. High-fiber foods such as oats, oat bran, and fruits and vegetables are known to help the body decrease levels of LDL, often referred to as "bad" cholesterol. Soluble fiber seems to literally grab hold of cholesterol and, in doing so, reduce the amount that's absorbed in the intestines. And, the good news is that it doesn't take a lot of fiber to make a difference. So snack on an apple or spoon up some hot oatmeal topped with blueberries for breakfast.
2. Fish. Fatty fish, including mackerel, herring, salmon, and sardines, do more than lower cholesterol. By supplying omega-3 fatty acids, fish helps the body to reduce both blood pressure and the risk of clots. Doctors recommend eating at least two servings of fatty fish per week. You should prepare the fish by baking or grilling it. If you don't like fish, you can still derive some of the benefits by taking omega-3 or fish-oil supplements, which are available in most grocery stores, health-food stores, and drug stores.
3. Olive Oil. Replace unhealthy fats in your diet with healthy monounsaturated fats such as those found in olive oil. Drizzle it with vinegar over a salad as a dressing or pour a very small amount in a skillet and prepare fresh vegetables. The Food and Drug Administration recommends using 2 tablespoons of olive oil per day. It will help to both lower your LDL cholesterol and raise your HDL or "good" cholesterol. But be careful not to overdo it—even good fats like olive oil contain a significant amount of calories, which can pack on the pounds.
4. Sterols and Stanols. Foods fortified with sterols or stanols—substances that occur naturally in many plants, including fruits, vegetables, and legumes—are said to significantly reduce LDL levels by blocking the absorption of cholesterol into the bloodstream. Many new products, from orange juice and yogurt to snack bars and milk, are fortified with these substances. If you're serious about lowering your cholesterol, keep these choices in mind the next time you visit the supermarket.
5. Nuts. Walnuts and almonds, like certain fish, are rich in plant omega-3 fatty acids -- the good type of fat. Nuts seem not only to help lower total cholesterol but to help blood vessels retain their health. Still, a small amount—about 2 ounces or a handful a day—is plenty. Nuts are high in calories so eating too many could cause weight gain, and being overweight is detrimental to heart health. Also, look for low-salt or no-salt varieties. When consumed in moderation, nuts are indeed a super food, providing heart benefits and a healthy and satisfying pick-me-up snack. Try sprinkling some nuts and berries over a bowl of low-fat yogurt for a delicious and healthy treat.
6. Green Tea. New research is pointing toward green tea as a way to improve blood-vessel function and keep arteries in shape. Specifically, green tea is thought to enhance the health of cells that line our blood vessels, called endothelial cells. Flavonoids, a type of antioxidant that's thought to be good for heart health, are also found in green tea.
Metabolism is a process that breaks down carbohydrates, fats and proteins in the food you eat to make the energy your body needs to build and maintain itself. Proper nutrition keeps your body functioning well, but the right foods can also speed up your metabolism. The amount of calories you eat, your genes and the amount of calories that you burn while eating and exercising determine your metabolism. The body breaks down carbohydrates, then fats and finally proteins. The food that you eat makes up 5 to 10 percent of your metabolic rate.
While the Food and Drug Administration mulls over whether to set limits on salt content in processed foods—after being strongly urged to do so yesterday by such groups as the American Medical Association and the Center for Science in the Public Interest—you may be wondering how to reduce your own sodium intake to the recommended daily limit of 2,300 milligrams for most healthy people. (The daily limit is lower—1,500 milligrams—for blacks, those with high blood pressure, and middle-aged and older adults, according to the 2005 U.S. Dietary Guidelines.) Here are some suggestions for cutting back on salt, provided by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and Stephen Havas, vice president for science, quality, and public health at the American Medical Association.
• Cook from scratch so you know exactly what's in your food. You might be surprised at the sodium content included in that prepackaged meal you love: The CSPI has analyzed a whole range of processed foods and has found ready-made roasted carved turkey containing as much as 5,410 milligrams of sodium per serving; half of a ready-made pepperoni pizza might contain as much as 1,350 milligrams.
• When you do opt for ready-made pizza or other packaged foods, choose products that say they're sodium free, very low in sodium, light in sodium, or unsalted or have low or reduced sodium. If you can't find many, Havas advises asking your local grocery store to start stocking them. Even bread and cereal may surprise you: The CSPI found whole-wheat bread containing anywhere from 150 to 190 milligrams of sodium per slice, depending on the brand; white bread had 115 to 230 milligrams per slice.
• Substitute spices, herbs, and salt-free blends for salt in cooking and at the dinner table.
• Watch for sodium and salt content. Table salt is a form of sodium chloride, but other forms of sodium are also included in foods.
• Avoid instant foods such as pasta, rice, and cereals, which usually include salt. Spaghetti sauce, according to the CSPI, contains 270 to 770 milligrams of sodium per serving, depending on the brand.
• Eat lots of fruits and vegetables because they have "essentially no sodium," Havas says.
• At restaurants, ask your server which foods the restaurant prepares without adding salt—and order those items. "The more restaurants hear this, the more they're going to change the way they're cooking," Havas says.
• Rinse canned foods to wash off some of the salt.
Most anabolic steroids are classified as class C drugs.
The drug increases testosterone levels in the body, which then helps muscles absorb protein and boosts their growth.
People who use anabolic steroids usually either inject a cocktail of hormone growth substances into their body or take them orally as pills.
Steroids are not illegal to possess but it is illegal to sell them. They can have dangerous side effects and cause aggression, mood swings, baldness, infertility and in some cases heart attacks.
Charities like Bridge, a drug treatment charity in Bradford, say most people buy them online, from their personal trainers or friends .
A depressed woman, for instance, is more likely to give birth early, increasing health risks for the baby.
Depression during pregnancy is more common than most people believe, agree Dr. De-Kun Li, a reproductive perinatal epidemiologist in the research division at Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, Calif., and Dr. Diana Dell, a psychiatrist and obstetrician-gynecologist at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C.
One or two of every 10 pregnant women have symptoms of major depression, according to the March of Dimes. Those who have had a bout of depression before are more likely to get it again. And Li said that others might have depressive symptoms -- short of clinical depression but still bothersome and unhealthy.
In his recent study of 791 pregnant women, Li found that 44 percent had depressive symptoms, about half of them severe, during pregnancy. "It wasn't necessarily clinical depression," he said, but a mood noticeably low.
Li tracked the women through delivery and found that those with depressive symptoms had nearly twice the risk of delivering a baby early, before 37 weeks.
Early delivery, by itself, is associated with health risks, he said. "Premature delivery is the No. 1 cause of infant mortality," he said. His findings were published in the January 2009 issue of Human Reproduction.
"We don't know the mechanism" of why depression and early delivery are linked, Li said. But what's certain is that "depression is not a benign condition," he said. "It can be harmful to your baby."
1. Limit yourself to two or three alcoholic drinks a week Alcohol, consumed even in small amounts, is believed to increase the risk of breast cancer. Most doctors recommend cutting back on wine, beer, and hard liquor.
A recent study showed the link between drinking and breast cancer was especially strong in the 70% of tumors known as hormone-sensitive.
And when you do exercise , work to keep your heart rate above its baseline level for a minimum of 20 continuous minutes. Long walks are nice too, but it's the more vigorous exercise (expect to sweat!) that really helps your heart and cuts your cancer risk.
Research shows that being obese (especially if you're past menopause) increases your risk, especially if you put on the weight as an adult. And a study released in March 2008 by researchers at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston showed that obese and overweight women also had lower breast cancer survival rates and a greater chance of more aggressive disease than average-weight or underweight women.
Sexually transmitted diseases or infections can't live outside the body for a long period of time—especially not on a cold, hard surface like a toilet seat. Plus, they aren't present in urine, anyway (it's usually sterile), so the chances of you catching one from whoever used the bathroom before you are slim to none.
What you do need to worry about, however, is what may seem like benign skin-to-skin or mouth-to-mouth contact. Kissing,for example, can spread herpes (and deeper kissing can even spread oral gonorrhea and chlamydia, Dr. Sophia Yen, MD, lead researcher of the study and adolescent medicine specialist at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital ), while skin rubbing together can pass infections such as genital warts, herpes, scabies, and pubic lice.
It may seem like the odds are in your favor, but there's no reason to risk it: You are just as likely to get pregnant the first time you have sex as any other.
It is unlikely, but still possible—especially if you're not using a condom or birth control. Some women have long periods that overlap with the beginning of ovulation, which means they can be fertile even though they're menstruating.
Say you have a short cycle (21 days, for example) and your period lasts a week. If you have sex close to the end of your period, you could become pregnant since sperm can live for up to 72 hours in your reproductive tract.
There's also the infamous late-in-life pregnancy that can occur during perimenopause, when periods are erratic. Experts say it's not safe to ditch birth control until you haven't had a period for a year.
In 2003, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists changed its recommendation for Pap tests, also known as Pap smears; previously, the test was recommended immediately after a woman first has sexual intercourse or at age 18, whichever came first.
Now, Pap tests aren't recommended until women have been sexually active for about three years, or until they turn 21.
An early Pap test may seem harmless, but the stress of needing a Pap—often thought of as an uncomfortable and invasive procedure—may cause young women to avoid their gynecologist or refrain from asking about birth control. Young women should be able to approach their doctors and discuss these issues without the scrutiny of unnecessary tests, says Dr. Yen.
Why the reason for the change? Most cases of human papillomavirus (HPV) clear up on their own within three years; it's only the cases that stick around longer—and will be picked up by a later Pap test—that are real causes for concern because they can lead to cervical cancer.
Plan B, also known as the "morning after" pill, is not the same as RU-486, a pill that causes an abortion. In fact, if you take Plan B when you're already pregnant—that is, if a fertilized egg has attached to the wall of your uterus—it won't make a bit of difference.
In previous research, more than 30% of sexually active adolescents said that they believed emergency contraceptives induce abortion. And in Dr. Yen's study, 10 of the 34 websites studied failed to mention the difference between the two drugs.
"No one likes the word 'abortion'," says Dr. Yen, "so I think a lot of websites aren't going to state that Plan B is not, in fact, an abortive agent."
As of April 2009, Plan B is available to women ages 17 and up, nationwide, over the counter without a prescription. (You just need to ask the pharmacist.) It has been available over the counter for those 18 and up since 2006, while individual states could make their own rulings about availability to minors.
Nine states—Alaska, California, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Washington, and Vermont—have sold and will continue to sell Plan B directly to women of any age.
Although clinical trial after clinical trial has been unable to prove a correlation between oral contraceptives and weight gain, this is still a common belief among women of all ages.
Specifically, a review article published in 2006 analyzed 44 previous trials and found that while some participants did gain weight during their studies, there was no evidence that their birth control was to blame.
"We've heard from several of our patients that they're concerned about gaining weight on birth control," says Dr. Yen. "And no woman wants to gain weight. I'd rather prevent pregnancy than propagate a myth that's not supported by science."
One type of contraceptive that may cause weight gain is injectable depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA), commonly known as the birth control shot. In a study published in March 2009, University of Texas researchers linked the shot to an average 11-pound weight gain over three years.
Intrauterine devices (IUDs) are small objects inserted through the cervix and placed in the uterus to prevent pregnancy for up to 12 years. Because you don't need to take a pill every day when using an IUD, it can be a convenient and long-term way to prevent pregnancy.
Outdated information suggested that IUDs may increase the risk of pelvic inflammatory disease in women under 18.
But as of 2007, ACOG has said that IUDs are a safe and highly effective birth-control method in most adults as well as adolescents—a population at particular risk for unintended pregnancy.
Gardasil, the cervical cancer vaccine approved in 2006 for girls and women ages 9 to 26, blocks four types of human papillomavirus (HPV), two that most frequently cause cervical cancer and two that cause genital warts and abnormalities in Pap tests. But about 30% of cervical cancers will not be protected by the vaccine, so it's important for all women, whether they've gotten the shot or not, to continue having regular Pap tests.
Although the vaccine is currently only approved for women under 26, it may also protect older women who are re-entering the dating scene after years of marriage (although it will likely not be covered by insurance, and the complete course of three shots costs almost $400). The vaccine is also being tested, and may one day be approved in, boys and men; this may help prevent the spread of caner-causing HPV to their female partners.
The vagina is self-cleansing, and douching actually causes more harm than good, according to The National Women’s Health Information Center. The natural bacteria found in the vagina help keep it clean and healthy, and douching can disturb that balance and spread vaginal infections into the fallopian tubes, uterus and ovaries. Additionally, douching does not protect against sexually transmitted diseases or pregnancy. In fact, douching makes it easier for a woman to get pregnant because it pushes semen farther up into the vagina and cervix.
Regular washing with warm water and mild, unscented soaps will help keep the outside of the vagina clean. Try to avoid scented tampons, pads, powders, and sprays, which can increase the chance of vaginal infections.
4.Try not to self-medicate. "I personally don't recommend that people just go out and treat themselves with over-the-counter medications," says Kryger. "They never solve the problem; they'll just help you get through." phermacis certainly offer lots of sleep remedies. There are antihistamines, like Benadryl, which have a sedative side effect. (The ingredient that causes drowsiness is also found in products like Tylenol PM and Advil PM.) But those medications can induce next-day grogginess—what some patients call "sleep hangovers"—and they can actually have an alerting or a disorienting effect on the elderly, says Shives. Other OTC options include melatonin supplements and valerian extracts, although evidence of the effectiveness of either is slim, a National Institutes of health insomnia consensus panel concluded in 2005. And, as Shives says of melatonin, valerian, and similar substances, "Nobody's regulating this stuff."
5.Don't drink to sleep. Sure, sloshing down a little Pinot Noir will put you to sleep, but as the alcohol is metabolized by the body, it fragments sleep, which tends to cause nighttime awakenings and next-day tiredness. "People have the misconception that alcohol helps," says Ralph Downey III, chief of sleep medicine at the Loma Linda University Medical Center in California. "It doesn't."
6.Create a barrier between work and sleep. You want to have some sort of break from the day's stress before sleep. If you know you're going to bed at 10:30, stop your day at 10:15, or sooner if you can. Shortchanging that break can be a recipe for insomnia. Write down all the things you need to worry about on a piece of paper, and do your best to leave them behind. Whether asleep or awake, there's likely nothing you can do about them until tomorrow, anyway.
7. Don't "catastrophize." People who can't sleep tend to compound the problem by fretting about the consequences of their sleeplessness, like the possibility that they'll do a bad job at work and get fired. Catastrophizing a sleep problem, however, tends to further engrain it, says Shives. "I try to get [people] to calm down," she says. "But that's kind of like telling a depressed person to perk up."
9. Exercise. While experts advise against vigorous exercise too close to bedtime, a morning or evening workout can be beneficial. "We know that it promotes the slowest waves of sleep," says Mary Susan Esther, president of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
10. Not working? Talk to your doctor. Everybody may have episodes of sleep trouble. But if insomnia persists for several weeks, especially if it's disrupting your daytime activities, discuss it with a doctor or ask to be referred to a sleep specialist.
Osteoarthritis usually progresses slowly, but some patients experience a more rapid progression. This is the first study to connect obesity with fast progression of the disease and cartilage loss.
The report is published in the August issue of Radiology.
The researchers recruited 336 patients from a major osteoarthritis study. All were overweight and at risk of osteoarthritis but had minimal or no loss of cartilage in their knees, said the researchers, who were led by Dr. Frank W. Roemer, an adjunct associate professor at Boston University and co-director of the quantitative imaging center in the department of radiology at Boston University School of Medicine.
During 30 months of follow-up, 20.2 percent of the patients showed a slow loss of knee cartilage and 5.8 percent had rapid cartilage loss, the study found.
The main risk factors for cartilage loss were pre-existing cartilage damage, being overweight or obese, tears or other injury to the cartilage at the knee joint (meniscus), and severe lesions seen on an MRI. Other factors include inflammation of the membrane lining the joints and abnormal build-up of fluid in the joint, according to the report.
Being overweight was associated with rapid cartilage loss, Roemer's team found. In fact, for every one-unit increase in body mass index, the chances of rapid cartilage loss increased 11 percent.
The association between obesity and rapid cartilage loss remained even after taking into account age, gender and ethnic background.
"It is a disease without treatment at present other than symptomatic -- mostly pain therapy and surgical total joint replacement," Roemer said.
"We know that weight loss is probably the most important factor to slow disease progression," Roemer said. "Additional studies will have to show if other measures, such as vitamins or targeted treatment of bone marrow lesions, will help to slow progression," he said.
"Osteoarthritis is the most common musculoskeletal disorder with major health and socioeconomic impact in our aging society," added Roemer.
Dr. Sean Scully, a professor of orthopedics at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in Florida, agreed that the danger of developing osteoarthritis is another reason to control weight.
"Don't let yourself get heavy," Scully said. "this study shows a direct correlation -- people who are heavy are the ones that are getting worse," he said.
Keeping your weight down -- through diet and exercise or weight-loss surgery -- could prevent the need for knee-replacement surgery, he said.t
