CINCINNATI—Although lead content in paint has been restricted in the United States since 1978, University of Cincinnati (UC) environmental health researchers say in major countries from three continents there is still widespread failure to acknowledge its danger and companies continue to sell consumer paints that contain dangerous levels of lead.
Culture
An analysis of back issues of the popular US magazine, Parents, maps how the portrayal of parental authority and children's autonomy has changed over the last century. The findings are published online in journal Qualitative Sociology and say that kids only have more autonomy inside the home but are more restricted outside.
Advances in ecology increasingly reveal that conventional agricultural practices have detrimental effects on the landscape ecology, creating problems for long-term sustainability of crops. In a series of sessions at the Ecological Society of America's Annual Meeting, ecologists will present their ideas on how our agricultural practices can take lessons from natural environments.
The team led by a University of Washington researcher has used computers to extract patterns in ancient Indus symbols. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows distinct patterns in the symbols' placement in sequences and creates a statistical model for the unknown language.
Heart disease patients with previous atherosclerosis (fat deposits in the walls of the arteries) are more likely to die in the hospital and less likely to be treated with recommended therapies, researchers report in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
A school-based program that integrates information about healthy relationships into the existing ninth-grade curriculum appears to reduce adolescent dating violence and increase condom use two and a half years later, according to a report in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
Taking opioid drugs without a prescription appears relatively common among high school seniors, according to a report in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. The most common reasons survey respondents gave for taking the medications included relaxing, feeling good or getting high, experimenting, and relieving pain
Sedentary behaviors such as TV viewing and "screen time" involving computer use, movie, and video games appear to be associated with elevated blood pressure in children. This is independent of body composition, according to a report in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
Reducing short-distance car trips has many benefits—it decreases car accidents, has positive benefits for the environment, and increases physical health and activity, says communication professor Edward Maibach of George Mason University. An expert in climate change communication research, Maibach says that community leaders should make promotion of physical activity a priority.
A new study of childhood obesity in the United States has found that some social factors, like the presence of friends, may put overweight youths at greater risk of overeating.
The research, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, demonstrates that friends may act as "permission givers" on children's food intake.
A new paper by University of Notre Dame economist Kasey Buckles and colleagues suggests "money" or more precisely the price of marriage, can significantly affect the decision to marry.
Nearly two-thirds of parents reported they felt the need to watch over their child's care to ensure that medical errors are not made during their hospital stay, according to a study led by Beth A. Tarini, M.D., M.S., assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Michigan Medical School.
In particular, parents whose first language is not English were more likely to report the need to be vigilant about their child's care. Researchers also found that parents who were more confident in communicating with physicians were less likely to be concerned about medical mistakes.
SEATTLE – Regular yoga practice is associated with mindful eating, and people who eat mindfully are less likely to be obese, according to a study led by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
It is widely believed that providing better access to medical care can improve the health of Americans. New research at National Jewish Health indicates, however, that having insurance and a medical provider is not enough to improve asthma control among elementary and middle school students.
Living in a three-generation household can significantly enhance the economic well-being of children, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Southern California and the University of Massachusetts, Boston.
Their findings, to appear in the November 2009 Journal of Family Issues and now available online, indicate children living in single-mother families that also include a grandparent are substantially less likely to be living below or near the poverty line compared to children living in mother-only homes.