Monday, March 21st, 2011
New advice: Tots safest in rear facing car seats until age 2
Based on evidence from crashes older, children who’ve outgrown front-facing car seats should ride in booster seats until the lap-shoulder belt fits them. Booster seats help position adult seat belts properly on children’s smaller frames. Children usually can graduate from a booster seat when their height reaches 4 feet 9 inches. (MSNBC)
Optometrists: Nintendo 3Ds could ID vision issues
Optometrists are saying it’s a good idea to get kids to try the 3-D screen of Nintendo’s new device, especially if they’re younger than 6, dismissing the manufacturer’s warnings that children 6 or younger shouldn’t use the 3-D screen because it may harm their immature vision. It won’t do any harm, they say, and it could help catch vision disorders that have to be caught early to be fixed. (MSNBC)
Scientists Recreate Autism With One Gene
Researchers, used a known gene mutation associated with autism — called the SHANK3 gene mutation — to replicate a wider range of behaviors that include impaired social interaction and repetitive behaviors. Scientists have struggled for years to find effective medical treatments for autism, mainly because they have been unable to understand the pathways in the brain that cause the disorder. (ABC)
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Thursday, December 16th, 2010
SIDS Spikes on New Year’s Day
Not a happy holiday thought, but an important one: The number of babies who die of SIDS, or sudden infant death syndrome, surges by 33 percent on New Year’s Day. The suspected reason? Alcohol consumption by caretakers the night before. (Science Daily)
Most Young Children Consume Caffeine Each Day
A new U.S. study finds that 75 percent of children consume caffeine daily, largely through sodas. And the more caffeine they consumed, the less they slept. (US News)
Get a Head Start on New Year’s Resolutions
Nintendo and the American Heart Association have teamed up for the “12 Days of Getting Active,” a series of daily tips to make it easy for people to get active during the dessert-enticing holiday season. A recent survey found that 68 percent of people who play active-play video games start becoming more physically active in real life. (Activeplaynow.com)
Humana Foundation Awards Grants To Combat Childhood Obesity
Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) and The Humana Foundation announced today that five U.S. nonprofit organizations will receive a total of $212,000 to combat childhood obesity, a serious public health crisis in the U.S. These grants are a part of The Humana Foundation’s 2010 Future Without Childhood Obesity initiative. Humana recognizes that childhood obesity carries with it significant consequences – related medical costs have reached $14 billion per year and children are now being diagnosed with adult weight-related diseases, like type 2 diabetes, that significantly threaten quality of life. (Medical News Today)
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Tuesday, April 6th, 2010
Nintendo DS has teamed up with America’s Test Kitchen to produce America’s Test Kitchen: Let’s Get Cooking—a virtual cookbook of sorts for the technology loving generation. With 300 recipes that have been tested and perfected by the three dozen test cooks at America’s Test Kitchen, this game offers everyone in your family the opportunity the get cookin’ in your kitchen together. Just tap the touch screen for tons of yummy dinner possibilities, as well as age-appropriate kitchen tasks that allow you to chose settings so that your young chef-in-training can help prepare the meal. Audible instructions and voice commands make it easy for your family to follow a recipe while navigating around the kitchen, as well.
