A new study, published in the March/April 2007 issue of Child Development, has concluded that kids who spend more than two years regularly attending day-care centers show slightly more behavioral problems in kindergarten through sixth grade than those that do not. Are There Long-Term Effects of Early Child Care? is drawn from data collected by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development’s Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, which includes 1,364 children at 10 sites around the country who have been tracked since birth (and are now aged between 15 and 16). NEWSWEEK’s Julie Scelfo spoke with Margaret Burchinal, a psychologist at the University of North Carolina and a co-author of the study about what these findings mean for parents of young children. Excerpts: Newsweek: Most of the kids in your study spent a year or two at a day-care center prior to entering kindergarten. How did that affect their behavior later? Burchinal: For those kids who have one or two years of day care, their level of problem behavior is typical. For children who spent more than that in center-based care, teachers report slightly more disruptive behaviors than are typical. In other words, […]
An Australian drug expert has backed the inclusion of alcohol in a new ranking of the world’s most dangerous substances, designed to tackle addiction problems. A new analysis in leading medical journal The Lancet calls for new British classification of drugs to reflect the physical and social harm they wreak. The chart – a compilation of expert opinion – places heroin as clearly the most dangerous, followed by cocaine, barbiturates and methadone. Two legal drugs, alcohol and tobacco, were included for the first time, ranked number five and nine respectively among the 20 most dangerous substances. Amphetamines took eighth place, cannabis ranked eleventh and ecstasy was further down the list at number 18. Population health specialist professor Wayne Hall, from the University of Queensland, welcomed the rankings, saying it puts the dangers of various drugs in perspective. The biggest revelation was the extent of dangers posed by alcohol and tobacco, Prof Hall wrote in the same journal. ‘This shows that we should certainly be putting a lot more time and money into alerting the community to the harms that they cause, especially alcohol,’ he said. The analysis also proved that cannabis was […]
Delicious nibbles of dark chocolate may also boost the function of vital endothelial cells that line the inside of blood vessels, a new U.S. study suggests. Cocoa is rich in a group of antioxidant compounds called flavonoids, which are also found in fruits and vegetables, wine and green tea. Research suggests that consumption of foods rich in flavonoids may decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease. The study, conducted by researchers at the Yale Prevention Research Center in Connecticut, included 45 healthy people with a body mass index (BMI) between 25 and 35 kg/m2. The participants were divided into three groups that ate either eight ounces of cocoa without sugar; cocoa with sugar; or a placebo. BMI is a measure of body fat based on height and weight. A BMI reading of 25-29.9 is an indicator of overweight, while a reading of 30 or more indicates obesity. For six weeks, the participants underwent endothelial function testing. This was done by using high frequency ultrasound to measure the ability of the brachial artery (which runs from the shoulder to the elbow) to relax and expand in order to accommodate increased blood flow — a test called flow mediated […]
PHILADELPHIA — A federal judge yesterday dealt another blow to government efforts to control Internet pornography, striking down a 1998 U.S. law that makes it a crime for commercial website operators to let children access ‘harmful’ material. In the ruling, the judge said parents can protect their children through software filters and other less restrictive means that do not limit the rights of others to free speech. ‘Perhaps we do the minors of this country harm if First Amendment protections, which they will with age inherit fully, are chipped away in the name of their protection,’ wrote Senior U.S. District Judge Lowell Reed Jr., who presided over a four-week trial last fall. The law would have criminalized websites that allow children to access material deemed ‘harmful to minors’ by ‘contemporary community standards.’ The sites would have been expected to require a credit card number or other proof of age. Penalties included a US$50,000 fine and up to six months in prison. Sexual health sites, the online magazine Salon.com and other websites backed by the American Civil Liberties Union challenged the law. They argued that the Child Online Protection Act was unconstitutionally vague and would have […]
While the global population is aging at an unprecedented rate, some countries are witnessing an historically unprecedented demographic phenomenon: Simultaneous population aging and population decline. More than 20 countries are projected to experience population declines in the upcoming decades. Russia ‘s population, for example, is expected to shrink by 18 million between 2006 and 2030, a decrease of nearly 13 percent. Nine other countries are projected to experience a decline of at least 1 million people during the same period (Figure 7). Projected Population decline between 2006 and 2030, in millions,. While Japan ‘s total population is projected to decrease by 11 million, the population age 65 and over is projected to increase by 8 million between 2006 and 2030. The proportion of older people in Japan should therefore grow from 20 percent in 2006 to about 30 percent in 2030. Population declines in more developed countries are primarily the result of low fertility. Russia and Japan , for instance, have total fertility rates of 1.4 births per woman, significantly below the rate needed to replenish a population in the absence of migration. In contrast, less developed countries facing population declines are experiencing increased mortality largely due […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
