Whole Kids Project

Alcohol-Branded Items Linked to Drinking

A good friend sent this link to us:

A study of 2,000 middle-school students concluded that adolescents who owned alcohol-branded t-shirts and other items were more likely to drink than those who didn't own such merchandise, UPI reported March 20.

Dartmouth Medical School researchers said the study was the first to examine the relationship between alcohol merchandise and drinking. "Our research found that students who owned an alcohol-branded item were significantly more likely to have initiated alcohol use than students who did not own one," said lead researcher Dr. Auden McClure. "We recommend that parents discourage their children from wearing these products and that schools limit the display of alcohol-branded items among students."

The study, which involved students ages 10 to 14, was published in the April 2006 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

This should serve as a clear warning sign to parents and educators.

The Last Normal Child

This is from Dr. Diller's site (I couldn't find the original review from the Toronto Star):

Lawrence Diller, in his reflective and candid book, The Last Normal Child, points out that the practice of getting children stoned to make them conform to our demands for achievement is so common now that North Americans consume 80 per cent of the 3,000 tons of "legal speed" produced each year, with most of it going to children. (Heard of Ritalin?)

Diller has witnessed a dramatic change in the kinds of children who are brought to him for behavioural problems by their parents. He aims a great deal of his ire at Big Pharma itself, for pathologizing childhood before offering its E-Z solution. He cites TV ads in which parents, asked if their kids are having trouble with homework, are soothingly offered Ritalin as a solution.

"Ours is the only country in the world," Diller writes of the U.S., although Canada is increasingly complicit, "where the `symptoms' of forgetfulness, dreaminess, and intelligence ñ in short, the characteristics of the absent-minded professor or child ñ would be considered signs of a mental disorder to be treated with a psychiatric drug."

Yet the remarkable upsurge in the number of prescriptions for children has continued for a decade, Diller notes, after drug companies won permission to market directly to consumers in 1997.

The use of anti-psychotics for kids, for instance, has increased fivefold since 1993, even though they are traditionally prescribed only to adult schizophrenics and psychotics, and have alarming side effects. ADD drugs get doled out like candy; countless grade-schoolers take antidepressants.

All to make parents feel better, Diller says: "This phenomenon is really driven by the fear and anxiety of parents about their children's performance and self-esteem."

In his wide-ranging essays on the ethics of drug prescription, the dubiousness of ADD diagnoses and the importance of letting children develop uniquely, at their own pace, Diller left me with this essential, stick-it-on-your-fridge point:having medicalized their children, and standardized their activities and achievements, what parents have left completely undernourished are their children's characters, and their souls.

Karol is reading this book now so our own thought will follow.

Interested in reading The Last Normal Child? 

Pick up a copy here.

For Teachers: Reporting Child Abuse

One of our readers posted a thoughtful comment regarding a site that aids teachers in recognizing signs of child abuse and in talking with a suspected victim.

The tool was developed by a 26-year veteran of the Lakeville, Minnesota police department:

Mike Server realized that although teachers were the most likely professionals to see the signs of child abuse, they were often under-prepared to report child abuse. Not only were they confused about the statutory reporting requirements, but they did not know how to avoid the pitfalls of talking with a fearful, confused and withdrawn child.

"With the best of intentions," says Mike, "a teacher may take the wrong approach with an abused child, and that child may physically and emotionally withdraw for months. Or the child may distort her story to fit what she thinks the teacher wants to hear. Or the true facts may be so compromised that any investigation will be unable to discover the truth and bring justice and resolution to the child's situation."

We felt that Mike's site should receive greater exposure than it would receive in the comments area. 

So, here is a link to Hownottotalk.com.

The site offers a free trial of the tool.  If an educator purchases the course they are eligible to receive CEU professional development credits.

It Really Is "Just a Stage"

Via Breitbart.com:

A study published Monday found that teens who regularly get into fights with their parents have significantly different brain structures than their more laid-back peers.

Australian researchers mapped the brains of some 137 early teens and then videotaped them during "problem solving" conversations with their parents about disagreements over issues like homework, bedtimes, or Internet and cell phone use.

"What we found was there was actually a relationship between the size and the structure of the various parts of the brain and the way the kids behave in these interactions," said lead researcher Nicholas Allen of the University of Melbourne.

The parts of the brain which are involved in emotional responses were much more developed in the teens who got into fights with their parents, Allen said.

"Their emotions are developing much faster than are the parts of the brain that help them to manage those emotions," he said in a telephone interview.

"That's the kind of thing that hopefully catches up later on, but in between you've got this mismatch between the two."

The findings should offer some comfort to parents trying to understand why their once-cheerful children are suddenly transformed into sulky, over-sensitive strangers, especially since this mismatch is usually resolved by the time the brain finishes developing in the mid-20s.

The article continues:

It's also possible that these biological changes are in response to the home environment, Allen said of the study published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Other studies have found that extreme neglect and sexual and physical abuse can impact brain development. A stressful home environment has also been linked to the early onset of puberty in girls, he said.

"What we don't know anything about is, is there an affect about the more normal variations in the family environment on the way the brain develops," he said.

"We're not sure if the environment is affecting the biology or the biology is affecting the environment. Probably the most likely truth is they both affect each other."

Teens Online

The National Catholic Education Association is offering a free downloadable book,  Sanity Saving Solutions for Parents of Teens on the Internet by Dr. Mike Thomson.  Scroll to the bottom of the page to download your copy.

Consumerist Pressures Lead to Depression

From the London Times:

Pressure on children to have the latest designer clothes and computer games is making them miserable, according to a study of modern childhood.

It concludes that the consumer society and failure to protect children from commercial pressures is partly to blame for deteriorating mental health among young people. Rates of depression, anxiety and other mental illnesses have risen in the past two decades with one in ten children now suffering from a diagnosable condition.

The report, published today by the Good Childhood Inquiry, conducted by the charity The Children’s Society, said that children from poor backgrounds were the main victims of con-sumerism, with many becoming distressed at the prospect of falling behind the latest trends.

Hundreds of submissions from children showed that they felt overwhelming pressure to keep up with trends in clothes, music and computer games.

Philip Graham, of The Institute of Child Health, London, who led the study for the inquiry, said that parents, schools and the government should make sure children valued who they were rather than what they had.

Bob Reitemeier, of The Children’s Society, said: “Unless we question our own behaviour as a society we risk creating a generation who are left unfulfilled through chasing unattainable lifestyles.”

Making Wise Snack Choices

Nationwide Children's Hospital has a fantastic tool that can help you make wiser snack choices.

Guess what it is called?

Snackwise.

Developed by the Center for Healthy Weight and Nutrition at Nationwide Children's Hospital, Snackwise® is a research-based snack rating system that calculates Nutrient Density in snack foods. Snackwise® is designed for use by any organization or individual interested in making healthier snack choices.

You can enter in the snack's name,UPC code and nutritional info and the tool gives you a rating based on government dietary guidelines. (The granola bar that I eat every morning received a very low rating- Yikes!)

The site also has recommendations for vending snacks.

Take a look.

US News: TV and Sleep

Have you figured out that we're big sleep fans?

From US News:

"We know that many, many parents rely on TV and video as part of their child's sleep routine," said Dr. Dimitri Christakis, a pediatrician at the University of Washington and co-author of "The Elephant in the Living Room: Make TV Work for Your Kids".

"Watching television before bed makes it more difficult for children to fall asleep," he added. "Scientific data support that."

As proof, Christakis pointed to a recent study he led with University of Washington colleague Dr. Darcy Thompson that found that children under age 3 who watch television are at higher risk of disturbed sleep. Other studies have looked at the effects of TV viewing on older children and teens, and also found a link between TV, poor sleep and later bedtimes.

Christakis and Thompson examined data from a national health survey of children aged 4 months to 35 months, and evaluated parent interviews for more than 2,000 children. The result: 27 percent of the youngsters had irregular bedtime schedules, and almost 34 percent had irregular nap schedules.

The article goes on to point out that there is a correlation between hours of TV watched and disrupted sleep patterns but no proven cause-and-effect relationship.

Here is an interesting quote, wide open for mis-interpretation:

"The bottom line, according to Christakis: "If your kid is having a sleep problem, look at TV [habits] and see if it is playing a role. There is no need to modify TV if your kid is not having sleep problems."

Actually, there are plenty of reasons to be concerned about your child's TV habits (exposure to violence, commercialization, and sexualization come quickly to mind), even if their sleep is fine.

NPR: Child's Play

Here is an 8-minute clip from a Morning Edition segment on the evolution of play. Good Stuff.

Also included on the NPR page are some excellent tips:

Self-regulation is a critical skill for kids. Unfortunately, most kids today spend a lot of time doing three things: watching television, playing video games and taking lessons. None of these activities promote self-regulation.
 
We asked for alternatives from three researchers: Deborah Leong, professor of psychology at Metropolitan State College of Denver, Elena Bodrova, senior researcher with Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning, and Laura Berk, professor of psychology at Illinois State University.
 
Here are their suggestions:
 
Simon Says: Simon Says is a game that requires children to inhibit themselves. You have to think and not do something, which helps to build self-regulation.
 
Complex Imaginative Play: This is play where your child plans scenarios and enacts those scenarios for a fair amount of time, a half-hour at a minimum, though longer is better. Sustained play that last for hours is best. Realistic props are good for very young children, but otherwise encourage kids to use symbolic props that they create and make through their imaginations. For example, a stick becomes a sword.
 
Activities That Require Planning: Games with directions, patterns for construction, recipes for cooking, for instance.
 
Joint Storybook Reading: "Reading storybooks with preschoolers promotes self-regulation, not just because it fosters language development, but because children's stories are filled with characters who model effective self-regulatory strategies," says researcher Laura Berk.
 
She cites the classic example of Watty Piper's The Little Engine That Could, in which a little blue engine pulling a train of toys and food over a mountain breaks down and must find a way to complete its journey. The engine chants, "I think I can. I think I can. I think I can," and with persistence and effort, surmounts the challenge.
 
Encourage Children to Talk to Themselves: "Like adults, children spontaneously speak to themselves to guide and manage their own behavior," Berk says. "In fact, children often use self-guiding comments recently picked up from their interactions with adults, signaling that they are beginning to apply those strategies to themselves.
 
"Permitting and encouraging children to be verbally active — to speak to themselves while engaged in challenging tasks — fosters concentration, effort, problem-solving, and task success."

Starved of Their Childhood

Here is a touching story from Tennessee about the state's first residential eating disorder treatment center. Initially the center will serve patients over 18, but hopes to add an adolescent program:

Young girls have become more sexualized by clothing and television personalities, she said, and parents, eager for their children to earn a ticket to private high school education or college, are pushing their children toward athletic perfectionism at too early an age.

“It’s not for the art of play, being on a team, learning about teamwork,” Ms. Yoder said. “We are hungry to have that one thing our child is good at. It’s a huge amount of pressure not to be active but to be perfect. How are we going to get to college and stand out?”

Much of those pressures rang true for Shae Walker, who after several hospital stays and months of treatment at a ranch in Arizona retains only the scars of her illness.

Shae spiraled into anorexia after she quit gymnastics, a sports she had trained for 14 hours a week for three years.

“I was afraid I would gain weight,” said the 12-year-old. “I thought no one would like me. All the girls always talked about weight. They’d say, ‘She needs to lose weight or she can’t do this or that.’ It’s always in the magazines.”

Maybe her greatest fear was of being average and not exceptional, Shae said. In the end, accepting the comforts of normality was the one thing that saved her, she said.

“It doesn’t matter what size you are, because your family will always love you and God will always love you,” she said, tearfully reaching toward her mother.

The article also includes these eating disorder do's, dont's and warning signs:

Dos and Don’ts for Parents

Do

1. Examine your own beliefs and behaviors related to body image and weight and consider how your children interpret the messages they get from you.

2. Tell your child you love them and stay away from praising the way they look.

3. Make meals a positive, fun experience.

4. Allow your child to determine when he or she is full.

5. Emphasize to your child that what you see in the media is not real and that the media should not define their potential of self-worth.

Don’t

1. Label foods as “good” or “bad.”

2. Use food for rewards or punishments.

3. Diet or encourage your child to diet.

4. Allow teasing or making fun of anyone based on physical characteristics, including size.

5. Comment on weight or body types.

Source: MCR Foundation

WARNING SIGNS

1. Weighing several times a day

2. Obsessive exercising to the extreme to burn calories

3. Severely limiting food intake or hiding food

4. Frequent or often long trips to the bathroom, often with water running

5. Using laxatives, diet pills, enemas, diuretics or ipecac

6. Absence of menstrual cycles

7. Avoiding people, lying, keeping secrets, stealing, cutting or compulsive shopping

8. Reading books or visiting Web sites on eating disorders or dieting

9. Dental problems

10. Brittle nails and hair