Obesity
may be linked to middle ear effusions in children
Childhood obesity may be
associated with a condition known as otitis media
with effusion, which consists of fluid build-up in the middle ear space without
symptoms of acute ear infection, according to a report in the April issue
of Archives of Otolaryngology--Head & Neck Surgery. Otitis
media with effusion, a condition in which fluid is retained in the middle
ear space, but without earache, fever or other symptoms, has become increasingly
frequent in children. In comparing children with and without otitis
media with effusion, researchers found that childhood obesity was significantly
higher in children with otitis media with effusion.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/04/obesity_may_be.php
Childhood
obesity among Quebec Cree raises concerns
Childhood obesity is increasing
among the general population in Canada, but the statistics are even more
alarming among First Nations, Inuit and Métis children. In a study published
recently in the American Journal of Public Health, University of Alberta researchers found that up to 65 per
cent of Cree preschoolers in northern Quebec communities were overweight or obese.
Dr. Noreen Willows, a community nutritionist at the University of Alberta, and her colleagues also studied obesity
levels in Cree schoolchildren aged 9
to 12 living in two Cree Nations north of
Montreal, Canada.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/04/childhood_obesi_1.php
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Grandparents
relate to adopted grandchildren the same as biological grandchildren
Grandparents of adopted
grandchildren relate to them as an integral part of the family -- just as
they relate to their biological grandchildren. In the first stage, a grandparent
views his adopted grandchild as a solution to the anguish caused by his son's
or daughter's inability to bring a child into a world. In the second stage,
while a strong emotional connection is still absent, the grandparent looks
to rationalize the adoption and convinces himself that his children have saved
a child that may otherwise have been left uncared for.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/04/grandparents_re.php
Sticky
Solution Sought for Underage Drinking
Utah prevention agencies are distributing preprinted sticky
notes that parents can slap on liquor bottles at home as a warning to children
against underage drinking, the Salt Lake Tribune reported April 9. A different
set of sticky notes are available at Utah state liquor stores, with no-drinking
pledges intended to be signed by youths before they go out with friends.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/04/sticky_solution.php
**Civic Engagement and Nonprofit
Management
Gun
Violence: Search for Answers -- Public Wants Stronger Regulation of Firearms
Concern over terrorism has
further increased Americans' support for firearm regulation according to a
report from the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago. "Some have speculated that
the 9/11 terrorist attacks undermined support for regulating firearms, arguing
that fear of terrorism increased the public desire for firearms for self-defense,"
said Tom W. Smith, Director of the General Social Survey (GSS) at NORC, which
conducted the study and found an opposite perspective. Support for including
criminal background checks for all gun sales, including those involving private
sales between individuals, rose to 80 percent in 2006 from 77.5 percent in
2001.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/04/gun_violence_se.php
**Community Development
Researchers
Find 'Large is Smart' When it Comes to Cities
Large cities generate considerable
wealth, they are home to many high paying jobs and
are seen as engines of innovation. But cities also generate pollution, crime
and poor social structures that lead to the urban blight that plagues their
very existence. Now a team of researchers, including an economist from Arizona State University, have studied the growth of cities
in different parts of the world and have come up with general equations that
can foretell their consumption of resources and their contributions to society.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/04/researchers_fin_2.php
**Economic Security
Helping
Hispanics Find Jobs Requires Customized Approach
Two out of three community-based
Goodwill agencies are helping Hispanics find jobs, but a majority say a large percentage of the population is not
getting what they need. A three-year Goodwill research project, funded by
a grant from the Goizueta Foundation, is expanding
the understanding of Hispanic populations and the career development services
they need to find jobs and move up the career ladder. While Goodwill is on
the forefront of helping this population, challenges such as finding qualified
bi-lingual and bi-cultural staff, developing credibility in the community
and identifying funding sources exist.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/04/helping_hispani.php
Tax
Credit Seen as Helping More Parents
More than one in six taxpayers
in 2004 received the Earned Income Tax Credit, highlighting its growing role
in bolstering the incomes of struggling low-income parents, according to a
new report. Annual federal payments under the program total nearly $40 billion,
compared with $25 billion for the revamped welfare program, and all tax-credit
money goes directly to the recipients. Many economists and poverty experts
are calling for more generous tax treatment of these groups, too, in part
to increase the financial rewards of work for single black men, who have high
rates of unemployment and incarceration.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/04/tax_credit_seen.php
Recent
income gains went to those with highest income
According to analysis form
the Economic Policy Institute, newly released data on income inequality reveal
that all of the gains in 2005, the most recent year for data of this type,
went to households in the top 10%. The economy expanded in 2005, with gross
domestic product and productivity both posting solid gains (3.2% and 2.1%,
respectively).
Yet real market income (i.e.,
income aside from government transfers) actually fell slightly (-0.6%) for
those in the bottom 90% of the income scale.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/04/recent_income_g.php
**Education
Homework
-- Keeping Children, parents and teachers together
A new interactive learning
system which helps parents keep in touch with what their children are doing
at school is proving to be a great success with children, parents and teachers,
according to new research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.
The research developed the 'HOMEWORK' interactive learning system which enables
children between the ages of 5 and 7 to learn and practice Key Stage 1 math
skills using a range of multimedia technologies - both in the classroom and
at home with their family.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/04/homework_keepin.php
Statement
on College Loan Scandal: 'Another Sign That Our Debt-for-Diploma, Profit-Dominated
Federal Student Aid System Needs Serious Reform'
"The recent investigation
by the New York Attorney General has revealed yet another deep flaw with our
current system of federal financial aid. With the revelations that financial
aid offices promoted certain student loan issuers in exchange for fees, students
are finding out that they might not be getting the best deal-adding insult
to injury, considering the growing financial burden young college students
face. "For too long, federal financial aid has been dominated by the
profit motives of the lenders rather than the needs of the students.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/04/tamara_draut_au.php
Kennedy
Wants Lenders Blocked From Data
The chairman of the Senate
education committee urged the Bush administration yesterday to block student
loan companies from accessing a national database that holds confidential
information on tens of millions of students. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.),
came after The Washington Post reported on inappropriate searches of the database
that could violate federal rules and raise concerns about data mining and
abuses of privacy.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/04/_kennedy_wants.php
**Health
AARP
Says It Will Become Major Medicare Insurer
AARP, the lobby for older
Americans, announced that it would become a major participant in the nation's
health insurance market, offering a health maintenance organization to Medicare
recipients and several other products to people 50 to 64 years old. The products
for people under 65 include a managed care plan, known as a preferred provider
organization, and a high-deductible insurance policy that could be used with
a health savings account.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/04/aarp_says_it_wi.php
**Hunger and Nutrition
Diet
and Lifestyle -- In the Cancer Fight, Eating Well
is the Best Revenge
We all know that eating
fruits, vegetables and soy products provides essential nutrition for a healthy
lifestyle, while obesity leads to the opposite. Now, in laboratory experiments,
researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, have discovered a biological mechanism
whereby two compounds in these foods might lower the invasive and metastatic potential of breast and ovarian cancer cells.
A study of food consumption in 183,518 residents of California and Hawaii has found that a diet high in flavonols might help reduce pancreatic cancer risk, especially
in smokers.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/04/diet_and_lifest.php
Gay
Men have Higher Prevalence of Eating Disorders
Gay and bisexual men may
be at far higher risk for eating disorders than heterosexual men, according
to a study conducted at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.
According to the study results, more than 15 percent of gay or bisexual men
had at some time suffered anorexia, bulimia or binge-eating disorder, or at
least certain symptoms of those disorders -- a problem known as a subclinical
eating disorder, compared with less than five percent of heterosexual men.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/04/gay_men_have_hi.php
**Substance Abuse
Revolving
Door for Addicts Adds to Medicaid Cost
Through its Medicaid program,
New York spends far more than other states
on drug and alcohol treatment, including more than $300 million a year paid
to hospitals for more than 30,000 detox patients.
One reason for the high cost is that $50 million is spent just on the 500
most expensive patients, at a cost of about $100,000 a person. These patients
check in and out of detox wards, on average, more
than a dozen times a year --- a practice that experts say would not be tolerated
in most states.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/04/revolving_door.php
