First-Borns
Get More Quality Time with Parents
First-born children get
more quality time with parents than subsequent children, a Cornell study shows.
Using data from the American Time Use Survey, Joseph Price, a graduate student
in economics at Cornell, found that a first-born child receives 20-30 more
minutes of quality time each day with a parent than a second-born child of
the same age from a similar family. This leads to an aggregate difference
of about 3,000 hours between the times spent with each child.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/12/firstborns_get.php
Delinquency
Cases in Juvenile Court, 2002
The number of delinquency
cases handled by juvenile courts has increased 41% since 1985. However, between
1997 and 2002, the nation's juvenile court delinquency caseload decreased
11%. Between 1985 and 2002, the growth in cases involving females outpaced
the growth in cases involving males in all offense categories.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/12/delinquency_cas.php
Risk
Factors for Hypertension Start Young
By age 10, some black children
already have high nighttime blood pressure, an early signal of impending cardiovascular
disease, a new study shows. One reason for the higher nighttime pressure
is some blacks retain more sodium, which increases fluid volume in their bodies
and their blood pressure, according to researchers. "That most likely
means that the problem is not purely genetic and also is likely caused by
environmental factors like salt intake and stress."
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/12/risk_factors_fo.php
**Economic Security
Service
sector employment gains in solid jobs report; manufacturing and construction
lose jobs
The nation's payrolls expanded
by 132,000 jobs last month, according to today's report from the Bureau of
Labor Statistics. Unemployment ticked up slightly to 4.5%, in a jobs report
characterized by solid employment gains in service industries and losses in
factories and construction. Turning to wages, the hourly wage rate for blue-collar
production workers and non-managers in services is up 4.1% over the past year,
a growth rate ample enough to solidly surpass recent inflation readings that
have been well below 2% (weekly earnings were up 4.4% over the past year).
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/12/service_sector.php
**Health
Protection
Against Cancer May Begin During Pregnancy
There may be another reason
for pregnant and nursing women to eat a nutritious diet that includes generous
amounts of cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and cabbage -- it could help
protect their children from cancer, both as infants and later in life.
A new study by scientists
from the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University, done with laboratory mice, found
that supplements of a key phytochemical found in certain vegetables provided
a very high level of protection against leukemia and lymphoma in young animals,
and also significantly protected against lung cancer during the rodent's equivalent
of middle age.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/12/protection_agai_1.php
Do
we need a world health insurance to realize the right to health?
There has been growing recognition
in the international community that health should be considered a human right,
but much less attention has been paid to the ensuing legal obligation to provide
international assistance, says a team of authors from Medecins Sans Frontieres.
"Poor states can blame rich states for not honoring their obligation
to provide assistance, thus leaving poor states with insufficient means to
meet their core obligations." The second reason is the notion of "progressive
realization," i.e. the recognition that economic, social, and cultural
rights cannot be fully realized in a short period of time.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/12/do_we_need_a_wo.php
D.C.
to Dedicate Settlement Funds to Health Care
The District of Columbia
City Council has voted to spend $245 million of its share of the nationwide
tobacco settlement on programs aimed at battling chronic diseases and other
health priorities, the Washington Post reported Dec. 20. The money will be
used to build new clinical facilities, especially to serve residents of the
city's east side, as well as funding emergency services and cancer and diabetes
prevention programs. A forthcoming Rand Corp. study will be used to guide
the bulk of the spending. This is the first time that the District has used
its tobacco-settlement money for health-related programs.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/12/dc_to_dedicate.php
**Homelessness
UCLA
study finds a need for services that help homeless youth obtain health insurance
Youth with a history of
homelessness are a vulnerable population at high risk for negative health
outcomes. The findings suggest that facilitating health insurance coverage
for them may lead to increased use of outpatient care services, which may
prevent costly emergency room services for conditions that could have been
treated in the outpatient setting. There is a need for interventions geared
toward this group in facilitating health insurance coverage.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/12/ucla_study_find.php
**Hunger and Nutrition
Deaths
of severely malnourished children: identifying those most at risk
Severe malnutrition is responsible
for the deaths of millions of children every year. Research published in
PLoS Medicine has shown that certain clinical signs in severely malnourished
children can predict those who are most likely to die. This should help health
care workers focus their attentions on those who are most at risk.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/12/deaths_of_sever.php
**Substance Abuse
Overall
Youth Drug Use Down in 2006, But Survey Sees Trouble Brewing with Inhalants,
Prescription Drugs, Smoking
The number of American youths
who tell researchers that they used illicit drugs within the last year continues
to inch downward, but the annual Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey also found
stubbornly high levels of prescription-drug abuse and an end to the decline
in smoking among young teens. Use of inhalants did not increase in 2006,
according to the study, but inhalant use has been rising among American youth
in recent years.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/12/overall_youth_d.php
Youth
Exposure to TV Alcohol Ads Rising, CAMY Says
A proliferation of liquor
and other alcohol ads on cable TV has contributed to a 41-percent increase
in youth exposure to television alcohol advertising, according to a new report
from the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY). "More spending
on television, especially on cable, translates into kids seeing more and more
alcohol ads," said David Jernigan, executive director of CAMY.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/12/youth_exposure.php
Bush
Signs STOP Act into Law
The STOP (Sober Truth on
Preventing) Underage Drinking Act, called the most significant piece of underage-drinking
prevention legislation passed by Congress in years, has been signed into law
by President Bush. The "…signing into law of our nation's first comprehensive
legislation on underage drinking is a significant step toward bringing this
national public-health crisis out of the shadows."
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/12/bush_signs_stop.php
