DadTalk

More Stories on Obesity

As I’ve written previously, the media is just realizing that obesity is a big story – please excuse the pun. Sure enough, there are so many stories on obesity this weekend that the best I can do is give you a sampling of headlines and links:

“How we Grew So Big” looks at the overall issue of obesity in America. (Some stories may not be available online.) – Time Magazine

Americans know they have a problem and blame themselves for their lack of willpower. (This is based on the Time project) – Los Angeles Times

At the same time, Americans are in denial about their weight problems. Also: Pregnant women who gain too much weight have more trouble losing it later in life. – The Associated Press (via Chicago Sun-Times)

The demand for stomach stapling is steadily increasing with 100,000 such procedures a year in the United States. – The Associated Press

The more time Americans spend in cars commuting, the heavier they get. – The Associated Press

Memorial Day is Parent’s Day

I never thought of it this way before, but Memorial Day is really Parent’s Day. After all, more than 1 million soldiers – children of parents and often parents themselves – have died fighting for our nation since the Civil War, according to The Arizona Republic.

And war has everything to do with fatherhood. For some families, joining the military is an expected and proud tradition. For others, it’s a way to afford a college education. And for still others, it’s simply a career they love.

A son joining the military can even put the family name at risk. For one family in Kokomo, Miss., the loss of their son meant the name Chance would not be passed down to a fourth generation, reports The Associated Press. “When Jimmy died, the name died too, I reckon,” says James A. Chance Jr. of Kokomo Mississippi.

Said another parent who lost an only son: “He was the only male Uhl to pass the name on. He was the hope for the family name,” said his mother Joan Uhl from Amherst, Wis.

With the U.S. casualty rate continuing to climb, according to The Associated Press, that’s bad news for families. In the last two months the death rate has reached two a day, 69 in May as of this writing. Most are being killed by roadside bombs. More than 800 troops have died since the Iraq War began.

Such statistics makes for a lot of worried parents this Memorial Day. For others, it’s about healing after the loss of a spouse or child. One mother, Adeline Maher, wants the world to remember the good things soldiers have been doing in Iraq, reports yet another Associated Press story:

The press never tells you the good things. They always show you and tell you the bad things. They never show the soldiers playing with the kids and giving them gum.

Maher, who lost her son William, has a point. While we get lost in the politics surrounding the prison and other scandals, the men and women who are sent to Iraq are generally good people motivated to do good things, because they were raised by moral and caring parents.

Additional stories:
Almost half of killed soldiers come from small towns – The Associated Press.

A daughter learns about her father’s military experiences from a file folder – Louisville Courier-Journal

More on Eating Right

Forget the low-carbohydrate diet craze and eat your fruits and vegetables, a federal committee is expected to tell Americans next year. Despite the recent fawning over the Atkins diet, the agency that put together the ubiquitous food pyramid is expected to shoot down the fad in favor of a more balanced approach to eating, reports The Washington Post.

The key is overall health. While everyone agrees that something must be done about the obesity epidemic, the U.S. Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee is worried about things like nutritional deficiencies found in American adults and children.

Writes the Post:

Of particular concern to the 13-member committee are findings of national food surveys showing that adults aren't consuming enough food rich in vitamins A, C and E as well as folate, calcium, magnesium, zinc, potassium and fiber. Children are falling short on vitamin E, folic acid, calcium, magnesium, potassium and fiber.

What really worries scientists, though, is all the meat and fat Americans are eating, something the low-carb diets demand. The potential for higher cholesterol and heart disease is immense.

The big problem the agency faces when the guidelines are released next year is to get fad-lovers to listen.

Cut Out Additives, Turn OffTV, to Reduce Hyperactivity

I quipped in a recent post: “How can you determine if a toddler is hyperactive? They’re all hyperactive.” Well, it’s time to take a closer look, because whether real or imagined, the cases of children with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder have been skyrocketing. And while no one agrees on just what percentages of American children have the condition, a range of 3 percent to 12 percent can’t be ignored.

There must be some underlying reason for the huge increase of diagnoses, whether it’s overzealousness of clinicians or a real phenomenon. I won’t deal with the clinicians in this post. Instead, we’ll assume for now that the sperm and eggs of Americans haven’t gone completely bad, so the two most common theories revolve around food and television.

Allergies to food staples such as wheat, milk, chocolate, sugar and eggs have been a suspected culprit for a generation. But increasing food colorings and preservatives into children’s diet may also heighten hyperactivity, parents told British researchers.
The chemicals tested revved up children diagnosed with attention deficit disorder and those who were not, reports WebMD.

And while removing the chemicals from a clinically-diagnosed child did not necessarily cure him or her, it did ease the condition. Still, researchers warned that the study is not objective enough to prove additives are a culprit in hyperactivity.

While it’s relatively easy to blame a chemical on hyperactivity, it’s a bit tougher to understand how television can impact the brain development of a 2-year-old. But a recent study that I reported earlier implies that fast-changing video images may determine how the brain learns to cope with the environment.
In fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics suspected this was true and in 1999 began recommending zero screen time for children under 2.

If you accept all this, then the scary part is just how much television young children are watching. For the big picture, take a long break and read this article in the Los Angeles Times, but here’s a summary of how much kids are watching:

•Children under 6 watch an average two hours a day;
•36% live in a home where the TV is on most of the day.
•One in four children under 3 have a TV in their own room.

The consequences of all this television may go a lot deeper than mere attention deficit disorder, adds the Times. Brain imaging shows that for children, watching television may impact overall development of intelligence. Before you completely freak out, keep in mind that all this research is a general indictment of TV, but not specific programming. Comparative studies between Road Runner and Baby Einstein have not been made.

Regardless, it’s wise to proceed with caution. Why give your children food with additives if there is no real reason? It’s not that difficult to find unadulterated food even in huge grocery chains. And why have the TV on all day for noise when you can listen to some quality music? If, for your sanity you need the electronic babysitter as we do, pick videos carefully and avoid commercial TV shows. In the meantime, I’ll keep looking for more information.

Resources:
Here’s Medical News Today’s explanation of Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder.

Here’s a link to the Kaiser Family Foundation study on how much television kids watch.

Cold Sperm Fertilizes Warm Story

It’s time for a story with a happy ending. In the late 1970s, a British teenager finds out he has testicular cancer. After a few years of radiation treatment, chemotherapy and surgery, the cancer is gone, but so is his ability to have children.

Fast-forward to today and our young cancer victim has joined the ranks of dads. How, you ask? Well, because of the foresight of St. Mary’s Hospital in Manchester, England, his sperm was frozen and after 21 years it turns out it was pretty fresh, reports The Scotsman.

This is good news for men who know they want to be dads someday, but face an illness that threatens their fertility. Oh, and the baby boy may make it into the Guinness Book of World Records, since it’s the oldest out-of-body sperm known to have been used in a successful birth.

Happy birthday and congratulations, little guy.

Here’s a Plate Full of Atkins Stories

I can barely write down the words: A-T-K-I-N-S L-O-W C-A-R-B D-I-E-T. While I’ve spent time harping about the dangers of obesity, I’m not a lover of fad diets, and this one particularly bothers me. Still, I have a smorgasbord of stories to satiate your reading palette.

If you’re a lover of the diet: You might want to read the Los Angeles Times, which is touting a study that shows eating tons of meat and fat and no carbohydrates will shed pounds at least for a while. The best news is the weight generally comes off faster than low-fat diets while not worsening cholesterol or triglyceride levels. Just be warned that over a long period of time, the low-fat diets are more effective.

If you’re a lover or hater of the diet: You can go to Consumer Reports and read that while the Atkins diet does help, there are better diets out there. Regardless, the magazine reviewed the claims and taste of some of the low-carb products out there, but you’ll need to get the magazine or a web subscription. By the way, if anyone out there thinks these foods are delicious, I have an island to sell you.

If you are a hater of the diet: Food conglomerates have decided that the fad has probably peaked and will drop back into the niche category, reports The Washington Post. Sure, the Atkins boosters will get a lift from studies like the one I mentioned above, but the big-gun food companies are already waiting for the next big craze.

Previously:
Battle lines Are Drawn in the War on Obesity
No Paucity of Words on Obesity
Take the Fizz Out of Kids

Are You a Paranoid Dad?

It’s time to take the paranoid dad-to-be test:

Question 1: Did you read to your wife every scary pregnant-woman health story you could find?

Question 2: Did you freak every time she had a glass of wine and then constantly fret that your baby was going to be born with fetal alcohol syndrome?

Questions 3: Did you prohibit your wife from getting her nails polished because you envisioned your March-of-Dimes poster child if she inhaled the toxic fumes?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, I have the perfect story for you in The New York Times. It turns out dad, that you’re not alone, because apparently a lot of pregnant women are even MORE paranoid than you are.

Some fears are right on, while others are way off, The Times reports. But one thing is for sure, chat rooms and email are speeding up the old wives’ tales circuit of truths and untruths. Some highlights:

Myth: While there are toxic chemicals in nail polishes and removers, there probably isn’t enough to threaten a baby’s development.
Fact: Chocolate Mousse might be dangerous because of raw eggs, which can lead to food poisoning.

Myth: One glass of wine will cause fetal alcohol syndrome.
Fact: Women should never take acne treatment Accutane while pregnant because the risk of birth defects is extremely high.

If you’re still feeling a bit nervous about all those risk factors, I found a home that might ease your paranoid fears. Actually, I’m not sure if Camino de Robles was ever completed, but if so the home-fortress was not only designed to be brush fire resistant, but also germ resistant, reported Popular Mechanics in 2002. Ducts, counters and even doorknobs were supposed to be made out of germ-killing steel. Apparently, not all steels are created alike.

However, if an 8,700-square-foot, germproof home on the Southern California Coast is out of your price range, then you’re pretty much out of luck. I suggest you stop reading newspapers and websites like these.

Battle of the Bullies

While my son played blissfully in the sandbox, I watched the theater known as the park. Now Showing: A gaggle of boys shoving a smaller, younger child to the ground. Both times the boy ran crying to his mother, who did not seem overly concerned. The mom didn’t confront the boys or their parents, though she eventually chased them away from her son’s toys. End show.

Although this incident was relatively minor, its relevance was poignant as I read an Associated Press story later in the day on how parents are using the courts to battle bullying in schools. In Kansas City, a student dropped out of high school because of taunts that he was gay even though he wasn’t. A videotape of a boy who was attacked on a school bus cost the Eugene, Ore., School District $10,000.

Bullying seems to be a trend. In April I reported that a Baltimore girl beat up a playmate so severely she was in a coma for three weeks. The bully was egged on by her mother. Not only is violence by girls increasing, but computer savvy female bullies use the internet as a way to circulate vicious rumors, reports the San Antonio Express-News.

Says Rachel Simmons, author of Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls:

The Internet is used to take the bathroom wall and put it in every house at the click of a button. They don't have concrete ability to understand the impact of pressing send to 25 people.

Is such behavior the fault of the schools or the parents? Both, of course. While it may be difficult to monitor children’s activities nowadays, parents and teachers cannot shirk these responsibilities any more than teaching them algebra. That’s because the perpetrators and their victims suffer long-lasting self-esteem damage that follows them into their adult years. But once the bullying has reached the courts, the parents and teachers have already failed.

Superheroes Become Super Villains

There’s a fine line between a Superhero and a Super villain, the men’s rights group Fathers 4 Justice is learning. That’s because their latest stunt of throwing purple flour on British Prime Minister Tony Blair is continuing to backfire in the mainstream media.

Articles in The Daily Telegraph and The Guardian slam the group for committing childish antics at the expense of their cause. The Guardian sums it all up just fine:

The men involved in these protests say on their website they try to adopt tactics which will make their children go, “wow, that's my dad.” In reality the high-profile protests embarrass children and often frighten their mothers. “I wasn't surprised when I saw the House of Commons thing,” said Ms O'Connor (the ex-wife of Fathers 4 Justice founder Matt O’Connor). “Matthew is a very active campaigner and his aim is to get publicity. But I think all children tend to be embarrassed by their parents and mine are at the age that they cringe when he gets on the television.”

The Guardian further assails their cause by pointing out that less than 2 percent of fathers had been refused contact with their children. I’m sure there is more to the story than that, but it will be tough for Fathers 4 Justice to fight for men’s rights if they obfuscate real issues with stupid pranks.

Previously:

Purple Powder Attack Casts Haze Over Movement

Blair Seeing Purple After Attack by Fathers’ Rights Group

Purple Powder AttackCasts Haze Over Movement

As predicted, Fathers 4 Justice may have done more harm than good for their cause by attacking British Prime Minister Tony Blair with purple flour, reports The Scotsman. The stunt is being viewed as a terrorist act by the British government instead of civil disobedience.

Lawyers and women’s groups are complaining that a climate of fear is brewing as Fathers 4 Justice and other activists are taking increasingly radical actions, reports The UK Independent. Last fall family lawyers were sent hoax letter bombs. Fathers 4 Justice denied responsibility, but this is not the type of publicity that will help their cause. If the public views them as extremists, no matter how strong their case, the general public will dismiss them.

Fortunately for the organization, at least some media continues to give them a fair shake and not view them as a fringe movement. The article in the Independent appears fairly balanced. Likewise, Ron Davis, the main suspect in the purple flour incident, gets a fair shake in a London Evening Standard profile.

The profile reveals a classic nasty divorce. Davis’s ex-wife claims he was abusive and controlling. Friends of Davis say he was a wonderful father who deeply loved his children. There is probably truth to both sides. But Davis’s complaint was that he was blocked from seeing his children at all, which is extreme.

Let’s be clear hear. There are a lot of disturbed men out there and not all men deserve full custody of their children. But unless a father is proven to be violent, abusive or criminal, he should be allowed to spend time with his children. There also are some disturbed women out there who at the urging of their lawyers lie about their husbands to gain full custody.

The losers, of course, are the children. If a mother tells her child that dad is evil, she is doing harm to that child. Ditto, if a good dad or mom is kept away from the child. If the parents fight and bicker for years, harm is being done to the child. If Fathers 4 Justice seeks to be successful in winning more rights for divorced fathers, then they better keep those guiding values in mind before pulling stupid stunts like throwing purple powder on their Prime Minister.