U.S.News & World Report Tumblelog

“Sleep disorders may contribute to behaviors that resemble ADHD during the day,” says Kevin Smith, a pediatric psychologist at Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics in Kansas City, Mo. A study published in March in Pediatrics analyzed more than 11,000 children over a period of six years, beginning at 6 months of age, and revealed that children suffering from sleep-disordered breathing—including snoring, breathing through the mouth, and apnea, where the child seems to stop breathing for several seconds at a time—had a higher incidence of behavioral and emotional issues such as hyperactivity, aggressiveness, depression, and anxiety. In fact, they were 50 to 90 percent more likely to develop ADHD-like symptoms than were normal breathers. And those children who suffered most severely from all three sleep-disordered breathing behaviors at around age 2 and a half had the highest risk for hyperactivity.

The cinnamon challenge was sparked by the emergence of YouTube videos showing people swallowing large quantities of the common kitchen spice without water. Upon finishing the challenge, contenders are often immediately hit with a severe coughing fit and sometimes vomiting. But these are just side effects of the challenge’s more serious consequences, which can include lung collapse, pneumonia, and pulmonary edema (the abnormal build-up of fluid in the lungs).

Researchers assigned 4 year olds to watch Spongebob or the slower-paced educational cartoon Caillou for nine minutes, or to draw freely with markers. Immediately after, the kids took mental function tests to see how well they solved problems, followed rules, and remembered what they were told, for example. SpongeBob viewers performed significantly worse than their peers, according to findings published today in Pediatrics. Only 15 percent passed the problem-solving task, for example, compared with 35 percent of Caillou viewers and 70 percent of those who spent time drawing. Fast-paced shows revolving around unrealistic events are likely detrimental because they overstimulate the brain, making it harder to maintain focus, plan, organize, and control inappropriate behaviors, the researchers speculate.

“Our findings suggest that parents should not be overly concerned that late-talking at age 2 years will result in enduring language and psychological difficulties for the child. There is good evidence that most late-talking children will catch up to the language skills of other children,” said Whitehouse. “The best thing that parents can do is provide a rich language-learning environment for their children,” he added. “This means getting down on the floor and playing with their child, talking with them, reading to them, interacting with them at their level.”

“When confronted by one or more job demands, a flexible schedule provides working moms with alternatives for meeting those demands while caring for their newborns. When working moms are better able to control their work environment and adapt, work-related stress is less likely to become a family issue,” study author Dawn S. Carlson, a professor of management at Baylor University, said in a university news release.

When children between the ages of 4 and 8 were placed on a diet containing no processed foods for five weeks, ADHD symptoms diminished in 78 percent of them. And, when suspected trouble foods were reintroduced into the diet, two-thirds of the children experienced a relapse in symptoms.

1. A 529 college savings account: According to a recent survey by TD Ameritrade, 57 percent of adults have never heard of a 529 plan, even though financial advisors agree that it’s the smartest way to save for college tuition. The accounts, which are sponsored by states, allow parents to invest after-tax money that then grows tax-free and remains tax-free if you use it to pay for tuition.

1. Budget for any support you plan to provide. LeFavor knew he and his wife wanted to pay for their sons’ college educations, so they planned for that expense in advance. “It was already built into the budget. I had thought about it from the time I got married, and before we had kids. We put aside money for later,” he says.

According to Mandell’s review of decades of research, children who have to ask their parents for money each time they need it, whether it’s for clothes or lunch, tend to fare better with money later in life. Perhaps because they are forced to think about what money is being used for, he says. “The kids who have to ask for the money have higher financial literacy than those who get allowances,” says Mandell.