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EXTRACTS FROM THE “OTHER” JOURNALS
RELATING TO CHILDREN, YOUTH AND FAMILIES —
IN THE FIELDS OF HEALTH,
SUBSTANCE ABUSE, EDUCATION, PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE ...
May 2007
Teens with more pocket money may drink more
Teenagers with large allowances may be more likely to become problem drinkers, research conducted in the UK hints.
In a study of more than 10,000 15- and 16-year-olds, British researchers found that teens with larger allowances were more likely to drink frequently, binge or drink on street corners and other public places. The large majority of the teenagers in the study -- 88 percent -- had tried alcohol at some point. But risky drinking was particularly common among teenagers with more pocket money, presumably because they were better able to buy their own alcohol. About one-third of teens in the survey said they bought their own alcohol, and they were six times more likely than their peers to drink in public places, three times more likely to drink frequently and twice as likely to binge on a regular basis.
The findings suggest that parents could help curb problem drinking by keeping tabs on how their children spend their money, according to lead study author Mark A. Bellis, of Liverpool John Moores University. The results also call for better enforcement of laws prohibiting alcohol sales to minors, he told Reuters Health. Bellis and his colleagues report the findings in the online journal Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention and Policy.
Besides risk factors for problem drinking, the survey also identified some protective factors. For example, teens who drank alcohol with their parents in a family setting -- like having wine with dinner -- were less likely to binge or drink in other particularly risky ways. "Put simply," Bellis said, "by the age of 14 most children in the UK have drank some alcohol, and they are either learning to drink it from parents in a secure home environment or from peers in a park, bar or on a street corner."
Teens who learn from their parents may be learning how to drink moderately and responsibly, he noted. Parents may be able to lower the odds of problem drinking by talking to their teenagers about "how to and how not to" drink alcohol, Bellis said. But they should also make sure they know how their kids are spending their money, he noted. In this study, teens whose parents gave them more than 10 pounds -- or roughly $20 -- each week were more likely to use alcohol in particularly risky ways.
Parents are not, however, the only ones with a responsibility, according to Bellis. They need help, he said, from strict enforcement of underage sales laws -- which, in the UK, apply to teenagers younger than 18. "Those establishments that continue to sell alcohol to people underage should be penalized with the full force of the law," Bellis said.
SOURCE
Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention and Policy, online
Amy Norton
28 May 2007
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SCOTLAND
Youths cut drink, drugs and smoking
Fewer children in Scotland are smoking, drinking and
using drugs, according to a new report.
The survey of children aged 13 and 15 found behaviour had changed
significantly between 2004 and 2006, with experts saying that more
responsible parenting and a "trickle-down" effect from the smoking ban
is behind the apparent shift away from unhealthy lifestyles.
Researchers found that smoking among 13-year-olds had
declined since 1998 from 9 per cent to 3 per cent among boys, and from
11 per cent to 5 per cent among girls of the same age. Among
15-year-olds, smoking had declined from a peak in 1996, from 30 per cent
for both boys and girls to 12 per cent for boys and 18 per cent for
girls. The proportion of youngsters who reported having had an alcoholic
drink in the past week fell from 20 per cent of 13-year-olds in 2004 to
14 per cent, while for 15-year-olds the proportion dropped from 43 per
cent to 36 per cent.
Meanwhile, the percentage of 15-year-old boys who said they had used
drugs in the past month fell from 21 in 2004 to 14, and from 20 per cent
to 12 per cent for 15-year-old girls. Thirteen-year-olds also reported a
similar decline in drug use. Tom Wood, chair of the Scottish Association
of Alcohol and Drugs Action Teams, gave the Executive's Scottish Schools
Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey, a cautious welcome. "It's
encouraging, but one report does not make a trend. We tend to assume the
worst, but sometimes that is misguided. "Parents are more conscious
about issues around drugs and alcohol now. A few years ago the attitude
among some parents was that this could never happen to them. But in the
past few years the message has got across that alcohol or drug abuse
affects everyone."
A spokesman for ASH Scotland said: "One of the most likely explanations
is the effort that has gone into raising awareness of the risks of
smoking." The survey found that 4 per cent of 13-year-olds and 15 per
cent of 15-year-olds were regular smokers. Meanwhile, some 57 per cent
of 13-year-olds had consumed an alcoholic drink at least once, compared
to 84 per cent of 15-year-olds.
Cannabis was the most frequently abused drug, with 11 per cent of
15-year-olds and 2 per cent of 13-year-olds saying they had used it in
the past month. Shona Robison, the minister for public health, said: "It
is very encouraging that this report shows a decrease in the number of
youngsters using drugs, alcohol and tobacco. However, it is concerning
that a large number of teenagers are still causing harm to themselves
and the communities in which they live through their substance use." But
Jack Law, chief executive of Alcohol Focus Scotland, said that while
children may not be drinking as often, when they do they are drinking
more.
Michael Howie and Lyndsay Moss
30 May 2007
http://news.scotsman.com/health.cfm?id=840992007
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Dyslexia ‘is used by parents as excuse for slow children’
Alexandra Blair, Education Correspondent A leading academic has reignited the row over dyslexia by questioning whether the learning disability exists.
Julian Elliott, an educational psychologist at Durham University, says that he has found no evidence to identify the condition and believes that it should be rediagnosed as a reading difficulty. His comments come as the number of students who receive disability allowances at university has risen to 35,500 and lecturers are complaining that ever more are given extra time to complete their exams and coursework. Professor Elliott has told The Times today that dyslexia has become a social fig leaf for middle-class parents who do not want their children to be labelled as low-achievers. “After years of working with parents I have seen how they don’t want their child to be considered lazy, thick or stupid. If they get called this medically diagnosed term, dyslexic, then it is a signal to all that it’s not to do with intelligence,” he said.
Professor Elliott added that dyslexics suffered similar symptoms, such as clumsiness and letter reversal, to those who could not read. Dyslexia is believed to affect one in ten people, but it frequently goes unrecognised in schools because teachers have little or no training. Research by the National Union of Teachers found that fewer than one in seven teachers felt confident in identifying the condition in pupils and less than 9 per cent felt confident in teaching a dyslexic child.
This month Xtraordinary People, the dyslexia charity, was awarded almost £1 million to train teachers in England to screen children for dyslexia and enable them to cope with the condition. However, some university lecturers say that students are milking the system increasingly and claiming to suffer from the condition. One lecturer at a university in the South East said: “On one degree course I teach, about one quarter of the year get extra time in exams, extra help with their coursework and other assistance because they have this label. You become quite cynical.”
John Rack, head of research and development with the charity Dyslexia Action, said that more people were claiming disability allowances at university – totalling £78.4 million a year – but that this was often regarded as proof of wider participation. In the past, people suffering from the learning disability would not have had the confidence to apply to university and no allowance would have been given for their condition, Dr Rack said. “It is good that more people with disabilities are in higher education and possibly more are aware about how to get help,” he said. “But there is no evidence to suggest that more people are being diagnosed with dyslexia at university or college.”
Dr Rack, who has been investigating the prevalence of dyslexia among prisoners, said that the condition was not a middle-class phenomenon. “There is ample evidence that dyslexia exists across the spectrum and the argument that there is no consistent means of identifying it is one cited by people who don’t know enough about the subject,” he said. Dr Rack said that it was not just dyslexics who received extra time in A levels and GCSE exams. Those with reading difficulties would also be granted longer, he said.
Alexandra Blair
28 May 2007
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/education/article1848281.ece
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Study shows childrens' inactivity
A study of South Asian and white inner city schoolchildren has found "epidemic" levels of physical inactivity.
The survey funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) found most children do not take enough exercise. It encompassed more than 3,500 pupils from five inner city secondary schools in Leicester. Only half the children surveyed walked to school, with South Asian children particularly less likely to do so. And half of the pupils spent four hours or more a day watching television or videos or playing computer games. Family history of diabetes or heart disease in parents is a risk factor for development of the conditions in their children. But the researchers found that children with such a family history were just as likely to have sedentary behaviours as those without.
Professor Kamlesh Khunti, one of the University of Leicester academics behind the study, said: "People of South Asian origin comprise significant-sized minority ethnic populations in many countries worldwide. "A consistent finding in South Asian migrant populations, wherever they are located, is a higher incidence and prevalence of premature coronary heart disease compared with the local population. "Metabolic abnormalities precede the development of diabetes by some years and risk factors for cardiovascular disease in children often persist into adulthood. There is also evidence of increased risk of cardiovascular risk factors in children of South Asian origin compared to white children."
He said the need to put obesity prevention measures into place was a "major target" for the Government and healthcare professionals. Prof Khunti added: "Inactive behaviour, such as watching television, may predict subsequent adult overweight and obesity in children and adolescent. This study shows that overall the physical activity levels in inner city school children are very low and parents, schools and community health providers need to address the results of these findings to reduce their future risks of developing diabetes and heart disease in children."
PA News
28 May 2007
http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/society/health/study+shows+childrens+inactivity/534267
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Type 2 Diabetes Takes Toll on Teens
With the incidence of type 2 diabetes and its complications among young people on the increase worldwide, aggressive measures are needed to treat and prevent the disease, two diabetes experts say. Their article appears in the May 26 issue of The Lancet. "The complications associated with adolescents' type 2 diabetes seems to behave differently than in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes," said article co-author Dr. Orit Pinhas-Hamiel, of the Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes Department at Sheba Medical Center in Tel-Hashomer, Ramat-Gan, Israel.
These complications may be present at the time of diagnosis, and their rate of progression may be higher than in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes, Pinhas-Hamiel said. "We need to develop improved approaches to awareness and early treatment of type 2 diabetes and associated abnormalities."
These complications, including high blood pressure, kidney disease, eye disease and problems with blood fat levels, may already be present when type 2 diabetes is diagnosed, while they rarely exist at the onset of type 1 diabetes, noted Pinhas-Hamiel and her colleague Dr. Philip Zietler, from the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Denver. "In addition, studies to date suggest that early onset of type 2 diabetes is associated with a more rapid progression of these complications compared with adolescents with type 1 diabetes," Pinhas-Hamiel said.
Moreover, psychiatric problems are also associated with type 2 diabetes. In a study in Philadelphia, one in five such teens suffered from conditions such as depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder or other psychiatric conditions.
Another study found that the deaths of seven young black males, aged 13 to 21, with undiagnosed diabetes, met the criteria for high blood sugar and diabetic coma, the authors added. Type 2 diabetes also puts unborn infants at risk. In a Canadian study of 51 pregnant adolescent girls with type 2 diabetes, only 35 had live births, and the pregnancy loss rate was 38 percent, the authors reported.
Pinhas-Hamiel thinks that adolescents with type 2 diabetes should be screened for signs of these complications when they are first diagnosed. "In addition, there is a need for well-established guidelines for the initiation of antihypertensive and anti-lipid treatments for adolescents with type 2 diabetes," she said. "Type 2 diabetes mellitus in children and adolescents is associated with significant morbidity and mortality." One expert thinks this review confirms that type 2 diabetes in teens has become a serious public health problem. "Recent studies have confirmed what most of us have long suspected, that the rate of what used to be called adult onset diabetes is rising rapidly in children and adolescents," said Dr. David L. Katz, director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine.
This study confirms another suspicion that even greater dangers are around the next corner should current trends persist, Katz said. "In adults, type 2 diabetes is a potent risk factor for cardiovascular disease and other complications, from kidney failure to nerve damage," Katz said. "There is every reason to expect, and now findings to confirm, that these relationships hold in youth as well. When formerly adult onset diabetes develops in 7-year-olds, the threat of heart disease in 17-year-olds clearly looms," he said. "Anyone who was waiting for an even more strident alarm before accepting that epidemic obesity and type 2 diabetes in our children is a public health crisis of the first order -- this is it," Katz said.
Another expert thinks that overweight adolescents who lead a sedentary life need to be tested for diabetes. "Here we have a situation where we are not examining our youngsters for diabetes, and they already have complications present or developing," Dr. Stanley Mirsky, of Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City and a board member of the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, said in a statement. "We have to test these kids that spend all their time in front of the televisions or computers eating junk food instead of being outside exercising and eating right, especially when there already is a family history of diabetes," Mirsky said.
Source: The Lancet
24 May 2007
http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/health/feeds/hscout/2007/05/24/hscout604920.html
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Study of youth's gender attitudes
By the time they are adults, men and women have distinctive attitudes about the roles women should play in society, but little is known about how these views develop. A Penn State study tracked youth's attitudes for most of the school age and adolescent years and found varying patterns of change according to gender, birth order, parent's influences and other factors.
"We charted the course of gender attitudes over time, and studied characteristics of families and family members that helped to shape the way youth's attitudes changed over time," says Dr. Ann Crouter, Penn State professor of human development and family studies and lead author of the study which is published in the current issue of the journal Child Development.
"Several different patterns of change emerged, suggesting that there is no single course of gender attitude development from middle childhood through adolescence. Instead, change patterns were different for girls versus boys, for firstborns versus secondborns, for youth with a sister versus a brother, and for youth with parents who had more versus less traditional attitudes," added Crouter, also director, Social Science Research Institute and of the Children, Youth, and Families Consortium, both at Penn State.
Other authors are Shawn D. Whiteman, assistant professor, child development and family studies, Purdue University; and Susan McHale, professor of human development and family studies, and D. Wayne Osgood, professor of crime, law justice and sociology, both at Penn State.
This study was the first longitudinal study to track youth's gender attitudes over a long period of time, specifically from about ages 7 to 19. The research focused on a sample of 201 two-parent, predominantly White, working and middle class families who were first interviewed when the firstborn child in the family was about 10 years old and the secondborn child was about 7 and a half years old. Two siblings and their mothers and fathers were interviewed at home every year for 9 years, until firstborns were about 19 and secondborns were about 16.5 years old.
During each home interview, family members rated the traditionality of their gender attitudes, describing how much they agreed with statements like: "Sons in a family should be given more help to go to college than daughters;" or "In general, the father should have greater authority than the mother in making decisions about raising children."
Most youth became less traditional over time, but the attitudes of firstborn boys with brothers and traditional parent were the most traditional to begin with, and became more traditional over time, the researchers write. Similarly, girls and secondborn boys who had parents with more traditional attitudes and brothers did not become as nontraditional over time as other offspring, suggesting that having traditional parents and a brother is a potent combination that supports the development of traditionality in gender role attitudes.
"Patterns for firstborns and secondborns were somewhat different, with secondborns tending to become less traditional in middle childhood but endorsing more traditional attitudes again beginning at about age 15," Crouter notes. "We speculated that peers may be an important influence on secondborns."
In society at large, attitudes about gender roles are gradually becoming less traditional and more egalitarian, but the researchers found that even in the face of this widespread shift, there are individuals who are staunchly conservative about the roles of women and men. The findings suggest that gender attitudes take shape across childhood and adolescence, and that the cues youth take about attitudes come, at least in part, from experiences with parents and siblings.
Source: Child Development
20 May 2007
http://www.news-medical.net/?id=25359
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Mom and dad spend more time with the first-born child
Parents spend significantly more time with their first-born child than with their younger kids when the children are between 4 and 13, according to a recent study.
The research, conducted by Joe Price, a Cornell University Ph.D. student, found that although everyone gets equal attention on a given day, the younger children do not receive the same “quality time” as the first child did when he was that age. Experts worldwide say that lack of positive attention can increase children’s chances of dropping out of high school or being arrested.
Price, 28, used the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ American Time Use Survey to track how parents spent time with their first-born child. He then compared that with the time another, near-identical family with a second-born child of the same age, spent together. The results, Price said, made him think about how he has divided his time among his own three children. According to his findings, the first-born child in a two-child family receives 20 to 30 minutes more quality time each day, with big brother getting 3,000 more mom and dad hours between ages of 4 and 13. The numbers only increase between a first and third or first and fourth child.
Although they aren’t proud of it, some parents recognize the inequality in their own families. “Everything they do is new,” Bryan Boudreaux, 38, of Nesconset, N.Y., said of the oldest of his three children. Sheepish about favoring his 12-year-old son, Boudreaux, a law-enforcement officer, said, “By the time you get around to the second or third, it’s like, ‘Oh, yeah, that’s great.’”
Audrey Morrison of Glenview, Ill., also feels guilty that she and her husband focus too much on their eldest, 7-year-old Katie, rather than their two younger children. “When it’s your oldest, you’re looking forward to it,” said Morrison, 43. “With the other ones, it’s not new to you. I feel bad saying this; I’m not proud of it.”
Morrison, a management consultant, said that she used to shop with Katie for American Girl Bitty Baby doll accessories. Katie couldn’t have cared less, but mom was excited. Now that 5-year-old Maggie is ready for the dolls — and probably more interested than Katie was — her mother doesn’t indulge in toy dress-up much anymore. She tries to balance her time, reviewing spelling words with Katie and then helping Maggie and her twin brother, Bobby, make birthday invitations one night in late January.
Parents who favor their first-born aren’t necessarily neglectful. As Price notes, some parents grow more efficient over the years and no longer need an hour to give multiplication quizzes or get everyone dressed in the morning. Additionally, by the time the second tot is born, mom and dad may move up the corporate ladder and have more disposable income. Spending more time at the office as a new executive has its downside, but indulging in special gifts or a long vacation can be beneficial.
Another reason little siblings may spend less time with their parents is that they have older siblings to pitch in with entertainment duties. Katie Morrison, for example, has turned into quite the stage director. Organizing a cast that includes stuffed animals and her brother and sister, Katie arranges ticket sales, makes a rudimentary set and puts on shows (where she is the star, of course). But leaving everything to others can have its downside. Years of research have shown that children who do not spend time reading, playing or eating dinner with their parents complete fewer years of education, are arrested more and earn lower wages. Such children “don’t feel cared for. They don’t feel understood and accepted and valued,” said Martha Edwards, the director of the Center for the Developing Child and Family at the Ackerman Institute for the Family in Manhattan. Even if parents are busy, experts say, they should make sure that whatever little time they spend with their children is “quality time.” That includes reading, playing, doing homework and talking, according to Price.
Susan Lazarow, of Manhattan’s Upper East Side, has the gnawing feeling that her time with daughter Amanda, 3, doesn’t always fit that description. Lazarow home-schools her older daughter, 5-year-old Alexa, and Amanda sits in on the lessons. Alexa “requires my attention. So Amanda might be in the room, but she might not be getting my full attention,” Lazarow, 39, said recently while watching the girls participate in an art class at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Doctors emphasize that parents should pay more attention to quality than sheer quantity of time. “You don’t apportion 15 minutes a day, you just do your best,” said Stanley Turecki, an adolescent psychiatrist and author of Normal Children Have Problems, Too. Turecki suggested scheduling interactive one-on-one activities — not movie dates — that interest the child.
http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp?Da=5/23/2007&Cat=5&Num=3
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STUDY
Most brain growth by age 12
Can you get smarter than a 5th grader? Of course, but new research
suggests some of the brain's basic building blocks for learning are near
adult levels by age 11 or 12.
It is the first finding from a study of how children's brains grow.
About 500 healthy newborns to teens, recruited from healthy families,
are having periodic brain MRIs as they grow. They also get a battery of
age-appropriate tests measuring IQ, language skills and memory.
The project, funded by the National Institutes of Health, is tricky
work. Move during an MRI, and the image blurs. Because scientists cannot
sedate healthy children, they are having to get crafty to keep their
subjects still. Tired toddlers are put in the scanners at naptime; mom
squeezes in for a cuddle, and earplugs help block the machines' noisy
banging. Six-year-olds wear earphones and watch favorite videos beamed
into the scanner.
The images measure how different parts of the brain grow and reorganize
throughout childhood. By overlapping them with the children's shifting
behavioral and intellectual abilities at each age, scientists expect to
produce a long-sought map of normal brain development in children
representative of the diverse U.S. population.
On Friday, scientists were publishing a sneak peek at some surprising
early results. Performance on a variety of cognitive tasks -- working
memory, vocabulary, spatial recognition, reasoning, calculation --
rapidly improves between age 6 and 10, but then levels off. "We don't
honestly know why," said Deborah Waber of Children's Hospital Boston,
who led the analysis published in the Journal of the International
Neuropsychological Society.
She added that this was a snapshot of 6- to 18-year-olds' abilities
during their first study visit. Results may change after researchers
observe each child's progress with age and compare their MRIs, she said.
The adolescent brain is still growing. Indeed, the region responsible
for things such as impulse control and moral judgment is the last to
mature, sometime in the early 20s, said Jordan Grafman of the NIH's
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
The study did not evaluate those kinds of skills. "It's an incomplete
picture," he said.
But the age finding does make sense, suggesting a foundation necessary
for higher learning is in place by puberty, said Dr. John Gilmore of the
University of North Carolina School of Medicine. The brain-development
specialist was not involved with the project. Scientists already knew
that before age 12, the brain is racing to wire itself, making more
connections between nerve cells that in turn enlarge vital regions. This
is a time of rapid learning, the reason it is easier to learn a foreign
language as a young child than as a teenager or adult, Gilmore said.
After puberty, the process slows and the brain "prunes" itself, focusing
less on installing new wiring than on programming and refining what is
already there. "Obviously, learning continues to happen," Gilmore said.
But the new study says that "by 10 or 12, kids have the basic building
blocks ... to learn."
Lauran Neergaard
18 May 2007
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0705171367may18,1,4472510.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true
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STUDY
Canadian Teen Pregnancy Rates Down, Sexually Transmitted Infections Rates Up
Canada's teenage pregnancy rate is at all-time low and teen abortions rates have also dropped according to a study. The research shows that the teen pregnancy rate in Canada fell about 40 percent between 1974 and 2003.
Alex McKay, research coordinator at the Sex Information and Education Council of Canada attributed the lower pregnancy rate to birth control, "it's due to greater contraceptive use, not teens having less sex." In fact, while teen pregnancy rates are down, sexually transmitted infections rates are up. He said that the birth control pill is being used as a primary form of contraception and it does not prevent against sexually transmitted infections.
McKay wants teenagers and young adults to know that preventing infections is just as important as preventing pregnancy. "One of the things we clearly need to do in this country is promote greater consistent condom use among all young people."
The study also shows regional differences in the number of teen pregnancies. Nunavut and Northwest Territories had the highest rates, while Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador had the lowest.
Research shows 33,000 teens get pregnant each year, with 18,000 abortions in that age group. About 15,000 Canadian teenagers have give birth each year. McKay found the trends are similar to those in the United States and Britain, but notes Canada's teen pregnancy rate is about half of what it is in the U.S. or England and Wales.
Source: Sex Information and Education Council of
Canada
19 May 2007
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7007393090
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Get real and save Indian youth from AIDS: official
Banning sex education on the grounds that it offends Indian sensibilities puts young lives at risk and jeopardizes the fight against AIDS, a top official said. Six Indian states have banned sex education for adolescents or refused to implement the curriculum, saying the course material was too explicit or that it was against Indian culture.
Some politicians accuse educators of encouraging permissiveness among young people. "We are not giving ideas to young people," National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) chief Sujatha Rao said. "They are already there." "Some people are in denial that young people experiment with sex. They need to get real," she told Reuters late on Wednesday.
Rao's comments came ahead of NACO presenting its latest and most ambitious anti-AIDS plan -- that asks for about $2 billion in government funding -- for cabinet approval on Thursday. The plan for 2007-12 will focus on prevention and increasing the number of people on first-line AIDS drugs.
India has the world's highest caseload for HIV/AIDS with 5.7 million HIV-positive people, according to the United Nations. Yet, sex is not spoken about openly in most parts of the country. An India Today magazine survey last year showed one in four Indian women aged between 18 and 30 in 11 cities had sex before marriage. Yet over 40 percent of all Indian women have not heard of AIDS, creating a dangerous combination of lack of knowledge and greater sexual activity. "There will be a huge negative impact if you don't provide sex education, given the vulnerability of young people to the virus," Rao said earlier, addressing MPs who are also doctors. "Are you more concerned about culture than the lives of young people?" she said.
The states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka have banned or refused to implement sex education curriculum introduced last year. The Hindu nationalist government in Madhya Pradesh said sex education had "no place in Indian culture" and plans to introduce yoga in schools instead.
India has 165,000 reported AIDS cases of which around 50,000 are in the age group of 15-29 years. "We are worried about our young people," Rao said.
Kamil Zaheer
17 May 2007
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Sex education creates storm in AIDS-stricken India
Moves to bring sex out of the closet in largely conservative India have kicked up a morality debate between educators who say sex education will reduce HIV rates, and critics who fear it will corrupt young minds.
It's an emotive issue pitting modernists against conservatives in a country with the world's highest number of HIV cases at about 5.7 million, a figure that experts say may balloon to over 20 million by 2010. Biology teacher Thelma Seqeira infuriates conservatives in India every time she tells her students about masturbation, condoms and homosexuality. Seqeira is doing exactly what India's federal government wants the country's 29 states and seven federally-administered regions to do -- fight the exponential spread of HIV/AIDS with information on safe sex. "Sex education is the best way to prepare my students for adolescence and protect them from HIV/AIDS," said Seqeira, who teaches at a private school in Maharashtra state, western India.
But the governments of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh don't agree. They have banned sex education at public schools because they say the learning modules are too explicit, and some pictures are too graphic. Private schools are able to continue the lessons, but many have watered them down to avoid controversy. The southern states of Kerala and Karnataka -- considered among India's progressive states with high literacy rates -- are also considering bans.
The Indian government has been unable to stop these bans even as it seeks to curb the spread of HIV. In India, about 86 percent of HIV infections occur through sexual intercourse, one key reason being that migrant workers in cities visit prostitutes and infect their wives when they return home.
Kama Sutra
Ignorance about sex is widespread in the land of the Kama Sutra, where
explicit sex acts are celebrated in ancient temple architecture. But at
home, mothers hesitate to talk to daughters about something as simple as
menstruation, and even the basics of the human reproductive system are
taught with much embarrassment in schools.
Experts are calling for a change in prudish attitudes to help counter the spread of HIV/AIDS. They say the winds of change must first blow through the country's schools. "Sex education does not mean you are encouraging sex which is how it's interpreted," Renuka Chowdhury, India's minister for women and child development, told Reuters last month. "Sex education is an insurance for your child. It will protect your child."
Among the course elements that have generated much heat are discussions on homosexuality and descriptions of sex acts, including masturbation.
Proponents of the ban say the sex education course -- modeled on those taught in many Western countries, will make students imbibe "decadent western morality". They point to polls showing that an increasing number of young people -- mostly India's moneyed youngsters that live in cities -- have postponed marriage, but not sex. An India Today poll revealed one in four Indian women between 18 and 30 in 11 cities had sex before marriage. One in three said she was open to having a sexual relationship even if she was not in love. "AIDS is spreading because of cultural decadence and sexual anarchy," said Shajar Khan, a prominent student leader who opposes sex education at schools.
Analysts say conservative political parties, such as the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, India's main opposition group, are panning sex education courses at least partly to make political capital out of opposing the West. But for parents bringing up children in rapidly modernizing India, sex education may be a matter of life and death. "The argument that if you teach about sex the children are going to run out and have sex is very unfounded," said Roshni Behuria, a mother of two girls. "Killing the education bit won't reduce the propensity towards sex. But it just might end up killing safe-sex ignorant young people."
Krittivas Mukherjee
14 May 2007
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Eating disorder may be missed in boys, non-whites
Doctors screening young people for eating disorders must look beyond the stereotype of these patients as being white teenaged girls in order to identify everyone who needs help, two new studies suggest.
"The instruments that we use as clinicians to diagnose eating disorders were all developed for women and tested on women," Dr. Rebecka Peebles, at the Stanford University School of Medicine in California, told Reuters Health. "They really may not be asking quite the right questions in men."
In research presented earlier this month at the International Eating Disorders Conference in Baltimore, Peebles and her team found that the weight of 104 boys with eating disorders treated at their hospital was close to the ideal for their height -- within 95%, on average. However, the boys had lost a higher percentage of their initial body weight than the 1,004 girls treated during the same time period, and were "quite ill" when they were hospitalized.
If boys are "quite disordered" at 95% of their ideal body weight, Peebles noted, current cut-offs that require patients to be at 85% or less of their ideal weight to be diagnosed with an eating disorder may be unsuitable for males.
In the second study, Peebles and her colleagues surveyed visitors to eating disorder-related Web sites about their symptoms and experiences. One finding that surprised them, she said, was that the 15 study participants who identified themselves as American Indians or Alaskan Natives seemed to face a much tougher struggle with their eating disorders than their counterparts of other ethnicities.
For example, 47% reported being hospitalized for their condition, compared to 13% of whites. Native Americans also reported higher maximum weights and lower minimum weights than other ethnic groups, suggesting that they experienced more extremes in weight gain and loss.
They also reported having an eating disorder for a longer period than other ethnic groups, and were more likely to use laxatives to control their weight.
The findings must be viewed with caution, Peebles said, given that these participants represented only a tiny fraction of the hundreds of people who responded to the survey, and that while they identified themselves as American Indian or Alaskan Native, there was no way to confirm their ethnicity.
Nevertheless, she added, the findings raise concerns that eating disorders are hitting Native Americans harder than whites, and that current treatment approaches may be less effective for this ethnic group. "We really need to study American Indians more to see how prevalent are these behaviors and is it something that really should be actively screened for more commonly," she added.
"We need to think more broadly about who struggles with these illnesses, and we need to somehow make the screening process more workable for physicians in the community," Peebles continued. This could help "catch people at an earlier state of their illness," she added, when it is much more treatable.
Anne Harding
11 May 2007
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Nicotine patch plan to help children quit habit
Children as young as 12 could be given nicotine patches and gum in a bid to help them stop smoking, it was reported today.
New guidance from NHS Health Scotland will be given to GP surgeries and chemists this month, advising that nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) should be made available to adolescent smokers.
The latest update on smoking cessation comes after research the Committee on the Safety of Medicines approved NRT in 12 to 18-year-olds, as well as pregnant women struggling to kick the habit, in 2005.
Ann Kerr, programme manager for NHS Health Scotland, said getting young people to quit smoking was a "difficult job". She added: "We know young people do not realise they are addicted until they try to stop. They think they are social smokers who just smoke with their pals."
Although there has been a slight drop in the number of Scottish youths taking up smoking, it is still estimated that up to six per cent of 13-year-olds and 19 per cent of 15-year-olds are regular smokers.
10 May 2007
http://news.scotsman.com/health.cfm?id=725202007
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Potential link to behaviour problems prompts advice to parents over diet
New fears over additives in children's food
Food safety experts have advised parents to eliminate a series of additives from their children's diet while they await the publication of a new study that is understood to link these ingredients to behaviour problems in youngsters. The latest scientific research into the effect of food additives on children's behaviour is thought to raise fresh doubts about the safety of controversial food colourings and a preservative widely used in sweets, drinks and processed foods in the UK. But the Guardian has learned that it will be several months before the results are published, despite the importance of the findings for children's health.
Researchers at Southampton University have tested combinations of synthetic colourings and preservative that an average child might consume in a day to measure what effect they had on behaviour. A source at the university told the food industry's magazine the Grocer last week that their results supported findings first made seven years ago that linked the additives to behavioural problems, such as temper tantrums, poor concentration and hyperactivity, and to allergic reactions. Both studies were conducted for the Food Standards Agency.
The latest results were considered by the FSA's Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food (CoT) in a closed meeting on March 20. The CoT, whose meetings are usually open, noted "the public health importance of the findings", but the results will not be released to the public or acted on until they have been published in a scientific journal, a process that will take several months.
The FSA and Professor Jim Stevenson, who led the project, said they could not discuss the results before then. It took the CoT more than two years to release its views on the earlier research because it was waiting for publication in a scientific journal. Independent experts say that consumers should consider removing these additives from their children's diets now. The colours, tested on both three-year-olds and eight-to-nine year olds in the new study, were tartrazine (E102), ponceau 4R (E124), sunset yellow (E110), carmoisine (E122), quinoline yellow (E104) and allura red AC (E129). The preservative tested was sodium benzoate (E211).
Although these additives are widely used in the UK and are approved as safe and legal by the EU, some of the colours are banned in Scandinavian countries and the US. Campaign groups such as the Hyperactive Children's Support Group have argued for years that children's behaviour is improved by removing artifical colourings and other additives from their diets.
Vyvyan Howard, professor of bio-imaging at Ulster University and one of the experts on FSA's additives and behaviour working group, said it was important that the new research was published in a scientific journal but that consumers had a choice. "It is biologically plausible that there could be an effect from these additives. While you are waiting for the results to come out you can choose not to expose your children to these substances. These compounds have no nutritonal value and I personally do not feed these sorts of foods to my 15-month-old daughter."
Another member of the working group, Dr Alex Richardson, the director of Food and Behaviour Research and senior research scientist at Oxford University, said: "There are well-documented potential risks from these additives. In my view the researchers had done an excellent piece of work first time round and there was enough evidence to act. If this new study essentially replicates that, what more evidence do they need to remove these additives from children's food and drink?"
The FSA has been considering the safety of these additives since 2000, when it received the results of the first trial known as the Isle of Wight study. That research concluded that "significant changes in children's behaviour could be produced by the removal of colourings and additives from their diet [and] benefit would accrue for all children from such a change and not just for those already showing hyperactive behaviour or who are at risk of allergic reactions."
The CoT, however, decided in 2002 that this study was inconclusive - although parents, who did not know whether their children were on a placebo or not, observed significant behavioural changes in those given the additives, other observers did not find the same changes when children were assessed in a clinic using computer games to measure inattention. So the FSA set up the new study to provide conclusive evidence, with a working group of independent experts giving advice on how best to design it.
If the findings of the new research do confirm the Isle of Wight work, "the implications would be enormous", said Tim Lang, professor of food policy at City University, in London. "The stakes are very high; these are additives that children have been exposed to for years. I can understand the FSA wanting to be sure no one can accuse it of breaking scientific protocols but these findings need to come out quickly," he added.
A spokeswoman for the FSA said the agency was "committed to handling science in the proper scientific way" and hoped the findings would be published in a matter of months. She added that all the additives involved "are approved for use in the EU and are safe".
Felicity Lawrence
May 8, 2007
http://www.guardian.co.uk/food/Story/0,,2074346,00.html
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AUSTRALIA
Fathers responsible for fat children
Fathers who play less of a role in child rearing
are more likely to have overweight or obese offspring, Australian
researchers said.
A study of almost 5,000 youngsters revealed that fathers who do not set
clear limits for their kids are more likely to have heavier children,
according to the Australian Associated Press.
Dads who did lay down boundaries generally had children with a lower
body mass index, said the study by the Murdoch Children's Research
Institute and The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne.
Hospital specialist Melissa Wake said the study was the first to suggest
that men could help prevent early childhood obesity.
The study found that a mother's parenting style had little impact on
whether a child was overweight or obese.
"Mothers are often blamed for their children's obesity, but this study
suggests that for more effective prevention perhaps we should focus on
the whole family," Wake told the AAP.
The study found that 40 percent of mothers and more than 60 percent of
fathers polled were themselves overweight.
The research, to be presented at a pediatrics conference in Toronto this
week, compared the BMIs of 4 and 5-year-olds with their how their
parents behaved towards them.
Childhood obesity is growing in Australia, with more than 20 percent of
preschool children either overweight or obese.
8 May 2007
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2007-05/08/content_867548.htm
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Some gains, and some setbacks, in children's health care
The rate at which young children perish has worsened most disastrously over the past 15 years in Iraq, hard hit by both sanctions and war, and in Botswana, Zimbabwe and Swaziland, devastated by AIDS, according to a report released by Save the Children.
But researchers also found against-the-odds progress is some of the world's poorest nations.
Bangladesh has profoundly improved the chances that a child would survive by promoting family planning, a strategy that has enabled women to have fewer children, space births and strengthen their own health and that of their babies.
Nepal, despite a decade-long Maoist insurgency, has
halved the death rate of children under age 5.
It has enlisted the help of 50,000 mothers, most of them illiterate, who
have squeezed vitamin A drops into the mouths of every child, hauled
laggards in for vaccinations and even diagnosed pneumonia and dispensed
medicines to combat it.
And Malawi, with an extreme shortage of doctors and
nurses, has made surprising gains by taking simple steps that require no
professional skills, for example distributing nets that protect children
from malarial mosquitoes.
"In 2007, when we know what to do and how little it costs, that 28,000
kids are still dying each day is just plain wrong," said David Oot, a
public health specialist on the team that produced the Save the Children
report, "State of the World's Mothers: Saving the Lives of Children
Under 5." The report was released Monday.
Despite many hopeful stories, broad progress against infant and child mortality has flagged since international health agencies began a campaign to reduce deaths 25 years ago, the researchers concluded.
By the end of the 1980s, global rates of child mortality had fallen 20 percent, and the lives of 12 million children were saved.
"Much of the momentum behind the child survival revolution has now been lost, and gains achieved in the 1980s and early 1990s have slowed or reversed," the report says. "Under-5 mortality declined by only 10 percent from the early 1990s to 2000."
Among the 60 developing countries where 94 percent of the child deaths occurred, 20 have either made no progress or have regressed, while 24 have cut death rates of children under 5 by at least 20 percent.
Iraq experienced the most staggering rise in under-age-5 mortality - 150 percent over 15 years. Since the war began in 2003, deteriorating health services, rising inflation and electricity shortages have worsened living conditions, the report said.
In 2005, about 122,000 Iraqi children died before
their fifth birthdays.
In countries that progressed, a focus on family planning was central to
progress, the report said. In the five countries that made the greatest
strides in reducing child deaths - Egypt, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Nepal
and the Philippines - women's use of contraceptives rose and fertility
rates declined.
In those countries, mothers were less likely to be physically depleted by having too many babies in too short a time. With fewer children, families were also able to invest more in the care of each child.
Political will was also an essential ingredient of success - and in Malawi, Tanzania, Nepal and Bangladesh was even more important than national wealth, the report found.
Egypt, which has cut the death rate of children under
age 5 by 68 percent since 1990, more than any other country, has shown a
particular commitment to children's health, said the researchers at Save
the Children, a nonprofit group, and other experts.
"In words and deed, Egypt has put children more at the center of their
social agenda than most other countries," said Ruth Levine, author of
"Millions Saved: Proven Successes in Global Health" (Center for Global
Development, 2004).
Egypt has carried out a comprehensive effort to improve the health of mothers and children.
It invested in clean water and public health campaigns
to teach the importance of hand-washing in disease prevention. It built
roads that sped access to hospitals. It renovated dilapidated clinics.
It made sure most mothers had midwives or other skilled workers to
attend births. It strove to perfect immunization campaign strategies.
"There is a way to do a blanket of public health interventions that is
very effective," said Dr. Ayman El-Mohandes, a pediatrician and chairman
of the Department of Prevention and Community Health at George
Washington University's School of Public Health, who served as a
consultant on a U.S.-financed maternal and child health program in
Egypt.
Celia W. Dugger
May 8, 2007
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/05/08/news/kidsx.php
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Simple Screening Can Help Decrease Teen Risk Behaviors
Research shows that adolescents who engage in one form of risky behavior, like drug or alcohol use, are likely to engage in other risky behaviors like self-harm, or having unprotected sex, but often times these behaviors are not discussed during a medical or mental health exam. Now, a new study shows that a simple and brief screening measure called the adolescent risk inventory (ARI) can quickly identify the broad range of risk behaviors found among adolescents.
"This constellation of behavior problems is really the thing we are trying to avoid. So, identifying early that a teen is engaging in a risky behavior may prevent that behavior from being the gateway to further risky behaviors," says lead author Celia Lescano, PhD with the Bradley Hasbro Children's Research Center and The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University.
This study appeared in the journal Child Psychiatry
and Human Development.
Prior research indicates that teenagers who engage in one risky behavior
are more likely to be involved in others and that this has an additive
effect. The authors note that risk behaviors among teens are prevalent
and can lead to increased morbidity, mortality, and health care costs,
so identifying and dealing with problematic issues as they arise can
help teens be safer and healthier.
Researchers studied 134 youth ages 12 to 19 with psychiatric disorders. Each study participant was given the adolescent risk inventory (ARI) (a paper and pencil measure). The ARI included questions about sexual history (have you ever been pregnant or been a dad?), self-harm (have you ever attempted suicide?), and attitudes towards acting out (do you break rules for no reason?).
"We found that the ARI is reliable and comprehensive and can be useful in quickly identifying a wide range of teen risk behaviors," says Lescano. This is important, the authors say, because when teens are seen for medical and/or mental health care, risk behavior issues are often neglected. Time and relevance are often seen as barriers that prevent providers from obtaining this important information.
"Given that the ARI is brief and broad in it assessment of behaviors, these barriers can be overcome and allow pediatricians, family doctors and mental health professionals to make referrals based on the information they get from the teen," explains Lescano.
The analyses also provided intriguing data on the relationship between sex risk, psychopathology, and behavior in that abuse or self-harm behaviors were highly predictive of sex risk. This is important because while many clinicians are aware of the sexual risks that aggressive youths take, many are unaware of the association between risky sexual behavior and emotional distress, abuse and self-harm. Behaviors like self-cutting thoughts, suicidal thoughts or attempts, or a history of sexual abuse should alert clinicians to the potential for significant sexual risk, the authors say.
Often times, research programs that target the identified risk behavior can be found in nearby communities or even through the medical or mental health offices in which the teens are being seen.
"Referral to these programs, as well as to mental health professionals to help treat the negative emotions that can precipitate risk behaviors may be useful avenues to decreasing risky behaviors in teens," says Lescano.
Source: Child Psychiatry and Human Development
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=69490
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Your child's BMI is a vital number to know
We all know our nation has a problem with obesity. Unfortunately our children have not escaped being a part of this problem. Overweight children are likely to become overweight adults. There are many serious complications that develop from obesity over the course of a lifetime, including heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke and diabetes.
A child is considered overweight if he or she has a body mass index (BMI) greater than the 95 percentile. Your doctor uses height and weight calculators to determine the BMI, and should do so at each well visit once your child turns 2. You also can check out the online child BMI calculator on the Centers for Disease Control Web site (cdc.gov). Your child is considered being at-risk of being overweight if he or she measures in the 85th to 95th percentile group.
If your child has a BMI of 85 percent or higher, it is definitely time to pay more attention to what he eats and how much he exercises. Being overweight is a tough issue to tackle: It involves not only diet but also commitment, time and self esteem. What your child needs to know is this is not just her problem. It typically is an entire family problem that requires everyone to be involved in making changes so the child can succeed. It's also a tough issue because there is no pill and no quick fix for weight loss. We gain weight when we increase our calorie intake without increasing our energy output or exercise. Thus, to lose that weight, we need to decrease calories taken in or burn more calories off.
First, it's important to meet with your doctor, get an accurate BMI and discuss things such as your child's diet, food preferences, access to physical activity and his or her general nature and cooperativeness. Sometimes weight gain can be due to medical reasons, however most of the time this is not the case. If your doctor has concerns, he or she may order additional testing. Your doctor may refer you to a nutritionist.
For some, the goal may not be actual weight loss but to slow the gains. Your child will continue to grow in height until the late teen years, which is an advantage adults don't have. Right now, there is no clear evidence based approach to lose weight but that does not mean there is nothing parents can do.
Taking in an extra 100 calories a day can really add up over the course of a month and it does not take much to do this -- a cup of juice, 30 goldfish crackers, two Oreo cookies or one tablespoon of butter. This is an extra 3,000 calories in a month that your child did not need.
The little day-to-day amounts that seem insignificant at the time do add up over time and lead to accelerated weight gain. If your child drinks three glasses of juice a day (let's assume 100 calories per glass) and you now limit it to one and replace it with water, you have reduced the calories taken in over a month by 6,000.
I tell my patients to make some simple rules such as the juice example above. We all need to be able to have treats now and then, but there needs to be limits. For the child who eats french fries every day at school, I tell them to make a rule such as Friday is fry day and they must make healthier choices on the other days.
Along with reducing caloric intake, your child must cut his or her time spent in sedentary activities. Reduce "screen time" (whether TV, computer or video games) to absolutely no more than two hours a day. Also, don't allow eating while watching TV. People take in more calories if they eat while watching TV.
Another key to success is to create opportunities for fun exercise. Don't just tell your child to go outside. Ride bikes, walk the dog, hike or skate together. If your child resists team sports, look into activities such as tumbling, yoga, martial arts or swimming. Find family activities that all can participate in.
LOWDOWN ON JUICE
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Dr Robert Nohle
2 May 2007
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/health/314030_nohle03.html
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How the internet is creating a generation of lonely children
Technology is creating a generation of lonely children
who struggle to make friends, a study claims.
Youngsters spend so much time on solitary pursuits such as computer
games, surfing the Internet and listening to MP3 players that they fail
to develop social skills. Many find themselves isolated in the
playground, according to the survey of 100 teachers.
Others become anti-social and resort to bullying rather than relating
properly to their peers.
More than 70 per cent of teachers questioned for the study by the
charity Save the Children said the long hours spent alone with
technology had damaged children's ability to socialise. A third said
loneliness among pupils and difficulties in making friends were becoming
more common. Only 5 per cent believed children were getting better at
relating to each other.
The survey uncovered high levels of so-called "exclusion bullying", in
which children are ignored or left out of friendship groups.
Many teachers also believe verbal abuse of pupils by others is becoming
more widespread.
Lorna Redden, the charity's school development manager, said: "This
research is showing that use of Internet chatrooms, mobile phone games
and that kind of technology is making it harder for children to interact
with each other. "What children do outside school does have an impact.
"If you're just sitting in front of a computer screen when you go home
from school, it is not going to help you interact with friends when you
go to school. Social skills potentially deteriorate as a result and
schools are having to work that much harder."
The research found that schools are increasingly using schemes such as
"buddy bus stops" - designated places around the school or playground
for lonely or miserable children-to sit. Other pupils are then
encouraged to "pick them up".
The findings will fuel concerns that childhood is being damaged by
modern lifestyles.
An influential coalition of 110 teachers, psychologists and children's
authors last year produced a joint statement warning that a mix of
computer games, violent TV images, disappearing play areas and marketing
was "poisoning" children's lives.
A national inquiry into the state of childhood, led by the Children's
Society and Archbishop of Canterbury, is due to report next year.
Today's findings provide further evidence of the negative effects
hi-tech gadgetry and computers can have on youngsters if they are used
to excess.
Miss Redden added: "The research is disheartening because it shows
schools are not as friendly as they could be."
Laura Clark
4 May 2007
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=452542&in_page_id=1770#StartComments
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Bipolar disorder harder to diagnose in children
Symptoms may manifest as common ills or be mislabeled, study says.
When bipolar disorder arises in childhood, it may take far longer to diagnose and have a worse prognosis, a new study suggests.
Bipolar disorder is a mental illness marked by severe mood swings from depression to mania. In adults, the depression may manifest as persistent sadness, sleep problems or suicidal thoughts, while mania symptoms include unusual energy, euphoria and greatly inflated self-esteem.
These symptoms are often different in children and teenagers, however. When manic, for instance, a child may become overly irritable or destructive, whereas depression episodes often manifest as physical symptoms like stomach problems and headaches.
Because of such differences, bipolar disorder is considered tougher to diagnose in children. It may in some cases be mislabeled as simple depression or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), for instance.
In the new study, researchers found that adults whose first bipolar symptoms arose in childhood typically waited years for a diagnosis — and far longer than those whose symptoms began in late adolescence or early adulthood. What’s more, they tended to be in poorer mental health as adults, according to the researchers, led by Gabriele S. Leverich of U.S. National Institute of Mental Health.
Writing in the Journal of Pediatrics, they urge doctors to be “particularly alert” to the possibility of bipolar disorder in children who have signs of conditions like depression and ADHD.
Delayed diagnoses The findings are based on a one-year follow-up of 480 U.S. and European adults being treated for bipolar disorder. At the start of the study, the patients were interviewed about the history of their illness, including the age at which they first had symptoms. They were then followed for one year to chart the current severity of their illness.
Overall, Leverich’s team found, half of the patients said their symptoms first arose in childhood or adolescence. These patients tended to have a far longer delay until they started treatment.
Those whose symptoms arose before age 12 waited an average of 17 years before starting therapy; those who developed symptoms as teenagers waited nearly 12 years for treatment. In contrast, men and women who developed bipolar symptoms after the age of 18 typically waited two to four years before receiving treatment.
1 May 2007
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18421962/
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