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Working mums' children 'less fit'

Children whose mothers work are less likely to lead healthy lives than those with "stay at home" mums, a study says. The Institute of Child Health study of more than 12,500 five-year-olds found those with working mothers less active and more likely to eat unhealthy food. Other experts said more work was needed to see if the results applied to other age groups. The study is in the Journal of Epidemiology and Child Health. About 60% of mothers with children aged up to five are estimated to be in work.

Results

The mothers were asked about the hours they worked and their children's diet, exercise levels and sedentary activities. A third of the mothers had not worked since the birth of their child, but the mothers who were employed were spending an average of 21 hours a week at work. They took into account factors likely to influence the results, such as the mothers' level of education and socioeconomic circumstances. They found that five-year-olds whose mothers worked part-time or full-time were more likely to primarily consume sweetened drinks between meals.

They used their computers or watched television for at least two hours a day compared to the children of "stay at home" mums who spent less than two hours on these activities. They were also more likely to be driven to school compared to the children of "stay at home" mothers who tended to walk or cycle. The children whose mothers had a flexible working pattern did have healthier lifestyles but when other factors were taken into account the researchers said there was little evidence that these children behaved more healthily.

'Time constraints'

Professor Catherine Law, who led the study said: "For many families the only parent or both parents will be working. "Time constraints may limit parents' capacity to provide their children with healthy foods and opportunities for physical activity. "Our results do not imply that mothers should not work. Rather they highlight the need for policies and programmes to help support parents." The same children took part in an earlier study by the Institute of Child Health (ICH) which found that those with working mothers were more likely to be obese or overweight by the age of three.

In the latest study, many of the five-year-olds were engaging in health behaviours likely to promote excess weight gain: 37% were mainly eating crisps and sweets between meals, 41% were consuming sweetened drinks and 61% used the television or a computer at least two hours daily.

'Controversial research'

Glenys Jones, nutritionist with the Medical Research Council Human Nutrition Research, said the study was interesting because of limited research so far on the impact of maternal employment on child health choices. "More work is needed to take into account factors such as how related health behaviours are affected and if the age of the child alters the relationships observed." Sally Russell, a spokesman for Netmums, said: "The stress and guilt associated with being a working mum is something we are all too well aware of. This report adds to that guilt. With many more mums having no choice but to work these days and with government policy actively encouraging it, it is difficult to know how mums can do better. "

A Department of Health spokesman said: "Our Change4Life movement is already helping over 370,000 families eat well, move more and live longer by helping them to understand the harm that fat and added sugar can cause to children's health, and offering them simple yet effective ways to make changes to their diet and increase their activity levels."

Copyright BBC Health News – Monday 28^th September 2009

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8278742.stm

Schoolgirl dies after cancer jab

A 14-year-old girl has died after being given a cervical cancer jab as part of a national immunisation programme, but the exact cause of death is unknown. The pupil was taken ill at Blue Coat C of E School in Coventry shortly after she received the Cervarix vaccine. She died in the town's University Hospital. The batch of the vaccine used has been quarantined by the local NHS.

The injection offers protection against a sexually transmitted disease, which is linked to most cervical cancers. A routine programme of vaccinating 12- and 13-year-old girls started in September 2008 across the UK using the Cervarix vaccine made by GlaxoSmithKline. A catch-up campaign is now under way for older girls. The injection offers protection against the human papilloma virus (HPV), the most common cause of cervical cancer.

'Urgent investigation'

The girl, who has not yet been named, died at lunchtime on Monday. Dr Caron Grainger, joint director of public health for NHS Coventry and Coventry City Council, said their sympathies are with the girl's family and friends. She said: "The incident happened shortly after the girl had received her HPV vaccine in the school. No link can be made between the death and the vaccine until all the facts are known and a post-mortem takes place. We are conducting an urgent and full investigation into the events surrounding this tragedy." A small number of girls at the school had also reported mild symptoms such as dizziness and nausea but they were not admitted to hospital.

In a statement posted on the school's website, head teacher Dr Julie Roberts said during the immunisation, "one of the girls suffered a rare, but extreme reaction to the vaccine. A number of other girls also reported being unwell and some were sent home," she said. "If your daughter has received a vaccine today we ask that you are extra vigilant regarding any signs or symptoms." She listed possible reactions as mild to moderate short-lasting pain at the injection site, headache, muscle pain, fatigue and a low-grade fever.

'Tragic death'

It is thought about a million girls have already safely received the vaccine. When the national immunisation project was announced, there was some controversy about the selection of Cervarix over Gardasil, which is used by the majority of vaccination programmes worldwide. Dr Pim Kon, medical director at GlaxoSmithKline UK, which makes Cervarix, said: "Our deepest sympathies are with the family and friends of the young girl. We are working with the Department of Health and MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency) to better understand this case, as at this stage the exact cause of this tragic death is unknown." The global pharmaceutical company added that the vast majority of suspected adverse reactions have related either to the symptoms of recognised side effects or were due to the injection process and not the vaccine itself.

Different vaccine

Public health minister Gillian Merron said: "Our deepest sympathies are with the family. It is important we have the results of further investigations as soon as possible to establish the cause of this sad event." In the UK, about 3,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer every year and about 1,000 die from it. The department said Cervarix had a strong safety record.

Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said the tragedy needed to be investigated "as a matter of urgency". He said: "This again raises the question which we have asked for some time, as to why the government won't publish the assessments it made of the relative merits of the two HPV vaccines and why we therefore use a different vaccine to most other comparable countries."

There are more than 100 types of HPV but only 13 of them are known to cause cancer. Cervarix protects against two strains of HPV that cause more than 70% of cases of cervical cancer in women. Vaccination is not compulsory and consent is required before it is administered to the under-16s.

Copyright BBC Health News – Monday 28^th September 2009

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8279656.stm

School stars 'enjoy good health'

Children who impress their peers at school tend to go on to enjoy better health as adults, research suggests. The study was based on a 30-year follow-up of more than 14,000 children born in Sweden in 1953. The Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health study found the least popular children had a nine times higher risk of ischaemic heart disease. They were also more at risk of diabetes, drug, alcohol and mental health problems. The degree of popularity, power and status enjoyed by each child was assessed when the children reached sixth grade in 1966 by asking them who they most preferred to work with at school.

Individual children were categorised into five status bands depending on how many nominations they received. The researchers then matched up this data against information on hospital admissions between 1973 and 2003. For both men and women, the children who were furthest down the pecking order at school had the highest overall risk of serious health problems as an adult. For instance, they were more than four times as likely to require hospital treatment for hormonal, nutritional and metabolic diseases as the most popular children. And their risk of mental health problems was more than doubled. The researchers said the findings could not be explained by social class.

Negative self-image

Lead researcher Ylva Almquist, from the Centre for Health Equity Studies at the University of Stockholm, said children with a low status might lack social support, and be starved of information. This could lead to a more negative self-image, which could lead to lower expectations, stunted ambition - and poor choices in life. "For example, children in lower peer status positions may adopt a more health-damaging lifestyle, including behaviours such as heavy smoking and drinking. These behaviours are known to be major risk factors for heart diseases."

Ms Almquist said it was possible that some children's popularity was a result of poor health, but the effect found in the study was too broad for this to be the only factor. She said the study suggested that schools should work to foster social equality in the classroom, and to boost children's self-image. Professor Alan Maryon-Davis, president of the UK Faculty of Public Health, said: "Children who feel undervalued or are bullied at school often grow up lacking self-confidence. They then seek comfort in over-eating, smoking or drinking to excess, and all too often find themselves on the slippery slope to chronic ill-health. It is crucial to do whatever we can to help children and young people feel valued."

Copyright BBC Health News Monday 28^th September 2009

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8275535.stm

Negative subliminal messages work

People can perceive subliminal messages, particularly if the message is negative, according to a UK study. In three experiments at University College London, participants were briefly shown masked words and asked to classify them as emotional or neutral. The study, published in the journal Emotion, says being able to react to tiny cues helps us to avoid danger and may have useful marketing uses. But critics say there is no evidence this would work outside a laboratory.

Professor Nilli Lavie from University College London showed 50 participants a series of words on a computer screen. Each word appeared on-screen for only a fraction of a second - much too fast for the participants to consciously read the word. The words were either positive (eg cheerful, flower, peace), negative (eg agony, despair, murder) or neutral (eg box, ear, kettle). After each word, the participants had to choose whether the word was neutral or emotional (positive or negative) and how confident they were of their decision.

The researchers found that the participants answered most accurately when responding to negative words, even when they believed they were merely guessing the answer. They were able to accurately categorise 66% of the negative words compared to 50% of the positive ones.

'Evolutionary advantages'

Professor Lavie said: "We have shown that people can perceive the emotional value of subliminal messages and have demonstrated conclusively that people are much more attuned to negative words. Clearly, there are evolutionary advantages to responding rapidly to emotional information. We can't wait for our consciousness to kick in if we see someone running towards us with a knife or if we drive under rainy or foggy weather conditions and see a 'danger' warning sign.”

But Professor Lavie said her work could be applicable to marketing campaigns: "Negative words may have more of a rapid impact - "Kill Your Speed" should work better than "Slow Down". "More controversially, a competitor's negative qualities may work on a subconscious level much more effectively than shouting about your own selling points."

But marketing psychologist, Paul Buckley, of the Cardiff School of Management, said there was no evidence that subliminal messages works in the real world: "From a practical point of view this probably doesn't reflect what would happen in real life. Certainly lots of countries around the world have legislation to ban subliminal messages being used on television and nobody has yet been able to point to any instance where a subliminal message has worked."

A SUBLIMINAL HISTORY

· In 1957 market researcher James Vicary claimed that flashing messages on a movie screen in New Jersey had made people purchase more food and drink. He coined the term "subliminal advertising"

· In 1958 the UK, America and Australia banned the practice

· In 1962 James Vicary admits he falsified the results

· In 1974 despite no evidence that it worked, the UN said it was a major threat to human rights

· In 1985 Dr Joe Stuessy told the US Senate that more research was needed on the subliminal messages in heavy metal music

· In 1990 the band Judas Priest was taken to court by parents of boys who killed themselves after listening to their music. Judas Priest said if they wanted to use subliminal messages they would be to tell the kids to buy more records

Copyright BBC Health News – Monday 28^th September

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8274773.stm

Children are 'exercising less'

Only one in eight youngsters is getting the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity a day, according to the British Heart Foundation (BHF). It surveyed more than 1,000 children aged eight to 15 in July and August. The survey found that a third of the children did less than an hour of exercise a week and 20% thought you only needed to do it if you were fat. Researchers say the lack of activity is starting at a younger age and energy- dense snacks compound the problem. The BHF has launched a campaign aimed at obese 11-13-year-olds.

New campaign

The Food4Thought campaign is designed to encourage children to consider their levels of physical activity and the long term consequences of their current food choices. Recent research has predicted that, if current trends continue, two thirds of all children will be overweight or obese by 2050. Dr Mike Knapton, director of prevention and care at the BHF said: "We have a generation of kids growing up who have a shockingly blasé attitude towards exercise and being active. Young people need to switch off their square eyes and get in the habit of exercising now."

Worrying problem

Former Olympic champion Sally Gunnell is backing the campaign. She said: "Children's sluggish attitude towards daily exercise is worrying and it's great to see the BHF thinking of new ways to get them intrigued and active again." Dr David Wilson, senior lecturer in Paediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition at the University of Edinburgh, agreed and said the lack of physical activity was starting at a younger age. He said: "Sedentary behaviour is a very worrying problem - the problem is starting in nursery school.

But obesity is absolutely about both food intake and activity - they are doing nothing and eating more. "The energy-dense snacks they consume in front of their televisions and computers are simply not being burnt off. There has been a two to three times increase in obesity in the last 15 years and there are signs from around the world that the numbers are stabilising but the small number of super obese is continuing to increase."

Dr Ian Campbell, of the charity Weight Concern, said: "Children need to be active to prevent obesity but also to promote healthy growth, bone strength and psychological wellbeing. "It is important kids know how physical activity can help them but equally important that their parents understand that too. Good habits and skills learned now can ensure children can have a lifetime of physical activity, the benefits of which will stay with them throughout and enable them to live healthier and happier lives."

Copyright BBC Health News – Sunday 27^th September 2009

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8274886.stm


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