A Potpourri

• According to a new Harvard Medical School study, infants who sleep fewer than 12 hours a day are at greater risk of becoming overweight in preschool. The researchers found that 586 of the 915 babies involved slept an average of 12 hours or more a day, and 329 of the babies slept less than that. Among the babies who slept longer, seven percent were obese at age 3. The short   sleepers fared worse. Twelve percent of them became obese 3-year-olds. Adding TV to the picture, 17 percent of those who slept less than 12   hours a day and watched two or more hours of television a day were   obese by the time they were 3. Researchers suggested that hormones may be the issue. In previous studies, sleep-deprived adults produced more   ghrelin, a hormone that promotes hunger, and less leptin, a hormone   that signals fullness. For more information, go to the Time article on the study.



• Next week, April 13-19, is Week of the Young Child. This year's theme is "Bring Communities Together for Children/Children Bring Communities Together."  According to the website of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC): 
  

  The purpose of the Week of the Young Child is to focus public attention on the needs of young children and their families and to recognize the early childhood programs and services that meet those needs.

  NAEYC first established the Week of the Young Child in 1971, recognizing that the early childhood years (birth through age 8) lay the foundation for children's success in school and later life. The Week of the Young Child is a time to plan how we--as citizens of a community, of a state, and of a nation--will better meet the needs of all young children and their families.
  
  For activity ideas and resources, including an event planning booklet, click on the link above.
  

• This week's featured interview on Body, Mind and Child is with Nancy Carlsson-Paige on protecting children from media violence. Nancy is the author of the new parenting book, Taking Back Childhood, which I've blogged about before. She's been a "student" of media violence for many of the 30 years she's been involved in early childhood education and has been a fierce advocate for the protection of children. Here's an excerpt from her book.
  
  Violent media are particularly detrimental for young children because during the early years, as child development theory explains, children don't clearly distinguish between fantasy and reality. They cannot be sure what they see on the screen won't really happen to them -- that the monster or the bad guy leering at them won't come right off that screen, if now now, then maybe later. According to the American Medical Association's Physician's Guide to Media Violence, published in 1996, media violence causes seriously increased levels of fearfulness and mistrust in children. A random national survey conducted in 1999 reported that 65% of parents with children between the ages of two and seventeen said that their child had been frightened by something they saw in a TV program or movie, and this fear, according to other studies, can last for days, months, or even years.
  
  Nancy spoke passionately on the topic. To listen to her interview, click here.

Comments

[Adelaide Zindler, FP (Fearless Parent)]

Hello Rae,

Reading blogs that interest me is such fun! Thanks for the info on the week of the young child. I wanted to share that it is also spa week, so I'd call it healthy parent week as well. Here's a link to the national event http://www.spaweek.org. Check out the ones who are participating in your local area, and remember to drink plenty of water prior, a ton after, and to swap with a friend, so you can slouch on the beach or meet the hubby for lunch afterward. You'll need to relax before chasing children around. Oh, and we may have more energy for young child week if we nurture the women side of the mom in us too! Take care. :)

There's a fearless parent in all of us. Seen yours lately?

Adelaide Zindler, FP (Fearless Parent)
www.FearlessParenting.com

[Rae Pica]

Thanks for the info on Spa Week, Adelaide -- and the reminder that moms need to take care of themselves as women, too! : )