Can you blame problems of the child on the parents?

As a parent, do you blame yourself if your child does not grow up to your expectation? I am no expert on the subject but a recent article in American Scientific Mind asked, “Do parents matter?” made me do some research on the subject.

It all started with Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), a Viennese doctor, who stressed the importance of childhood events and experiences. Freud blamed the problems of the child on the parents. He was especially hard on mothers. According to Freud, child development is described as a series of psychosexual stages. He outlined these stages as oral, anal, phallic, latency period and genital. Each stage involves the satisfaction of a libidinal desire and can later play a role in adult personality.

Since then much research has been done on child development and this has yielded many
theories on children’s mental, emotional, and social development. The debate continues as researchers try to find answers to many questions.

The article I referred to earlier is based on an interview done by the American Scientific Mind with Judith Rich Harris, author of The Nurture Assumption: Why Children Turn Out The Way They Do. The book was published 10 years ago. In the book Harris argues that parents matter much less, at least when it comes to determining the behavior of their children, than is typically assumed. Instead, Harris argued that a child’s peer group is far more important.

Harris says in the interview, “One of the reasons of writing the book was to reassure parents. I wanted them to know that parenting didn’t have to be such a difficult, anxiety-producing job, that there are many different ways to rear a child, and no convincing evidence that one way produces better results than another.”

Harris also says that most developmental psychologists still do not agree with her, but they are acknowledging that there’s another point of view.

Harris says that there is a greater awareness of genetic influences on personality. Personality is the sum total of the physical, mental, emotional, and social characteristics of an individual. It’s no longer enough to show, for example, that parents who are conscientious about childrearing tend to have children who are conscientious about their schoolwork. She asks, “Is this correlation due to what the children learned from their parents or to the genes they inherited from them?”

According to Harris, there are three different mental modules involved in social development. The first deals with relationships, including parent-child relationships. The second handles socialization. A stage where a child’s behavior becomes more similar to that of their same-sex peers. The third enables children to work out a successful strategy for competing with their peers, by figuring out what they are good at.

Harris says she has put together a lot of evidence showing that children learn at home how to behave at home (that’s where parents do have power!), and they learn outside the home how to behave outside the home. So if you want to improve the way children behave in school for instance, by making them more diligent and less disruptive in the classroom, then improving their home environment is not the way to do it. What you need is a school-based intervention. That’s where teachers have power. A talented teacher can influence a whole group of kids, says Harris.

Some readers of the article argued that Harris’s theory just encourages irresponsible parenting by shifting the onus on the child’s peers and teachers. One reader questioned the effects of television on child development.

So, are you any wiser today than you were before? As a parent, do you have a magic (or any) formula to raise a child? How was your upbringing? Who influenced you the most to be what you are today? How did that influence you to raise your children? Interesting questions, eh!

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Good Sleep is Necessary for Losing Weight

A study published in the May issue of Psychoneuroendocrinology says that getting enough rest promotes weight loss. Without enough deep sleep, fat accumulates. Ok, this is not a joke. Read on….

Two hormones in our body, ghrelin and leptin, control our appetite. Ghrelin increases hunger and leptin promotes feelings of fullness. Researchers found that in chronic insomniacs there is a significant disruption of night time ghrelin levels and this increases their appetite during the day.

In addition, in chronic insomniacs, there is increase in the levels of stress hormone cortisol which increases cravings for high-carb, high-calorie foods. Furthermore, the brain secretes growth hormone during the deep-sleep phase, helping the body convert fat to fuel, according to a report in the Scientific American Mind.

It is estimated that 10 to 40 per cent of people suffer from some sort of insomnia. This is only an estimate as nobody has yet defined what constitutes normal sleep.

Most adults sleep seven to eight hours a night. Newborns and children may sleep up to 16 hours a day. Older people may sleep only six hours a night. There is no magic number. If you are tired the next day or are yawning all the time then you need more sleep.

The quality of sleep you get is also important. The quality and quantity of sleep depend on many factors like your health, your lifestyle and your environment.

In a survey done in the United States, it was found that many patients with insomnia have other medical problems. Thirty per cent of the patients have depression, 20 per cent have other mental disorders, and 19 per cent have other illnesses. But 31 per cent of the patients have primary insomnia (i.e. they have no medical condition contributing to insomnia).

“The prevalence of insomnia has also been reported to be higher in women, women in minority groups, people who are unemployed or separated, lower socioeconomic groups and in those with medical or psychiatric (particularly substance abuse) disorders,” says an article in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

Workaholics spend many sleepless nights to accomplish their tasks. They ask, “Why do we need to sleep?” Experts say we need sleep to rest. Sleep allows the brain and the body to recover and restore itself. So we can be fresh for the next task. Now we know we can lose weight as well.

It is very important that you consult your doctor if you have trouble falling asleep or cannot remain asleep for an adequate length of time. The cause of your insomnia could be stress, depression, anxiety, panic attacks, spastic bladder, arthritis, hyperthyroidism, congestive heart failure, obstructive sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome or lung disease. You may be overindulging in caffeine or alcohol. Or there may some other cause.

Your physician can help you sort some of these problems by recommending regular daytime exercise, avoiding large meals at night, avoiding caffeine, tobacco and alcohol; reducing evening fluid intake; maintaining a consistent wake-up time; avoiding or limiting daytime napping and avoiding bright lights (including television), noise and temperature extremes. In some circumstances he may recommend medications.

Remember, there are three things required to lose weight: a low calorie healthy diet, regular exercise and enough sleep. Now you know, I wasn’t joking.

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What Do We Know About Artificial Sweetners?

An artificial sweetener is a sugar substitute which duplicates the effect of sugar in taste but has fewer calories. Some sugar substitutes are natural and some are synthetic. Those that are not natural are, in general, referred to as artificial sweeteners.

Certain sugar substitutes are known as high-intensity sweeteners. Sweetness of these compounds exceeds many times the sweetness of sucrose which is our common table sugar. As a result, much less sweetener is required, resulting in minimal calorie consumption. The taste of artificial sweetener is not as good as our regular sugar. So they are often used in complex mixtures that achieve the most natural sweet sensation.

Is it safe to use artificial sweeteners?

Six intensely-sweet sugar substitutes have been approved for use in the U.S. They are saccharin, aspartame, sucralose, neotame, acesulfame potassium, and stevia. Artificial sweeteners are considered food additives and hence regulated and approved in the U.S. by the Food and Drug Administration.

In Canada, food additives are also subject to rigorous controls under the Food and Drugs Act and Regulations. New food additives (or new uses of permitted food additives) are only permitted once a safety assessment has been conducted, says Health Canada website. Several artificial sweeteners have been approved for use in Canada (see Health Canada website).

Let us look at couple of examples where safety questions have been raised.

Does saccharin cause cancer? Saccharin is a man-made sweetener that is used in food products in many countries. Health Canada says that in the 1970s, scientific studies raised concerns that saccharin could be carcinogenic (cancer-causing) in laboratory rats. As a result of these studies, saccharin was not permitted as a food additive in Canada, although restricted use of saccharin as a table-top sweetener has been allowed.

Since that time, further studies have revealed that the carcinogenic effect of saccharin in rats does not have the same effect on humans. Health Canada says that their scientists have thoroughly reviewed the scientific information available and as a result are considering re-listing saccharin in the Canadian Food and Drug Regulations to allow its use as a sweetener in certain foods.

Is aspartame safe? Aspartame is a non-nutritive sweetener first approved for use in foods and as a table top sweetener in Canada in 1981. Health Canada’s scientists evaluated an extensive array of toxicological tests in laboratory animals, and more recently, a large number of clinical studies in humans. Aspartame is also currently permitted for use as a sweetener in food in many countries and its safety has been carefully examined by health authorities and international expert groups around the world.

Stevia is a herbal supplement and is used as a sweetener. But there is not enough research on stevia’s safety as a sugar substitute and there is some controversy about its approval.

According to the National Cancer Institute (U.S.), there’s no scientific evidence that any of the artificial sweeteners approved for use in the United States cause cancer. And numerous studies confirm that artificial sweeteners are safe for the general population.

Here are some examples of commercially available artificial sweeteners: Aspartame (NutraSweet, Equal), Saccharin (Sweet’N Low, SugarTwin), Acesulfame K (Sunett, Sweet One), Sucralose (Splenda).

Diabetics and weight watchers who use artificial sweeteners should know that if they consume “sugar-free” drinks and food that are high in carbohydrates and proteins then these products may contain calories that may undermine your ability to lose weight and control blood sugar. Remember, it is not only what you eat, it is also how much you eat.

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Had Your Butt Checked Out Lately?

There are more jokes and humorous videos on the internet about colonoscopy than about mammography or cervical cancer screening. The reason is quite obvious. Most people do not like the idea of people inserting long tubes and cameras in the rear end of our anatomy. That is where the problem lies. Out of fear and embarrassment, we ignore that area and by the time we pick up cancer it is too late.

Alberta Cancer Board, Canadian Cancer Society and Alberta Health Services have been very aggressive in promoting the Alberta Colorectal Cancer Screening Program. You must have read about it in the newspapers, heard about it on the radio and seen the news on TV. The question is: what have you done about it? Are you ready for it?

The program aims to save lives by improving the prevention and early detection of colorectal cancer in Albertans between the ages of 50 and 74. The sad part is only 10 to 20 per cent of Canadians come forward to have some kind of screening test done for their colon. More women would go for mammography and cervical cancer screening than colorectal screening. And men are worse when it comes to screening for colorectal and prostate cancer.

Men and women are almost equally at risk of getting colorectal cancer. There is a less than three minutes video on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/realmenscreen) titled: “Had your butt checked out lately? – The Canadian Cancer Society asked men this question.” It is humorous and educational. Check it out!

Colorectal cancer is the fourth most common cancer. The average lifetime risk of developing colorectal cancer is six per cent. It is the second leading cause of cancer death in Canada. It is expected that colorectal cancer screening will decrease both, incidence and mortality.

Most people are scared as soon as they hear the word colonoscopy. It is important to remember that colonoscopy is not the only test for screening although it is the best test and is considered as gold standard against which other screening tests are compared. In certain circumstances (high risk patients) you do not have a choice but go through a colonoscopy for diagnosis, prevention and treatment of certain conditions.

You are at a high risk of getting colorectal cancer if you have a family history of colorectal cancer or polyps, have a personal history of ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s colitis
and have had polyps or previous history of colorectal cancer.

If you have symptoms like rectal bleeding then you don’t have a choice – you need a test. Depending on your age, the test may be a flexible sigmoidoscopy in the office or colonoscopy at the hospital. For example, six per cent of the patients who say they are bleeding from hemorrhoids have colon or rectal cancer.

Every individual is at risk of developing colorectal cancer. If you have no symptoms, have no family history of colorectal cancer and you are 50 years or older then you do not have to go through colonoscopy. You have a choice of doing stool tests for occult blood yearly or bi-annually, flexible sigmoidoscopy in an office every five years or combine stool test and flexible sigmoidoscopy every five years.

Every test for screening has advantages and disadvantages. None of them are full proof. And they vary from very invasive (colonoscopy) to least invasive (stool test). If you fall into high risk category then colonoscopy is the way to go. If you are asymptomatic person with an average risk then you have a choice of tests mentioned earlier.

So don’t be scared, talk to your doctor and have your butt checked out!

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