ParentDish

Children Could Benefit from Medical Research, Study Says

Tom Henderson — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: In The News, Research Reveals: Babies, Research Reveals: Toddlers & Preschoolers, Research Reveals: Big Kids

Credit: Getty Images

You read about all these studies and research projects on ParentDish. Have you ever thought to yourself, "Gee, I wish scientists from Pennbrook University would do medical research on my child"?

Most parents overlook the possible benefit of children participating in medical research. How do we know? Guess what? There's been a study.

Researchers from the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health surveyed parents earlier this year and found one in nine adults have participated in medical research -- compared with only one in 20 children.

A university press release also reports that 68 percent of adults are aware of medical research opportunities for themselves. However, 84 percent of parents are not aware of medical research opportunities for children.

So, c'mon, kids, who wants to play guinea pig? It's not as bad as it sounds.

"Medical research is the backbone of improving medical care. Without volunteers, medical research cannot move forward," Matthew Davis, an associate professor at the University of Michigan's medical school, says in the release.

Participation in research is essential to continued medical progress, Davis says.

Over the last 100 years, infant mortality in the United States has been reduced by 90 percent. Millions of deaths from diseases such as polio, diphtheria, pneumonia and influenza have been prevented by vaccines.

Children with life-threatening diseases such as cystic fibrosis, sickle cell disease and diabetes now survive beyond childhood, into adult years.

All thanks to kids participating in medical research.

"Awareness about research opportunities, which is a necessary step before participation, is reasonably high among adults but strikingly low for children's research," Davis adds. "To improve participation rates among children, researchers and institutions evidently need to do a better job of getting the word out to parents."

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When New Mom Can't Breast-Feed, Dozens of Women Help Out

Tom Henderson — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: In The News, Breast-Feeding

Credit: Getty Images

Eva van Dok Pinkley, a Brooklyn, N.Y., actress and magazine researcher can't breast-feed her newborn because she had a double mastectomy last year.

No matter. The London Daily Mail reports 25 women are pumping and donating their breast milk.

"What they are doing, it's not easy to do," van Dok Pinkley tells the newspaper. "I'm just stunned at the amount of trouble that they are going through for me. I think of them and what they have done and give thanks."

Van Dok Pinkley got pregnant last September after a battle with breast cancer so intense she had given up having children. She had abandoned hope after miscarriages, failed fertility treatments and then her cancer.

When she and her husband, Stuart, finally found out they were having a baby, she knew she couldn't breast-feed. So she began doing research on the Internet.

After consultations with doctors and lactation consultants, the Mail reports, she began asking for donations from other expecting mothers at her yoga studio, via email lists and through friends.

Among the women who responded was Kristi Guigliano, the mother of an 8-month-old boy.

"The first time Eva and I met, it was a very emotional thing to, first of all, have found someone so perfect, so close and so in need of the milk," Guigliano tells the newspaper.

The Mail reports the women are either ongoing donors, one-time donors or soon-to-be moms who have pledged milk if they have some left over.

"When they told me what they were doing, I thought, 'Only in New York,' " Stuart Van Dok Pinkley tells the Mail.

Only in New York? Not really.

In 2009, ParentDish reported on Robbie Goodrich, a widowed English professor in Marquette, Mich. When his wife died shortly after his son, Moses, was born, more than two dozen women shared their breast milk with the infant.

Related: Women Rally Around Widower to Breast-Feed Infant Son

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Stroke Rates Up in Pregnant Women, New Moms, Study Finds

Lesley Kennedy — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 15:30:00 EST

Filed under: In The News, Pregnancy Health, Research Reveals

Credit: Getty Images

We've asked this before, but don't pregnant women have enough to worry about already?

Now, you can add an increase in stroke rates to their list of health concerns.

According to the Wall Street Journal, researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have found the rate of pregnant women being hospitalized for strokes rose 47 percent between 1994-95 and 2006-7, while the rate rose 83 percent for women who had given birth within the last three months.

Now, those numbers are still very low, the newspaper reports, with just .22 hospitalizations for every 1,000 deliveries, but, still, the numbers have experts concerned.

The findings, published in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association, could be a result of pregnant women being at risk more and more often for things such as obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure, all risk factors for stroke, the Journal reports.

Lead study author Elena Kuklina, an epidemiologist at the CDC's heart disease and stroke prevention division, tells the newspaper women should get general health exams before they plan to get pregnant to determine any issues that could be reversed.

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His Lordship: Lazy 14-Year-Old Hooligan! Get a Job!

Tom Henderson — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: In The News

Credit: Amazon

"Boy for sale!"

A member of Britain's House of Lords is beginning to sound like something out of "Oliver Twist." Lord Jones says he's had it up here with hooligans and wants to put them to work.

Half a mo', guvnah.

This is Britain. So make that, e's ad it up to ere with ooligans and wants to put them to work, e does.

No matter how you pronounce it, the politician formerly known as Digby Jones, the head of the Confederation of British Industry, says young scalawags should be sent out to work at age 14 to "earn a few bob" rather than being forced to stay in school.

His Lordship tells the London Daily Mail the unruly and disruptive would be better off getting jobs and starting apprenticeships. He adds firms are being forced to recruit overseas because of the lack of properly skilled British workers.

"We've got to appreciate that the world has changed and there are loads of kids in school today who at 14 are more mature, and so many of them are disruptive," he says.

"This isn't about saying, 'School's out, away you go kids.' This is about going to a technical college, doing a couple of days a week on a vocational course and going into a business or indeed a public sector employer and getting the link in their mind, in their DNA, that if you get better skilled, you make more money," he adds.

With a weak pound, Lord Jones suggests that not-so-Great Britain could re-establish its manufacturing base.

Russell Hobby of the National Association of Head Teachers cries bullocks.

"Allowing children to leave school at that age, without good levels of literacy and numeracy, would trap them in low-paid jobs for the rest of their lives," he tells the Daily Mail.

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Teacher Reinstated After Blogging That Students are 'Whiners'

Tom Henderson — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: In The News

Credit: Getty Images

A teacher in suburban Philadelphia blogged that her students are "rude, disengaged, lazy whiners."

No doubt. They're high school students.

But can anyone be that honest and remain employed? Natalie Munroe has defied the odds. Reuters news service reports the English teacher will return to face a fresh crop of rude, disengaged, lazy whiners in the fall. She might just select different adjectives.

Munroe was suspended with pay earlier this year after her comments ("My students are of out of control," she blogged) turned parents into a chorus of scorched cats.

Although school officials have reinstated her, Reuters reports Munroe has misgivings about returning to Central Bucks East High School on Aug. 30. She had to be escorted from the building in February.

"She wants to be an effective teacher and does not know what environment she will be going back to," her lawyer, Steven Rovner, tells Reuters.

Meanwhile, Munroe is blogging again. This time, Reuters reports, she's outlining the sequence of events that led to her return. She whines (uh, make that complains) she had to contact the district five times about returning and portrays the phone calls as unpleasant.

Not that it will keep her out of the classroom. She would just prefer a different high school.

"She's a teacher and will be glad to be going back to the classroom," Rovner tells Reuters. "As a teacher, she is like a celebrity now. Emotions would not be as high if she went to another school."

Related: Teacher Calls Students 'Little Criminals' on Facebook

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Pregnant Moms Who Use Mouthwash Not as Likely to Have Preemies, Study Finds

Lesley Kennedy — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: In The News, Pregnancy Health, Research Reveals

Credit: Getty Images

"Floss, floss, floss!" You've been commanded by dentists for years to heed that advice. Now, it may be time to add "mouthwash, mouthwash, mouthwash!" to your oral health routine.

A new study finds pregnant moms with gum disease have a better chance of delivering full-term babies if they use mouthwash while they're expecting, Reuters reports, as preggo women with periodontal disease have more premature babies than moms with healthy gums.

Researchers found when women used an alcohol-free mouth rinse, the risk of early labor seemed to be decreased by three-quarters, according to the news service.

Reuters notes staff and funding from the study, published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, came from Procter and Gamble -- a company that makes mouthwash.

The study doesn't draw specific conclusions, but Dr. Marjorie Jeffcoat, lead author and a professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine, tells the news service dental care is crucial.

"They need to use a soft toothbrush and floss the right way," wrapping the floss around the tooth, she told Reuters in an earlier interview. "The first goal with almost all dental disease is prevention, prevention, prevention."

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Bathtub Pads Recalled

Tom Henderson — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: In The News

Credit: Getty Images

Pads sold to keep children from falling in the bathtub may have the opposite effect. They're not sticking to the tub and could pose a hazard to children.

Bathtub Non-Slip Pads (made by Prime-Lime Products Inc.) are being recalled because some of the pads are defective.

A company press release, reprinted in the Sacramento Bee, says the voluntary recall was issued by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission in cooperation with company officials.

"Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed," the press release says. "It is illegal to resell or attempt to resell a recalled consumer product."

No injuries have been reported.

The whale-shaped, white pads are made out of vinyl and textured surfaces with adhesive backings. They're supposed to help prevent children from slipping and falling in bathtubs. The pads come in sets of 12 and 15.

Each set contains pads ranging in size from 2- to 4-inches tall.

The defective pads were sold at Ace Hardware and Menard's Inc. nationwide between May 24, 2010 and June 13, 2011 for about $6.

The model number is S-4630 and SKU number is 049793846303. Both are printed on the back of the packaging.

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Kids are Like Scientists, and Not Just Mad Ones

Tom Henderson — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: In The News

Credit: Getty Images

"Experiment. Make it your motto day and night. Experiment. And it will lead you to the light." -- Cole Porter

We commonly refer to something simple as mere child's play.

However, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University say there is nothing "mere" about child's play. Children are actually performing complex experiments.

They are little scientists, Wired magazine reports.

To prove just how scientifically children approach their work, researchers gave a group of them a toy that lights up and plays music when the child places certain beads on. When children didn't know which beads would activate the toy -- what scientists call "ambiguous evidence" -- they tested each variable in turn.

Laura Schulz, a professor at MIT, tells Wired it's like someone trying unsuccessfully to open a door with a key.

"You might change the position of the key, you might change the key, but you're not going to change both at once," she says.

Researchers say their study begins to "bridge the gap between scientific inquiry and child's play."

Remember that the next time you find flour scattered all over the kitchen. Scientific discovery can be messy.

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Cellphones Don't Raise Risk of Brain Tumors in Kids, Study Finds

Lesley Kennedy — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: In The News, Research Reveals: Big Kids, Research Reveals: Tweens, Research Reveals: Teens, Health

Credit: AFP/Getty Images

Put down that cell phone, child! It'll rot your brain and give you cancer!

No reason to put the fear of God into your iPhone-loving kid. We can't comment on the brain rot, but a new study does show that children who use cell phones have no greater risk of getting brain cancer than kids who don't use them, Reuters reports.

Researchers looked at brain tumor patients ages 7 to 19, to gauge their risk of getting cancer from cellphones, and found the patients weren't any more apt to be phone fanatics than the control subjects who were cancer-free, according to the news service.

"If mobile phone use would be a risk factor, you'd expect cancer patients to have a higher amount of usage," Professor Martin Roosli, who conducted the study, published this week in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, tells Reuters. The research was partly funded by cellphone operators, the news service adds, although they had no part in the study's design, analysis or interpretation of data.

The World Health Organization said in May that cellphone use could increase the risk of some types of brain tumors, Reuters reports. But this study didn't find a connection.

"What we found was that there was no (significant) difference in the amount of use," Roosli tells the news service, adding that any risk "would be a really small risk."

Roosli tells Reuters future studies should look at longer-term use of cellphone use among kids.

"(This study) provides quite some evidence that use of less than five years does not increase the chance of a brain tumor, but naturally we don't have a lot of long-term users," he tells the news service.

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Kids With Special Needs Get (Gasp!) Bullied

Tom Henderson — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: In The News, Special Needs, Bullying

Credit: Getty Images

Brace yourselves for a shocker. Kids with special needs -- who struggle with medical, emotional or emotional issues -- tend to have more problems in school and are bullied more often than other kids.

Researchers at the Poindexter Institute for the Painfully Obvious reached this conclusion after examining their middle school yearbooks and remembering how they spent all of seventh grade trapped inside their lockers while asking if someone would please pass them their inhalers.

Their conclusions were backed up by researchers at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

According to U.S. News & World Report, researchers there tracked more than 1,450 kids in fourth through sixth grades from 34 rural schools. A third of the kids had problems such as asthma, chronic pain, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), learning disabilities or emotional and behavioral problems.

These children were a more likely to be (wait for it, wait for it) bullied or feel socially isolated. These conclusions were further confirmed by everyone who has ever attended public school.

"Health affects school performance," lead researcher Christopher Forrest tells U.S. News. "Special health care needs have manifold effects on school outcomes that increase the likelihood that these kids are not going to successfully transition to adulthood."

Researchers obtained data from kids and their parents from a questionnaire. Children were classified as having a special health care need if they had a condition lasting at least 12 months and needed prescription drugs, therapy, counseling or other services.

School records on attendance, grades and standardized tests also were analyzed.

Kids with special health care needs "have significant differences in their engagement in school and their school relationships as well as academic achievement," Forrest adds. "It sets up a trajectory for these kids that's highly distressing."

Communities can help if they look at the whole child, he says.

"I also believe it's the kind of challenge we're starting to understand in the 21st century," Forrest says. "We have to look at the child as a whole person ... and recognize that individuals need health systems and education systems to work together."

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Parents' Attitude Affects Kids' Diabetes

Tom Henderson — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: In The News, Special Needs, Research Reveals: Toddlers & Preschoolers, Research Reveals: Big Kids, Research Reveals: Tweens, Health

Credit: Getty Images

Kids with diabetes need to regulate their diets, monitor their blood-sugar levels and take the appropriate amount of insulin.

They also need parents with the right attitude.

Researchers at the Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel find that parenting styles and attitudes play a big role in how well teenagers manage their diabetes.

Internal Medicine News reports lead researcher Maayan Shorer and her colleagues defined three parenting styles:

Authoritative. This is characterized by clear limits on the child set by the parents in a caring, noncoercive manner.
Permissive. This is characterized by few efforts by the parents to direct and limit the child's behavior.
Authoritarian. This is characterized by a coercive, harsh and punitive approach and parental attempts to control the child's behavior.

Researchers looked at 100 adolescents, as well as 79 mothers and 63 fathers, and found an authoritative approach, especially by fathers, resulted in kids doing a better job managing their diabetes. On the flip side, kids did a lot worse when parents were either permissive or authoritarian.

The worst results came when kids picked up on a sense of helplessness, especially among mothers.

There are several morals to the story, researchers tell Internal Medicine News. One of the biggies is that dads need to get more involved.

"Unfortunately, our clinical experience along with the empirical evidence suggests that compared with mothers, fathers tend to take a too-small role in their child's diabetes management and exert fewer efforts at monitoring the child," Shorer says. "We believe fathers should be more engaged in their child's routine diabetes care, and to do so, specifically, by adopting an authoritative stance."

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Tooth Fairy Latest Victim of the Economy

Lesley Kennedy — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: In The News

Credit: Getty Images

Cutting back on cable, new clothes and trips to the gas pump are all indicators of a bad economy, but when the Tooth Fairy starts shorting kids, you know things are serious.

The Denver Post reports U.S. kids are getting an average of $2.60 a tooth these days, compared with $3 a year ago, according to a recent survey by Visa. For those who don't like math, that's $.40 less than last year -- but still a heck of a lot more than we used to get, when a quarter was considered a score.

Thorton, Colo. fourth grader Alicya Rodriguez tells the Post she gets a $1 a tooth. She may want to have a word with the Tooth Fairy. The average amount traded for teeth in the West is $2.80, while kids in the East get $2.10, kids in the South get $2.60 and kids in the Midwest get $2.80.

"The survey gives parents the opportunity to start talking with kids - even pretty little ones - about money management," Jason Alderman, Visa's senior director of financial education, tells the newspaper.

Not sure what you, er, the Tooth Fairy, should spend per tooth? Dr. Rhea Haugseth, president of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, tells the Post parents should just be reasonable, and pay no more than $5.

"I tell them there are 20 baby teeth and they need to think about what that could cost," Haugseth tells the newspaper.

Best start saving now.

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Pregnant Man Sheds Baby Weight, Shows Off New Bod

Lesley Kennedy — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: In The News

Yeah, we get jealous when we see the Madonnas and the Victoria Beckhams and the Jessica Albas of the world go from pregnant back to size 0 in what seems like a matter of hours.

Now we have Thomas Beatie to add to our list. So, no Beatie isn't a super star celebrity, but the transgender man has made headlines for giving birth to three children.

And, now, the New York Daily News reports, he's gotten himself in post-baby shape that would even make Madge envious.

The Oregonian, 37, known in the press as Pregnant Man, has traded his baby weight for ripped abs, according to the newspaper, and E! reports it was done through a combination of diet, exercise and testosterone doses.

E! also adds Beatie is a black belt in Tae Kwon Do.

Beatie, born a woman, has three children with his wife, Nancy, the Daily News reports. He says he does not plan to have a full sex change, according to E!, as he says he is legally considered a man already.

The Daily News reports Beatie had 10 years of sexual reassignment therapy, including chest reconstruction surgery.

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The Kids Are All Right, Even if Their Parents Grow Pot

Tom Henderson — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: In The News

Credit: AP

Just because the folks next door are drug dealers doesn't mean they're bad parents.

In fact, researchers at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children say the children of couples who operate marijuana grow rooms are often extremely healthy, physically and emotionally. And they rarely use illegal drugs.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reports researchers question whether parents caught growing marijuana should automatically lose custody of their children.

"After examining 75 of the kids over several years, we came to very clear conclusions that a vast majority of these kids are doing well -- well fed, well kept, doing well in school and developing well," lead researcher Gideon Koren of the University of Toronto tells the CBC. "Taking a small child from his or her parents in a well-adapted environment causes fear, anxiety, confusion and sadness."

Traditional procedure in Toronto, the network reports, has been to remove children from homes where illegal marijuana operations have been discovered and place the kids in foster care.

Patrick Lake, executive director of York Region Children's Aid Society, tells the CBC child welfare workers have learned more about the effects marijuana growing operations have on children since 2006, and have changed how they maintain the children's safety.

"We have developed a more customized and comprehensive process to determine best response, on a case-by-case basis, while looking for ways to safely maintain children with their parents or relatives," Lake says.

Koren tells the CBC he hopes Canadian authorities will see the children of pot growers a little differently after his study.

"When police and children's aid go into that situation, they have to look much more carefully on what happened to that child, and not blanket-wise moving kids out of their homes," he says.

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Happy Meals Get a Little Less Happy With Half the Fries

Tom Henderson — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: In The News

Credit: AFP/Getty Images

Happy Meals may be a little more healthy but a little less happy now that McDonald's is cutting the number of fries kids get in half.

The New York Times reports restaurant officials announced July 26 the company is putting kids on strict french fry rations to cut the total number of calories in Happy Meals by 20 percent. At many locations, parents already may substitute apple slices and other healthier foods for fries.

The meals will still come with toys -- often promoting movies -- despite criticism that the toys make the meals too happy, causing children to form an emotional link between feeling happy and eating unhealthy food.

San Francisco officials banned the toys in kids' meals that fail to meet nutritional requirements. A city councilor in New York City is proposing a similar law.

The Times reports Happy Meals account for less than 10 percent of all McDonald's sales, but the Happy Meal has become a recurring target for crusading lawmakers and consumer advocates as child obesity has become an increasingly popular cause.

Other fast-food restaurants also have bowed to public pressure.

The Times reports Jack in the Box officials announced in June they would quit putting toys in children's meals.

Burger King, IHOP and more than a dozen other restaurant chains vowed this month to promote and serve healthier options for kids.

"McDonald's is not giving the whole loaf, but it is giving a half or two thirds of a loaf," Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, tells The Times.

The center represents a woman in California who is suing McDonald's for including toys in its Happy Meals.

"This is an important step in the right direction," Jacobson tells the newspaper.

McDonald's officials also pledged to reduce the salt content in all of its foods by 15 percent, with the exceptions of soda and desserts, by 2015. The slightly-less-Happy Meals will be introduced in September.

"It's a trade-off between everybody getting a small portion and 10 percent of kids getting a larger portion, which is better than nothing and maybe will accustom kids to eating fresh fruits and vegetables when they go out to eat," Jacobson tells The Times.

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Girl's Dream of Providing Poor With Clean Water Comes True, Even After Her Tragic Death

Lesley Kennedy — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 15:30:00 EST

Filed under: In The News

A girl's goal to raise $300 for a nonprofit clean water group was cut tragically short when the 9-year-old died last week in car crash.

Rachel Beckwith, of Bellevue, Wash., needed about $80 to complete her goal of sending the money to charity:water, a group dedicated to bringing clean drinking water to poor nations, MSNBC reports. But now people across the world are hearing her story and sending in money that has topped $360,000 in donations, the Seattle Times adds.

After news of the girl's death and her goal made local news around Seattle, and soon spread worldwide through social media, contributors began making pledges on Rachel's webpage.

"What could have been simply a senseless ending to such a beautiful beginning of your story has turned into something so much more," an anonymous donor posted. "I hope that if at all possible the obvious compassion so many others have shown in taking up your empathetic cause brings some peace to you and your family."

Rachel became involved with charity: water through her church, according to MSNBC.

"On June 12th 2011, I'm turning 9," she wrote on her page on mycharitywater.org. "I found out that millions of people don't live to see their 5th birthday. And why? Because they didn't have access to clean, safe water so I'm celebrating my birthday like never before. I'm asking from everyone I know to donate to my campaign instead of gifts for my birthday. Every penny of the money raised will go directly to fund freshwater projects in developing nations."

Samantha Paul, Rachel's mother, posted on the site earlier this week that she is in awe of the reaction.

"In the face of unexplainable pain you have provided undeniable hope," she wrote. "Thank you for your generosity! I know Rachel is smiling!"

Scott Harrison, founder of charity:water, tells MSNBC more than 3,600 donations have been made. As of this morning, that number was up to 7,500, according to the Seattle Times.

"Her little dream of helping 15 people has turned into almost 10,000 people and counting," he tells the network. "I wouldn't be surprised if she gets 1000 times her wish."

Harrison tells MSNBC he has seen people rally around things like this before.

"The selflessness of a 9-year-old girl who said, 'I don't want a birthday party, I don't want gifts, I just want people to have clean water' - that's the way it resonates with people," he tells the network. "I'm not surprised it's resonated with Rachel's friends and church community and people around the world."

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Sneak Veggies Into Your Kids' Meals

Tom Henderson — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Nutrition: Health, In The News, Mealtime, Nutrition: Toddlers & Preschoolers, Research Reveals: Toddlers & Preschoolers, Nutrition: Big Kids, Research Reveals: Big Kids

Credit: AP

Can't get your kids to eat their veggies?

Researchers at Pennsylvania State University have a cunning plan. They suggest you discreetly add broccoli, zucchini and all that other green stuff to kids' meals.

Reuters news service reports their research found kids get more vegetables that way. And, while most of us might detect puree of broccoli on our macaroni and cheese, the little rubes don't even seem to notice the difference.

"We think of it as not deception, but recipe improvement," Barbara Rolls, one of the researchers, tells Reuters. "In this group of kids, we got most of them meeting their daily vegetable requirements -- that's pretty amazing."

Although the study was done in day care centers, researcher Maureen Spill tells Reuters parents could easily pull the same stunt at home. All they need is a blender.

Rolls says the technique can even work on older but equally stubborn children ... like husbands.

Adding pureed vegetables into adults' meals meant they ate more veggies and fewer total calories, she adds. Most of them couldn't taste the extra veggies, either.

According to Reuters, researchers fed prepared meals to 40 kids ages 3 to 5 one day a week for three weeks. The meals looked the same each day -- zucchini bread at breakfast, pasta with tomato sauce at lunch and a chicken noodle casserole at dinner.

One day's worth of meals was prepared normally -- with a typical veggie in each entree. On the other two days, researchers added pureed cauliflower, broccoli, squash, zucchini and tomatoes to triple or quadruple every dish's dose of vegetables.

After each meal, researchers weighed the food to determine how much kids ate. The preschoolers were also allowed to eat non-doctored side dishes and snacks during the day -- including fruit, cheese and crackers.

Compared to the day when they ate standard meals, Reuters reports, kids almost doubled their total vegetable intake on the day they ate high-vegetable dishes.

"I would urge parents to try to get vegetables into their kids' meals wherever they can," Rolls tells Reuters. "This is an additional strategy that you put on top of exposing kids to real vegetables, eating the vegetables with the kids, (and) being persistent in exposing them to vegetables."

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Update: Mom Won't Serve Jailtime in Son's Jaywalking Death

Lesley Kennedy — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 13:30:00 EST

Filed under: In The News

Her son died tragically after Raquel Nelson and her three children crossed four lanes of highway without a crosswalk and a hit-and-run driver struck the boy.

The driver, Jerry Guy, who had two previous convictions for hit-and-runs, pleaded guilty to one count of hit-and-run and served six months, "Today" reports, while Nelson faced 36 months in jail after being found guilty of second-degree vehicular homicide, reckless conduct and failure to use a crosswalk during the accident that killed A.J. Nelson, 4.

But the Marietta, Ga., mom will not serve time in jail, according to the news show. Instead, she received a sentence of 40 hours of community service and 12 months probation and was granted the unusual chance for a new trial.

"One year probation, it was better than jail time, of course," Nelson tells "Today." "I was just happy to be walking out of the courtroom. ... When (the judge) said what she said, it was a relief. I probably could have kissed her."

Nelson tells "Today" she's still deciding whether or not to go through with a new trial.

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Pippa Gaining Ground on Top Baby Name List in 2011

Lesley Kennedy — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: In The News, Baby Names, New In Pop Culture, Celeb News & Interviews

Pippa Middleton. Credit: Getty Images

She's been capturing headlines all over the globe since her famous sister Kate became British royalty, and now Pippa Middleton is sparking a baby naming trend, too.

Reuters reports the baby name website Nameberry analyzed 23 million page views of baby name pages on various naming sites and found celebrities are having a serious impact on the monikers folks are bestowing on their little ones.

"Five years ago, I might have said that the biggest overarching factor was personal meaning, now the biggest factor is celebrities," Nameberry's Pamela Redmond Satran tells the news service.

True, Isabella, Sophia and Emma were the top names for girls last year, with Jacob, Ethan and Michael winning out among boy names, but names such as Pippa, Elula (the name actress Isla Fisher and actor Sacha Baron Cohen chose for their daughter), Mila (as in "Black Swan" actress Kunis) and Flynn (the name of Orlando Bloom and Miranda Kerr's son) are gaining steam.

"There is a culture of the celebrity baby," Satran tells Reuters. "The whole world goes on name watch. By not telling the name, it becomes a big news event."

Satran tells the news service the number of searches for a baby name can help predict how popular that name will become.

Nameberry compiled a list of hot names so far for 2001, posted on Today.com. Here's what people are searching.

Pippa: "Both the familiar Pippa and the more formal Philippa is the Number 1 hottest baby name of the year on Nameberry. Pippa ranks 35 on our most-searched list so far this year, after not appearing at all among our 200 most popular girls' names of 2010. While Kate is up too, it's not nearly as hot as Pippa.

Asher: "The soft, Biblical Asher takes the Hottest Boys' Name spot by virtue of having unseated Henry as the all-time Number 1 name for boys on Nameberry."

Elula: "Elula, the unusual Hebrew calendar name chosen by Isla Fisher and Sasha Baron Cohen for their second daughter, was not even in our database last year and now is the Number 38 most-searched name on Nameberry."

Everett: "The popularity of Everett, up 50 places on our most-searched list, was inspired by such stylish girls' choices as Eva and Evelyn."

Hadley: "The success of the bestselling novel 'The Paris Wife' has catapulted the intriguing name of Hemingway's first wife, Hadley Richardson, 50 spots up our list this year over last."

Arlo: "... Arlo, as in folksinger Guthrie, (is) enjoying a popularity surge. Other o-ending names for boys heating up in 2011: Nico, Hugo, Otto."

Mila: "It's the name of a gorgeous young star, Mila Kunis, PLUS it resembles a handful of trendy names -- Mia, Maya, Lila -- that are due for a hiatus."

Flynn: "Finn is already hot, but cousin Flynn, baby name choice of Orlando Bloom and Miranda Kerr, is taking off."

Ada, Adele, Adeline, Adelaide: "If it's a vintage girls' name that starts with Ad-, it can't miss this year, it seems."

Archer: "Archer, as in Henry James' 'Portrait of a Lady' and Edith Wharton's 'Age of Innocence,' is perfect: It's unusual, classic yet contemporary-feeling, and there's no danger of anyone actually having read the books."

Luna: "The real hottie launched by the Beckham name quest was otherworldly Luna, the name rumored to be their girls' pick for most of Posh's pregnancy."

So, don't be surprised if the kindergarten class of 2016 is full of Pippas, Milas, Elulas and Flynns. Kinda sounds like a new sort of British invasion, now, doesn't it?

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Florida Child Welfare Investigators Criticized for Incompetance

Tom Henderson — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: In The News

Credit: Corbis

Say you're a child welfare investigator.

You get numerous reports that children in a particular family are being abused. Most recently, you hear they are being tied up and confined to a bathtub.

How can you tell if these allegations are true?

This is where your skill, training and experience as a professional investigator comes in. You go to the house and ask the parents if they are abusing their children. They say no.

And that's that. Case closed. No need to see the children. Why would their parents lie?

Being an investigator always looks so tough on TV. But it's really quite simple -- at least if you work for the Florida Department of Children and Families.

The Miami Herald reports caseworkers for the department are coming under fire for being Florida's answer to the Keystone Kops. A Miami grand jury released a report July 25 accusing investigators of "a persistent, insidious bias of trust" in responding to numerous complaints that a couple was abusing their adopted twin children.

One of the twins, 10-year-old Nubia Barahona, died -- allegedly due to abuse and neglect at the hands of her adoptive parents, Jorge and Carmen Barahona.

While the Barahonas stand trail for murder, many fingers are pointing at child welfare investigators. One of the investigators went to the Barahona house Feb. 10 after hearing the children were tied up in the bathtub. She left without physically checking on the children, taking the parents' word that everything was all right.

"Were Nubia and [her brother] Victor in the house tied up in that bathtub at that very moment?" the Miami Herald quotes from the grand jury's 25-page report. "We will never know."

Four days after the abuse report was filed, the Herald reports Jorge Barahona was found passed out next to his pickup truck along Interstate 95 in West Palm Beach. Nubia's decomposing body was in a garbage bag in the flatbed. Her twin, Victor, had allegedly been doused with deadly chemicals and was slouched in the cab.

Prosecutors say the couple kept the twins bound in the bathroom of their West Miami-Dade home for months, beating and starving them. The Barahonas were indicted on charges of first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and neglect for Nubia's death and her brother's alleged abuse. They both face the death penalty.

As a result of the crime, the Herald reports, the Department of Children and Families is revamping its abuse hotline, hiring more investigators and and improving relationships with law enforcement agencies and other community groups.

"We appreciate the hard work and effort that the grand jury put into their report and recommendations. The tragic death of Nubia affected everyone in our community," the Herald quotes from a prepared statement from department spokesman Lissette Valdes-Valle.

"We are thoroughly reviewing the Grand Jury's recommendations in order to see what supplemental actions we can incorporate to prevent a similar tragedy from occurring in the future."

The grand jury listed numerous red flags from the twins' foster care records and asked: "How could anyone have missed the looming disaster if they had read all of this information in one place and at one time?"

"Patterns were still recognizable early on, and increasingly, as time went by," the report goes on. "Immediately prior to the finalization of the adoption, alarm bells should have been going off for all to hear."

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