Each child is unique and has his own distinct needs for sleep. Generally, a preschooler needs 10 to 12 hours a night, maybe with a nap during the day. The surprise is that the school-age and preteen group benefit from the same, except for the nap. But, “media use has been shown to negatively affect a child’s sleep,” according to researchers at Seattle’s Children’s Research Institute. In their randomized controlled study of preschoolers, they found that the children had more than 70 minutes of screen time a day, with a fifth of that after 7 PM. Almost 20% of the parents interviewed indicated at least one sleep problem with their preschooler.

After years of acceptance as a safe and effective weed killer, a popular herbicide is facing the guillotine as teratogenic—it causes malformations in an embryo or fetus. Initial investigations (in the 1970’s) into the safety record of the chemical, glyphosate, indicated that its safety to humans was guaranteed. An organization called Earth Open Source has now indicted the chemical as a serious risk to public health while accusing the herbicide industry of hiding the truth for decades.

We like to think of ourselves as clean and fresh-smelling. But at what price? Although suspect for several years, the gentle aromas wafting from our laundry appliances are giving us more than we asked for—pollution. Venting the dryer outside contributes to the air many of the same chemicals emanating from vehicle and industrial exhausts, but better-smelling.

One of the vagaries of parenthood is that we think we know more than our kids, enough to maintain a watchful eye over all they do and the places they go. That might have been true before the advent of wireless technology and electronic media, but that’s an iffy proposition today.

The Body Mass Index (BMI) is a measure of the relative percentages of fat and muscle mass in the human body, based on a person’s weight and height, used to assess obesity. This barometer was used by researchers to determine the effect of the food additive, monosodium glutamate (MSG), on weight over a period of time. It was learned that those persons who consume MSG regularly experience changes in the part of the brain that controls appetite, thus having an influence on energy balance and consequent weight gain.

Calorie restriction (CR) in animals extends longevity by a considerable margin. Both primary and secondary aging processes are decelerated by limiting foods to those that are high in nutrients and relatively low in calories. Studies on humans are only now in progress, while those in animals have been unfolding for a few years.

Are we knowingly jeopardizing our collective lives? Common more to developed countries, colon cancer is the third most frequently diagnosed form of the disease. The risk in the United States is about 7%, but is based on certain factors: family history, colon polyps, and age among them.

Portion distortion and super-sized everything have taken their toll on the waists of the world, especially in the United States. In every town and city you’ll find an all-you-can-eat buffet within easy driving distance. If not that, how about a diner / restaurant that piles the food so high you can’t see the person across the table?

Sunflower seeds and pistachio nuts are top snacks for reducing cholesterol. Scientists have known for a long time that nuts and seeds are rich sources of phytosterols, plant compounds that are structurally related to cholesterol and may lower LDL levels. Keeping cholesterol in check may be your goal, but it’s not realistic to accomplish this without some work…as in exercise.