Vital Statistics: Thanksgiving Edition

A roundup of some unusual studies making news. As always, a mention here doesn’t mean an endorsement.

Giving thanks is good for your health?

A new Wall Street Journal article by Melinda Beck examines the growing amount of research that suggests a gratuitous attitude can improve one’s overall psychological, emotional and physical well-being.

Studies conducted over the past ten years have suggested that adults who maintain a gracious attitude generally have increased levels of energy, optimism, happiness and more social connections. Research has also shown that these adults tend to earn more money, sleep better, maintain a regular exercise routine, and have greater resistance to viral infections.

Studies are also finding that gratitude benefits children and adolescents, who are more likely to do better in school, set higher goals, be less materialistic and be more satisfied with friends and family.

This Thanksgiving, don’t forget the sweet potatoes.

New research released by the CDC has revealed that consuming high levels of the antioxidant alpha-carotene may reduce the risk of death by up to 39 percent.

The 14 year study consisted of more than 15,000 adults in the U.S. The researchers reported significant associations between alpha-carotene levels and the risk of death from all causes, including heart disease and cancer.

Alpha-carotene is found in high concentrations in yellow/orange vegetables, including the Thanksgiving staples, sweet potatoes and pumpkin. It can also be found in dark green vegetables, such as broccoli and spinach. This study is published online in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Even Thanksgiving can’t keep people away from their work e-mail

A new survey conducted by Harris Interactive has found that 59 percent of U.S. working adults will be checking their work e-mail over Thanksgiving and the rest of the holiday season.

The survey polled 2,179 adults in the U.S., ages 18 and older. Of the 59 percent who check their e-mail, 55 percent said they will check their work inbox at least once a day and 28 percent will look at their work e-mail multiple times throughout the day.

79 percent say that have been sent work related emails over a holiday. 41 percent said that they get frustrated when receiving work related e-mails over a holiday, while 15 percent admitted that they were thankful to be distracted by work e-mail during the holidays.

10 percent of those who said they check work e-mail during a holiday, admitted that they did so while at holiday parties or meals.

Stress test

A new survey released by the American Psychological Association reveals that almost 75 percent of Americans experience unhealthy levels of stress. With the current state of the economy, it is not surprising that America’s top three stressors are money (76 percent), work (70 percent) and the economy (65 percent) for the third year running. Job stability is also on the rise as a source of stress, increasing from 44 percent in 2009 to 49 percent this year.

According to the report, stress is taking its toll behaviorally and physically:

• Two-fifths of adults reported overeating or eating unhealthy foods because of stress in the past month.
• Nearly one-third said they skipped a meal because of stress in the past month.
• More than four in 10 said they had lain awake at night in the past month.
• The most common physical symptoms of stress reported were irritability (45 percent), fatigue (41 percent) and lack of energy or motivation (38 percent).

The findings also reveal that families are feeling the effects of stress. Many parents (69 percent) feel that their stress has minimal or no impact at all on their children; however 91 percent of children report knowing that their parents are experiencing stress based on observation of behavior.

Adults report that the most common reason for not adopting recommended lifestyle changes is lack of willpower (29 percent). The report says 4 in 10 adults claim money would help them improve their willpower.

To see the full report from the American Psychological Association, click here.

Is hypertexting a health problem?

By Cindy Merrick

A recent survey of high schoolers indicated some attention-grabbing relationships between high-risk behavior such as alcohol and drug abuse and frequent sexual activity, with activities known as “hypertexting” (texting at least 120 messages per school day) and “hypernetworking” (spending at least 3 hours per school day on social networking sites).

Dr. Scott Frank of Case Western Reserve University announced last week the findings of a survey of over 4200 high school students in the Midwest at an annual meeting of the American Public Health Association in Denver in a talk entitled, “Hypertexting and Hypernetworking: A New Health Risk Category for Teens?” In his abstract, Frank says that 19.8 percent of the students fell into the category of hypertexting and 11.5 percent fell into the category of hypernetworking.

This survey associated both behaviors with higher levels of sexual activity, binge drinking, suicidal ideation, and tobacco and marijuana use. Further, participators in hypertexting and hypernetworking tended to be obese or have other eating disorders and get less sleep. Such associations were made after controlling for demographic factors. Frank concludes that “Excessive use of communications technology among teens is related to higher levels of health risk behaviors and poorer health outcomes.”

Specific numbers from the survey look compelling: hypertexters are 43 percent more likely to be binge drinkers and 41 percent more likely to have used illicit drugs; hypernetworkers are 69 percent more likely to be binge drinkers and 84 percent more likely to have used illicit drugs. Less clear is what the link between hypertexting or hypernetworking and risky behavior actually is.

Which means it’s premature to label hypertexting and hypernetworking a “Health Risk Category.” No direct harm is described and, as Frank told the Washington Post, “the study was not intended to show causality.”

Unfortunately, his university’s press release ran with the headline “Hyper-texting and Hyper-Networking Pose New Health Risks for Teens,” and other news organizations followed suit. Frank offered the Post a thin justification: “It does depend on who they’re texting with. Their choice of friends in the single most important thing. The more texting they do, the more potential for exposure to high-tech peer pressure.”

But what are the odds the kids wouldn’t have any friends or be subjected to peer-pressure if they didn’t text? This seems to be a case of mistaking the tool for the cause, and the best that can be said for such a notion is that it begs for more direct study. In fact, it wouldn’t be incorrect to succinctly state Frank’s findings this way: Teens Likely to Try Risky Behavior Also Text a Lot!

 

Kids screen out on TV

By Cindy Merrick

New research, believed to be the first nationally representative study to assess cumulative “screen time” in young children at an individual level, finds that preschoolers are watching on average as many as four hours per day. The longitudinal study “Preschoolers’ Total Daily Screen Time at Home and by Type of Child Care.” was conducted on almost 9,000 preschool-aged children and published in the journal Pediatrics.

This contrasts with the policy statement of the American Academy of Pediatrics(AAP) on television viewing (including DVD and movie-watching) for children, which recommends that parents “limit children’s media time (with entertainment media) to no more than 1 to 2 hours of quality programming per day.” The AAP cites research on the link between media violence and real-life aggressive behavior as a reason for doing so. It also warns against general negative health effects from too much TV, in areas like academic performance, self-image, nutrition and obesity, and substance abuse.

According to the new study’s findings, at preschool ages, children are exceeding the Academy’s recommendation by at least doubling the Academy’s recommendation daily. Some nearly triple the maximum, where children in home-based child care environments are consuming an average of 5.6 total hours per day, 33 percent of that taking place during child care hours. According to these numbers, the amount watched during home-based child care hours alone is nearly the maximum recommended for each entire day. And even children with no external caregiver situations average 4.4 hours per day. Smaller totals were found among preschoolers in the Head Start program.

Interestingly, the authors found that “For more socioeconomically vulnerable children, being in Head Start is associated with less average daily screen time compared with home-based care or parental care only, suggesting a potentially protective effect.”

It is important to note that the study in no way establishes a causal link between child behavior or development and hours in front of a TV, nor does it make any conclusion about individual day-care choices. But the degree of sedentary behavior indicated by such consumption patterns should raise concern in light of the prevalence of childhood obesity.

The study used data from a nationally representative sample of children born in 2001, to measure reported daily screen time per child based on the sum of a parent’s and day care provider’s (if different from parent) responses. The final model controlled for the child’s race and sex, for the mother’s education level and marital status, and for family income.

Cold comfort

With winter around the corner, you may want to pay attention to the findings of a new study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. The results suggest that those who exercise regularly appear to have less frequent and milder colds.

The research team analyzed 1,002 men and women, ranging from ages 18 to 85 over a period of 12 weeks in the fall and winter of 2008. In addition to monitoring their health, the participants reported the types and amount of exercise they did weekly, as well as disclosing other factors, such as dietary patterns and stressful events.

The frequency of colds among those who exercised at least five days a week was up to 46 percent less than those who exercised only one day a week or not at all, HealthDay reports. The number of days with cold symptoms was also shortened – 41 percent lower for those who exercise at least five days a week. The severity of cold symptoms decreased by 41 percent among those who felt the most physically fit, and by 31 percent among those who were the most physically active.

As lead study author David C. Nieman, Director of the Human Performance Laboratory in North Carolina told the Chicago Tribune:

“At least 20 minutes per session, five or more days a week – rises above all other lifestyle factors in lowering sick days during the winter and fall cold seasons.”

Even though multiple factors that could potentially affect susceptibility to colds were taken into account, researchers did report a number of limitations to the study. These include lack of controlling all variables that can affect a cold, such as exposure to germs in the workplace or from children in the home.