As we’ve discussed on Rational Moms before, companies aren’t just out there to help expecting parents; they’re also out there to flim-flam expecting parents. Some products are presented as the perfect way to make one’s baby smarter. However, many of these products do not have any science to back up their claims. The Washington Post had a great article on the newest craze: pregnancy audio belts.
» Continue reading “Pregnancy Audio Belts”
I covered this information in a comment, but it bears repeating.
Because it’s such a succinct summary, I’m lifting this from Harriet Hall’s article on Science Based Medicine:
The 1976 swine flu. In February 1976 a strain of H1N1 influenza similar to the 1918 strain killed a soldier at Fort Dix. Officials feared a pandemic and over-reacted. In actuality, the H1N1 strain was limited to the Fort Dix area and quickly died out, and another related strain only persisted until March. Nevertheless, a swine flu vaccine was developed and was given to 48,000,000 Americans, 22% of the population. The vaccination program was stopped in December after 532 cases of paralysis from Guillain-Barré syndrome were linked to the vaccine and 25 people died. It had been a false alarm, and more people died of the vaccine than of the disease. The risk of getting Guillain-Barré from the vaccine was approximately 1 in 100,000.
» Continue reading “Is Guillain-Barré syndrome a reason to fear the swine flu vaccine?”
A Live Science article today has the headline, “Parents Lie to Kids Surprisingly Often.”
“We are surprised by how often parenting by lying takes place,” said study researcher Kang Lee of the University of Toronto, Canada. “Our findings showed that even the parents who most strongly promoted the importance of honesty with their children engaged in parenting by lying.”
Yeah, I’m surprised, too.
Not!
» Continue reading “Parents Lie to Kids. But Is That Really So Surprising?”
USA Today had a nice story today about a family involved in the flu vaccine trials. The government is sponsoring pediatric trials of the H1N1 vaccine, and there are 1600 children participating around the country. Three of those kids are from a Kansas City family who lost a younger sibling to the seasonal flu.
When you read the description of the how the child died, it’s heart-wrenching. The six-month old healthy boy died in 2003 less than 30 hours after flu symptoms set in. Already a big fan of the regular flu vaccine, the mother, Julie Moise, signed up her three kids to help test the new H1N1 vaccine.
Moise notes that 36,000 people die each year of seasonal flu and says one death is too many. She begins reciting names of children who have died and whose parents banded together in Families Fighting Flu. “All these children were healthy. Every one had insurance,” she says.
“How many times did I say in a 24-hour period, ‘Oh, it’s just the flu’? I didn’t know flu kills healthy children. That’s what’s so scary.”
I liked that, if children have reached the “age of reason,” they were asked to sign a consent form to participate in the trials. The children also sat in on the conversations with doctors as the process was explained. This was a great way to keep the kids involved and make everything a little less scary.
It was nice to see some of the little faces behind the H1N1 trial, and it’s a good reminder to schedule flu shot appointments.
Rebecca Goldin at Stats.org analyzes the numbers and finds that the CDC might be missing a vulnerable group of people in its H1N1 vaccination prioritization. The CDC recommends vaccinating these groups first:
- pregnant women
- household contacts and caregivers for children younger than 6 months old
- healthcare and emergency medical services personnel
- all people aged six months to 24 years old
- high-risk adults aged between 25-64
» Continue reading “From Stats: Who Should Really Be Getting the Swine Flu Vaccine?”
Today we took the lad to Descanso Gardens, a lovely little place nearby where we walked around and looked at all kinds of plants and rode an adorable little train. Fun stuff.
Anytime we go to a museum or botanical garden we have to hit the gift shop. So while looking around at all the pretty cards, fun toys, candles, and other cute stuff, I found this book, Green Baby. As a person who’s always interested in reading about sustainability, I started flipping the pages, and when I got to the chapter on vaccinations, I was a bit stunned. » Continue reading “Conflating Green And Anti-Vaccine”
I’ve often heard anti-vaccine folks ask the question, “If autism rates aren’t rising, then where are all the autistic adults?” This study seems to have found them.
The NHS Information Centre found one in every hundred adults living in England has autism, which is identical to the rate in children. » Continue reading “Study Finds Adult Autism Rate Same as Childhood Autism Rate”
I thought this study was interesting, and the way the article reports the study is pretty fair:
Whether or not spanking equates with dumber kids is not known, and may never be known. That’s because the only way to truly show cause and effect would be to follow over time two groups of kids, one randomly assigned to get spanked and another who would not get spanked.
Obviously, that sort of study would not be palatable for anyone involved. So the author of this article did a good job of making it clear that correlation doesn’t necessarily equal causation. Way to be. That said, here’s what the study did find: » Continue reading “Study Links Spanking to Lower IQ”
A few days ago I posted some H1N1 vaccine resources and promised to attack some of the nonsense that I’m seeing float around LA these days. First on the docket, let’s take a look at a letter from Jay Gordon, anti-vax doctor to the anti-vax stars. This letter is making the rounds on my online mommy support board.
Full disclosure: I’m pretty worn out after a busy week of work and taking care of the world’s cutest red headed baby. So this might come off a little irritated. I often wonder if I should quit my online mommy support board, because the amount of woo circulating on it tends to make my head almost explode at times. » Continue reading “Dr. Jay Gordon’s Letter to the Masses”
My oldest daughter just started pre-school last week. Phew! And so ended a stressful eight months of applications, interviews, play dates, and worrying. Here are some observations about our experience. Call it, “Two Atheist Skeptics Go Pre-School Shopping.”
Yes, Interviews
Our city was very competitive for pre-school slots, so the schools really had the advantage. And, they put their applicants through the paces. Most of the schools had orientations, long applications, parent interviews, and toddler play dates as part of their selection process.
The parent interviews were really the worst part. You knew they were judging everything about you, which made it incredibly awkward. Did I talk too much? Did my husband talk enough? Did we ask the right questions? Was there spinach in my teeth? The play dates were also stressful because you knew it was important for your child to make a good impression. But, how exactly? What were the schools looking for during this fifteen minutes of observation? The monitors had clipboards in hand and continued to take notes throughout the play date. What were they writing? If my kid takes a toy from another kid, are we off the list? The purpose of the play date never ceased to mystify us.
It became more difficult over time to take the complicated process seriously knowing it’s all for pre-school. I mean, it’s not Harvard we’re applying to. It’s a place where three- and four-year olds spend a few hours running around every day. Geez, lighten up, people.
» Continue reading “Pre-School Encounters”
