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While kids get some benefit from using digital and social media, such as early learning and exposure to new ideas, too much of it can negatively affect their health, sleep and eating habits, and even their attention span. But ruling out all media usage isn’t the answer either. An approach suggested by the American Academy of Pediatrics can help you strike the right balance. It involves writing up a family media use plan that everyone agrees on and follows. The idea is for parents and children to adapt Academy-recommended guidelines on screen time, including TV, cellphones, computers, tablets and even smartwatches. This will include deciding on screen-free areas around the house such as the dining room, time limits on use, what time gadgets need to be turned off — and even where to charge equipment. It’s key for restorative sleep for all family members that no one sleep with any devices in their bedrooms and all use should stop at least one hour before bedtime. A family plan should include all key lifestyle habits, from getting an hour of exercise every day to getting the age-appropriate hours of sleep. You can create your own schedule or fill out the “Family Media Use Plan” on the Academy’s website. It lets you plug in your kids’ daily activities and determine how much time is available for media… read on >

Being an Instagram influencer isn’t always a good thing. New research found that vulnerable young people who see online posts of self-harm — like cutting — may copy those destructive behaviors. Almost one-third of teens and young adults who reported seeing self-harm posts on Instagram said they had performed the same or similar self-harming behavior afterwards. Seeing these images online “normalizes” the behavior, according study senior author Dan Romer. He’s research director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. “Vulnerable kids think, ‘Well, maybe that’s something I should consider doing,’” he said. Romer noted that this problem goes beyond just Instagram. “Kids who don’t have mental health problems wouldn’t repeatedly self-harm. It’s vulnerable kids trying to relieve their distress,” he explained. But he added that this study indicates that these types of social media posts can be harmful to teens and young adults. The researchers initially became concerned about the potential effects of self-harm posts after a British father said his 14-year-old daughter had looked at explicit self-harming images on Instagram before killing herself. The social media site has since said that graphic depictions of self-harm aren’t allowed in posts. Self-harm typically refers to cutting, but can include other behaviors such as burning, hitting or head-banging. Self-harm isn’t usually suicidal, but people who engage in self-harm are at increased risk for… read on >

Exercise apps and fitness trackers are all the rage, and now a new study shows they might actually work. A combination of an exercise app, an activity tracker and personal counseling increased women’s physical activity levels, researchers found. The study of 210 inactive women found that three months of this combined approach increased the number of steps they took each day and their amount of moderate to vigorous physical activity. Even if the women stopped using the mobile phone app after three months, they continued to get more exercise, the findings showed. After the women had gained the skills and knowledge during the initial part of the study, they only needed the fitness tracker, not the app, to continue being more active, the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) researchers explained. The study was published online May 24 in JAMA Network Open. “Studies show that engaging in at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity per week can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer,” said lead author Yoshimi Fukuoka, a professor at the UCSF School of Nursing. “Digital technologies are moving faster than research in transforming the way we promote physical activity and in reducing risks of chronic illness. But, in addition to an activity tracker and mobile app, having activity goals, self-monitoring and accountability are important,”… read on >

Taking aspirin or anti-clotting medicines like Plavix won’t boost the risk of another stroke if you’ve already survived a bleeding stroke, a new study suggests. In fact, they might even help guard against a second brain bleed, the researchers noted. The findings “are reassuring for survivors of brain hemorrhage who need to take antiplatelet [anti-clotting] medicines to prevent heart attacks and strokes. I am keen to [further] investigate the possibility that these medicines might halve the risk of brain hemorrhage happening again,” said study author Rustam Salman, from the Center for Clinical Brain Sciences at the University of Edinburgh, in Scotland. Anti-clotting medicines are often prescribed to older people to reduce their risk of heart attack and another type of stroke caused by a blood clot (ischemic stroke). But there have been concerns that these drugs might increase the risk of another bleeding stroke in people who’d already had one. In this study, the researchers followed 537 bleeding stroke survivors for up to five years. During that time, half took anti-clotting medicines while half did not. A second brain bleed occurred in 12 of those who took anti-clotting medicines and in 23 people who did not take the drugs, the investigators found. This suggests that anti-clotting drugs reduce, rather than increase as feared, the chances of more bleeding in the brain, though further studies are… read on >

Teens spend countless hours glued to their phones and tablets, continually posting to social media, but British researchers report that might not be as terrible as many parents may think. It appears that teens who are less satisfied with their lives do tend to spend more time on Snapchat, Instagram and the like, but the link between life satisfaction and time spent on social media was “trivial,” the research found. “The previous literature was based almost entirely on correlations with no means to dissociate whether social media use leads to changes in life satisfaction or changes in life satisfaction influence social media use,” explained researcher Amy Orben, a lecturer in psychology at the University of Oxford. But by applying new modeling methods to an eight-year survey of households in the United Kingdom, the researchers were able to tease out data that gave them a better understanding of the effect of social media. The survey looked at how much time teens spent on social media during a normal school day and compared this with their life satisfaction ratings. The researchers did find lower life satisfaction increased the time spent on social media, while less time on social media was tied to higher life satisfaction. This finding was stronger among girls than boys, but even so, the connection was tenuous, they noted. Co-lead author Andrew Przybylski, director… read on >

Traditional media, including TV and magazine ads, tend to portray ideals of physical perfection that can fuel worries about body image and eating disorders. A study from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine found that spending hours on social media is linked to these issues, too. In particular, people in the top 25% of high-volume social media users were more than twice as likely to have an eating disorder. Among the social media sites included in the study were Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, as well as Pinterest, Snapchat and LinkedIn. What the researchers still don’t know is which comes first — whether social media creates an environment that can lead to body image concerns and eating disorders, or whether people with these issues connect with others like them through social media and, in turn, find support to continue their unhealthy eating. These are the most common types of eating disorders: Anorexia — eating so little you’re at a dangerously low weight, which can lead to cardiac arrest and potentially fatal electrolyte imbalances. Bulimia — eating huge amounts of food and then intentionally vomiting to prevent what you’ve eaten from being digested, or misusing laxatives. Binge-eating — consuming large quantities of food. It’s important to recognize signs of an eating disorder in yourself or a loved one and get help before it affects quality of… read on >

Need to see your doctor, but can’t take time off from work? There’s an app for that. And new research shows patients find the ability to see a doctor “virtually” convenient and satisfying. Nine out of 10 people who had a virtual visit with a doctor said it was more convenient than other ways of getting care, and it addressed their medical needs. Only four in 10 said they would prefer an in-person appointment, the researchers found. “Patients had a very strong response to the convenience and quality of video visits. Eighty-four percent said these visits improved the relationship with their provider,” said Mary Reed, a research scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research, in Oakland. Though some patients preferred in-person visits, Reed noted that telemedicine “isn’t an either/or choice. A video visit might be just fine for some experiences. And some patients are more comfortable with in-person.” Millions of Americans have had virtual doctor visits over their phone, tablet or computer, according to the researchers. Some telemedicine services are virtual-only and don’t have in-person facilities. The current study looked at a hybrid system, however. Kaiser Permanente Northern California offers virtual visits to its primary care patients. Reed said patients were able to have a visit with their own physician about 70% of the time. If they couldn’t see their own physician,… read on >

For veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) combined with a drinking problem, the type of psychotherapy prescribed can make a difference in recovery rates, a new study finds. So-called prolonged exposure therapy is more effective than coping skills therapy in helping these patients, according to researchers at the VA San Diego Healthcare System. “The main takeaway of the study for me is that we may be doing a disservice to veterans if we don’t offer them the best treatments we have available for PTSD, such as prolonged exposure,” said study leader Sonya Norman. The findings could help guide care for many veterans who have both PTSD and an alcohol use disorder, which often occur together, Norman and her colleagues said. Alcohol use disorder does not always rise to the level of alcoholism, which is a term used to describe someone with a severe form of alcohol dependence. The study included 119 patients with PTSD and alcohol use disorder. Some received prolonged exposure therapy while others received a coping skills therapy called Seeking Safety. In prolonged exposure therapy, patients gradually confront memories, feelings and situations related to their PTSD-causing trauma. The objective is to face them without feeling anxiety and stress. It’s considered the gold standard for PTSD treatment. Seeking Safety is a widely accepted therapy for patients with both PTSD and alcohol use disorder, and… read on >

In many U.S. states, teenagers who send “sext” messages to each other can be prosecuted as child pornographers — and that should end, researchers argue. Many states have recently passed laws that specifically address teen sexting — exempting it, to varying degrees, from longstanding child pornography statutes. But in 23 states, those outdated laws still apply to teenagers who willingly send sexual messages to each other. The penalty is up to 20 years in prison and a lifetime as a registered sex offender, according to Dr. Victor Strasburger, of the University of New Mexico, in Albuquerque. Writing in the May issue of the journal Pediatrics, he and his colleagues contend that it’s time for all states to revisit their child pornography laws. Consensual teen-to-teen sexting should be addressed by parents, schools and health providers — not the criminal justice system, they said. “I absolutely agree,” said Elizabeth Englander, a professor of psychology at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts. “This needs to be treated as a developmental and educational issue.” Englander, who also directs the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center at Bridgewater, studies kids’ technology use — including issues like sexting and cyberbullying. It’s no secret that teenagers today are attached to their devices. In the United States, 95% of teens own or have access to a smartphone, according to Strasburger’s team. So, it’s also no surprise… read on >

Mindlessly switching from your smartphone to other media devices and back again might lead to added pounds, scientists say. A small, new study found that heavy-duty media multitaskers also tended to be heavier, weight-wise. It’s possible that these devices are actually changing the brain, theorized lead author Richard Lopez, a postdoctoral fellow in psychology at Rice University in Houston. In terms of weight, that could mean less self-control when fattening foods are at hand. For their study, Lopez and his colleagues had 132 students, aged 18 to 23, answer questions about how much they multitasked and how distractible they were. Certain questions — such as, do you feel the urge to check your phone while you’re talking to someone else? — were designed to detect compulsive or inappropriate cellphone use. The researchers found that study participants with higher scores on the questionnaire tended to weigh more than those with lower scores, suggesting a possible link between the two. Next, Lopez’s team had 72 of the students undergo an MRI brain scan while they were shown a serious of pictures. Images of delicious, fattening foods were mixed in with the images. When the food images were viewed, activity increased in the part of the brain linked to food temptation, the findings showed. These participants, who also tended to have more body fat, spent more time at… read on >