Lifestyle « Weekly Gravy

If the fun is often missing from your social activities or play feels like work, researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have an explanation: You’re probably overplanning. With so many demands on your time, precise scheduling might be the only way to accomplish everything you want. But while that can help at work and with family responsibilities, applying it to leisure time takes away spontaneity and, in turn, much of the enjoyment. Researchers conducted 13 studies that examined how scheduling affects the way people experience a variety of leisure activities, like meeting for coffee and going to the movies. They found that assigning a specific date and time for an activity can undermine its fun factor and make it feel like a chore or even work. Scheduling lessened both the happy anticipation of an event and the fun when doing it. But don’t completely delete your e-calendar. Leisure activities are important for personal well-being, so do make time for them. Just be more casual in your approach. Researchers suggest roughly scheduling them, meaning choose the date in advance, but be less firm about the details until the actual day. You can apply this to any type of leisure activity. For instance, if you’re organizing a vacation, resist overscheduling every day in advance. Prep before you go with a “big picture” list of things you’d… read on >

When children are having suicidal thoughts, their parents may often be in the dark, a new study shows. The study included more than 5,000 kids, aged 11 to 17, and one parent for each child. Researchers found that among the children, 8 percent said they had contemplated suicide at some time. But only half of their parents were aware of it. The same gap showed up when researchers looked at the issue from a different angle: Around 8 percent of parents said their child had ever thought about suicide. Almost half the time, the child denied it, according to findings published online Jan. 14 in Pediatrics. It all points to a “pretty substantial disagreement” between parents’ and kids’ reports, said study leader Jason Jones, a research scientist at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. In cases where parents are unaware of their child’s struggles, one reason may simply be that the signs were not obvious, according to Jones. “It’s often difficult to know what’s going on in someone else’s mind,” he said. That’s not to say there are no warning signs of suicide risk, Jones pointed out. Some of those red flags include withdrawal from friends, family and activities; sleeping too much or too little; irritable or aggressive behavior; and giving away possessions, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Still, it can be tough for… read on >

Two-thirds of gay fathers have felt the pain of social stigma, and they have encountered that stigma most often in religious settings, a new survey shows. “We were not surprised that stigma is still experienced by gay fathers,” said study author Dr. Ellen Perrin. “But we did not expect so much stigma to be experienced in religious settings.” In an anonymous survey of 732 American gay fathers spread across 47 states, researchers found that 63.5 percent said they had been shamed, hurt, excluded or made to feel uncomfortable in the prior year. Nearly one in five said their children had at times shied away from socializing out of anxiety that they would also encounter social stigma. The survey also found that more than one-third of gay dads came up against social stigma at religious gatherings, making it the most common place where they were made to feel uncomfortable or shunned as parents. Perrin, a professor of developmental-behavioral pediatrics with the Floating Hospital for Children and Tufts University’s School of Medicine in Boston, stressed the findings were solely a snapshot of how stigma plays out among today’s gay fathers. Nor would she venture a guess as to whether the degree of stigma being experienced by gay fathers today is also felt by lesbian parents. “In general, some people think that there is more stigma about gay… read on >

The number of parks, libraries and natural resources in the state where you reside might have a great deal to do with how happy you are. New research suggests that Americans who live where more money is spent on these “public goods” are happier than their counterparts in other states. “Public goods are things you can’t exclude people from using — and one person using them doesn’t stop another from doing so,” explained study author Patrick Flavin. He’s an associate professor of political science at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. “They’re typically not profitable to produce in the private market, so if the government doesn’t provide them, they will either be under-provided or not at all,” he added in a university news release. Other types of public goods include highways and police protection, the researchers said. In the study, Flavin and his colleagues analyzed data on more than 26,000 Americans’ self-reported levels of happiness collected between 1976 and 2006. While the study only found an association between happiness and public goods, higher spending on these goods make communities “more livable, with more amenities,” Flavin said. “If roads are completed and kept up, so that people aren’t stuck in traffic, they have more time to do things they enjoy doing. Large parks are social spaces — and one clear finding of happiness studies is that people… read on >

Getting kids to try new foods can become a daily showdown. One promising approach: expose babies early on to varied tastes and textures. Researchers in Brisbane, Australia, found that food experiences when just 14 months old can influence the eating habits that children will exhibit at age 3. And introducing a variety of fruits and vegetables and other types of foods early on is key to a better diet quality later on. The result: A child who eats more than just chicken fingers and cheese sticks. For the purpose of the study, the children were exposed to 55 different food items. The researchers found that having a great number of vegetables, fruits and other foods at age 14 months predicted more varied food preferences, higher food intake and less fussiness when the children’s eating habits were re-evaluated at 3.7 years of age. Babies can start eating solid food at about 6 months. Once they reach this milestone, don’t hesitate to offer a wide variety of healthy foods in a variety of textures. Ask your pediatrician for guidelines if you’re unsure of the best foods or how to prepare them. Your baby may already show a preference for one or two foods, but don’t let his or her responses deter you — keep introducing others. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, it can take up… read on >

Nearly all TV food ads aimed at Hispanic and black children in the United States are for unhealthy products, a new report claims. In 2017, black teens saw more than twice as many ads for unhealthy food products as white teens, researchers found. “Food companies have introduced healthier products and established corporate responsibility programs to support health and wellness among their customers, but this study shows that they continue to spend 8 of 10 TV advertising dollars on fast food, candy, sugary drinks and unhealthy snacks, with even more advertising for these products targeted to black and Hispanic youth,” report lead author Jennifer Harris said in a University of Connecticut news release. Harris is director of marketing initiatives at the university’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity. In the report released Tuesday, researchers analyzed advertising by 32 major restaurant, food and beverage companies that spent at least $100 million or more on advertising to U.S. children and teens in 2017. They were part of the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, a voluntary program that sets standards for food advertising aimed at children younger than 12. Fast food, candy, sugary drinks and unhealthy snacks accounted for 86 percent of food ad spending on black-targeted TV programming, and 82 percent of ad spending on Spanish-language TV, the researchers found. Of the nearly $11 billion spent… read on >

To support your hip joints, you need to strengthen the muscles that support them. This can help prevent or relieve hip pain and guard against injury. Appropriate exercises target muscles of the thighs and the glutes. Here are three to add to your fitness regimen. Note: Before conditioning, always warm up with five to 10 minutes of easy exercise, like walking or riding a stationary bike. Hip abduction exercises primarily work the outer thighs. Lie on your left side, top leg straight but not locked, bottom leg bent. Slowly raise the straight leg to make a 45-degree angle with the floor. Hold for five seconds, then slowly lower. Do three sets of eight to 12 reps, then switch sides and repeat. Hip adduction exercises primarily work the inner thighs. Lie on your left side with both legs straight. Cross your top leg over the lower leg, placing the foot flat on the floor. Raise the lower leg six to eight inches off the floor, hold for five seconds, and then slowly lower. Do three sets of eight to 12 reps, then switch sides and repeat. Prone hip extensions primarily work the glutes. Lie flat on your stomach on a firm surface and place a pillow under your hips. Bend your right leg so that your calf makes a 90-degree angle with your thigh (the sole… read on >

For many people struggling with weight, an underlying reason for the excess pounds is the habit of using food to soothe bad feelings and reward good behavior. To lose weight, turn that habit on its ear. Incentives can help motivate you in many areas, including your diet, but your incentive can’t be food. Small, non-food treats or dollars for your piggy bank can sway you to choose less food at meals. It can help with kids, too, and avoid instilling the food-as-reward habit in them. University of Southern California researchers tested the theory with experiments involving kids and adults. They found that kids were willing to cut portions in half when offered inexpensive headphones. Adults were eager to eat less if given just the chance to win a prize, such as a gift card, frequent flyer miles or a small amount of money. What’s more, eating less did not lead participants to compensate by eating more later in the day. There are many ways you can incentivize yourself, if not at every meal, certainly at ones when you’re apt to overeat. Try putting a dollar in a “mad money” jar — that’s merely the money you saved by eating less — and then buy yourself a non-food item at the end of every month. Make a list of the rewards you’d like most and then… read on >

A study of nearly 200 poor women living in the St. Louis area found that two out of three had to go without feminine hygiene products at least once over the prior year, due to cost. About one-fifth — 21 percent — said this happened on a monthly basis, and nearly half said they often had to make tough choices between buying food or period-related products. The findings add fuel to demands by women’s groups across the United States to ban sales taxes on feminine hygiene products. There are also calls to make such products available through programs such as the federal Women, Infants, and Children Program (WIC). “Adequate menstrual hygiene management is not a luxury,” according to researchers led by Anne Sebert Kuhlmann, of Saint Louis University. “It is a basic need for all women and should be regarded as a basic women’s right,” the team reported. “Our failure to meet these biological needs for all women in the United States is an affront to their dignity, and barrier to their full participation in the social and economic life of our country.” Kuhlmann stressed that a lack of pads or tampons can have real health consequences for poor women. The threat mounts even higher when mothers and daughters are in this situation together. “The cost of buying menstrual hygiene products for multiple women in… read on >

Carrying extra pounds isn’t just bad for humans: New research indicates dogs’ lives may be significantly shorter if they’re overweight. The study, which evaluated data from more than 50,000 dogs across 12 of the most popular breeds, found that the life span of overweight dogs was up to 2.5 years shorter than that of normal-weight canines. “We know that in people, there’s a higher risk of mortality if they have obesity, so in many respects this is not surprising,” said study author Dr. Alexander German. He’s a professor of small animal medicine at University of Liverpool in England. “A two-and-a-half year shortening of the life span may not seem a huge amount, but when we convert to human terms, we’re probably looking at between 10 and 15 years of shortened life span, which is considerable,” German added. Nearly half of American households include a dog, along with more than a quarter of British households, according to study documents. An estimated 1 in 3 dogs and cats in the United States is overweight. Prior research indicates that overweight or obese dogs face higher risks of chronic diseases such as orthopedic problems, diabetes and certain types of cancer. As in people, obesity has been established as a contributor to these conditions, as well as to heart disease and high blood pressure. German and his colleagues combed through… read on >