Do parents use Santa Claus to help guide kids to better behavior? It happens often, a new poll shows. One-quarter of parents of kids ages 3 to 5 said they’ve threatened misbehaving kids with no Santa or gifts if they don’t shape up, according to results from the University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health. Many parents also reported threatening to leave a Christmas activity, taking away toys or denying dessert to get their kids to behave, the poll found. What’s more, nearly half of parents polled have resorted to bribes to get better behavior from kids. Unfortunately, these aren’t likely to be winning strategies, Mott pediatrician Dr. Susan Woolford said in a hospital news release. “Discipline helps young children learn what behaviors are safe and appropriate and can play a crucial role in helping them learn the difference between right and wrong,” Woolford said. “Empty threats, however, undermine trust and credibility and aren’t usually effective,” Woolford added. “Positive reinforcement and consistent discipline are more likely to shape long-term behavior.” About half of parents rated themselves as very consistent in disciplining their child, based on poll responses from 725 parents with at least one child between the ages of 1 and 5. But it’s not easy — nearly a quarter of parents said they become overly irritated by their…  read on >  read on >

Close friendships are incredibly important to the mental health of middle-aged folks and seniors, a new study finds. Older adults with worse mental or physical health were twice as likely to say they don’t have any close friends, according to results from the University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging. “With growing understanding of the importance of social connection for older adults, it’s important to explore the relationship between friendship and health, and identify those who might benefit most from efforts to support more interaction,” said investigator Sarah Patterson, a research assistant professor with the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research. Overall, 90% of people 50 and older said they have at least one close friend, and 75% say they have enough close friends, poll results showed. But about 20% of those with fair to poor mental health and 18% of those in fair or poor physical health say they have no close friends, researchers found. Another 47% of those in fair or poor mental health said they don’t have enough close friends, results show. The poll also found that 79% of those with at least once close friend felt that they could turn to them for emotional support, and 50% had a friend who encouraged them to make healthier choices like eating better or getting more exercise.  In addition, 35% said a…  read on >  read on >

Have you been boozing more often than usual? A new blood test might be able to tell if you’re damaging your liver from too many beers, margaritas or belts of scotch, researchers report. A blood-borne byproduct of alcohol consumption called phosphatidylethanol (PEth) can give doctors a fair idea of how much liver scarring has occurred due to drinking, as reported recently in the American Journal of Gastroenterology. Blood testing for PEth would help doctors understand patients’ drinking habits better than just asking how much they’ve been drinking. “This is a more direct way to measure the harm that alcohol is causing in the body than asking patients,” said senior researcher Judy Hahn, a professor in the University of California, San Francisco’s (UCSF) Division of HIV, Infectious Diseases and Global Medicine. “We don’t ask someone how much fatty food they eat. We measure their cholesterol,” Hahn noted in a university news release. “We don’t ask people how much they think they weigh. We weigh them.” The body produces PEth as it processes alcohol, and previous studies have shown that PEth blood concentrations accurately reflect the amount someone imbibed, researchers said in background notes. Heavy drinking is widespread in the United States and that increased even more during the pandemic. About 24% of U.S. adults binge drink, and more than 6% are heavy drinkers, according to data…  read on >  read on >

In what appears to be a last-ditch effort to limit the harms of smoking before its term ends, the Biden administration has proposed a rule that would significantly lower the amount of nicotine in tobacco products. The agency’s efforts to counter the dangers of the addictive chemical stretch back to 2018, when it first proposed the idea. Then, FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf went even further in 2022 and announced that the agency was developing a rule that would require tobacco companies to reduce the amount of nicotine in cigarettes. The next step in that effort took place Tuesday when the FDA finally submitted its refined proposal to the Office of Management and Budget. “A proposed product standard to establish a maximum nicotine level to reduce the addictiveness of cigarettes and certain combusted tobacco products, when finalized, would be among the most impactful population-level actions in the history of U.S. tobacco product regulation,” the FDA told CNN on Wednesday. The latest action was welcomed by health experts. “Once finalized, this rule could be a game-changer in our nation’s efforts to eliminate tobacco use,” Harold Wimmer, president and CEO of the American Lung Association, told CNN. “Making tobacco products non-addictive would dramatically reduce the number of young people who become hooked when they are experimenting.” “To fully address the toll of tobacco on our nation’s health and across all…  read on >  read on >

Sneaking cigarettes might seem like a harmless pre-teen rite of passage, but it’s more dangerous than you think, a new study warns.  Regular smoking at a young age doesn’t just lead to a higher chance of smoking later in life — it can also cause serious harm to young hearts. Experts have understood that children who smoked earlier in life were more likely to continue the habit, and the risks that come with it, later into their lives. Now, the new study gives a better idea of the damage it does early on. “Teen smoking doesn’t just increase the risk of heart disease later in life — it causes early and lasting damage to heart muscle and function,” said Dr. Emily Bucholz, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Until now, there wasn’t a lot of data on cardiac structure and function in healthy children, since assessing the hearts of healthy young people is uncommon.  Overall, persistent smoking from childhood to young adulthood was associated with an over 50% increased risk of premature heart damage, the study, published Dec. 11 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC), showed. The damage, such as an enlarged heart or increased pressure in blood flow to the heart, was evident by the age of 24. This analysis followed more than…  read on >  read on >

It can feel like a shameful moment, bracing yourself to hand over a Christmas or birthday gift that’s days or months overdue for one reason or another. But slackers take heart — a new study has found that your friend or loved one likely won’t be as upset about getting that late gift as you suspect. “Go ahead and send that late gift, because it doesn’t seem to bother most people as much as givers fear,” said lead researcher Cory Haltman, a doctoral student in marketing at Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business. A series of six studies showed that people receiving late gifts generally tend to be patient and appreciative, rather than annoyed or hurt, according to results published Dec. 5 in the Journal of Consumer Psychology. That runs counter to what most folks think. About 65% of Americans believe a gift should arrive on time for a holiday, birthday or other occasion, according to a survey performed by the research team. “A majority of U.S. consumers seem to think that gifts should be given on time — but our study shows that there’s more to the story,” said researcher Rebecca Walker Reczek, a professor of marketing at Ohio State University. In one study, participants were asked to imagine giving or receiving a birthday gift that would arrive either on time or two…  read on >  read on >

Ableism, or prejudice against people with disabilities, is an established problem in general healthcare. Now, a small study shows those same issues persist in mental healthcare. Sometimes, the barriers to care are physical, such as inaccessible entrances or a lack of reliable transit. Other times, the hurdles are informational, such as hard-to-use online patient portals. “Participants identified ableism as a major concern when they talked about their experiences in seeking mental health services,” said study author Katie Wang, a social psychologist and associate professor at the Yale School of Public Health in New Haven, Conn. Some 25% of Americans live with disabilities, and many face greater mental health issues and are more likely to need counseling and medication. But are they getting that care? Maybe not. In the study, 20 disabled participants, who ranged in age from 22 to 67, had mobility problems (such as spinal cord injury), sight issues, chronic health conditions or a mixture of disabilities alongside mental health conditions. The researchers unearthed several recurring themes that exacerbated care for these folks: not understanding how much disability can harm mental health, not paying enough attention to the link between mental health and disability and unwittingly causing emotional pain during treatment. Researchers also found that being Black or transgender in addition to being disabled presented additional barriers to receiving care. “These individuals often struggle…  read on >  read on >