News of Interest to Moms November 6, 2009

News to know:

Unhealthy food ads pervasive on kids' shows
One-fifth of commercials kids are likely to see on late-afternoon and Saturday morning television are food-related, according to a new report. Seventy percent of those commercials advertise fast-food restaurants, sugary food, chips, crackers and sugar-added beverages.
The study was published in the Nov/Dec issue of The Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior. Researchers examined 5,724 commercials on 12 networks.
Fruits, vegetables, and juices were advertised in only 1.7 percent of the commercials. Only one nutrition-related public service announcement was found for every 63 food ads.

Report: Premature birth rates fuel infant death rates in U.S.
High rates of premature births are the main reason the United States has a higher mortality rate than other rich countries, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report. Most European countries — as well as Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, New Zealand and Singapore — have lower rates of infant death than the United States.
More than 540,000 babies are born prematurely per year. Often, premature babies are born to poor and minority women who lack health care. Infertility treatments, which increase the chances of multiples, also play a role in the higher premature birth rates.

Helping our children with stress
A third of the 8 to 17 year olds surveyed reported feeling more stress than they had a year ago, according to a new Stress in America report.

• Nearly half are worried about school
• Thirty percent are worried about family finances
• Twenty-nine percent of teens report worrying about what comes after high school

Study: Babies cry with an accent

Babies cry with an accent within the first week of life, according to a study published Thursday in Current Biology.

Researchers recorded the cries of 60 babies born to French or German parents. They discovered that newborns cry with the same "prosody" or melody used in their native language by the second day of life.

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