From My Lifestyle
MY PAPER WEDNESDAY JULY 9, 2008
The study involving 1,685 middle-aged men and women over six months found those who kept such a diary just about every day lost about twice as much weight as those who did not.
The findings buttressed earlier research that endorsed the value of food diaries in helping people lose weight.
Companies including Weight Watchers International Inc use food diaries in their weight-loss programmes.
“For those who are working on weight loss, just writing down everything you eat is a pretty powerful technique,” Dr Victor Stevens of Kaiser Permanente’s Center for Health Research in
“It helps the participants see where the extra calories are coming from, and then develop more specific plans to deal with those situations,” said Dr Stevens, who helped lead the study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
The technique also helps hold dieters accountable for what they are eating, Dr Stevens said.
The study involved people from four
The average age of people in the study was 55.
– REUTERS
From Parent Resources, msn Encarta online
Raise your hand if you've heard that listening to Mozart can make kids smarter.
Okay, you can put your hand down now. You look a little silly waving it in the air like that. And while we're on the topic of silly things, let's talk about that "Mozart effect."
Much ado has been made about the magic of the boy-genius musician, so it's understandable that so many of us believe his brilliance can somehow buff our children's brains, centuries after his death.
Books have been written in support of this idea. A popular line of Baby Mozart videos for infants is now on many a baby-registry list. And former
The problem is, there is no Mozart effect.
Since it was first publicized over a decade ago, scientists have deflated claims that classical music boosts brainpower.
Despite that, belief in the Mozart effect is stronger than ever--or so concluded a pair of professors at
So what happened? And does music make kids smarter at all? Is it worth buying those Baby Mozart videos, just in case?
Here's where the Mozart madness began. In 1993, the journal Nature published an article by scientists at the University of California-Irvine. In their experiment, students listened to a Mozart sonata, a relaxation tape, or nothing at all for ten minutes, and then took a spatial reasoning test.
The students who listened to Mozart scored highest, an effect that lasted for 10 or 15 minutes. The researchers concluded that Mozart's music had helped. (Some later pointed out the possibility that Mozart's effect was neutral, but relaxation tapes and silence hurt the students' performance.)
From this study arose the Myth of Mozart. And it grew from there. Even though the original test had nothing to do with babies or small children, the idea stuck in the craw of our collective consciousness.
The Stanford researchers noted the media latched on to that particular Nature report more than any others published around the same time. And as it swirled around the media, people started talking about the effect on babies' intelligence, even though no research made these links.
And even after a 1999 review showed that 12 subsequent studies had failed to verify the famous 1993 one, people still believed in the magic of Mozart.
It's understandable. We all want our kids to be smart--and if something as easy as popping in a CD makes a difference, well, super!
What's more, classical music isn't as palatable to many people of parenting age as, say, the Red Hot Chili Peppers or Cake. Like spinach, it has to be good for you, right? What's more, old people listen to it!
The moral of this story: Kids should listen to classical music if they like it. But it won't make them smarter. Unless ...
That's right. There's a catch. In a
So you don't have to turn your back on Mozart, after all. Kids just have to work hard to learn to play or sing his music for it to actually boost their little brains.
The students who listened to Mozart scored highest, an effect that lasted for 10 or 15 minutes. The researchers concluded that Mozart's music had helped. (Some later pointed out the possibility that Mozart's effect was neutral, but relaxation tapes and silence hurt the students' performance.)
From this study arose the Myth of Mozart. And it grew from there. Even though the original test had nothing to do with babies or small children, the idea stuck in the craw of our collective consciousness.
The Stanford researchers noted the media latched on to that particular Nature report more than any others published around the same time. And as it swirled around the media, people started talking about the effect on babies' intelligence, even though no research made these links.
And even after a 1999 review showed that 12 subsequent studies had failed to verify the famous 1993 one, people still believed in the magic of Mozart.
It's understandable. We all want our kids to be smart--and if something as easy as popping in a CD makes a difference, well, super!
What's more, classical music isn't as palatable to many people of parenting age as, say, the Red Hot Chili Peppers or Cake. Like spinach, it has to be good for you, right? What's more, old people listen to it!
The moral of this story: Kids should listen to classical music if they like it. But it won't make them smarter. Unless ...
That's right. There's a catch. In a
So you don't have to turn your back on Mozart, after all. Kids just have to work hard to learn to play or sing his music for it to actually boost their little brains.
Martha Brockenbrough lives, writes, and plays in
Learn More! Also from Martha:
MY PAPER WEDNESDAY JULY 9, 2008
DARYLL NANAYAKARA
IS IT an apple or a guava? The mystery behind a fruit being sold at a supermarket in the east has been solved.
Dr Eng Chon Boon, 32, a molecular biologist with the National University of Singapore (NUS), spotted the queer-looking fruit – which resembles an apple – at a Sheng Siong outlet in Haig Road on Monday morning.
He said the fruit was labelled “Sweet Thailand Guava”. Puzzled by the origins and possible health hazards of the fruit, Dr Eng snapped a few pictures of it and e-mailed them to citizen journalism website Stomp.
The fruit in question is actually preserved guava.
However, unlike preserved guava sold in packets, this one is peeled, sculpted and coloured to resemble an apple. It is being sold at $3 for a pack of two fruits.
Dr Eng, who is a cancer researcher at the university, had also seen the fruit last May when he was at a night market in Kuala Lumpur.
He said: “There they were being sold as ‘guava-apples’ and it was quite tasty.”
He and his wife sampled a few bites of the fruit, which were priced at RM6 (S$2.51) for a pair, before buying a pack.
However, upon reaching home, his wife discovered that the “guava- apples” were, in fact, normal guavas which had been shaped and coloured to look like apples.
Dr Eng added that the colouring washed off when his wife rinsed the fruits under the tap.
Dr Eng decided to write in to Stomp after he saw that it is also being sold in Singapore as he is worried about the safety of the dyes used.
A check with the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA) showed that the product is safe for consumption.
It explained that the colourings used – Brilliant Blue and Tartrazine – are both permitted food dyes.
A spokesman for Sheng Siong said that the company which supplied them the product had obtained “clearance from AVA in writing” to sell the fruits in Singapore.
darylldj@sph.com.sg
From MyLifestyle
MY PAPER TUESDAY JULY 8, 2008
COUPLES trying to have a baby when the man is over 40 will have more difficulty conceiving than if he is younger, French researchers said on Sunday.
Doctors know a woman’s age plays a key role but the findings presented at the European Society Of Human Reproduction And Embryology Conference suggest the paternal impact is stronger than earlier thought, Dr Stephanie Belloc and colleagues said.
The data shows a strong paternal effect on intrauterine insemination (IUI) outcome on pregnancy rates and also on miscarriage rates, Dr Belloc and her team from the Eylau Centre For Assisted Reproduction in France said.
Other researchers have indicated an overall decline in sperm counts and quality as a man ages, but until now there has been little clinical proof that simply being an older man has such a big effect on fertility.
The French team found that the risk of miscarriage was about 35 per cent higher for couples in which the man was past 40. The risk from a man younger than 30 is about 10 to 15 per cent.
The researchers said the link between a man’s age and DNA decay in sperm that causes it to fragment could be a likely explanation for miscarriages and low pregnancy rates.
“Until now, gynaecologists only focused on maternal age,” Dr Belloc added.
“But now the gynaecologists must also focus on paternal age and give this information to the couple.”
– REUTERS
ON COMPETING AGAINST SPORTS PRODIGIES
From My Sport
MY PAPER MONDAY JULY 7, 2008
CHIA HAN KEONG
IN 1984, an eight-year-old American kid won the Junior World Golf Championships – competing in the nine to 10-year-old age category.
He went on to win six more times, victorious every time he jumped up an age category.
That kid, Eldrick Woods, grew up to be known as Tiger, and is dominating golf like few had done before.
Notice how he was allowed to continue playing in the junior championships – even while he was pulverising all the other young golfers time and time again.
When a youngster has a talent so prodigious, should one prevent him from competing, so as to avoid demoralising the others?
The answer is so obvious, yet some Singaporean parents are oblivious to it.
They displayed that laughable short-sightedness against 10-year-old Kang Yee Cher, who has been dominating the junior track and field scene since last year.
He clinched two golds and broke a record at last week’s Inter-Primary Track and Field Championships, but other parents are upset over his participation.
They questioned the logic in letting such a talent compete with their not-so-talented kids, arguing that their precocious sons will be demoralised.
They even had the gall to question the authenticity of his age, given that he is unusually taller and bigger than his peers.
How ironic. These are the same people who, for the past year, have probably been eagerly supporting
Yet, here they are, furiously suppressing a bright young talent, to the point that Yee Cher is afraid to even speak up about his wins.
Thankfully, the Singapore Athletic Association, as well as the
They recognise his wonderful potential, and are taking pains to defend him and nurture his unique physique into an explosive talent.
To those whining parents, I say shame on you for over-protecting your kids.
Yes, they are getting a battering from Yee Cher that, at their “precocious” age, is tough to swallow.
To which I say: Too bad. Ask all the professional golfers how they feel whenever they face Tiger Woods in million-dollar tournaments.
There is no shame in losing to such prodigious talents.
The worst thing one can do is to reject kids like Yee Cher and make them ashamed of their skills.
That would be the ultimate in short-sightedness, as they would have missed out on seeing potential greatness in action.
hankeong@sph.com.sg
From HOME, My News
MY PAPER MONDAY JULY 7, 2008
Cheryl Lim
FOR some Singaporeans, as much as 80 per cent of their diet comprises raw fruits, nuts and
vegetables. What’s more, they also put their children on the same diet.
But nutritionists my paper spoke to feel the diet is not suitable for adults and even less so for children.
Ms Yondi Lee, a holistic nutritionist at Ascension Healing said: “Unless quite a bit of nuts and seeds are taken, protein and fats will be very much deficient. For a young growing child, these two nutrients are highly essential for muscle and structure building, and brain development.”
One parent who follows such a strict diet isteacher Lidia Djingga, 30, who put her 14-month-old son on the same diet of raw fruits and vegetables she has been on since last November.
Little Fung Win was six-months-old then. He was taken off solid food like porridge, and fed breast milk and fruit juice. Ms Djingga usually takes fruit juice for breakfast, fruit smoothie for lunch and a fruit salad for dinner.
Ms Djingga used to scarf down bak kut teh and other local food with relish a few times a week. She converted to her austere diet after her son came down with coughs and flu as frequently as once a month.
After spending up to $200 a visit to various paediatricians, she attended a class on healthy eating conducted by Our Place International, a US-based alternative lifestyle organisation with an office here. The organisation believes that the body can heal itself, said Ms Djingga.
Apparently, cooking “kills healthy enzymes in food”. Instead of cooking, she “dries” her food using a dehydrator she bought from Tangs for about $200.
When asked about the diet’s effects, Ms Djingga said: “My son no longer falls sick. And I feel more energised and sleep better. My mood’s improved.”
She added that she did not consult a doctor before she went on the diet.
But nutritionist Teo Kiok Seng from Nutrition Network Services said: “A fruitarian diet, when taken by an adult for a prolonged period, and even more so, when given to a child, can cause serious consequences, like a deficiency in protein, iron, calcium, Vitamin D, B and omega-3 fatty acids.”
cheryll@sph.com.sg