Interesting ADHD-bullying link. Studies show that children with ADHD are four times more likely to be bullies in school. Even more interesting is that children with ADHD symptoms were ten times more likely to have been the target of bullying prior to the symptoms appearing. Problems with bullying are ever increasing in the schools, and this Swedish study only further highlights the importance of observing children’s behavior - not only the educators, but the parents involvement is critical. Some schools are making efforts to improve the situation by providing support and education to both the bullies and the bullied.

Think twice about buying your child a pet turtle. Even though they are seem to be a good pet for kids (and parents who don’t want to deal with the mess and noise of other housepets as dogs, cats, hamsters, etc), you should think twice about buying one for your child. Turtles are known to spread salmonella, and last year 103 people were infected from pet turtles. You might not be aware, but these turtles have actually been outlawed in the US since 1975, but they are still commonly found for sale in pet shops, online, and other places.

How to get rid of those dreaded stretch marks. A lot of us moms have them one place or another. Many aren’t that noticeable - but if you look closely those silver lines are there. We wear them as badges of honor celebrating the miracle of a woman’s ability to give birth. But let’s face it - if we could do something to prevent or get rid of them we would.

There are some things you can do to avoid them or lessen their appearance:

Use Retin-A cream to keep the body moisturized any time it goes through a weight change, especially hormonal (pregnancy) driven. (Editor’s note: Be sure to talk to your doctor before using, though, as the jury is still out as to whether or not Retin-A is safe during pregnancy.)

Exercise to reduce your stress level and help keep those hormones under control.

Drink your water and eat healthy to keep your body hydrated.

If all else fails, there are laser treatments currently available that will help.

If you’re like me, you try (or tried) to eat a healthier array of foods while pregnant, for the unborn baby’s health and well-being. Did you know this, though? Pregnant women who eat a Mediterranean diet rich in fish, fresh fruits and vegetables, legumes, nuts, dairy products and olive oil may help protect their children against asthma and allergies.

So says a new study of over 400 mothers and their children. Of the seventeen percent of kids who had asthma-like symptoms, allergies, or both, most of their moms did not eat a high-quality Mediterranean diet.

Pregnant women who ate vegetables more than eight times a week, fish more than three times a week, and legumes more than once a week seemed to protect their children the most from asthma and allergies. Mothers who ate red meat more than three to four times a week seemed to increase their children’s risk.

I didn’t know that about red meat…let’s hope it doesn’t come back to haunt my kids later. The Mediterranean diet doesn’t sound like a bad idea for anyone wishing to improve his or her eating habits anyway, and with this new information, I would definitely try to follow it if I were to become pregnant again (after I fainted from shock).

Posted by Sunshine.

Birth control pills prevent ovarian cancer. Tests show that taking birth control pills can prevent ovarian cancer not only for the time period in which they are taken, but for even up to 30 years after taking them. The longer a woman takes the pills the better her protection. Ovarian cancer most commonly occurs when a woman is in her 50’s.

You might be scratching your head remembering that oral contraceptives also increase breast cancer risk. That still holds true. However keep in mind that ovarian cancer is much harder to detect and much more deadly, and the breast cancer risk is applicable only during the time that a woman takes the pills and once she stops that risk diminishes. So, the benefits still outweigh the risks.

The hidden risks of CMV. This topic is one that is recently “near and dear” to me. Last September, my toddler caught the cytomegalovirus (CMV) and passed it to me. While she recovered rather quickly, I ended up sick for the past 4 months due to the related complications that are often associated with this virus (including pneumonia, bronchitis, sinusitis and pretty much any other “-itis” out there). Three rounds of antibiotics later (which is quite unheard of over here in Europe) I am hopefully in the final stages of recovery.

The one thing that all the doctors have treated me have said is “thank goodness you are not pregnant!” This virus is very harmful in-utero, impacting 1 in 150 pregnant women, and it is the leading infectious cause of birth defects in America.

“A lot of people are really shocked when they hear that there are as many disabled kids from congenital CMV as there are kids with fetal alcohol syndrome or Down syndrome or spina bifida — and people haven’t heard of it,” CDC epidemiologist Michael Cannon said in a telephone interview.

To be honest, I had never been made aware of this and the risks associated with any of my three pregnancies, and having now so easily caught it from my toddler I thought it was important to get the news out - because I know there are a lot of mommies out there pregnant with toddlers.

If you are pregnant with a toddler at home there are things that you can do to minimize your risk of contacting this. The virus is most often passed via body fluids, so make efforts to wash your hands after changing diapers or touching their mucous or saliva, do not kiss your child near the mouth, and be careful not to share cups and eating utensils with your child.

White bread has nutritional value. Yeah, I meant to type white. That soft, marshmallowy, oh so yummy bread that your mom always felt guilty about making your sandwiches with because it was supposed to have no nutritional value. Well, it does. It contains folic acid. And the past decades of eating Wonderbread and all of those white hamburger and hot dog buns have one positive aspect - it has contributed to the decline in cases of Spina Bifida in America. The March of Dimes is now going to put a special label on bread containing at least 40 micrograms of folic acid. They are doing this to increase awareness of the benefits of folic acid, and are not suggesting that a woman needs to eat 10 slices of white bread per day to get the recommended daily allowance of 400mg. There are many “healthier” sources of folic acid found in other foods as well, such as leafy green vegetables, fruits, dried beans, peas and nuts.

Childhood obesity not related to poverty. It was thought by some that childhood obesity was higher in poorer areas where the families has lesser access to healthy foods. A new study that just came out challenges this idea.

Previous research has suggested that poor children weren’t getting nutritious food and instead ate junk food, such as hot dogs. Or that children may have eaten well when money was available, but would skip meals when cash was short, a cycle that could slow their metabolism and cause them to gain weight.

The new research indicated that this is not necessarily the case, and that it could be possible for the government to move ahead with possible plans to increase food assistance programs without being worried about additional obesity problems.

Top kids websites. While browsing the net, I happened on a fun little site called GeekParenting.com. They have listed their top 10 favorite kid’s web sites. Their number one site, BrainPOP, is a cool educational site that I will be showing my bigger kids tonight!

Kids won’t outgrow their personalities. Do you have a child that is timid and shy? Or perhaps your cutie-pie is a big “people person” and happy chatting to strangers. Well, chances are they won’t outgrow that as they get older. Not to worry, though, your child probably will not be eating glue as an adult. Everyone turns out basically OK in the end, but researchers have noted that major personality traits will remain as kids grow up.

The research is interesting. Based on observations of those who know them best, kids were classified in three groups: overcontrolled, undercontrolled or resilient.

The overcontrolled kids were generally the ones most of us would categorize as shy: quiet, self-conscious, uncomfortable around strangers. “Overcontrollers control their emotions too much,” explains Dennissen. “So they are less able to act ‘natural’ and ‘spontaneous.’ Because they are so slow to warm up, they are seen by others as shy.”

The resilient kids are the ones in the middle who are good at modulating their emotions, interacting with others and bouncing back from adversity.

Kids basically kept some degree of these roles, but in a more mature manner. Interestingly, kids that were resilient were generally the fastet to move into mature roles. The article is really quite an interesting read.

So, now I am curious. What do you think your children are? I think my youngest is resilient. But then again, my opinion just might be a bit biased.

Superfertalization - it is possible! A woman in England gave birth to two babies on the same day - but these could be considered a medical miracle because they are not twins. The mother conceived twins and at a seven week scan it appeared that one of the pregnancies was lost. At the next scan, it was revealed that the mother had somehow conceived another baby three weeks after the first pregnancy. Both pregnancies advanced, one three gestational weeks younger than the other, successfully until the birth.

Don’t stop taking that folic acid! Studies show that most women don’t get enough folic acid daily, so even if you aren’t planning on hearing the pitter-patter of little feet in the near future, keep on taking those vitamins for better overall health!

Surrogacy going wrong? There is a British woman who is currently in her 9th surrogate pregnancy and doctors warn she is risking her life to carry her current triplet pregnancy to term. Carole Horlock is 41 years old and the triplets she is carrying would be children number 12, 13 and 14. Her first two children are her own, and she has so far delivered nine surrogate children. She is refusing to listen to doctors warnings, and already has plans for her next surrogacy. OK. I know there are some gals who love being pregnant. But does anyone besides me think that just maybe this woman has other issues? I think that surrogacy is a wonderful option for some couples, but I find it hard that someone would be willing to die just to give a stranger a biological child. And I wonder if there should be age/health limits to surrogate moms. I could only imagine the sadness (and lawsuits?) if this woman would die as a result.

Just in case you were wondering. The first New Years baby born in America was born in El Paso, Texas at 11 seconds after midnight. Her parents named her Leia. She joins her brothers Luke and Anakin. No, I am not joking.

And for no other reason than… the fact that some of these scientific studies really crack me up. Here goes. Studies show that male monkeys “pay” their females for sexual favors. Apparently, females that were “groomed” by their men had sex a lot more than those who didn’t. Personally, I would call that foreplay rather than payment. Hey, why not show your husband this article and try to hit him up for a trip to a swanky spa. It doesn’t sound like such a bad trade off. Maybe these lady monkeys are on to something…

What a year it has been!

We had some sad times - including the Utah mine disaster, the California fires, and the Virginia Tech shootings.

We also said goodbye to Harry Potter and the Sopranos.

It was not all bad though… 2007 did bring us the iPhone!

We were informed again and again that obesity is ever increasing and it is a serious threat to our future health and our medical system.

And we learned that many toys aren’t safe and it is perhaps time to make a stand to ensure the safety of our children.

Women’s health has made many advances this past year, and I wish all of us wonderful women good health!

On the entertainment side, we bid a sad farewell to Anna Nicole Smith, and we watched with our boxes of popcorn in hand how Lindsay Lohan is seemingly crawling out of her dependency hole, while Britney Spears is diving deeper down.

For sports, we saw Tom Brady pull a nice one out of somewhere to lead the Patriots to a perfect season (that’s for you Supa!), and college football was a rollercoaster ride that has sparked many passionate debates about the BCS system. But many of our favorite athletes fell to scandals - Michael Vick, Floyd Landis, Marion Jones, and a whole lotta baseball players… leaving a lot of wide-eyed kids disappointed by their heroes.

We also watched our politicians gear up for the presidential race that has us wondering if we will see the first female President next year. (BTW - this is not an endorsement!)

Over on the boards, we celebrated the births of many future squawkers, we watched our precious ones grow a year older, we supported each other through the sleepless nights, potty training, magic marker mishaps and terrible two’s. And we marvel at the strength of our guy, Mikey. We shared the good times and the bad, laughed and cried and we can’t wait to do more in 2008!

Love to you all and all the best for 2008!

Posted by Meganlux

Teen births on the rise. For the first time in over a decade, the number of teen births is rising. Over the past 15 years, the number of teen births (ages 15-19) had decreased by 34%. Parents, educators and policymakers are hopeful that this years figures are just a one-time blip. Also interesting to note, CDC reports that cesarean deliveries accounted for 31% of all births, a record high.

One good thing about getting your period… Researchers have determined that menstrual stem cells could be useful in treating diabetes, multiple sclerosis and cirrhosis of the liver. Advantages to this are there is much less ethical controversy in obtaining these cells, and it could be collected over a period of many years. Let’s hope researchers can prove this to be useful.

How desperate are you to conquer your PPD? Some women are going to extreme measures to cure theirs. They are eating their own placenta. This is technically is called placentophagy. The placenta can be ingested in many ways. It can be fried up and eaten, or dried and ground into a powder to be ingested. If you are interested in this yourself, here is a link to some yummy placenta recipes.

Update on Usher. He has announced the name of his new baby son… Usher V (the fifth).

Just a spoonful of honey… In a three-way test between children’s cough medicine, honey or nothing, honey was the most effective at calming children’s coughs and helping them to sleep better. This is good news for parents seeking alternative remedies to help their children, following the recent warning not to give children under the age of 6 years old OTC medicines. Please note that honey is not recommended for children under the age of one due to a rare risk of contracting botulism.

Obesity risk. Half of maternal deaths occurred with overweight women. Maternal obesity was now a “major and growing risk factor for maternal death.” Nearly 40% of these deaths could have been prevented with proper diagnosis and treatment. The study encourages pre-conception awareness to help prevention.

But death is not the only problem. Obese pregnant women are more at risk of dying, suffering heart disease, miscarriage, diabetes, infections and blood clots. Related obesity issues are becoming more and more understood and confirmed. It is time to focus hard on the root cause… obesity itself.

Struggling to find lead-free toys for Christmas? You are not alone. Many charities, including the Salvation Army and Goodwill are struggling to ensure that the toys they receive and distribute are safe for children. Please, remember that this is the time to spread holiday cheer and help a child. If you are aware that a toy has been recalled, please do not “regift” it to a Christmas charity.

HPV protection for older women: Gardisil, the cervical cancer vaccine made by Merck for girls and women up to age 25, has been shown to be effective in preventing signs of the disease in women over age 26 as well. “Merck will ask U.S. regulators by the end of the year to expand use of Gardasil to women through age 45.”

Pink and Blue: CNN anchorwoman Nancy Grace and husband David Linch welcomed twins on Sunday. After checking several sources, it isn’t clear when the actual due date was, but the babies were born early by c-section because of a pulmonary edema that Nancy developed . John David was 5 pounds 1 ounce, and Lucy Elizabeth was 2 pounds 15 ounces. According to Dad David, “The babies are doing fine. Our little girl is doing just as well as her brother despite her weight –- and mom is doing great.”

And more pink: Actress Milla Jovavich gave birth to baby girl Ever Gabo Anderson on Saturday, November 3rd. The healthy baby weighed in at 7 pounds 8 ounces.

Congratulations from MomSquawk!