Teens Drive Better With More Sleep: Study

Summary of Article:

According to a new U.S study, teen drivers who start school earlier in the morning may be prone to more automobile accidents.  Studies suggest that the students may not be so alert, since early school start times may promote sleep loss and daytime sleepiness.  This was published in the Journal of Clincial Sleep Medicine, the study's lead author, Dr. Robert Vorona, said that starting high school laterin the morning might make young drivers more alert because they get more sleep.  The study compared school start times and automobile crash rates for students aged 16 to 18 in Virginia Beach, where high school classes began between 7:20 a.m. and 7:25 a.m., to students at schools in Chesapeake, where classes started between 8:40 a.m. and 8:45 a.m.  There were 65.8 autmobile crashes for every 1,000 teen drivers in Virginia Beach, and 46.6 crashes for every 1,000 teen drivers in Chesapeake.  The comparisons were made in 2008, and were similar to the results in 2007.  "We believe that high schools should take a close look at having later start times to align with circadian rhythms in teens and to allow for longer sleep times, " said Vorona who is an associate professor of internal medicine at Eastern Virgina Medical School.  "Too many teens in this country obtain insufficient sleep.  Increasingly, the literature suggests that this may lead to problematic consequences including mood disoders, academic difficulties and behavioural issues."  Another study in the April edition of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine suggests that delaying schools start times by one hour could improve attention levels and performance, and reduce mistakes.  The Israeli study of 14-year old, eighth-grade students found those teens who slept 55 minutes longer each night performed better on tests that require attention.

My Opinion of Article:

I am not suprised by this these studies or this article at all.  Having the right amount of sleep is crucial and can definately affect your studies.  It is best to have a minimum of 8 hours of sleep and if you don't get the proper amount, you will spend more time sleeping than studying or paying attention in class.  In my opinion, it is hard enough to get up at 7:20 rather than being at school at 7:20.  On top of homework the night before, and extra-curricular activities you may have, it is definately an early wake up time that may not always give you your eight hours of sleep.  More importantly, if you don't get your sleep it is harder to stay awake and can result in you not staying awake in the important times, such as driving.  Driving is one of the most crucial times you need all your energy and can result in the loss of other people's lives if you don't pay attention.  If schools that start really early pushed their starting time even an hour later, it could save lives.  For the safety of others, schools need to take it seriously. 

New Mothers At Risk Of Obesity: Study

Summary of Article:

Mothers of young-children may be risking their health by drinking more sugar-sweetened beverages and eating more saturated fat compared with childless women.  The finding comes from researches at the University of Minnesota Medical School who examined the diets, physical activity and body mass index (BMI) of 838 women and 682 men.  The study was published Monday in the journal Pediatrics.  The researchers suggested some explanations for the differences between female participants.  "Mothers may find it easier and less time-consuming to cook more palatable, yet high-fat food for children (e.g. macaroni and cheese, chicken nuggets) and to eat more snack foods with children," they write.  "Mothers may also modify their milk consumption habits, including drinking the higher fat milk than their children drink."  The authors say there is little research into the diet and exercise patterns of parents of young children, but it is important to understand because healthy and unhealthy habits can become ingrained and transmitted to children.  Study participants completed a questionnaire about how often they consumed certain foods and how many hours they spent during various physical activities.  They were also asked to provide their height and weight in order for researchers to determine their BMI.  The results were average 2,360 calories a day, compared with 1,992 calories for women of the same age who did not have children.  The mothers also got 10.3 percent of their calories from saturated fat, compared with 9.5 percent for women without children.  The same studies were done with dads, however, it did not show any appreciable differences in the eating habits of fathers compared to men without children.  Most of the saturated fat we eat comes from meat, milk, butter, lard, coconut, palm and palm kernel oils.  Consuming too much of this kind of fat is a risk factor for obesity and cardiovascular disease.  When it came to physical activity, mothers reported an average of 2.36 hours of moderate to vigorous activity a week.  Women without children reported 3.19 hours of such activity.  "Young adults may continue these behaviours into adulthood, putting them at high risk for obesity.  In addition, the modelling of poor dietary intake and physical activity may influence children's health behaviour," the researchers write.


My Opinion of Article:

I believe all these facts make sense and are nowhere out of the ordinary.  It makes complete sense that women who are new mothers are at risk of obesity.  When you first have a kid, your life becomes more rushed and it takes time getting used to.  Most of the time, you won't have time to make a meal that takes a long time to cook and will have to resort to foods that are easier and faster to make such as macaroni and cheese, and ravioli.  Obviously, cooking a 10 minute meal such as macaroni and cheese would be more high in fat than cooking a meal that takes 45 minutes to make is healthier so it makes sense that new mothers would be at more risk of obesity.  However, it does kind of shock me that dads did not have a change as they would eat the same meal as the mother and the children.  This may be because when you get pregnant you gain weight and could be easier to eat fatty foods.  I also believe that it could influence a child's behaviour but if you fix your diet when your kid is well grown, it won't be a problem.