When Parents Get Active, So Do Kids: Study

HealthDay – 5 mins ago THURSDAY, Aug. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Parents who want to increase the amount of exercise their children get should become more active themselves, according to a new study.

"It has long been known that parent and child activity levels are correlated," study author Kristen Holm, an assistant professor of medicine at National Jewish Health in Denver, said in a news release. "

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Parents of Severely Disabled Kids Say They Enrich Their Lives

HealthDay – 1 hr 41 mins ago MONDAY, July 23 (HealthDay News) -- When Vanessa Hernandez's sixth child was born, she knew right away her daughter was different.

Hernandez's pediatrician wept as she told her the diagnosis. The baby had trisomy 13, a devastating chromosomal abnormality. Most children die before their first birthday and have serious mental and physical disabilities, including heart and breathing problems.

Hernandez's daughter, now 19 months old, hasn't had an easy time. She's had seizures, has a tracheotomy to assist her with breathing and has been fed mostly through a feeding tube.

Despite the hurdles, Isabel is a source of great joy to her family, Hernandez said. Isabel smiles and laughs frequently, and there are no indications she is in pain. Her parents celebrate small achievements. Isabel's five siblings love her fiercely. "She gets the most love in the house. They are very protective of her. Nobody leaves the room without giving her a hug and a kiss," Hernandez said.

Though many people believe that raising child with severe birth defects would be more than they could bear, many parents of children with severe disabilities say that couldn't be further from the truth.

In a new study, nearly all -- 97 percent -- of 332 parents of children with trisomy 13 or trisomy 18, another chromosomal abnormality that can cause similarly severe problems and shortened lifespans, described their child as "happy." Parents also said that no matter how short their lives, their child enriched their family.

"Despite the fact that often these children live less than a year and they are disabled, families find they are happy children. They find joy in their children. They enrich the family, enrich the couple and the child's life had meaning," said study author Dr. Annie Janvier, an associate professor of pediatrics and clinical ethics at University of Montreal. "None of the parents said they regretted not terminating the pregnancy. None said the life was unworthy of living. All of the parents reported the quality of life of their child was a good quality of life."

But that's not always what doctors tell parents to expect, according to the study in the August issue of Pediatrics. Many parents -- 87 percent -- were told their child's condition was "incompatible with life," 57 percent were told their child would live a life of suffering, 50 percent were told their child would be a "vegetable" and 23 percent were told their child would "ruin their family."

The medical community, including the American Academy of Pediatrics Neonatal Resuscitation Program textbook, recommends against resuscitation for trisomy 13 and 18.

Dr. Roya Samuels, a pediatrician at Cohen Children's Medical Center in New Hyde Park, N.Y., called the research "eye-opening." Physicians need to present objective information and statistics on what parents should expect with trisomy 13, 18 or other congenital conditions for that matter. But those numbers, she added, need to be tempered with compassion, an understanding that quality of life is highly subjective and that parents may readjust their own beliefs about what constitutes quality of life after the birth of their child.

"There are a lot of lessons for pediatricians and health care professionals to learn. It highlights the divide that there is between the physician and the patient," Samuels said. "Sometimes the physician can be a little bit too objective, a little bit too harsh with statistics and invoking the element of fear when it comes to delivering news of a diagnosis like trisomy 13 or 18."

Rick Santorum, who recently ran for president, spoke about his youngest daughter, Bella, who was diagnosed at 5 days old with trisomy 18, in a campaign video. "We felt blessed that we had Bella, yet we were told by the medical community, 'Why do anything? Just let her go.'"

Santorum went on to say, "We felt we owed her the opportunity, the chance to do as well as she could. Over the past few years, she has been a wonderful, joyful, center of the universe, if you will, for our family."

That sentiment isn't unusual, said Barbara Farlow, a study co-author and mother of nine from Toronto who gave birth to a daughter with trisomy 13 in 2005. The condition was detected by a prenatal test at 21 weeks. An engineer and financial analyst, Farlow considered terminating the pregnancy -- she had a busy life with five typically developing kids who excelled in school and sports.

But she and her husband researched the condition. They chose not to terminate after meeting families who had children with the same diagnosis, and seeing the love they had for their children.

"Doctors have controlled all the information about these conditions. Many would say, 'Your child will be a vegetable. This will ruin your life. Your child will live a life of suffering, and parents made decisions based on that," Farlow said. "A lot of people equate disability with suffering. Not necessarily 'pain' suffering but if you can't do what other people do, then you're suffering."

"With the Internet and the development of online parent support groups, parents have been able to acquire a different view than what the doctor described to them," Farlow said.

Farlow's daughter, Annie, lived 80 days. During her life, she helped teach the family compassion, patience and to appreciate every day, Farlow said. "Before you're in this type of situation, it's easy to make a passing judgment about what lives are worth living," she said. "That changes when you have a life placed in your hands."

The stories of these families are uplifting, and give pediatricians and parents facing difficult decisions a point of view many may not have considered, Samuels said. But it's also important for families to realize that caring for a child with trisomy 13 and 18 is a tough road, financially and emotionally for parents, while children may be in and out of the ICU. And though some kids beat the odds, many parents of children with trisomy 13 and 18, which involves an extra copy of chromosome 13 or 18, face the grief of burying their child.

"We have children with these conditions, and the parents go through hell at times," she said.

Those sorts of worries don't escape Hernandez, who lives on Long Island, N.Y. She urges parents to reach out to online support groups like the one she runs, Living with Trisomy 13. At least 18 other such groups exist, according to background information in the article.

"I don't want to tell anybody any pipe dream. It's not all sugarplum fairies. The first year my other children basically didn't have parents. My house didn't get cleaned and the laundry didn't get done. It was all about Isabel," she said. "But we want people to know the real story. To give them both sides, and let them make a decision. Don't try to scare them into something."

"My life is better because of Isabel. All of our lives are better because of her."

More information

Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford has more on trisomy 13 and 18.

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Gay or Straight, Parents Too Tired for Sex, Study Suggests

HealthDay – Fri, Jun 29, 2012 FRIDAY, June 29 (HealthDay News) -- Heterosexual couples often have trouble with sex and intimacy issues after they become parents, and a new study suggests that gay parents face some of the same challenges.

"When gay couples become parents, they become very focused on the kids, they are tired, there is less time for communication and less desire for sex," Colleen Hoff, a professor of sexuality studies at San Francisco State University, said in a university news release. "They go through a lot of the same changes as heterosexual couples who have kids."

An estimated one in five gay male couples nationwide is raising children. For the new study, 48 gay male couples who are raising children together were interviewed and asked questions about their lives.

"We found that gay fathers have less time for sex and less emphasis on sexuality, which could mean they are at less risk for HIV," Hoff said. "Many fathers said they feel a sense of responsibility toward their children which motivates them to avoid risky sexual behavior."

Not many of the men were concerned about the changes in their sex lives, according to the report published in the June issue of the journal Couple and Family Psychology.

"From the fathers we studied, there was this pragmatic acceptance that this is what happens at this stage of life," Hoff pointed out.

Hoff and colleagues also found that the men tended to follow the same rules about sexual activity outside their partnership after becoming parents as they did before.

"There wasn't the shift that we thought we might find," Hoff said. "For the most part, those who were monogamous before becoming parents said they stayed with that arrangement. Those who had open relationships before having children reported that they kept to that agreement."

The findings suggest that gay male parents who are in open relationships might be less willing to talk to others, such as physicians, about the choices they've made.

"Some men felt that there is this assumption that if you are a gay parent you are monogamous," Hoff explained. "This kind of stigma around gay parents' sexuality could be a concern if gay fathers are reluctant to talk to their physician about their sexual agreement and get tested for HIV."

More information

For more about parenting, visit the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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Young Athletes Face Unhealthy Food Choices, Parents Say

HealthDay – 1 hr 19 mins ago FRIDAY, June 29 (HealthDay News) -- Children who play organized sports often consume unhealthy foods and beverages, a new study finds.

University of Minnesota researchers interviewed the parents of 60 youth basketball players and found that the youngsters commonly had sweets, such as candy, ice cream and doughnuts; pizza; hot dogs; salty snacks, such as chips, nachos and cheese puffs; and soda and sports drinks.

The parents also reported frequent visits to fast-food restaurants when their children were playing sports.

Although the parents agreed that these foods and beverages are unhealthy, they said rushing to practices and games made them rely more on these types of products due to their convenience.

The researchers also found that parents had difficulty determining whether certain foods and drinks were healthy, and had doubts about whether it was feasible for concession stands at youth sports venues to offer healthy choices.

The study was published in the July/August issue of the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior.

"The food environment in youth sports exposes kids and their families to many unhealthful foods and beverages and few healthful options," principal investigator Toben Nelson said in a journal news release. "Youth who participate in sports spend considerable time in these activities outside of school, and these sports environments are likely to influence their eating behavior."

The researchers suggested many ways to promote healthy eating in children who play sports, including integrating nutrition education into youth sports programs and finding ways to improve the nutritional quality of food available at youth sports venues.

More information

The Nemours Foundation has more about feeding your child athlete.

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To Improve School Nutrition, Involve Teachers and Parents

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Parents read lips of woman with flesh-eating bug

The parents of a young Georgia woman battling a flesh-eating bacterial infection said Monday they've learned to read lips and are communicating with their daughter despite a breathing tube in her throat.

Speaking on NBC's "Today" show Monday, Andy Copeland said his daughter Aimee told them she was thirsty, and that ice cream was the first thing she wants when she's able to eat on her own.

"We just take it each day at a time," he said. "My daughter's strong, she really is."

Aimee Copeland, 24, has already lost most of her left leg and will lose her fingers. Doctors hope to save the palms of her hands, which could allow her to someday use prosthetics, her father said in an online update.

"Aimee is alert and trying to mouth questions," Andy Copeland wrote on a website created to provide updates to friends and supporters. "Her breathing tube has been reoriented to increase her comfort and allow them to try to read her lips. She said: 'I can't talk!' We told her it was because of the tube, and we explained the need for it. 'Take it out!' She also asked 'What happened?' and 'Where am I?'"

She contracted the rare infection, called necrotizing fasciitis, after falling from a broken zip line and gashing her leg on May 1.

She was in critical condition Monday in the Joseph M. Still Burn Center at Doctors Hospital in Augusta, hospital spokeswoman Stacey Snyder said.

Infections by so-called flesh-eating bacteria are rare but sometimes can run rampant after even minor cuts or scratches. The affliction can destroy muscle, fat and skin tissue. The bacteria that infected Copeland is called Aeromonas hydrophila.

Aimee Copeland hasn't been told of the exact extent of her injuries, but she has asked how long she has been in the hospital, her father told the "Today" show.

When told that she's been hospitalized for several days, she expressed concern about completing coursework at the University of West Georgia, where she's a graduate student, her father said. She also worried about missing work at a cafe in Carrollton.

___

Online:

http://uwgpsychology.org/2012/aimee-copeland/

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Friends' Parents Can Sway Teens' Odds for Drinking, Smoking

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Parents of Kids With Cancer No More Likely to Break Up

HealthDay – 43 mins ago THURSDAY, April 12 (HealthDay News) -- Even though a child's illness can cause severe stress, a new study from Denmark finds that the marriages and partnerships of parents of kids with cancer aren't more likely to fall apart.

The study debunks "a persistent myth that childhood cancer will have a destructive impact on one's marriage and family. This is simply not true," said Anne Kazak, professor of pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

Cancer in children is rare, although it's the leading disease-related cause of death in kids under 15. According to the National Cancer Institute, an average of one to two children out of 10,000 develop cancer each year.

In the new study, researchers studied the parents of 2,450 children (up to age 20) who received a diagnosis of cancer between 1980 and 1997. They compared them to the parents of 44,853 similar children who didn't have cancer, and followed them for up to 20 years.

The parents in both groups included both married and unmarried couples who lived together. (As of 1996, cohabiting but unmarried parents accounted for 60 percent of first-born children in Denmark.)

Even after adjusting the findings so they wouldn't be skewed by high or low numbers of people of certain income levels, the researchers found that having a child with cancer didn't affect the likelihood that a couple would separate.

The findings surprised study co-author Dr. Christoffer Johansen, who called the results "good news."

"You could imagine that you would find an increased risk for some cancers and in some marriages, but we didn't find that no matter how we analyzed the data," said Johansen, head of the Unit of Survivorship at the Danish Cancer Society in Copenhagen. "Having a child with cancer doesn't appear to be a risk factor for divorce."

Why are the couples so resilient? Johansen said it may have something to do with how a child's cancer isn't an inherent problem within a couple's relationship.

"It's inside the family, but it's an outside problem -- and now they have to stand together to cope with it," he said. "I think the relationships were able to handle the problems and take care of that strain because you simply need to do that in order to get through everyday life."

Johansen speculated that the findings would be similar in other Western countries like the United States, although they'll depend on factors including access to health insurance.

Kazak said having a child with cancer puts parents under intense strain.

"Learning that your child has cancer remains one of the most distressing experiences possible and distress under these circumstances is, of course, normal," she said. "Families must focus their energy on treatment and supporting the child and other children. But it's essential to remember that the couple's relationship is critical, too, and to think about specific ways of communicating, problem-solving and staying connected during this time."

The study appears in the May issue of the journal Pediatrics.

More information

For more about cancer in children, try the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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Doctors want to redefine autism; parents worried

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‘Hunger Games’ and ‘Bully’ create dilemma for parents

rules’ African American parents followMore adult kids living with parents and in no rush to departThe teen brain: Is it ready for adult accountability? Adult punishment?Stories By DateFull Monthly Archive Posted at 01:14 PM ET, 03/22/2012TheWashingtonPostBy Janice D'Arcy

Two movies about to be released have given parents a fresh dilemma: Do they allow their children to watch them?

“Hunger Games” opens tomorrow and “Bully” opens in D.C. next month. Both films bring their own sets of baggage and their own strong fan bases. They also beg the question of whether the target audience is ready for what is to be shown on screen.

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More adult kids living with parents and in no rush to depart

Next Stop’: Aging out of special-needs network and navigating the futureWage gap for mothers of autistic children, study showsStories By DateFull Monthly Archive Posted at 07:00 AM ET, 03/21/2012TheWashingtonPostBy Janice D'Arcy

Parents of graduating seniors might want to postpone turning their child’s bedroom into a guest room. A new study finds that young adults are not only moving back home at higher rates than ever before, they also don’t seem in a rush to move out.

“Large majorities of young adults ages 25 to 34 living at home say they’re satisfied with their living arrangements and upbeat about their future finances,” according to The Boomerang Generation report from the Pew Research Center.

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Cherry Blossom Festival: Parents weigh the joy vs. the hassle

Ways to involve kids in gardeningKaren Murphy’s punishment for hot-car death won’t prevent more parents from making this mistakeDeath of baby at Virginia in-home day care not as isolated as it seemsHuggies revamps

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