Apare the rod, spare the child

Children who are spanked by their fathers become aggressive and have lower self-esteem, which in turn, puts them at a higher risk of being physically abused, warns the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Children who are spanked by their fathers become aggressive and have lower self-esteem, which in turn, puts them at a higher risk of being physically abused, warns the American Academy of Pediatrics.

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Spanking is especially troubling in children who are one-year-old or, even younger, because at that age, children are unlikely to understand the connection between their behaviour and the subsequent punishment.

The study, reported in the journal Pediatrics, analysed data on 1,746 people from 16 cities in the US.

Blame junk food addiction on Mum

Mothers who binge on a diet high in sugar and fat while pregnant can programme their unborn child to eat junk food. The sugar and fat can rewire the baby’s brains and turn them into junk-food junkies. An experiment on of rats during pregnancy and lactation showed that pups of pregnant rats given a diet of high-fat, high-sugar junk foods eaten by humans ate more of the same after weaning as compared to their counterparts, report scientists from the FOODplus Research Centre in Australia.

That cleaning spray could trigger early menopause

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals found in products such as toys, clothing, furniture, carpets, paints and plastic food containers can lower estrogen levels in women and lead to early menopause, a new study finds.
A new study of 25,957 women, aged 18 to 65, found exposure to perfluorocarbons (PFCs) lowered the female sex hormone and caused early menopause in women over 42. Widespread use of PFCs — that impair the immune system and increase heart-attack risk — has led to their presence in water, air, soil, plants, animals and humans.

Occasional sex alert

An occasional episode of sex may double a person’s chances of having a heart attack immediately or within two hours, Tufts University researchers report.

A session of physical exercise may be even more hazardous, tripling the odds of a heart attack within two hours, the scientists said in the Journal of the American Medical Association after analysing the results of 14 studies. The risks were smaller for people with high levels of regular physical activity.