ScienceDaily: Living Well News

---

• Why don't TV audiences care about suffering in other countries?
• Fast food not the major cause of rising childhood obesity rates, study finds
• Narcissism -- to a point -- can make more effective leader, researchers find
• Speech means using both sides of brain
• Later school start times improve sleep and daytime functioning in adolescents
• Self-control isn't in short supply (despite what it looks like)
• Take a stand, be active to reduce chronic disease, make aging easier, research finds
• Finally, a way to authenticate premium chocolate
• Parental leave policies best promote gender equity, well-being in women's health
• Don’t just sit there! Prolonged sitting linked to early mortality in women
• Vision and multitasking: Brain can perform more than one function without sacrificing time or accuracy
• Exposures to some phthalates fall after federal ban
• Alcohol consumption is a necessary cause of nearly 80,000 deaths per year in the Americas, study finds
• Muscle-strengthening, conditioning in women associated with reduced risk of diabetes
• Cervical screening up to age 69 may prevent cervical cancer in older women
• New analysis shows fewer years of life lost to cancer
• Geriatric health professionals experience added burden when caring for own family members

Why don't TV audiences care about suffering in other countries? Posted: 15 Jan 2014 04:31 PM PST Television audiences care less about suffering experienced by people in other countries when they watch the news than when they watch a range of different programs, according to new research.

Fast food not the major cause of rising childhood obesity rates, study finds Posted: 15 Jan 2014 10:27 AM PST For several years, many have been quick to attribute rising fast-food consumption as the major factor causing rapid increases in childhood obesity. Now researchers report that fast-food consumption is simply a byproduct of a much bigger problem: poor all-day-long dietary habits that originate in children's homes.

Narcissism -- to a point -- can make more effective leader, researchers find Posted: 15 Jan 2014 10:27 AM PST Although Narcissus himself might not have been able to step away from his reflection in the mirror to get to the office, when it comes to leadership, a moderate amount of narcissism can go a long way.

Speech means using both sides of brain Posted: 15 Jan 2014 10:26 AM PST We use both sides of our brain for speech, a finding by researchers that alters previous conceptions about neurological activity. The results also offer insights into addressing speech-related inhibitions caused by stroke or injury and lay the groundwork for better rehabilitation methods.

Later school start times improve sleep and daytime functioning in adolescents Posted: 15 Jan 2014 09:22 AM PST A psychologist and sleep expert recently led a study linking later school start times to improved sleep and mood in teens.

Self-control isn't in short supply (despite what it looks like) Posted: 15 Jan 2014 09:22 AM PST It might be true that people have a harder time controlling themselves when they are tired at the end of the day, but that doesn't mean that self-control is a limited resource, say authors of a new study. The trick to fighting that couch potato urge is for you (or your kids) to find pleasure in productive activities.

Take a stand, be active to reduce chronic disease, make aging easier, research finds Posted: 15 Jan 2014 08:35 AM PST By sitting less and moving more, people can reduce their risks of chronic diseases and make aging easier, according to research.

Finally, a way to authenticate premium chocolate Posted: 15 Jan 2014 08:35 AM PST For some people, nothing can top a morsel of luxuriously rich, premium chocolate. But until now, other than depending on their taste buds, chocolate connoisseurs had no way of knowing whether they were getting what they paid for. Scientists are reporting, for the first time, a method to authenticate the varietal purity and origin of cacao beans, the source of chocolate's main ingredient, cocoa.

Parental leave policies best promote gender equity, well-being in women's health Posted: 15 Jan 2014 08:35 AM PST Government policies that allow both parents to take time off after a child is born provide positive benefits for the physical and mental health of women, according to a literature review that looked at the influence of public policies on women's overall health.

Don’t just sit there! Prolonged sitting linked to early mortality in women Posted: 15 Jan 2014 08:30 AM PST A new study of 93,000 postmenopausal American women found those with the highest amounts of sedentary time – defined as sitting and resting, excluding sleeping – died earlier than their most active peers. The association remained even when controlling for physical mobility and function, chronic disease status, demographic factors and overall fitness – meaning that even habitual exercisers are at risk if they have high amounts of idle time.

Vision and multitasking: Brain can perform more than one function without sacrificing time or accuracy Posted: 15 Jan 2014 07:02 AM PST Most of the time your brain doesn't perform as well as it could when it has to multitask. But when it comes to visual sampling, researchers have found that multitasking is no problem.

Exposures to some phthalates fall after federal ban Posted: 15 Jan 2014 04:57 AM PST Americans are being exposed to significantly lower levels of some phthalates that were banned from children's articles in 2008, but exposures to other forms of these chemicals are rising steeply, according to a study.

Alcohol consumption is a necessary cause of nearly 80,000 deaths per year in the Americas, study finds Posted: 14 Jan 2014 05:29 PM PST A new study has measured the number and pattern of deaths caused by alcohol consumption in 16 North and Latin American countries. The study reveals that between 2007 and 2009, alcohol was a 'necessary' cause of death (i.e., death would not have occurred in the absence of alcohol consumption) in an average of 79,456 cases per year. Liver disease was the main culprit in most countries.

Muscle-strengthening, conditioning in women associated with reduced risk of diabetes Posted: 14 Jan 2014 05:29 PM PST Aerobic exercise is known to prevent type 2 diabetes, and muscle-strengthening alone or in combination with aerobic exercise improves diabetic control among those with diabetes. Although men who weight train have been found to have an associated reduced risk of developing diabetes, whether such an association exists for women has not been established.

Cervical screening up to age 69 may prevent cervical cancer in older women Posted: 14 Jan 2014 05:29 PM PST A study published this week suggests that screening women for cervical cancer beyond age 50 clearly saves lives, and also that there are benefits for women with normal (negative) screening results to continue screening up to the age of 69 years.

New analysis shows fewer years of life lost to cancer Posted: 14 Jan 2014 05:27 PM PST A new statistical approach to measuring the cancer burden in the United States reveals decades of progress in fighting cancer, progress previously masked by the falling death rates of other diseases.

Geriatric health professionals experience added burden when caring for own family members Posted: 14 Jan 2014 08:42 AM PST In what is believed to be the first study of its kind, researchers have found that in addition to the well-known burdens of caring for an older family member, a further set of complex stressors is imposed on geriatric health care professionals serving in this capacity. These findings highlight the critical challenges facing all caregivers, even those who deal with these patients daily on a professional basis.

You are subscribed to email updates from ScienceDaily: Living Well News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610