ScienceDaily: Living Well News

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• Obesity, depression linked in teen girls, new study shows
• UV exposure found to lower folate levels in young women
• Genetic factor contributes to forgetfulness
• Not only is she thinner than you, her muscles work better, too: Role of muscle function in maintaining weight
• The ten best weather places in the world
• Parents should try to find middle ground to keep teens safe online
• Social feedback loop aids language development
• Despite transfer roadblocks, community college transfers as likely to earn BA as 4-year
• Is 'Nanny State' ethical when policing obesity?

Obesity, depression linked in teen girls, new study shows Posted: 21 Mar 2014 06:53 AM PDT Depression and obesity have long been associated, but how they relate over time is less clear. New research shows that adolescent females who experience one of the disorders are at a greater risk for the other as they get older. It is unknown why no associations across time between the two disorders were found in male adolescents, but researchers hypothesize that it could be a result of different developmental processes leading to obesity and depression in males and females.

UV exposure found to lower folate levels in young women Posted: 21 Mar 2014 06:52 AM PDT Women who are pregnant or trying to get pregnant and taking a folic acid supplement may be at risk of reducing their folate benefit through sun exposure, a new study has warned. Folic acid is a B vitamin that is very important for pregnant women and those planning a baby. Folate is found in foods such as green leafy vegetables like spinach, citrus fruits, legumes, whole grains and vegemite. Folic acid is also added to many foods such as breads, flours and pastas. Folic acid can also be taken as a pill.

Genetic factor contributes to forgetfulness Posted: 21 Mar 2014 06:50 AM PDT Misplaced your keys? Can't remember someone's name? Didn't notice the stop sign? Those who frequently experience such cognitive lapses now have an explanation. Psychologists have found a connection between such everyday lapses and the DRD2 gene. Those who have a certain variant of this gene are more easily distracted and experience a significantly higher incidence of lapses due to a lack of attention.

Not only is she thinner than you, her muscles work better, too: Role of muscle function in maintaining weight Posted: 20 Mar 2014 02:34 PM PDT Researchers examined how muscle physiology effects leanness. They found that while rats with 'lean genes' burned a similar amount of calories at rest as those with 'obese genes,' the muscles of lean rats burned much more energy during mild activity. The research sheds new light on the role of muscle function and metabolism in maintaining weight.

The ten best weather places in the world Posted: 20 Mar 2014 02:32 PM PDT Do you dream of a place that is always sunny? Where the temperature is perfect? Where there is virtually no severe weather? A new article attempts to name the top ten places in the world that continually experience the best weather.

Parents should try to find middle ground to keep teens safe online Posted: 20 Mar 2014 07:14 AM PDT Parents might take a lesson from Goldilocks and find a balanced approach to guide their teens in making moral, safe online decisions, according to researchers. In a study on parenting strategies and online adolescent safety, the researchers found evidence that suggests that parents should try to establish a middle ground between keeping their teens completely away from the internet not monitoring their online activities at all.

Social feedback loop aids language development Posted: 19 Mar 2014 11:39 AM PDT Verbal interactions between parents and children create a social feedback loop important for language development, according to research. That loop appears to be experienced less frequently and is diminished in strength in interactions with autistic children. The research also showed that socioeconomic status seems to affect the interactions making up the feedback loop. Higher maternal education was associated with increased rates of child vocalization as well as increased sensitivity of adult responses to the type of vocalization a child produced. Both these differences are expected to promote faster speech development in high-socioeconomic-status families.

Despite transfer roadblocks, community college transfers as likely to earn BA as 4-year Posted: 19 Mar 2014 11:39 AM PDT Students who begin their post-secondary education at a community college and successfully transfer to a four-year college have BA graduation rates equal to similar students who begin at four-year colleges, according to new research. That rate would actually increase -- to 54 percent from 46 percent -- if not for the loss of academic credits when students transfer, said study authors.

Is 'Nanny State' ethical when policing obesity? Posted: 19 Mar 2014 11:37 AM PDT Public health and bioethics experts examine three public policy strategies for obesity prevention through reducing consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages in a new article. Obesity is a serious public health problem in America, and policy solutions are fraught with ethical challenges; how can this multi-faceted problem be tackled while maintaining individual freedom of choice and avoiding stigmatization?

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