Childhood constipation a serious problem
Tummy troubles
Holiday travel, upset schedules and unfamiliar foods can put your little one's mood seriously out of whack. And her bathroom habits, too.
Childhood constipation is a bigger problem than most of us realize, and not just during the holidays. It costs the health-care system nearly $4 billion a year - equal to the cost of treating childhood asthma or ADHD, according to a study at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.
If going to the bathroom hurts, kids will try not to, making the situation worse. Chronic constipation can lead to problems in school and even surgery. But most of the time, simple measures can head off serious trouble.
Doctors at Nationwide Children's Hospital offer these tips for parents:
• Talk openly with your child about bowel movements and make sure he is going at least every other day.
• If you child has gone three or four days without a bowel movement, try prune or apple juice, high fiber cereal and possibly a warm bath. Stool softeners or laxatives for children can also help. But if the problem continues, call your child's doctor.
Mirror, mirror
How old do you feel? Those age 70 order older are likely to say they feel 13 years younger.
That's what researchers in Michigan and Germany found when they tracked aging perceptions of more than 500 older adults over a six-year period. "People generally felt quite a bit younger than they actually were, and they also showed relatively high levels of satisfaction with aging during the time period studied," said psychologist Jacqui Smith of the University of Michigan Institute of Social Research.
Participants were also asked how old they thought they looked. In this case, women perceived their appearance as being closer to their actual age than men did.
The study will be published in a future issue of the Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Science.
More reason to eat veggies
Getting enough calcium and vitamin D is crucial to bone health. But there's more to the picture: It turns out a diet high in protein and cereal grains produces excess acid in the body, which may lead to calcium loss and weaken bones.
Increasing aliki content by eating lots of fruit and vegetables, on the other hand, helps prevent bone loss.
"When it comes to dietary concerns regarding bone health, calcium and vitamin D have received the most attention, but there is increasing evidence that the acid/base balance of the diet is important," said Dr. Bess Dawson-Huges of Tufts University, lead author of a study to be published in Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
When fruits and vegetables are metabolized, they add bicarbonate, an alkaline compound, to the body, she said. Participants who took bicarbonate in pill form had significant reductions in calcium excretion during the three-month study.