Page 12 – Kidzu

The Curious Dichotomy of Big Families

Parent Perspective

Doug

-

January 9, 2024

We’ve got good news for parents with lots of kids: they’re probably going to behave better than kids from smaller families. We’ve also got bad news: some of your kids are going to struggle cognitively.

As the number of children per family continues to fall – just two per household today versus seven in 1800 – researchers have been studying the implications of this demographic trend. Two results have stood out: kids’ intellectual and emotional intelligence.

Turns out, kids from crowded homes tend to:

Fare worse in school
Perform poorly on cognitive tests
Pursue less education overall

Equally important, the younger children tend to do worse than their older siblings, and the older siblings show cognitive declines with each new addition to the family.

As to why these shortcomings exist, researchers speculate it is tied to parents’ time and resources. Simply put, the more kids in a home, the less time parents have to dedicate to a particular child. As each new child arrives, the older children receive even less time from mom and dad but more responsibility.

Why You Need to Eat Dinner with Your Kids — Something as simple as a regular family meal can ensure all kids receive a consistent dose of parental attention and interest.

Similarly, more kids equate to more drains on a family’s resources. Meaning kids may not enjoy the same level of access to extracurricular activities, tutors, and other opportunities as would kids from smaller families.

“Earlier children experience the greatest reductions, because they lose the most parental attention,” the researchers write. “Because parental resources become increasingly restricted as family size grows, third- and later-born children are likely to receive so little nonessential resources that their share can barely be diluted by a new, younger sibling.”

But those big families do bring good news with them – at least for the youngest of the broods. The same research reveals that kids from larger families tend to be better behaved than kids from smaller clans.

In particular, the last-born children are often seen by their parents as the best behaved of the lot. Researchers speculate this may be in part to parents (and older siblings) focusing more attention on the child. Or, it could be the parents are simply viewing that final, ‘baby’ of the bunch through rose-colored glasses.

The results of the study do demonstrate one truism above all others: that kids who receive a sufficient amount of attention from parents tend to do better in life than those who are left to their own devices. Meaning that something as simple as consistent, dependable family dinners can go a long way in helping all kids – regardless of family size – to enjoy the benefits of parental attention and interest.

Gaming Can Lead to Hearing Loss in Young People

Doug

-

January 17, 2024

0

Gaming Can Lead to Hearing Loss in Young People

Let’s be honest, kids are going to game. Even if you prohibit it at your home, your child quite likely will engage in gaming at a friend’s house. It’s one of those laws of childhood.

But you can and should remind your child that gaming with headphones or earbuds set at high volume levels can lead to hearing loss and / or tinnitus. In fact, researchers suggest as many as 10 million people in the U.S. alone are likely listening to game volumes beyond safe levels.

A big part of the reason: gamers often will play for hours at a time and, during that stretch, gradually increase volumes to keep the serotonin and other juices flowing. The result is a constant audio bombardment on young ears that are still maturing.

In a scientific review of gaming literature, researchers found that gaming volumes – especially so-called ‘impulse bursts’ that last as little as one second – can easily reach 119db, enough volume to damage ears.

Note that permissible exposure limits are roughly 100 dB for children and 130–140 dB for adults.

The researchers concluded: “Although the data provided in this review are limited, they suggest that some gamers, particularly those who play frequently, and at or above the average sound levels described by papers included in this review, probably exceed permissible sound exposure limits, and are thus engaging in unsafe listening practices, which could put them at risk for developing permanent hearing loss and/or tinnitus.”

So mom and dad, be sure to remind your child, again and again, to “keep the noise down” if they want to be able to hear well in the future.

Energy Drinks Tied to Kids' Mental Health Issues

Doug

-

February 2, 2024

0

Energy Drinks Tied to Kids' Mental Health Issues

If your child is chugging energy drinks during breaks in the action, the habit could be contributing to a variety of mental health issues including ADHD, anxiety, suicidal thoughts and depression.

Or so says an analysis of 57 different studies looking at more than 1.2 million kids and young people who regularly drank energy drinks.

The latest review is actually a follow-up to a previous meta-analysis, and researchers behind the new research said it not only confirms the previous results (from 2016), it reveals even bigger problems.

Their research revealed “an even greater list of mental and physical health outcomes associated with children and young people consuming energy drinks,” said lead author Amelia Lake, professor of public health nutrition at Teesside University in the UK.

Caffeine levels are especially high in energy drinks, which is of course a principle reason for the ‘energy’ jolt that people receive when drinking them. While some countries have already banned energy drink sales to kids, Lake and her fellow researchers have called for a global ban on sales to anyone under 16.

Compared to caffeine levels of 90mg in a cup of coffee or 50mg in a cup of tea, caffeine levels in energy drinks can run from 50mg to a stunning 505mg per serving. Yet even small amounts of caffeine can impact a child’s sleep, leading to all manner of cognitive issues.

Empathetic Moms Create Empathetic Kids

Doug

-

April 23, 2024

0

Mothers who are empathetic are likely to pass that trait down to their kids. Which is important, since research shows that empathetic kids are generally happier, build stronger relationships, and are more successful.

Researchers at the University of Virginia followed 200 people from the time they were teens until they had kids of their own. By filming moms, their teens, and later those same teens as adults counseling their own kids, the researchers were able to observe three generations.

What they discovered: “I think one of the things that was most interesting is that the social skills that teens were practicing with their close friends during those adolescent years, ended up being really important for the way they parented,” said psychologist Jessie Stern, a research scientist at the school. “So the amount of empathy that teens were showing with their close friends, and just the amount of practice that they were getting in those close friendships, seemed to predict their own kids’ later empathy.”

The results of their work convinced the researchers that empathetic behavior – i.e., the ability to see things from the perspective of another – must be modeled by parents.

If a parent is patient and validates a child’s thoughts and feelings – particularly when they are facing inevitable coming of age challenges – that child is far more likely to follow suit in their own lives and later when raising their own children.

“When teens were bringing a problem to their mom, the mom was doing more validation, showing understanding of the teens problems. The teen had firsthand experience of feeling understood, of receiving empathy. And then they were able to pay that forward in their friendships,” noted Stern.

The study is the latest in a series of longitudinal studies being conducted into the lives of teens.