Evidence that girls are reaching puberty as early as seven years of age is in the news this week following the publication of an article in the journal Paediatrics. It is a topic that has been debated for decades.

The new data shows that in the United States white girls are catching up with Black and Hispanic girls, who are still well ahead statistically when it comes to maturing early but among whom the trend has slowed right down.

More than 10 percent of white 7-year-old girls in the study, which was conducted in the mid-2000s, had reached a stage of breast development marking the start of puberty, compared to just 5 percent in a similar study conducted in the early 1990s.

Most lay people would be concerned about little girls’ physical development getting ahead of their intellectual and emotional development.… click here to read whole article and make comments

I promised something more on Aric Sigman, the (American-born, as it turns out) psychologist who has made a name for himself in Britain as a fiery critic of the way television and other screen media are dominating the lives of children. So here is the next instalment.

I heard Dr Sigman address a forum of about 200 family-minded people in Auckland, New Zealand, a few days ago. He appeared on the stage looking like a 20-year-old (in fact, he is over 50) who had just done a workout at the gym, in a black t-shirt and grey jeans and almost vibrating with energy as he launched into his presentation on how “screen time” is ruining a generation.

Not that he isn’t grateful for PowerPoint (“I could kiss Bill Gates for that -- and ditto Google") which he used to good effect. And not that he doesn’t use a cellphone, a computer, or watch anything on TV.… click here to read whole article and make comments

Jennifer Roback Morse, foundress and president of the Ruth Institute, laments the overturn of Proposition 8 by Judge Vaughn Walker, who is widely reported to be g*y.

The Ruth Institute has been active in the efforts to educate the public about the essential public purpose of marriage, the social benefits of natural marriage, and the harms to society from redefining marriage. Dr. Morse is a former economics professor at Yale and George Mason Universities. In a press release she says:

Judge Walker’s reasoning today in overturning Prop 8 illustrates that he does not understand the essential public purpose of marriage, which is to attach mothers and fathers to their children and to one another. He replaces this public purpose with private purposes of adults’ feelings and desires.

By the time Judge Walker and his ilk are finished, there will be nothing left of marriage but… click here to read whole article and make comments

 

Some are born great...and some have greatness thrust upon 'em. The parents of a young English boy must be learning the truth of the Bard's words as people from around the world queue to snap up the lad's paintings as fast as he can produce them.

Seven-year-old Kieron Williamson of Norfolk, U.K., known in the British media as "Mini Monet," has impressionist style and impressive impact: All 33 works in his latest collection sold in 27 minutes, earning $236,850.

People from as far away as South Africa, Arizona and New Jersey showed up at the Picturecraft Art Gallery to purchase the prodigy's prized work. Many camped outside the gallery for two days awaiting the 9 o'clock sale, gallery owner Adrian Hill said.

"Kieron is painting so far in advance of his own years," Hill said. "There are many talented artists out there, but I can't think… click here to read whole article and make comments

A British psychologist visiting New Zealand is urging parents to get tough with their kids on time spent in front of television and computers, saying that screen time should be rationed as if it was sugar, salt or saturated fats.

Dr Aric Sigman, whose latest book, The Spoilt Generation: Why restoring authority will make our children and society happier, said adults must reclaim their authority. A new breed of parents, who were afraid of confronting their children, had created a "spoilt generation" with a sense of entitlement and lack of empathy.

Spending hours a day in front of screens instead of relating to family and other people certainly does not increase empathy. But Sigman also highlights damaging physical effects:

Within the past month a peer- reviewed study in the United States has been published showing changes in children's bloodstream in front of screens.

Insulin-resistant hormones,… click here to read whole article and make comments

Not infrequently one reads stories about babies accidentally switched at birth, but they do not always have a happy ending like this one from Brazil.

Dinas Aliprandi, now 25, often wondered as he grew up why he did not resemble his four sisters, who showed their Italian bloodline. His own features suggested German forbears. At 14 a TV programme about babies switched at birth made him want to have a DNA test, but thanks to the cost this did not happen for another 10 years.

After getting over the initial shock, his parents agreed to help him find his birth parents. They did. They found Elton Plaster, who was born on the same day in the same hospital, and his parents, who all agreed to do DNA tests.

And here is the happy ending, taking place in a farming community in south-eastern Brazil:

The… click here to read whole article and make comments

What is to be done about the teenagers? They are squandering sleeping time on electronic gadgets to the point where family life, studies and even health are compromised. And many parents either don’t see the problem or feel powerless to intervene.

Make no mistake -- teens and their sleep, or lack of it, are one of the biggest topics in adolescent health. Study after study repeats that high school kids are not getting enough sleep and this affects their ability to learn, to focus --for example, on an activity like driving -- to keep healthy and fight obesity.

For a while the researchers were hammering the hormone theory: the idea that the physical changes of adolescence change teens’ natural sleep rhythms and make it harder for them to go to bed early -- even though they have to get up early to get to school. (Can’t say that I noticed this… click here to read whole article and make comments

A reader in Canada has alerted me to a really nice article -- a profile of a musical mother who is keeping up her career but not letting it get in the way of having a family. Child number four is on the way and won’t be the last if she and her husband have their way.

Some people might be sceptical that, with three children under five and a profession that takes her as well as her husband (also a musician) touring -- though seldom at the same time -- she can do everything justice. Many couples today would have delayed, or strictly limited, the children; others would have decided mom’s career should go on hold.

But Natalie MacMaster, internationally acclaimed for her virtuoso performances of Cape Breton fiddle tunes, says they just… click here to read whole article and make comments

Britain’s oldest couple, Phyllis and Ralph Tarrant, are both over 100, have been married 77 years and still live happily and independently together in their own flat. How did they do that?

His wife has put the secret of their long-lasting marriage and relationship down to 'getting on with each other, a good diet, exercise, avoiding cigarettes - and a tot of whisky each night'.

But they admit to the occasional tiff - usually down to Mrs Tarrant not being able to decide what she wants her husband to cook for tea, or one of them putting the television on too loud.

'Having little rows is good for a relationship,' Mrs Tarrant said recently. 'It keeps it healthy.'

The Tarrants married in 1933 when times were financially tough, no doubt, and they lived through two world wars (Mr Tarrant served in the RAF during World… click here to read whole article and make comments

With the summer season well under way, I’ve had the joy of celebrating with friends as they embark on married life together. Since I am looking forward as well to my own wedding a question that has inevitably come up is, “Will you take your husband’s last name?”

A recent study by social psychologists at Tilburg University in the Netherlands suggests that this is not a good idea. The study finds that women who took their husband’s last names are judged as more caring, more dependent, less intelligent, less competent and less ambitious than those women who kept their own name.

“Finally, a job applicant who took her partner's name, in comparison with one with her own name, was less likely to be hired for a job and her monthly salary was estimated €861,21 lower (calculated to a working life, €361.708,20).”

Women may choose to… click here to read whole article and make comments