One of the many factors leading to childhood obesity is increased snacking, but restricting or limiting it can backfire, say researchers.
Children in homes where parents carefully regulate snacking were found to eat more unhealthy snacks in an unregulated environment than children with less restrictive parents.

Researchers suggest that parents can ensure that their children eat fewer calories when snacking by giving them more nutritious snacks such as veggies and cheese in place of chips on a regular basis, or offering them smaller quantities of a variety of healthy snacks (multiple kinds of vegetables or fruit) on a plate.

Researchers Brian Wansink, Ph.D., Mitsuru Shimizu, Ph.D., and Adam Brumberg set out to discover whether certain types of snacks would lead children to feel full while consuming fewer calories.

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Compression restores normal growth in malignant mammary cells, researchers have found.

The findings show for the first time that mechanical forces alone can revert and stop the out-of-control growth of cancer cells.

This change happens even though the genetic mutations responsible for malignancy remain, setting up a nature-versus-nurture battle in determining a cell’s fate.

“We are showing that tissue organization is sensitive to mechanical inputs from the environment at the beginning stages of growth and development,” said principal investigator Daniel Fletcher, professor of bioengineering at UC Berkeley and faculty scientist at the Berkeley Lab.

“An early signal, in the form of compression, appears to get these malignant cells back on the right track,” he stated.

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The body position of babies while they learn plays a critical role in their cognitive development, according to new research.

The research out of North Dakota State University, Fargo, and Texas A ‘n’ M revealed that for babies, sitting up, either by themselves or with assistance, plays a significant role in how infants learn.

The research was co-authored by Rebecca J. Woods, assistant professor of human development and family science and doctoral psychology lecturer at North Dakota State University, and by psychology professor Teresa Wilcox of Texas A and M.

The study’s results showed that babies’ ability to sit up unsupported has a profound effect on their ability to learn about objects. The research also found that when babies who cannot sit up alone are given posture support from infant seats that help them sit up, they learn as well as babies who can already sit alone.

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