Some parenting, kid, pregnancy, science, and education headlines from all over to freak you out and ruin your weekend:
- Despite August not being a good month for launching a new product recall, the CPSC recalled 3,700 Zooper Tango double strollers [above] sold in 2007-8 after receiving 185 reports of the frame collapsing when it hits the curb. [cpsc]
- Another tainted formula scandal in China, as at least three infants reportedly developed breasts after drinking Synutra formula. Which is made with milk powder imported from New Zealand's dairy giant, Fonterra. [chinadaily and wsj via scocca]
- A new MSU/NCSU study finds that being born a couple of days before the kindergarten cutoff date is a good way to boost your kid's chances of being diagnosed with ADHD. [ncsu and eurekalert via waxy]
- Researchers have discovered that iPads cure autism, and by researchers, I mean parents, and by cures, I mean, helps a bit. [sfweekly]
- A CDC researcher presented unpublished data at an AIDS conference showing the US circumcision rate has, like many tiny penises themselves, been chopped nearly in half [from 56% in 2007 to 32% in 2009]. [nyt via choire]
- On the bright [?] side, the CDC also reports that there were no reported total penile amputations related to infant circumcision between 2007-9, and only three partial amputations! [abstract: aids2010.org]
- Thanks to Dadcentric, Rebel Dad and Matt Lauer [!] for smacking down Marie Claire's lame Trophy Husbands article so I don't have to.
- A study found that 26 4yo kids in Bangkok were more likely to eat spinach when it's associated with Popeye. These are the last known 4yo's in the world who even know who Popeye is. [popeye]
- Doing well in kindergarten will earn your kid a $1000 later, but it won't necessarily get him into Harvard, says a Harvard study. [eurekalert]
- Arizona is beginning a study to improve preschool reading comprehension, says principal Joe Arpaio, who recently invited all the state's anchor babies onto a dark-windowed "school bus." [eurekalert]
- BPA harms sperm count and motility, say environmental health researchers at the University of Michigan, who then said, "Can you hear me NOW?" [eurekalert]
- 2010 is turning out to be a record year for kids dying in the backseat of cars, says an organization which has updated the news section of its website once in three years. [khou, kidsandcars.org]
I meant to email this one earlier in the week:
Poor childhood nutrition dooms your kid to a future of debilitating arthritis! Or maybe being eaten by wolves? (Based on research in moose populations.)
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/17/health/research/17moose.html
-g