Has it been far too long since inflammatory stories from the worlds of science, health, education, and parenting filled your weekend with Freakout? Well, clear the picnic table:
- Your bologna has a middle name, it's D-I-A-B-E-T-E-S. A daily serving of processed beef like hot dogs and bologna is associated with a 50% increase in diabetes risk. So no more daily Costco cafe runs for the kid, at least until there's a multigrain bun option. [livescience via the awl]
- As if the diabetes were the problem. By lunchtime, only 1.6% of perishable items sent in preschoolers' lunches were found to be at temperatures that would safely prevent foodborne pathogens. No word on the involvement of Big Ice Pack in the funding of this study. [abstract via pediatrics]
- Pregnant women in California have the highest levels in the world of certain toxic flame-retardant chemicals, thanks to the state's strict product flammability standards, and the continued trendiness of foam and polyurethane furniture. Obviously, the solution is deregulation and cutting the bureaucratic red tape that's strangling California's brain-damaged baby industry. [eurekalert]
- Oh, man, 60% of car seats also test positive for toxic chemicals, too. It doesn't matter if we survive the crash and the wildfires; California's "antiquated flame retardant regulation" will apparently kill us all in the end. [autoblog, and thecarseatlady]
- Marital discord affects infants' sleep behavior. No pressure. [eurekalert; abstract at wiley.com]
"Marital discord affects infants' sleep behavior"
I TOLD my wife it did.. oh, man, I can't wait to go home and rub it in that *I* was right and *she* was wrong!
Looked into that car seat study...pretty weak work, in my (actually kinda applicable in this case) professional opinion.
Basically another chip off the "ZOMG evil chemicals!" block, ignoring actual exposure methods, toxicity limits or correlation to known health effects.
I think Big Ice Pack has a PAC. It is, naturally, the Ice PAC.