Early Motherhood

Teens who make fruits and vegetables a part of their daily diet may build stronger bones, especially in the spine and neck, say researchers from Cambridge in the United Kingdom.

Researchers studied the relationship between fruit and vegetable consumption and bone mass in a variety of age groups, including 16- to 18-year-old teens, young women, and older men and women. The teens underwent tests to measure bone content and density in several areas of the body and recorded what they ate and drank during a 7-day period. The teens also noted how many hours per week they spent exercising and whether they smoked or used dietary supplements.

Meningitis is an inflammation of the meninges, the membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord. The inflammation is usually caused by bacteria or viruses (viral meningitis is also called aseptic meningitis). Less common causes include fungi, protozoa, and other parasites. Sometimes certain medications, cancers, or other diseases can inflame the meninges, although such noninfectious cases of meningitis are much rarer.

Children love picnics, but remember, food spoils quickly in the summer heat. In hot weather, it is especially important to pack food carefully to prevent food-borne illness.

Here are some tips to help you prepare for safe and tasty picnics:

Use commercial ice packs or make your own. To make your own ice pack, take some ice cubes and place them in the kind of plastic bag that’s meant for the freezer. Wrap the bag with foil and place either this “ice pack” or a freezer gel pack inside your cooler or bag to keep food cold.

Even today, the unjust stereotype is still sometimes invoked: a single parent presides over a broken home that produces troubled children. Unless single mothers and fathers disbelieve this popular prejudice, they are in danger of doubting their adequacy and undercutting their confidence as parents. It’s not the number of parents in a family, but the quality of parenting a child receives that matters most. A home is only “broken” when healthy family interactions break down. As for producing troubled children, in my counseling practice they seem no more likely to come from single parent homes than from dual parent families.

When Marcy prepared a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for her son Ben’s lunch that morning, she did it because they were running late for day care and it was the quickest thing she could put together. But shortly after Ben began eating his lunch, his child-care provider noticed he seemed to be trying to scratch an itch in his mouth. After he vomited and began wheezing, the care provider sought medical treatment for Ben, who was later diagnosed with a food allergy, in this case to peanuts.