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A Minute with Dr Greta, radio spots - 7/24/11 |
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Teen attitudes, anxiety and positive thinking: here’s a great study in the journal Child Psychiatry and Human Development. When we are anxious, we have more negative attitudes, assuming the worst, and this affects the body, possibly with tension headaches or stomachaches. So, from a physical standpoint, positive attitudes seem to be healthier. Thirty-six teens took computer training with hypothetical social stories, molding their responses. Half were encouraged with positive thinking styles, the other negative styles. For example, when you see a friend across the street and he acts like he doesn’t see you, should you assume he is ignoring you on purpose (this is a negative style), or should you assume he didn’t see you or was busy thinking about something else (a positive style)? Now, adopting the positive style is better for the teen attitude, because the teen really doesn’t know what the true situation is with the friend, and by assuming the worst, will only hurt the relationship when next they meet. Whereas, if the teen just thinks, “Oh, well, he probably didn’t really see me; I’ll say “Hi” later,” the relationship is preserved and the teen hasn’t wasted precious time, energy and emotion and can get on to doing more important things. After the study, those with a tendency towards anxiety who were taught positive thinking, actually had less anxiety. Parents can teach children to have positive attitudes. This includes not assuming the worst and then worrying about it, and focusing on the good rather than dwelling on the bad. It is important to understand a situation, good or bad, then to develop a plan, if needed. But, anxiety can be a very crippling experience, and if practicing a positive attitude could help, why not start today? If anxiety is keeping anyone in your family from functioning, see your doctor. Practice positive attitudes together as a family, and give that kid a hug, I’m Dr. Greta McFarland. Are kids more likely to smoke, if they see someone smoking? The National Cancer Institute says, yes. So, there has been an initiative for Motion Picture Companies to decrease smoking incidents in youth rated movies. Well, according to the July15th issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, smoking is down in youth movies that are rated G, PG, or PG-13, comparing 2005 to 2010. In addition they looked at specific companies who had a published anti-tobacco policy for movie content as compared to companies who didn’t have a formal policy. There are 6 members of the Motion Picture Association of America, and half of the companies had such a policy. The three companies with the policy had decreased the number of tobacco movie scenes 95%. These three had no depictions in about 70% of youth rated movies in 2010. When all smoking depictions were averaged over all youth rated films, there were 23 smoking incidents per movie in 2005, and in 2010 it was down to 1 incident per movie. The companies without the formal policy had decreases, also, but only about ½ as much as the formal policy companies. According to a news conference by the director of the Smoke Free Movies Project, the three companies with the policy leading to fewer, to no smoking incidents, included Time Warner, Disney, and Comcast/Universal. Our society still feels that it is the parents’ responsibility for providing education for, and teaching kids about health issues,… and ultimately about anything they should learn. It is great when outside groups help with these kid health issues and so “Thank You” to Time Warner, Disney and Comcast/Universal. But the real job still lies with caregivers as role models. Know what your kids are seeing, so you can share your values with them, and give that kid a hug, I’m Dr. Greta McFarland. Oh, and to quit smoking call 1-800-QUIT-NOW. Sleeping and Summer! While school may not be around the corner, it is just down the hall and then around the corner, for some about 3 weeks away. So, if your kids have gotten into the habit of staying up late, then getting up late, now is the time to shift back. We function better if we make incremental changes, rather than dramatic changes. So if Jr. is sleeping in to 10 AM and staying up 3 hours later than his school year bed time, say to midnight, start by having him get up just 30 minutes earlier, say at 9:30 AM and going to bed at 11:30 PM for a few nights, then back it up another 30 minutes, like getting up at 9:00AM and going to bed at 11:00PM. Most kids need 10 hours of sleep a night, and this method can make it much less painful than waiting until a few days before school, when everyone will be grumpy. On another sleep note, a recent article in the journal, Pediatrics tells of sleep problems for the 3-5 year set. Sleep diaries recorded time, content, who watched video-gaming and computer usage. The average 3-5 year old watched about 3 hours daily, with 14 minutes after 7 PM. Eighteen percent had at least 1 sleep problem. Kids who had a TV in the bedroom watched more TV and had more sleep problems. The kids who watched more at night, had more sleep problems. The kids who saw more daytime violent programs had more sleep problems. There were more daytime violent programs seen if there was a TV in the bedroom. There were NOT more sleep problems with non-violent daytime TV, however. So, take home messages for the pre-schoolers include; no TVs in kids’ bedrooms; no violence; and watch no more than 1-2 hours a day. For the older kids, get back on schedule! Give that kid a hug, I’m Dr. Greta McFarland.
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