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Work May Not Be Best for Young Kids

(SOURCES: Rajeev Ramchand, Ph.D., associate behavioral scientist, Rand Corp., Washington, D.C.; Frederick Zimmerman, Ph.D., associate professor, University of California, Los Angeles; April 2009, American Journal of Preventive Medicine

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WEDNESDAY, Feb. 25 (HealthDay News) -- A new study suggests it's possible that too much work might turn a youngster into a juvenile delinquent.

Researchers found that fifth-graders who worked the most at jobs such as baby-sitting and newspaper routes were the most likely to smoke, drink and get into fights.

The findings don't prove that overwork directly leads to trouble, but they raise questions about the value of work, said study author Rajeev Ramchand, an associate behavioral scientist at the Rand Corp.

"We know [working] can be positive, but the time they spend working is associated with worse outcomes," he said.

According to the study, previous research has suggested that older kids who work are more likely to abuse substances and get in trouble with the law. The study is apparently the first of its kind to look at work and younger kids.

The study authors examined the results of a 2004-2006 survey of 5,147 fifth-graders and their parents in Birmingham, Ala., Houston and Los Angeles. The findings were published in the April issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

After adjusting statistics from the findings to account for factors such as household income, the researchers found that the fifth-graders with jobs were two times more likely than other children to have used alcohol within the past 30 days. The rate was two times higher for tobacco use and three times higher for marijuana use. Those who worked were also 1.5 times more likely to have ever been in a fight and two times more likely to have run away from home.

The researchers defined working as having a for-pay job such as yard work, door-to-door candy sales and baby-sitting. About one in five fifth-graders said they had a job.

Why might a job be a problem? It's possible that parents may stop monitoring their children as much when they're working, Ramchand said.

"Parents need to keep track of what their kids are doing, ask questions about what they do at work, just stay involved," he said.

Frederick Zimmerman, an associate professor who studies children at the University of California, Los Angeles, said the study shouldn't make parents fret.

"Millions of parents and their school-age children find informal work to be a healthy and productive part of growing up," he said. "Nothing in this study should cause parents any concern about having Billy baby-sit or Susie mow a neighbor's lawn."

Indeed, he said, "there are just too many plausible alternative explanations for these results for me to worry that informal work itself has any adverse effects on behavior among fifth-graders."

Still, the study does provide helpful new information, he said. "We know very little about kids and work, especially this kind of informal work. So, in that sense, this study may be useful in launching an academic dialogue, though it should not and will not be the last word."

Gene Variant Raises Risk of Uterine Fibroids

(SOURCE: Brigham and Women's Hospital, news release, February 2009 )

TUESDAY, Feb. 24 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers have found a genetic marker that may indicate if a woman has a greater chance of developing uterine fibroids, a new study says.

Shorter, white women who test positive for the TC227 allele in their HMGA2 gene may be more likely to develop the muscular tumors in their uterus, according to a study of 248 pairs of sisters and their relatives. HMGA2 is linked to a person's height and the TC227 allele may be part of the gene.

"This genetic indicator could prove, after further investigations, to be valuable information for women making decisions about medical management of fibroids," senior study author Cynthia Morton, a director of cytogenetics at Brigham and Women's Hospital. "A woman with symptomatic fibroids might one day undergo diagnostic testing for the TC227 allele to determine whether she's genetically predisposed to develop additional fibroids."

The research appears online in Human Genetics.

Only white women were studied because the TC227 allele is much less common in black women.

"We believe that there are multiple genetic indicators for fibroids, in addition to the TC227 allele in white women, including genetic risk alleles for predisposition specific in black women who suffer an earlier age of onset and more severe fibroid symptoms," Morton said.

Degrading' Lyrics Linked to Teen Sex

(SOURCES: Brian A. Primack, M.D., assistant professor of medicine and pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine; Laura Lindberg, Ph.D., senior research associate, Guttmacher Institute, New York City; April 2009, American Journal of Preventive Medicine )

TUESDAY, Feb. 24 (HealthDay News) -- There's still no firm proof that raunchy music makes kids have sex, but a new study provides another suggestion that there's at least some kind of link between "degrading" songs and teenage sexual activity.

The findings indicate that "people who are exposed to certain messages in music are more likely to copy or emulate what they hear," said Dr. Brian A. Primack, a pediatrician and lead author of the study released Tuesday.

In other words, teens who hear about degrading sexual practices in their favorite songs might decide to try them out themselves. However, it's also possible that the reverse is true: Kids who have sex just happen to like raunchy music.

Expanding on previous research that linked sexually charged songs to sex itself, the researchers surveyed 711 Pittsburgh-area ninth-grade students in 2006 and 2007 about their sexuality activity and the songs they liked to listen to.

The researchers then determined how many of the 279 most popular songs in 2005 were "degrading" because they referred to sex that's "based only on physical characteristics" and features a "power differential" instead of being mutually consensual.

For example, "Wait (The Whisper Song)" by the rap group known as Ying Yang Twins was deemed degrading, apparently because it included a reference to rough intercourse.

By contrast, the lyrics of the rap song "Baby I'm Back" by Baby Bash, including the lines "I wanna be stronger than we've ever been/I'm here to cater to you," was said to be not degrading.

The researchers looked for links between the listening habits of the students and their sexual activity. Their findings are scheduled to be published in the April issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

After adjusting the statistics in their findings to account for the possible influence of such factors as race and age, the researchers found that youths who listened most to "degrading" songs were more than twice as likely to have had intercourse.

But the findings don't prove that the music caused kids to have sex, acknowledged Primack, who's an assistant professor of medicine and pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

"The opposite could be true -- that people who have more sex then go out and seek music with degrading sexual messages," he said.

Other researchers have linked music to sexual activity, but evidence of a direct cause-and-effect relationship remains elusive.

In the current study and an earlier one based on the same analysis of 279 songs from 2005, the researchers did not identify any degrading songs by title and disclosed lyrics from only a handful of them.

They said that 64 percent of rap songs analyzed were sexually degrading, compared with 7 percent of country songs and 3 percent of pop songs.

What to do? Laura Lindberg, senior research associate at the Guttmacher Institute in New York City, said that teens need to learn how to interpret and analyze the messages they see in the world around them.

But, "there's no silver bullet," she said. "If you get all teenagers to turn in their iPods, the teen pregnancy rate is not going to automatically decline."

Summer Squash Gratin

2 large or extra-large eggs

1/2 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground pepper

1/2 cup low-fat milk

1 cup cooked Arborio or Carnaroli rice (1/2 cup raw)

1 teaspoon coarsely chopped fresh thyme leaves

2 ounces Gruyère cheese, grated (1/2 cup, tightly packed)

1 ounce freshly grated Parmesan (1/4 cup, tightly packed)

1. Make the sautéed summer squash, season it well and set aside.

2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Oil a two-quart baking dish with olive oil. In a medium bowl, beat together the eggs, salt, pepper and milk. Stir in the rice, thyme, sautéed squash and the cheeses. Scrape into the baking dish.

3. Bake 35 to 40 minutes, until nicely browned on the top and edges. Remove from the oven and allow to stand for at least 10 minutes before serving, or allow to cool. The gratin is good hot, warm or at room temperature.

Yield: Serves six

Advance preparation: The filling will keep for three days in the refrigerator. The gratin can be made a day ahead and reheated; leftovers will be good for four or five days.