Facebook Age Limit

My six-year-old LOVES the computer so I do wonder when he will start asking me for a Facebook account! Or will this Facebook think just be a fad that won't be around in five years? I don't know, but I am sure there are parents who struggle to decide when their kids can join the social networking site. I don't see the point of letting them join until their friends are all on it. So I say we all join forces and ban Facebook until the kids are at least in high school. Post a comment and let me know what age you think is appropriate for kids to join Facebook.

FROM NBC: How young is too young for a child to have a profile on a social networking site? Facebook and Myspace have recommended age minimums of 13 years old and many parents are overlooking that letting kids as young as 7 create profiles. But the FBI says that's dangerous.

Linda Greenway, Mother: "There is not a 'too young.'" Linda Greenway's son John is a sixth grader. He started social networking at a very young age. John Pittman, 11-years-old: "I was on MySpace when I was about 7. I was living with my dad and it was a way to contact my mom whenever I couldn't talk to her or see her."

Now 11-years-old, john just got a Facebook page too. As for his profile pages, there are house rules. His mom does not allow pictures on his pages. Even his information is unidentifiable. Linda Greenway, Mother: "It's not his real age. It's not his real name. It's not his real town he lives in. Everything is set to private." But strangers can send anyone a message on these sites, including your child. If you do not want a stranger to contact your child, on Facebook for example, go into "privacy settings" and change "send me a message" to "only friends."

Despite that, law enforcement on the local and federal levels ask parents this... Stacy Arruda, FBI Cyber Crimes: "Why would you want to expose your child to any potential danger." "By allowing your child to have a social networking page, I don't care what security you have at your house, you've punched a huge hole in the side of your house and you're allowing predators into your home."

So how young is too young to this FBI agent? Stacy Arruda, FBI Cyber Crimes: "Under 18."

And while the age minimum is up in the air, there's no doubt, if your child is out on the world wide web, you need to pave a path of protection. Bill Mason, Prosecutor: "A parent who's involved with child on the Internet, is a predator's worst nightmare.

When you're involved watching, participating, probably not going to get close to your children." Linda says,protecting her prized possessions is her only priority. Linda Greenway, Mother:"I'm not here to be their friend. I'll let them play. I'll let them have fun, but you're going to do it mommy's way."

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

Have you considered breast enhancement? If so, let Soderstrom Skin Institute help you make the right decision! Attend our FREE Educational Seminar on March 4^th in Peru or in Peoria on March 11^th or schedule your appointment today and receive a FREE consultation. Plus, take advantage of our limited time special pricing.

A Cause of Autism!

This is wonderful news, but it still doesn't answer the question of "how can we prevent autism?"

FROM NBC: Science has long known that autism is some type of developmental disorder in the brain. But there's never been a definitive answer for a cause. Now a Cleveland Clinic researcher released a study that may provide one. The center part of your brain... called the corpus collosum... allows each side of the brain to communicate.

The study found them to be much smaller in kids with autism. When five year old Paul first came to the Cleveland Clinic Center for Autism, he could not communicate and had serious behavioral problems. But after early intervention, he has made much progress.

Doctor Thomas Frazier thinks autism is linked to the size of the corpus collosum in the brain... Dr. Thomas Frazier/Cleveland Clinic "So you can imagine if your corpus collosum is not working right then the two sides of the brain aren't going to communicate correctly." People with autism typically are not able to process complex social and emotional cues. If a smaller corpus collusum means brain neurons can't develop, it may explain part of the disorder and scientists can start looking for the genes responsible. "The best way to study the genetic side is not to study every kid with autism like they have the same disorder. It's to actually look at more specific aspects of the disorder like brain structure."

It's hope for Paul's mom. Amy Witzigreuter/Autistic Boy's Mother "This is proof that there are areas of their brains that are different and affect the way they develop." Doctor Aletta Sinoff runs the clinic's autism program. She's seen first hand how early intervention treatment helps many children with autism go mainstream. She hopes Dr. Frazier's research develops a way to actually measure if treatment improves brain connections.

Dr. Aletta Sinoff / Cleveland Clinic "That would allow us to predict for particular children what treatment works better than others." While a handful of genes have been linked to autism, Doctor Frazier thinks there's dozens more yet to be found. Witzigreuter "If in our lifetime we can not only understand and identify those genes but manipulate them to change the outcome of autism wow, that just makes everyday working with your child easier." Doctor Frazier's study actually looked at several other studies that involved m-r-i scans on children with autism. When he and a colleague put them all together, that's when they noticed the measured difference in size of the corpus collosum.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

Have you considered breast enhancement? If so, let Soderstrom Skin Institute help you make the right decision! Attend our FREE Educational Seminar on March 4^th in Peru or in Peoria on March 11^th or schedule your appointment today and receive a FREE consultation. Plus, take advantage of our limited time special pricing.

BPA and Major Health Problems

I was the lady in this story a few years ago. I remember my husband was so irritated when I threw out all the plastic plates/bowls and cups. Now we have replaced most of them with BPA free stuff. I am glad. I DO think it's a big deal.

FROM NBC: More and more food manufacturers say they're trying to get rid of a toxic substance called bisphenol a -- or BPA. It's found in some food packaging, hard plastics and all sorts of consumer items... and now, federal health officials are warning, it could be linked to some major health problems.

"We literally emptied all of our kitchen cabinets of the various plastic products we had." Like most parents, Mauri Ziff doesn't want to take any chances when it comes to the health of her children. That's why the mother of two scoured her kitchen cupboards to get rid of any containers that might contain BPA. Mauri Ziff/Combating BPA In Kitchen "I find it really disturbing that the chemicals are leaching into our food." But it might be too little, too late.

Jane Houlihan with the Environmental Working Group says BPA was approved by the Food and Drug Administration 50 years ago and it's been in our food supply ever since. It wasn't until last month that the agency even acknowledged that the chemical could be poisonous. Jane Houlihan/Environmental Working Group "It's really been in the last 10 years that we've seen an explosion of studies showing that BPA is very toxic at very low doses."

Studies show BPA is already in most of us. The Centers for Disease Control found the chemical in 93 percent of the Americans they tested. Last year - The D.C. based environmental working group tested the cord blood of 10 newborn babies. BPA was present in 9 of them. Houlihan: "That's proof positive that this chemical crosses the placenta and enters children even before the moment of birth." While there have been more than 600 studies documenting BPA's effects on laboratory animals, Houlihan says newer research on humans is finding definitive evidence that the chemical can make people sick. "

What these studies show is that BPA at high, but still normal levels, shows higher risks for heart disease, diabetes, reproductive problems, recurrent miscarriages, a really wide range of health risks in studies in people." The problem is BPA mimics estrogen when it gets into the body. Houlihan says those extra hormones can affect a child's development. But despite all the evidence, manufacturers are still struggling to get it out of our food supply. That's because BPA hides in many places. It's not just hard plastics. It's in the liners of food cans and even on paper receipts.

Mauri Ziff is now trying to avoid canned foods when possible and all of her containers are BPA free. But she worries that it's too late. "I'm angry because I feel like as soon as they found this out, they should have done things to stop it and even though they're doing things now, it's still taking a long time. They need to do it and make things safer." A lot of food manufacturers are working on new types of packaging that doesn't have BPA in it. but finding an inexpensive solution is tough, so it's going to take some time.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

Have you considered breast enhancement? If so, let Soderstrom Skin Institute help you make the right decision! Attend our FREE Educational Seminar on March 4^th in Peru or in Peoria on March 11^th or schedule your appointment today and receive a FREE consultation. Plus, take advantage of our limited time special pricing.

Educational shows that teach kids to talk?

You have probably heard that having your kids listen to someone else talk is a great way for them to learn vocabulary. It turns out, listening to the T.V. does not have the same result. I guess I am not surprised by this, but I wish the T.V. did help kids learn vocabulary. They certainly do love the cartoons!

FROM NBC: New research from the University of California finds 1 year olds who watch so-called educational shows and DVD's do not necessarily have improved vocabularies.

In fact children who were said to have started watching infant DVDs at a young age scored lower on vocabulary tests. 96 children age 12 to 24 months were involved in this study.

Here's more on this story from TIME: The study used a DVD called Baby Wordsworth (part of the Baby Einstein series), which is aimed at teaching babies new vocabulary words, and assigned a group of 12-to-24-month-olds to watch it daily for six weeks. Turns out, the videos didn't work. There was no difference in language acquisition between children who were assigned to watch the DVD and a control group.

The results, published on Monday in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, are in line with several other studies. In fact, past analyses have found that infants who watch educational DVDs learn fewer words and score lower on certain cognitive tests by the time they reach preschool than kids who haven't watched the videos. These studies, however, were all observational — meaning that rather than assigning babies to watch videos or avoid them, scientists simply asked parents about their babies' viewing habits and then correlated that information with the kids' performance on tests of word acquisition and language skills later on.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

Have you considered breast enhancement? If so, let Soderstrom Skin Institute help you make the right decision! Attend our FREE Educational Seminar on March 4^th in Peru or in Peoria on March 11^th or schedule your appointment today and receive a FREE consultation. Plus, take advantage of our limited time special pricing.

"Littleman's" Funeral Arrangements

The funeral for the little boy from Washington who was on the heart transplant waiting list is this Friday.

We first told you about Judah Kirkham earlier this month. The energetic one year old was born with dilated cardio myopathy-his heart couldn't pump blood properly.

His doctor told us his prognosis was very good a few weeks ago. Judah had been living in the cardiac intensive care unit at St. Louis Children's Hospital.A mechanical device called a Berlin Heart was keeping him alive.

Judah had a stroke last Friday and passed away Sunday morning. His visitation is Friday, March 5th at 10am at First Presbyterian Church in Morton (1020 E. Jackson Street, Morton, IL 61550).
The funeral will follow at 11:00a.m.

If you would like to help the Kirkham's pay for Judah's extensive medical bills. There is a fund set up at Morton Community Bank. The Kirkhams hope their devastating loss will bring awareness to the great need for organ donations.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

Have you considered breast enhancement? If so, let Soderstrom Skin Institute help you make the right decision! Attend our FREE Educational Seminar on March 4^th in Peru or in Peoria on March 11^th or schedule your appointment today and receive a FREE consultation. Plus, take advantage of our limited time special pricing.

Childhood Vaccinations

I do know quite a few people who follow an altered vaccine schedule. I don't turn my nose up to them or to the people who would never miss even one vaccination. I think it's a personal decision and I just hope parents are informed.

FROM NBC: A new study shows most parents go ahead and vaccinate their children even though many worry about their side effects. Researchers from the University of Michigan surveyed over 15-hundred parents about vaccines.

90-percent agreed vaccines are important in protecting their children from disease -- and 88-percent followed the recommended vaccine schedule. However, more than half said they were concerned about vaccine safety -- including one in five that believe vaccines cause autism in healthy children -- an idea that has been debunked by the medical community. Overall, 12% of parents had refused at least one injection -- especially if it was one of the newer vaccines.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

Have you considered breast enhancement? If so, let Soderstrom Skin Institute help you make the right decision! Attend our FREE Educational Seminar on March 4^th in Peru or in Peoria on March 11^th or schedule your appointment today and receive a FREE consultation. Plus, take advantage of our limited time special pricing.