BELOW ZERO

Drinking moderate amounts of coffee — about 350 milligrams of caffeine a day — during pregnancy won’t increase the risk of miscarriage, reported researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. But because the women in the study consumed a relatively small amount of caffeine — less than two cups of coffee — in early pregnancy and even less later on, the study can’t answer the question of whether consuming more might be harmful, the researchers reported in Epidemiology.

ZERO TO 10

Anxious babies have more bad dreams as pre-schoolers

Pre-schoolers’ odds of having nightmares may be related to their temperament as infants, which may be noticed as early as five months old, reported researchers from Canada’s University of Montreal in Sleep. In a study that followed 987 children from infancy to 6 years, they found that a few had bad dreams frequently. The odds of having consistent nightmares were higher among children considered more anxious or “difficult” as babies. Such children tend to be more restless, cry more and are difficult to calm. The results raise the possibility that calming infants’ persistent distress may relieve them of some bad dreams later in childhood.

10 TO 20

Girls who feel unpopular more likely to get fat

Adolescent girls who rank themselves at the bottom of the social totem pole are more likely to gain weight over time than their peers with a more positive view of their social standing researchers from Harvard School of Public Health in Boston have found. The researchers found that the girls who considered themselves to have the lowest social status were 69 per cent more likely to have a 2-point increase in BMI over the following 2 years. This is equivalent to gaining about 11 pounds more than expected. The findings, published in Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, suggest that interventions to address obesity must be designed in the context of social status.

20 TO 60

Four health changes can prolong life by 14 years

People who drink moderately, exercise, quit smoking and eat five servings of fruit and vegetables each day live on average 14 years longer than people who adopt none of these behaviors. The lifestyle change with the biggest benefit was ‘giving up smoking’, which led to an 80 per cent improvement in health, the study found. This was followed by ‘eating fruits and vegetables’. Moderate drinking and activity brought the same benefits, reported researchers from the University of Cambridge in PLoS Medicine.

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