Older Dads

NYT: Older Fathers Linked to Lower I.Q. Scores

Regardless of their mothers’ ages, children whose fathers were 50 years old had lower scores on all tests, except those assessing physical coordination, than those whose fathers were 20, the researchers found. And the older the fathers, the more likely the children were to have lower scores, they found.

By contrast, children with older mothers generally performed higher on the cognitive measures, a finding in line with most other studies, suggesting that these children may benefit from the more nurturing home environments associated with the generally higher income and education levels of older mothers, researchers said.

Imagination And Appetite

MSNBC: Making veggies cool for kids - Study: Children ate twice as many veggies if they were given a funny name

Kids Like Structure

One of the things I admire about the Montessori method is that children learn on their own but within a structure that teaches them to complete one task before starting another.

New research points to the advantages of continuing that structure in the home.

See Slate: Messy House, Messy Minds: The connections among kids, reading, and an orderly home.

Breaking News - Watching TV Makes Kids Fat

Yes, there are studies about this. Still. The correlation appears to be one extra kilogram of body weight for each additional hour of television viewing.

See PhysOrg: Children who watch more TV are fatter

Nagging Your Kids About Food: You May Be Able To Affect Quality But Not Quantity

See EconLog: Food and the Family: Weighing the Power of Culinary Nagging

Nature can account for all of the family resembance in the Body Mass Index; nurture doesn't matter at all