Family facts: Working moms, infant eyesight and more

Skip the TV

According to a study from the Center on Media and Children’s Health at Children’s Hospital Boston, for every hour of adult content kids ages 6 to 8 watch over a two-day period, their chances of becoming sexually active as young adults are increased by 33 percent.

Stop smoking

If you don’t want your child to smoke, it’s a good idea to stop smoking during pregnancy and during your child’s early years. If you smoke, it will nearly quadruple the likelihood that your kid will become a smoker, according to a study published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

44 million

There were nearly 44 million people in the United States without health insurance in 2008, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Massachusetts had the lowest percentage of uninsured people – just 3 percent. In contrast, about 25 percent of people lacked coverage in Florida and Texas.

Falling items

The number of children injured by falling objects has increased in recent years. TVs that fall onto children cause about 7,000 injuries annually, according to a study from Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Ohio. That means that TVs are more dangerous than scissors, which are responsible for 6,000 injuries annually.

8

Eight is the not-so-lucky number for marriages, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The average length of first marriages ending in divorce is eight years. Thankfully, it doesn’t take too long to find a new love. The median time between divorce and a second marriage is three and a half years. Fifty-four percent of men and 58 percent of women have only been married once.

Asthma and vitamin D

A study in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine shows that 28 percent of children ages 6 to 14 who have asthma also have insufficient levels of vitamin D. The vitamin has been linked to better lung function, and now the researchers believe there’s a link between vitamin D and asthma. If your child isn’t getting 400 international units daily, which is recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics, he or she may need a supplement.

Mommy brain

Stop blaming your forgetfulness on motherhood. Researchers in Australia followed women for eight years and found that pregnancy and motherhood didn’t affect their scores on logic and memory tests.

Eyesight

Most people don’t consider that infants can have poor eyesight. As many as 20 percent of children between the ages of 3 and 5 have vision problems, according to a study funded by the National Institute of Health. Get a free infant eye exam if your child is between 6 and 12 months by checking out infantsee.org.

Clean your bag

Here’s a yucky fact: Purses have about 70 times more bacteria in them than the average toilet seat, according to a study by the University of Arizona. Thirty percent of the purses have fecal bacteria, and 10 percent have bacteria that can cause staph infections.

Working moms

There were 5.3 million stay-at-home moms in 2008, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. There were also many people who decided to stay at home before the baby was even born. The agency found that 80 percent of first-time mothers worked one month or less before their baby’s birthday.

SOURCE: mpnnow