Watching the World

Weaning Children Off TV

In a five-month study involving 16 upstate New York preschools, it was found that giving children simple lessons on alternatives to TV “reduced their viewing time by three hours a week,” reports The New York Times. The lessons promoted reading and such activities as making place mats for family meals and “No TV” signs for each TV set in the home. The children themselves also suggested other things to do when not watching TV or videos. Parents were encouraged to read stories to their children daily and to turn the TV off during meals. Twice during the study, families left the TV off for a week. Lead researcher Dr. Barbara Dennison said that parents need not feel that it is impossible to break the TV habit, noting that “children are surprisingly open to alternatives.”

 Tobacco Harmful to Entire Body

“Smokers are putting more than their lungs and arteries at risk: all tissues suffer harm,” reports New Scientist. A report published by U.S. Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona lists dozens of diseases that have been linked to the use of tobacco, including pneumonia, leukemia, cataracts, gum disease, and cancers of the kidney, cervix, stomach, and pancreas. “We’ve known for decades that smoking is bad for you, but this report shows that it’s even worse than we knew,” Carmona says. “Toxins from cigarette smoke go everywhere the blood flows.” For those who think they can avoid harm by switching to cigarettes with lower tar and nicotine, Carmona adds: “There is no safe cigarette, whether it is called ‘light,’ ‘ultra-light,’ or any other name.” Smokers usually die 13 to 14 years earlier than nonsmokers, he pointed out. “Smoking causes disease in nearly every organ in the body at every stage of life,” said Carmona, as reported in The New York Times.

Beating Weapons Into Playground Equipment

A campaign launched in Brazil was designed to reduce the number of weapons held by its population. Compensation for each weapon voluntarily turned in varied from $30 to $100. As reported in Folha Online, more than 200,000 weapons were collected in the country from July through December 2004. Weapons collected in the state of São Paulo were crushed, compressed, melted down, and then transformed into playground equipment, which was installed in a city park. The park now includes a seesaw, swings, and a slide, all made from the reclaimed materials. Minister of Justice Márcio Thomaz Bastos said: “One of the principal purposes of the campaign is the implantation of a culture of peace.”

Fewer Nuns

“In Argentina, ever fewer women want to be nuns,” reported the Buenos Aires newspaper Clarín in 2004. It added: “In the past four years, the number of nuns has dropped by 5.5 percent, from 9,113 in 2000 to 8,612 this year. The decrease is much more severe​—almost 36 percent—​if compared with 1960, when there were 13,423 nuns.” Among the reasons cited for the decline were “the unattractive image that religious vocations have” and “the fear of a lifelong commitment” to an ecclesiastical career. The number of priests fell during the same period. “Many feel that the decrease will become worse in the coming years,” said Clarín, “and all agree that this is a worldwide phenomenon.”

Senior-Care Cruises

The costs of caring for the elderly have risen so high that some propose living aboard a cruise ship as an attractive alternative to living in an assisted living facility (ALF). According to a report in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, “cruise ships are similar to assisted living centers in the amenities provided, costs per month, and many other areas.” In fact, many cruise ships offer services not always provided in ALFs. These may include a 24-hour, on-site physician, personal escorts to all meals, and housekeeping and laundry services. Other benefits include the excitement of travel and the opportunity to meet people. The report also suggests that “more visitors would be inclined to ‘go see grandma’ if she was living on a cruise ship.”

Panic Disorder

“Panic disorder can cause attacks at any time, even waking victims at night with symptoms including chest pains, shortness of breath, intense fear, choking, sweating and an urge to flee,” says the Vancouver Sun newspaper. A recent report compiled from interviews with 36,894 participants indicates that the disorder affects 3.7 percent of Canada’s population aged 15 and older, or about one million people. More women (4.6 percent) reported having experienced a panic attack than did men (2.8 percent). Those who suffer from the disorder “are almost twice as likely to use drinking as a coping mechanism and nearly three times as likely to smoke more than individuals without the condition,” says the paper. On the positive side, nearly 70 percent of sufferers seek professional medical help. The report states that Dr. Jacques Bradwejn, chairman of the psychiatry department of the University of Ottawa, believes that although genetic and biologic factors may produce the disorder, attacks “can be triggered by stressful life events.”

The Greatest Food Scandal

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), about five million children die of hunger each year, reports the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The FAO report indicates that worldwide 852 million people do not have enough food​—815 million in underdeveloped countries, 28 million in developing countries, and 9 million in developed countries. The report cites a declaration signed by representatives from 110 nations who attended the 2004 World Leaders Summit on Hunger held at the UN headquarters in New York. It stated in part: “The greatest scandal is not that hunger exists but that it persists even when we have the means to eliminate it.”