Sibling Rivalry:
Dealing With It
Healthy Events
Community-Wide
ALISON ASHTON SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
0
STORMY SIBLINGS
p
arents often are dismayed
when their children argue,
complain about, tattle on
and tease one another.
But Susan Bryant of Egleston
Children's Hospital at Emory
University in Atlanta says that
contentious kids don't grow up
to be feuding adults.
"Siblings learn important so-
cial lessons from all their bick-
ering and arguing — lessons
they'll use later in relationships
outside the family," says Ms.
Bryant. "And they often form life-
long bonds of loyalty and affec-
tion in the process."
Still, squabbling siblings can
disturb the peace in any house-
hold. Here are some ways to pre-
vent and deal with sibling
rivalry:
• Stay out of your children's
arguments as much as possible.
• Don't play favorites. Bicker-
ing often arises when one child
feels jealous.
• Regularly spend time alone
with each child.
• Don't force your children to
like each other all the time.
• Praise them when they get
along or cooperate.
• Let children know that they
don't have to be friends, but they
may not hurt each other.
DESIGNER FOODS
Two foods expected to move
into the nutritional spotlight are
soy and licorice.
Soy is the only nonanimal food
that is a complete protein. That
means substituting soy protein
(in the form of beans or tofu, for
example) in place of meat and
dairy products may reduce
"bad" cholesterol substan-
tially.
The phytochemicals
found in soy also may
combat certain types of
cancer, such as prostate,
breast or colon. That's be-
cause phytoestrogens found
in soy appear to lower es-
trogen levels linked to hor-
mone-related cancers.
Licorice contains
more than 400 active
phytochemicals, ac-
cording to Dr. James
Duke of the U.S. De-
partment of Agricul-
ture. That may explain
why it has been used
in traditional Indi-
an and Egyptian
medicine for cen-
turies. Traditional
Chinese medicine uses licorice
for contraception, liver dysfunc-
tion, coughs and cancer, and as
an anti-fungal and anti-inflam-
matory treatment.
Researchers also speculate
that licorice extract may be ef-
fective against HIV.
In one study, 16 HIV-infected
patients were treated with
licorice extract for three to sev-
en years. None of their cases pro-
gressed to AIDS.
CHOLESTEROL COUNT
An article in Nutrition Today
challenges the dietary guidelines
that limit cholesterol to 300 mil-
ligrams or less per day.
Dr. C. Wayne Callaway notes
that "the recommendation for an
`appropriate' cholesterol intake
per day was first made in the late
'70s. However, instead of basing
this number on specific studies,
300 milligrams was chosen as a
`best guess' and has never been
challenged since."
Dr. Donald J. McNamara of
the University of Arizona, is one
of the experts who advocates in-
dividualized dietary cholesterol
recommendations.
"Nearly two-thirds of Ameri-
cans can handle almost any lev-
el of cholesterol you give them.,"
says Dr. McNamara. "This
means that most people can eat
eggs without increasing their
cholesterol levels."
For the 25 percent to 30 per-
cent of the population that can't
handle high levels of cholesterol,
Dr. Callaway recommends fo-
cusing "on identifying predictors
for hyperresponsiveness to di-
etary cholesterol so that more ef-
fective, individualized counseling
can be used, rather than making
broad population-based recom-
mendations that, research sug-
gests, benefit a minority of
people."
LA LECHE
Although most doctors agree
that mother's milk is best for
Baby, less than half think they
know enough about breast-feed-
ing to counsel new mothers, ac-
cording to a Journal of the
American Medical Association
article.
More than 50 percent of prac-
ticing physicians rated their res-
idency training in breast-feeding
as inadequate and felt they were
not prepared to provide their pa-
tients with good support.
This lack of knowledge and
practical experience, the authors
of the article say, "poses a true
threat to successful breast-feed-
ing initiation and duration."
Studies have shown that
breast-fed infants have lower
rates of hospital admissions, ear
and respiratory infections, diar-
rhea illnesses and atopic disor-
ders than bottle-fed babies.
But only half of American
mothers initiate breast-feeding,
and less than 20 percent contin-
ue nursing their infants for five
to six month.
SENSITIVE STOMACH
There may be some truth to
the saying that your eyes are big-
ger than your stomach. Re-
searchers at Purdue University
have found that the neural net-
work in the digestive tract helps
monitor and control what we eat.
Nerves in the stomach and gas-
trointestinal tract constantly as-
sess every morsel we consume.
Terry L. Powley, professor of
psychological sciences at Purdue,
says that with the help of new tech-
nology, scientists are able to see
the sensors that track nutrient in-
take. For now, researchers are
peering into the tummies of rats,
whose nerve endings evaluate the
various qualities of food, such as
volume, acidity and quality.
"This first fundamental look
certainly opens up many more
questions as to how the nerve
endings work and what they can
tell us," Dr. Powley says.
One day, researchers may be
able to discover the differences
between fat and skinny subjects,
looking for nerves with structural
deficiencies in those with eating
disorders. E
Alison Ashton writes for Copley
News Service.
Skin
Anxiety
William Beaumont Hospital will
offer a free program called "Face
Value: How to keep that healthy
glow" from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
Wednesday, May 3, at the Beau-
mont Medical Building in
Rochester Hills. Advanced reser-
vations are required. For more
information, call 1-800-633-7377.
Blood Drives
The Children's Leukemia Foun-
dation of Michigan will conduct
a blood drive on behalf of the
American Red Cross on Friday,
April 28. The drive will be held
from 9:30 am. to 3:30 p.m. in the
CLF offices in the Onyx Plaza
building on Telegraph in South-
field. Individuals who would like
to donate blood may contact Glo-
ria Warren for an advance ap-
pointment. Walk-ins are
welcome. For more information,
call (810) 353-0783.
Havenwyck Hospital in Auburn
Hills will be a local site partici-
pating in the National Anxiety
Disorders Screening Day on May
3. From 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.,
the hospital, along with more
than 15 national mental health
organizations, will provide a free
program to detect anxiety disor-
ders. For more information, call
(810) 373-9200, ext. 390.
Huron Valley Hospital, in con-
junction with the American Red
Cross of Oakland County, is re-
cruiting donors for its Spring
Blood Drive from 11 a.m. to 5
p.m. on Friday, May 19, in the
hospital's conference center. Ap-
pointments can be made by call-
ing (810) 360-3314. Walk-ins are
welcome.
Stroke
To help celebrate Stroke Aware-
ness Month in May and to in-
crease public awareness of stroke
symptoms, prevention and re-
covery, William Beaumont Hos-
pital in Royal Oak will present
"Brain Attack: Stroke in the
90s." The free program will be
held from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Thurs-
day, May 4, at Beaumont's Ad-
ministration Building
Auditorium. Preregistration is
required. Call 1-800-633-7377.
Shots
The Oakland County Health Di-
vision will offer an immuniza-
tion clinic for Farmington and
surrounding areas at the
Clarenceville United Methodist
Church from 9 a.m. to noon,
Wednesday, May 10. Immu-
nizations for measles, German
measles, mumps, polio, diph-
theria, tetanus, whooping cough
and hemophilus influenza Type
B will be available.
A parent or legal guardian
must accompany a child under
18 years of age. Bring previous
records of immunizations, in-
cluding notices which might
have been sent home from the
child's school pertaining to im-
munizations. Immunization will
be given at the same time and lo-
cation on the second Wednesday
of every month. For more infor-
mation, call (810) 424-7046.
Support
C.O.P.E., a support group for
those having trouble coping with
the stress of parenting, is spon-
sored by St. Joseph Mercy Hos-
pital in Pontiac. The program
consists of a 12-week session.
Dates and times vary. The pro-
gram, coordinated by the hos-
pital's child protection team,
provides parent education, in-
formation and assistance in cop-
ing with anger and stress. Call
the hospital's patient and fami-
ly services department at (810)
858-3020.
Volunteers
Volunteer positions are available
in the waiting rooms of the sur-
gical and emergency depart-
ments at Oakland General
Hospital, Osteopathic in Madi-
son Heights. Volunteers will as-
sist in communicating with
families of patients. Shifts run
Monday through Friday. For
more information, call volunteer
coordinator Joyce Wise at (810)
967-7721 or (810) 967-7024.
Professionals
The Geriatric Social Workers of
Southeast Michigan will be hold-
ing its second annual spring con-
ference on May 4 at Botsford
General Hospital. The subject of
the conference is ethics and ag-
ing. Keynote speaker is Dr.
Leonard Weber of the Ethics In-
stitute at the University of De-
troit, Mercy. There is a charge.
Ethics workshops will be pre-
sented from legal, medical and
familial perspectives. Profes-
sionals who work with older
adults are encouraged to attend.
Call Carole Boris at (810) 424-
2764 or Chris Korycki at (810)
471-8776.
Prostate
Crittenton Hospital in Rochester
offers a free, self-help support
group for men and their families
who are coping with prostate
cancer. Dr. Patrick McLaughlin,
a radiologist, will serve as guest
speaker. The program will be
held 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, May 9,
at the hospital. For more infor-
mation, call the community
health education department at
(810) 652-5269.
LO
-1
CC
63