July 2, 2007

Being the eldest child, I find it interesting that a study by the Norway National Institute of Occupational Health along with the Norwegian Armed Forces Medical Services have reached a conclusion that I knew all along. First born children have a higher IQ then their siblings
Military Statistics

Based off over 240 thousand Norwegian men drafted in the arms forces during roughly a decade at about 18-19 years of age here is what they found.

• IQ of first born male was 103.2
• IQ of second born male was 101.2 (102.9 if first born brother died)
• IQ of third born male was 100 (103 if first two brothers died)

Why this makes sense

As this study proves my own bias, I am not going to be balanced. I believe this makes logical sense because the first born gets more attention then the subsequent siblings. I was the first to talk, the first to eat, the first to comb my hair and walk. By the time the second child comes along, the newness of this has faded slightly and so forth. What this means is that I, as a first born, got more attention (directly or indirectly) then the next ones in line. This extra attention lead to increases in intellectual stimulation, allowing me to develop quicker. In nature, this also makes sense as the first born may have to take care of the siblings in case the parents got eaten by a Saber Tooth Tiger. Higher IQ would allow me to outsmart the siblings and take care of them better to help pass on our collective genes. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule, but as this doesn’t prove my biased case, it will be ignored I am sure the same holds true to first born daughters as well.

The Bottom Line

First born are smarter… now we finally have proof!

References
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=3302770

Talk about going to extremes, some parents are hiring personal trainers and nutritionists so their children can get into shape!

Personal Training Kids

At a cost of up to 100$/hour, personal training is still among the more expensive luxuries out there but that doesn’t prevent over a million of them in the United States from getting one to improve their fitness. From the 1970s till now, the rate of obesity in the younger generations has ballooned from just under six percent to almost 20 percent! When I was a kid, I don’t remember ever seeing an obese kid, now, walking in any shopping mall, you sadly see too many of them.

Hmmm… where are the parents?

Children have no income, they rely almost completely on their parents for their food and associated recreational activities. If your child is obese, the problem isn’t with the child… it’s with the PARENTS! Sending your kid off to personal training 3x a week is no different then sending them to the dentist every three months. The results come from what is done in between those sessions, not the sessions themselves. For instance, get your kid to workout, great! Then they come back home to two parents who neglect their own body and feed the child the equivalent of junk food for breakfast (if they get one), lunch and supper with a few snacks in between. Guess what, that child will not only remain obese, but the habits you have instilled into them are going to last a lifetime. The kids don’t need a personal trainer, the parents do!

Schools are to blame?

Another increasing fact is that schools are putting more of a focus on educating their kids at the expense (in some) of making them physically active. Parents, wrongly, blame schools for their kids obesity. Well, school lasts 8 hours a day, you sleep 8, so that leave about 8 hours when your child is NOT in school… so yet again, it’s the parents lack of motivation and habit forming that is the cause of childhood obesity. Not the schools (although they aren’t helping much), not the governments (they don’t really care anyways) and not societies. I also find it interesting that the vast majority of obese kids you see in the mall have obese parents, sure, genetics plays a role but you cannot become fat by breathing. You have to work HARD at continually developing poor eating and exercise habits which, you pass on to your children with the same results. The biggest role model for your child growing up healthy and happy is… THE PARENTS. I know for me, my fathers focus on physical fitness was a great inspiration to me, one that continues to this day.

The Bottom Line

If you suffer from obesity yourself, or worse, your children. The solution isn’t with a personal trainer, the solution is within yourself and you need to get your child involved, otherwise, they will suffer the same fate as yourself.

References
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=3314625&page=1

I find it ironic that people in the “modern, industrialized world” are dying from overconsumption of food while in Africa, they are dying from underconsumption. We are suffering from exponential obesity, diabetes and cardio-vascular conditions (from not being active enough) rates in our populations while in Africa, the biggest problem malnutrition, HIV Disease and catabolizing (from being too active). We worry about deserts while they simply want to eat something.

What is Plumpy’nut?

Well, it’s what is known as a therapeutic food (RUTF) which was invented by a French pediatric nutritionist named Andre Briend. It solves a problem that aid workers have been having for years with the need for refrigeration of milk to help deal with malnutrition. Basically, you give a kid two of these bars a day (total nutrition within a thousand calories) and within two weeks, the kid is rehabilitated. No need for refrigeration, no need to worry about spoilage and better yet, can be shipped EN MASS when and where needed. It is currently only manufactured by one company, Nutriset and it costs about 25 cents per, or 7 dollars per two week supply.

Plumpy’nut by the numbers

Now being used by NGOs such as Doctors Without Boarders, in 2005 they along with other NGOs where able to treat over 60 000 patients within four months using Plumpy’nut. The results so far have been great compared to the traditional method and they can give a weeks supply to mothers of starving children at a time, something that couldn’t be done otherwise.

What about peanut allergies?

An interesting fact is that unlike the rising prevalence of food allergies in 1st world countries, those who grow up starving in less then hygienic circumstances seem to suffer far less from food allergies then our highly sterilized environments. Another factor is that these children are probably going to die, taking a risk of a food allergy showing its head is the lesser of two evils considering the lack of resources that are given. There is, by the way, an alternative paste called EZ Paste which does not contain nuts but has yet to find a commercial manufacturer.

Larger Issue

Dealing with starving children will do a lot to help with what so far is a forgotten continent in the eyes of the world. Sure, our past colonial conquests did much to cause the problems that exist today but we should also put the present leadership accountable. If you mass poverty and sickness, then it should be a given that you have NO money for anything military. If you have to rely on NGOs to feed your population, then it should be a given that you have NO money for flamboyant spending habits for those who are elected into office. If you have to continually beg for donations and debt forgiveness, then it should be a given that you have NO money for meddling in other countries affairs. I believe this, more then the past, is the reason why there is so much hardship in Africa. Africa wasn’t given a healthy start to begin with after the colonials cut and run, but that doesn’t explain why, a century latter, they still don’t have their act together.

The Bottom Line

For 7 dollars, a mother can have enough food to feed their starving child for two weeks.

Reference
http://www.nutriset.fr/
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=2497593&page=1