December 2008 by Ewen Callaway
New Scientist

When picking out that perfect Father’s Day gift next year, sons and daughters might want to look to their own accomplishments before deciding between a gaudy polyester tie or splurging on a new set of golf clubs.

The more effort a father invests in his children, the smarter they are as kids and more successful as adults, new research shows. And highly educated fathers make even more of a difference than less educated dads, all things being equal.

“It’s not [just] about having dad around, it’s about what kind of dad he is,” says Daniel Nettle, a psychologist at the University of Newcastle, UK, who led the new analysis, based on surveys of more than 10,000 children over half a century.

Nettle used the National Child Development Study, which traces the lives of every Briton born between 3 and 9 March, 1958. Surveys taken in the 1960s and 70s asked mothers to rate the father’s involvement in his child, from “inapplicable” to “equal to the mother”. These and later surveys through 2005 tracked intelligence, income, and education of the participants.

Nettle has previously used the same data set to show that wealthy men father more children than paupers.

With paternal investment, however, time seemed to be the most important currency. At age 11, children of highly involved fathers boasted markedly higher IQs than children with less present dads. “This is not half a point, this is a few points of IQ, on average,” he says.
Sons over daughters

Nettle also found that highly educated and successful fathers get more bang for their buck, compared with uneducated and working class men. All things being equal, fathers of high socioeconomic status gave children a small extra boost with their attention than less affluent fathers.

However, this effect did not last through middle age. At 42, the children of super-dads were no more socially mobile than other children - regardless of the father’s education level or profession.

Sons enjoyed more of a boost than daughters, possibly because men face more hurdles in climbing the social ladder than women, Nettle speculates. This could be one reason why fathers tended to invest more time in sons, than daughters.

Robert Quinlan, a biocultural anthropologist at Washington State University in Pullman, says the study breaks new ground in showing the benefits of having a father around - especially an affluent one.

Quinlan wonders, though, whether discrepancies in a father’s socioeconomic status make a real-world difference, rather than a statistical one, detectable only in large-scale surveys. “How much would you pay to get a half a point of IQ,” he asks.

Journal reference: Evolution and Human Behavior(DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2008.06.002)

With the winter holidays just around the corner, we’re announcing the latest recipients of the Mr. Dad Seal of Approval, which recognize products and services that promote father-child relationships. We evaluated dozens of entries and selected the very best. And because economic times are tough, we also tried to select products that are affordable. Here are a few highlights. The complete list is available at our website, www.mrdad.com/seal.

• “How’d They Build That?” DVD series, from MarvelousMedia. www.marvelousmedia.net
• I Spy matching game, from Briarpatch. www.briarpatch.com
• Star Pilot, from Young Scientists Club, LLC. www.kidsciencekits.com
• Readeez Volume One, from the Readeez Company. www.readeez.com

By Ed Edelson
healthday Reporter – Thu Nov 20, 5:02 pm ET
Nov. 20 (HealthDay News) — Damage to the arteries of children of smokers can be detected in the early decades of their lives, a new Dutch study finds.

“Smoking in families is harmful for children, including their cardiovascular system, as was found in many other studies,” said research leader Dr. Cuno S.P.M. Uiterwaal, an associate professor of clinical epidemiology at the University Medical Center in Utrecht. “This study adds that tobacco smoke exposure may have such effects already in very early life.”

Uiterwaal and his colleagues reported the finding in the December issue of Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology that they used ultrasound to measure the thickness of the walls of carotid arteries, the major blood vessels to the brain, in 732 young adults, average age 28. Records showed that 29 percent of the mothers and more than 60 percent of the fathers smoked during the pregnancies.

The inner lining of the carotid arteries was thicker for the young adults who had both parents smoking during pregnancy, a sign of potential danger in the years ahead. The thickening was strongest for maternal smoking.

“We believe that our findings with regard to fetal exposure may serve as a first signal which will have to be confirmed by other research in this area,” Uiterwaal said.

It has long been known that “exposure to tobacco smoke of pregnant women is bad for many reasons, such as low birth weight and increased risk for childhood respiratory disease,” he said. “Our study now adds that it may also already harm the cardiovascular system of the unborn child.”

The study does need confirmation, Uiterwaal said. “We are indeed trying to do a similar study in healthy young children, 5-year-olds, as that would eliminate many of the possibly confounding influences in later childhood,” he said. “We are currently measuring arterial wall linings of these children of whom we know the gestational history.”

A weakness of the current study is that it relied on the memories of participants about smoking histories, said Dr. Michael Katz, senior vice president for research and global programs at the March of Dimes Foundation.

And yet, Katz said, “the claim they make is probably valid, because it jibes with many previous studies showing the harmful effects of smoking during pregnancy, by anyone in the household.”

“Any smoke in the environment is bad,” Katz said. He cited a previous study that showed an increased risk of cleft palate among children of smokers, even if the mothers themselves did not smoke. “It’s not by any mysterious way, just by inhaling,” Katz said. “That is why smoke-free environments are desirable.”

There was one pleasant surprise in doing a study of smoking during pregnancy in the Netherlands, Uiterwaal said. “The smoking rate of mothers in pregnancy of 29 percent in the early 1970s that we found in the present study has dropped to some 4 to 5 percent to date in the Netherlands,” he said. “A very fortunate drop from a public health perspective, but it will make this issue more difficult to study at present.”

Current estimates are that about 10 percent of American women smoke during pregnancy.

Facts about the incidence and damage due to smoking during pregnancy are available from the March of Dimes Foundation.

As a petite, 35 lbs 5 year old girl I would stand with my hands on my hips and tell my 6 foot 1inch, 225 lbs, construction contractor father that I wasn’t going to finish the food on my plate. This created quite a conflict for him! He certainly couldn’t treat me the way he did his men at work. But I believe he did want to prove who was making the decisions. However, forcing food does not help your child to maintain a healthy diet nor help your relationship with your child.

We all want our children to eat healthy foods and there are many ways to allow this to happen. Our first job is to offer healthy foods often. A hungry child will eat, so the more often healthy foods are offered, the more of them will be eaten. But children are sometimes fearful of food, not hungry, or more interested in trying to get you what they want instead of eating. All of these actions can lead to the same disastrous result: a power struggle of over who gets their way.

We can avoid this struggle by not over managing how much and what our child eats. Remember, you offer what you would like your child to eat. Then the rest is up to them. They can eat and nourish their body or choose not to eat with the consequence of hunger coming very soon. The beauty of this is that you were not the “bad guy” in this scenario. Hunger caused the discomfort, the result of them choosing not to eat.

But some parents can not let go of this managerial stance and let hunger and fullness do its job. They micro-manage a child’s eating. These are the parents that you see deciding for the child what food should be eaten first. Supposedly this insures that nutritious foods will be eaten first when the child is most hungry. Perhaps, but a child given a variety of food over time will in fact choose foods that meet their nutritional needs. Telling a child what they need to eat first undermines their need for some independence and their reliance and confidence in their own internal cues that guide them naturally.

I often hear “you need to take one more bite”, as if that last bite guarantees the exact amount of calories or nutrients necessary at that moment in time, or a parent who requires a child to eat a certain amount of a food. A child instinctively knows how much food they need, the more we trust them the more they will make good decisions.

Interestingly, there have been several studies that show that the more we manage our children’s eating decisions, the more likely they are to become over weight and have emotional problems with foods. One study observed parents eat a meal with their child. Immediately after the meal the children were put in a room without parents. There were activities in the room as well as a variety of snacks. It was observed that the children whose parents had over managed their child’s lunch where more likely to eat again, right after lunch. These children where also the ones who where already over weight. So pick your battles carefully. A food fight is one you are both likely to lose.

By BOB VOSSELLER • MANAHAWKIN BUREAU • November 18, 2008

LACEY — Many happy, young ladies were present during Friday’s third annual Parent Teacher Student Association Daddy-Daughter Dance held at Lacey Township High School.

The school gymnasium was transformed into a giant dance floor. Other activities included a craft area and a table where each young lady could pick up her own tiara.

“It was really hopping Friday night with more than 650 people attending the dance,” said Laura Caroccia, president of the PTSA.

“Every princess has her king, whether that be dad, uncle, grandpa, big brother or special friend, and this night makes it possible for them to put on their dancing shoes,” Caroccia said.

Madison Zrinski, 4, was hopping up and down with excitement, beaming a wide smile as she donned her crown. She came with her father, Christopher Zrinski.

“This is our first time here for this. We’re joining her cousins here tonight, too,” Zrinski said.

“The male role model plays such an important part in a young girl’s life, and this dance allows us an opportunity to acknowledge that role and the impact it has on our daughters. The National PTA is very much committed to bringing dads into the school, and this is our way of getting them here,” Caroccia said.

Zrinski said the occasion provided a nice opportunity for father-daughter bonding: “Little girls grow up fast, and before you know it, you are seeing them go off to the prom. I think this event is a good idea.”

“This has been a joint effort of so many people who have spent weeks preparing for this night, and the results of that effort shows. Look at all these happy faces,” Caroccia said.

Others enjoying the evening were Joe Fiore and his two daughters, Nicole, 11 and Rachael, 9, of the Forked River section of the township.

“We’ve come to this before,” Fiore said.

“I like the contests. Last year I came in second place for best dressed along with another friend of mine,” Nicole said.

Fiore said he was enjoying the evening and spending time with his daughters. “It is a very nice event.”

Caroccia said Lacey High School PTSA and Interact Club members were on hand to provide face painting and tattoos, and the high school “Girls in Pink” kept the party hopping on the dance floor.

Couples received a keepsake photo by Next-Step Photography, and music was provided by DJ Tony of Sound Entertainment. Refreshments, including slushies and cotton candy, along with the souvenir tiaras and glow necklaces were available for purchase.

“This dance is a good opportunity for dads to spend time with their daughters outside of the home, and all proceeds benefit Lacey High School PTSA scholarship and programs,” Caroccia said.

Interact Club adviser Bunny McGauley said, “The girls have been very excited about this. I heard from a friend at one of the elementary schools that they came in today and were asking all their friends if they were going tonight.”

The PTSA will hold its annual “Sundaes With Santa” event from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 29 at Lacey High School.

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