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Spending on Food by Tens of Millions of Americans Drops to Unhealthy Level
New FRAC Analysis Finds Hispanics, African Americans Especially Hard Hit
Washington, D.C. - December 8, 2011 - A new analysis of federal data (pdf) by the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) finds that more and more Americans have been losing the struggle to afford an adequate and healthy diet. Food spending by the average household fell dramatically over the past decade, with particularly dramatic drops in 2000-2002 and 2006-2010.
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Keeping Your Family (and Yourself) Healthy During the Holidays
A Council on Contemporary Families Information Sheet prepared by Deborah Carr, Rutgers University
If you are a typical American, you consumed 3,000 calories at the Thanksgiving dinner table, and another 1,500 nibbling and snacking throughout the day. Exercise physiologists say that the average 160-pound person would need to run for four hours, walk 30 miles, or swim for five hours to burn those calories!
The rest of the weekend probably wasn’t a lot better, what with all the leftovers. And the Thanksgiving Day feeding frenzy is just the kick-off event for the five-week season of holiday eating and drinking that follows.
It’s not only the body (and the waistline) that suffer during holiday season. Emotional health also may be threatened by the stress of preparing a family feast, traveling, shopping (especially during these financially difficult stressful times), or dealing with long-simmering family tensions and the pressure to create the “perfect” occasion.
Keeping healthy during the holiday season isn’t something we need to do alone, however. Decades of research by social scientists show that good relationships keep us healthy. Spouses, partners, and friends can help us to eat and sleep well, motivate us to exercise, and provide emotional support during stressful times. Here are ten tips to keep yourself (and your families) healthy throughout the holiday season.
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Council on Contemporary Families Releases New Research on Moms' Depression.
Study Includes a Win-Win Finding for Working Moms AND Stay-at-Home Moms
But Findings Pose a Challenge to Employers and Politicians
CONTACT: Virginia Rutter Framingham State University Sociology
vrutter@gmail.com; 508-626-4863
Chicago, IL, May 6, 2011--New mothers are besieged by conflicting advice about whether or not to work. Some experts warn that staying home leads to social isolation, increasing the risk of a mother's depression. Others counter that working moms are more vulnerable to depression because of losing time with children. Since maternal depression can be bad for children as well as for women's own well-being, it's important to know who is right.
Neither side is right, according to a new briefing paper prepared for the Council on Contemporary Families. The impact of working for pay or staying home on a woman's risk of depression depends on her preferences and on the quality of her job, the researchers find.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- February 14, 2009
CONTACT: Adina Nack; nack@callutheran.edu; 805.493.3438
What do you plan to give your valentine this February 14: a bouquet of flowers, a heart-shaped box of chocolates, a candlelit dinner? Have you considered the gift that keeps on giving: a sexually transmitted infection? Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are infections that result from the transmission of certain bacteria or viruses during physically intimate acts. An STI may or may not result in a sexually transmitted disease (STD) that has noticeable symptoms.
Just in time for this romantic holiday, CCF's Adina Nack, a sociology professor at California Lutheran University, dispels STI/STD myths, updates us on the facts, and gives practical advice for how to avoid STIs 365 days a year. The idea is that for Valentines Day you can give love and keep your sexual well-being.
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