Category: Uncategorized

I just encountered this study of the link between dietary patterns in early childhood and eight-year-old IQ.

Methods: "The current study, based on the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, uses data on children’s diet reported by parents in food-frequency questionnaires at 3, 4, 7 and 8.5 years of age. … IQ was assessed using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children at 8.5 years. Data on a number of confounders were collected, and complete data were available for 3966 children."

Results: "After adjustment, the ‘processed’ (high fat and sugar content) pattern of diet at 3 years of age was negatively associated with IQ assessed at 8.5 years of age—a 1 SD increase in dietary pattern score was associated with a 1.67 point decrease in IQ (95% CI −2.34 to −1.00; p<0.0001). The ‘health-conscious’ (salad, rice, pasta, fish, fruit) pattern at 8.5 years was positively associated with IQ: a 1 SD increase in pattern score led to a 1.20 point increase in IQ (95% CI 0.52 to 1.88; p=0.001)."

Of course, this kind of observational study is ripe for confounding factors. This is what they have to say: "A wide variety of factors were considered as potential confounders or mediating factors in the relationship between diet and IQ. The following variables were taken into account: gender; age at WISC assessment; the WISC administrator; the number of stressful life-events experienced by the child; breastfeeding duration (ascertained at 6 months of age), estimated energy intake at each time point, a measure of parenting (HOME score) assessed at 18 months of age, maternal education, housing tenure and social class recorded during pregnancy and maternal age at birth of the study child. Finally, maternal consumption of oily fish during pregnancy was included, as this has been shown to be associated with IQ in this cohort."

Unfortunately, they don’t have a measure of parent IQ. What is smarter parents have smarter kids AND give their kids better diets?

The AER is celebrating its 100th birthday and identified the most important twenty articles from over that period. Development captured two!

Harris, John R., and Michael P. Todaro.

1970. “Migration, Unemployment and Development: A Two-Sector Analysis.” American Economic Review

, 60(1): 126–42.

This widely cited paper starts with the puzzle that in poor developing countries one observes individuals migrating from agricultural areas to urban areas, even though they would have positive marginal product in agriculture but face a substantial probability of unemployment in the urban area. The first step in the explanation is to note that there are politically determined minimum wages in the urban areas that prevent wages from adjusting to achieve full employment for all those who come to the urban areas. The equilibrium distribution of potential workers between the rural and urban areas equates the marginal product of labor in agriculture to the expected wage in the urban area, i.e., the product of the wage and the probability of employment.

Kuznets, Simon.

1955. “Economic Growth and Income Inequality.” American Economic Review, 45(1): 1–28.

Data from developing economies indicate that the earlier phases of economic development tend to be characterized by increasing income inequality, as those engaged in the small but growing modern sector of the economy pull away from those still left in agriculture and other subsistence activities. The degree of inequality reaches a peak, however, and then diminishes with further development, as the modern sector comes to dominate the economy and perhaps more so if it creates room for redistributive activity. The resulting “Kuznets curve” has been the subject of much empirical research and discussion within development economics.

"Carmel was exactly what she’d always dreamed of being. Very few people ever get to say that. Fair play to her, even if her dream did make me want to slit my throat." -Faithful Place, by Tana French, p32

A randomized-controlled trial of Child FIRST just came out in Child Development. The results are pretty impressive.

What is Child FIRST?

The Child FIRST Intervention was designed to span the continuum from prevention to intervention, avoiding the fragmentation of categorical programs focused on a single-risk population. For this RCT, child enrollment was limited to ages 6–36 months; however, Child FIRST is routinely available to any child, prenatal to 6 years of age, evidencing emotional/behavior or developmental/learning problems or living within a family experiencing significant psychosocial risk. Each family was assigned a clinical team, consisting of a master’s level developmental/mental health clinician and an associate’s or bachelor’s level care coordinator/case manager, who usually reflected the ethnic diversity of the family and spoke the language of the family’s choosing. Engagement and building trust were fundamental goals of the intervention. Staff were trained to approach families with warmth, empathy, and respect and to communicate in words and deeds that they were there as partners and advocates. Outreach continued even in the face of multiple missed appointments. The approach was to ask without judgment or agenda, “How would you like us to help you and your family?”

Guided by the issues that were most salient to the family and driven by the child and family strengths, needs, and psychological availability, a highly individualized, multilevel, parent–child psychotherapeutic and psychoeducational approach was used (Heinicke et al., 2001; Lieberman & Van Horn, 2008). There was no set curriculum; however, child development materials often were shared. These materials were written at sixth grade reading level and available in English and Spanish. A major goal of the therapeutic relationship was to help the parent(s) reflect on their child’s experiences and the motivations and feelings underlying their child’s behavior and, in turn, on their own feelings and responses to the behavior. This often involved exploring connections between the parent’s past and current relationships and feelings toward the child. Together, parent and clinician explored alternate interpretations of the meaning of the child’s behavior and developed more effective responses.

And the results? Regardless of starting place (whether delayed or advanced in language development), children out of the program were more than twice as likely to have language problems. Children out of the program were also much more likely to have their families visited by child protective services. Mother stress was also lower in the program.

How much did it cost?

We have estimated that the cost associated with the psychotherapeutic and care coordination components of this short-term intervention was relatively low, less than $4,000 per family.

Well, it’s not a shoestring, but the results are pretty compelling. Hopefully someone can calculate some rate of return estimates to compare this to some of the other oft-cited programs, like Perry Pre-school and Abecedarian.

Check out this rare, aerial footage, at the New York Times.

No, it’s not The Illusionist with Paul Giamatti and Edward Norton. It’s a great French animated film (nominated for best animated film this year). Note: Stay to the very end of the credits! It’s worth it!

I received an email alert about the following study:

Developing effective child death review: a study of ‘early starter’ child death overview panels in England
in the journal Injury Prevention

OH, it’s overview panels, reviewing causes of child deaths and then making recommendations to prevent them in the future. Phew! And yet, it’s a slippery slope, my friends, a very slippery slope.

* FoxLiberty-Ultra is a channel in the future, according to Gary Shteyngart’s Super Sad True Love Story

Books

3. The False Friend, by Myla Goldberg. This is the first book I’ve read on my new e-reader, the Nook! And the book was borrowed from the library, no less! A thirtysomething woman suddenly recalls a repressed memory that – twenty years before – she abandoned her friend when she fell in the woods and told everyone the friend had gotten into a car with a stranger. She returns home to come clean, but things don’t go as planned. It didn’t draw me in for the first third, but the portrayal of how mean kids can be to each other, and how memory can trick you up was worthy; and I like Goldberg’s writing. [Note on content: a little language, limited sexual content] 6/10

2. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot (audiobook) – In the 1950s, the cancer cells of African American Henrietta Lacks were taken for study without permission during treatment. The cells turned out to be immortal (survived indefinitely in culture), which allowed for a lot of research not previously possible, leading to the development of the polio vaccine, cancer treatments, and other advances. The book interweaves four narratives: (1) the story of Henrietta Lacks, (2) the evolution of informed consent and medical ethics, (3) the history of research on the cells and the developments associated, and (4) the story of the author’s interactions with the family in writing the book. Fascinating tale, and a nice balance across the narratives (until the last part, where the emphasis tilts too much towards (4) for narrative balance. That said, understanding how the author received the story is really important to understanding the story that I am reading.

In the afterword, Skloot brings up lots of important questions about consent and profit from tissue research, exploring possibilities without drawing a conclusion. Highly recommended. [Note on content: Some strong language and some tough themes, but it's worth it.] 8/10

1. Mockingjay, by Suzanne Collins (narrated by Carolyn McCormick) – Last book in the dystopian future Hunger Games series. I read it last month and now listened to it, audio comfort food in the course of lots of travel and housework. Really enjoyed the whole series, especially the first and last books. [NOC: Violence] 7/10

Movies

6. When in Rome (DVD – dubbed into Spanish) – Although I am happy to see Kristen Bell, Will Arnett, and Jon Heder in work, this was aggressively bad. 3/10

5. Tied for best of the month – Easy A (DVD) – Teen update of The Scarlet Letter. I really enjoyed it, especially Patricia Clarkson and Stanley Tucci as the awesomest parents ever. Stanley Tucci stole every scene he was in. Note 1: I’m a sucker for teen updates of classics, like Ten Things I Hate About You (Taming of the Shrew), Clueless (Emma), She’s The Man (Twelfth Night) – oh, and Amanda Bynes appears in this as well, etc. Note 2: It’s PG-13 but not all persons I know would be comfortable with all the content, so Consider Yourselves Warned. 8/10

4. Tied for best of the month – The Social Network (plane) – Great movie about the origin of Facebook. 8/10

3. Tron Legacy: 3D (theater) – Okay. Not great. Several parts incomprehensible. 5/10

2. Abre los ojos (streaming on Hulu) – This is the movie that Tom Cruise and Penelope Cruz remade as Vanilla Sky. Excellent mind-bender. 7/10

1. The Karate Kid (the new one) (DVD) – Welcome in the new year with a nice bit of fluff. Still really enjoyed it, but the old one holds a slight edge. I mean, Who can argue with the Cobrai Kai? "Strike Hard, Strike First, No Mercy Sir." 6/10

"I suppose that’s the point of belonging to a church," she continued. "So that there’s always someone to stick by you. Which is why we atheists are all so attached to our shrinks. … An expensive proposition, atheism. A chaplain would have been much more economical." (from Myla Goldberg’s The False Friend, p182)

Students I took on a study abroad seminar spent several days with pavement dwellers in Bombay before coming to Soweto Township in Johannesburg. They were amazed at the good conditions of the apartheid-period workers’ housing – disappointing our hosts, who expected they would be appalled. Several men shared a room, and there was only one bathroom and one kitchen per floor, as compared to living on a sidewalk against a stone wall. In a parallel situation, when Brazilian youth from the favela were invited to stay in the South Bronx with the Ghetto Film School students, they thought they were living in luxury – until they were told they were in one of the worst "slums" in New York. (from Janice Perlman, Favela, p398)