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Mom's Job Stress May
Spread to Kids by: Rita Jenkins Low job satisfaction in working mothers increases the stress levels of their children, but allowing them to spend more time in childcare can help overcome these effects, according to new research published in Developmental Psychobiology. Children whose mothers found their jobs emotionally exhausting or otherwise less rewarding had higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol than children whose mothers reported more enjoyment from their jobs, researchers found in a study involving more than 50 nursery school children. Levels of cortisol in the evening were more than double in the children whose mothers experienced less job satisfaction. Placing those children in childcare would help to significantly reduce their stress, the research suggests. The researchers also found that children from families that were either highly expressive or very reserved exhibited higher than average cortisol levels. Greater support is needed for working mothers to help improve their job satisfaction and increase the availability of affordable childcare options, says the report. More Time in Childcare Dr. Julie Turner-Cobb, a health psychologist and senior lecturer at the University of Bath, Dr. Christina Chryssanthopoulou from the University of Kent and Dr. David Jessop, a neuroimmunologist at the University of Bristol collaborated on the study. To measure cortisol levels, they took saliva samples in the morning and evening from 56 children aged three to four years old. They also surveyed mothers about their workplace conditions and home life over a six month period. "Spending more time in childcare makes a big difference to the stress levels in children whose mothers have low job satisfaction," says Dr. Turner-Cobb. "It can help protect children from the effects of their mother's low job quality and emotional exhaustion. Ensuring that mothers of young children have good support in the workplace is essential for supporting both mothers and their children," she adds. "Improving the job satisfaction of working mothers means that they are less stressed themselves," says Dr. Jessop, "and extending the availability of affordable and adequate childcare may not only improve the quality of life for the mothers but, in doing so, may improve the long term health of their children." Healthy Adaptation to Stress Cortisol is a steroid hormone that regulates blood pressure and cardiovascular function and immune function. It also controls the body's use of proteins, carbohydrates and fats. Cortisol secretion increases in response to stress, whether physical -- such as illness, trauma, surgery or temperature extremes -- or psychological. It is a normal and essential response without which we would not be able to function in everyday life. When these levels remain high or become disrupted in some way over a prolonged period of time, however, they may have consequences for health. It is important to promote healthy adaptation to stress in children, and good quality childcare is one way of doing this, say the authors. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Weight Loss TipsI am not an expert, but I lost over 60 pounds in 90 days. And I think everyone can loose that weight in 90 days. My friends and my sister helped me. I myself let my brain come up with idea to loose weight. To me loosing weight is not cracking a hard nut but just keeping few things in mind and these things comes from common sense. Yeah, I must say most of them, because I myself use my common sense saw effect. Initially it was a night mare when a thought come across in mind of doing exercise day and night without a meal. My sister read my frustration on my face and took to new life. She is my process partner and a mentor. I am listing all things I take care of through out the process in points. 1) I brought a digital scale: The first thing my sister did for me is she brought a digital scale and she has a valid reason for the same. She believe and I too in buying a digital scale before starting a diet that is accurate to .2 (two-hundredths of a pound). I will explain why below (I have seen effect practically). I also recommend either buying a scale that can record your daily weight, or manually logging your weight everyday. 2) I weigh myself everyday I find that almost every other dieter tells to weigh only once a week. I am exact opposite. My sister obliged me to weight daily as she is very goal oriented and when I see I am loosing weight daily then I liked to see results everyday. The reason I recommend buying a scale that is accurate to the .2 is that there is a very big difference between weighting 170.8 one day and 170.0 the next day. Losing .8 pounds in one day is excellent. However, if your scale is not accurate enough to report the loss and still shows 170 after a day of healthy eating and working out, you will feel extremely discouraged. A more detailed scale makes it easier to keep a positive outlook. The more successes (days with positive weight loss) the easier it is. 3) Drink 8 glasses of water everyday This one is obvious and broadly recommended, however, the reason I recommend it is slightly different. Drinking eight glasses of water per day helps you “feel less hungry.” I can’t prove this scientifically; however, when I am at work, I drink 4 cups in the morning and 4 cups in the evening. On the days that I don’t drink the water, I feel hungrier, earlier. Also, on the days I don’t drink water I feel sleepier, sooner. Don’t feel intimidated by trying to drink 8 glasses of water. Try doing what I do: I have a pint glass I keep at work; it holds sixteen ounces (as all pint glasses do). All I do is drink two pints of water in the morning and two in the afternoon. This is something which I followed by hearing from my friends and found it useful to avoid my hunger. 4) I talk on my diet with everyone I enjoyed tell people that I am on a diet. There’s no reason to be ashamed to be on a diet. I found that trying to keep my diet a secret was harder than just telling people. In fact, I thing telling your coworkers, girlfriend, family, etc. will increase your accountability. It motivated me knowing that my coworkers and family knew that I was dieting because I did not want to fail. I also chose a typical “fat picture” and put it on my fridge, in my cubicle, and on my wall. I wanted to have a continual reminder to lose the weight. I know it’s a cliche, but it was important for me to remind myself of my ultimate goal. 5) Read help online.In my case, I created my own –blog and love to write articles in article section of my site- Phentermine diet pills. It’s essential that you not feel alone, and reaching out to friends (new or old) is typically a smart move, but didn’t know about it when I began down the road to weight loss. You have to know that others are out there for moral support - they know things that you couldn’t possibly know, and they’ve probably been “in your shoes” at some point in the past (or present). |
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