Sending your child to a childminder or nursery may actually help them in later life, according to a recent study.  Many working parents hesitate before sending their children to a carer, wondering how the separation will effect the child in later life.  However, according to one academic it does them good to be away from home for a few hours!  So, parents working long hours need not worry.  Mothers returning to work, need not feel guilty!

The Professor in charge of the study claims that those children who were in a cared for environment aged 2 and under, do actually go on to form better relationships later on when at school.  She said that nursery does the vast majority no harm at all.  Previous studies had concluded that children who were not at home most of the time when under 2 turned out to be more agressive when attending school, were more difficult to disipline and more inclined to be naughty and lead others astray.  But this new research disputes that, stating that this doesn't appear be the case.

The study followed 3,000 children over a 14 year period from 1996.  Parents have welcomed the findings, many of whom had believed earlier studies which suggested that there was a link between attendance at a nursery and aggression in later life, plus impaired social skills.

Of course, there are various ways of ensuring your child is in the best possible setting. Speak to other parents - get their opinion and recommendations.  Check thoroughly the standards of care whether it be a nursery or childminder.  Drop in, unannounced, and see what is going on!

According to The Lancet, more than half of the babies born in the UK and other wealthy nations will live until they are over 100 years old, so researchers have claimed.  They also state that as adults, their lives will not be riddled with serious diseases and ailments, but that their lives will be of a good quality.  The data has been gathered from over 30 different countries and has shown that since 1950 the chance of living past 80 years old has increased for both sexes.  We are twice as likely to survive beyond 80 than people in the 1950s.

The key to this dramatic increase in life expectancy is due to our lifestyle and our healthy way of living,  helped by medical advances and better nutrition.  Improved living conditions are also a contributing factor.

Child mortality figures also contribute to the trend of longevity.  In the early part of the 20th century child mortality rates were worryingly high and this is only a few decades ago.  Couple this with old people living longer and you can see why the average person's life span will tend to be longer!

The researchers based in Denmark at the Danish Aging Research Centre studied life expectancy throughout the high-income world.  They see no reason why life expectancy won't just keep improving as the years go by!

It does, however, pose problems in that with aging population (however active and seemingly fit) will put extra strain on social and medical services.

Some doctors are sceptical, because if you look at the top ten causes of death, obesity is 2nd or 3rd on the list.  This is a self-induced form of early death and something that allegedly between half and one third of us suffer from... so things could get much worse.  So, we may end up going backwards with life expectancy rather than forwards once  obesity factors are accounted for.

That we are living longer is a nice idea, but we shouldn't take it for granted - we need to take responsibility and make sure we don't end up sliding backwards!  Introduce your babies to a healthy diet and healthy lifestyle, and there's a good chance that they will live to celebrate their 100th birthday!

'You are what you eat', and so too are your children, and their children - new research shows that consumption of junk food during pregnancy leads to higher risk of breast cancer in offspring.  Whilst many causal links have been established between diet and cancer, more disturbing facts are emerging from the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Research led by Dr. Sonia de Assis has shown that increased intake of fatty foods during pregnancy can lead to increased risk of breast cancer in daughters, but even more worryingly, in granddaughters too.  In a nutshell, if women eat high levels of junk food whilst pregnant, their daughters and granddaughters are much more likely to contract breast cancer during their lives than for the rest of the population.  Women delivering boys rather than girls are not immune - girls born to their sons also carry this higher risk of cancer.  It appears that consumption of fatty foods during pregnancy passes genetic changes to offspring that can pass down generations leading to higher disposition to breast cancer.

Cancer seems to be the scourge of modern day health.  According to Cancer Research UK, between 1977 and 2006, cancer rates in men increased 25% and in women, 32%.  These vast rises are almost certainly related to our lifestyle and changes to the wider environment in which we live.  Thankfully, death rates from cancer have decreased in recent times which shows our ability to better treat cancer -  two thirds of women suffering breast cancer now outlive the cancer by 20 years.

We must do all we can to combat the rising incidence of cancers and must adapt our lifestyles as our understanding of the causes of cancers improves.  Eating sensibly during pregnancy makes sense, and is little to ask for - you could directly be improving the health of generations to come!

There is so much TV aimed at children that it's easy to think its okay for little babies and toddlers to watch it all the time.  Much of it is billed as 'educational' so why shouldn't they tune in and watch it as much as they like.

A lot of research has been done on this topic.  It shows that for babies under two, what they see when they watch television is a mass of colours moving about the place.  They do not understand what's actually going on.

Research also shows that cartoons are often full of realistic violence and aggression even when they are animated and that this can make a child more aggressive themselves, making them familiar and unaffected by the idea of violence.

Watching TV can be addictive, the more they watch the more they want to see.  It becomes the easy option to pull up a chair rather than do something more creative or interesting.

Time spent watching TV is not spent being active and doing healthy activities so it's not good for mental or physical well being.

Children that watch lots of TV may become antisocial, may have trouble adjusting to new environments and be less enthusiastic or imaginative when it comes to school.

However it's not all bad.  There are some benefits that television can bring, if watched in moderation.

• It can teach basic skills, numbers, letters, sounds and good behaviour.
• They can see things that are not immediately around them, extending their experience: wild animals, foreign lands, history.
• TV can support other learning and reinforce what they learn at nursery or preschool.
• It does provide a little down time from physcial activity if they are tired, or after a long day at school.

Tips

1. Unless billed specifically for preschoolers, watch programmes or DVD's before you show them to your child as there might be scary or sad bits you wish to keep from your child.
2. Choose age appropriate programmes.
3. Watch with your child so you can talk about the pictures or content together.  Talk about the programmes after.
4. Make rules about the duration and timing of TV watching and keep to it.

If in doubt, just go and do something more interesting outside!

Children can be very inquisitive, often asking very good questions, and it's easy to brush off or ignore ones we can't answer, but if they ask a question that you don't know the answer to, seize the opportunity to explore the topic and both you and your children will learn something new!

The internet gives us the most amazing resource imaginable - at our fingertips are the answers to almost any question on the planet, and certainly to any questions that our children will pose!  If a challenging question comes your way, take time to research the answer, and encourage the inquisitive, learning nature of your little ones.

The internet is not the only resource at hand.  Perhaps a question might lead to a trip to the library, a museum or the zoo?  You don't have to answer just a single question, take the time to explore the topic area more broadly and that way your children will learn so much more.  Young children absorb facts in an astounding way, but they also need to hear the conceptual reasons behind something as they build up their knowledge and understanding of the world more broadly.

Of course, your children won't understand scientific reasoning behind complex answers, your job is to couch  explanations in terms that they will comprehend.  Reference things that they do understand, and explain things using examples and experiences from everyday life that your little ones will understand.

Well, why is the sky blue and why do fish live in water?

The sky appears to be blue because air molecules scatter more blue light than other colours, until the sun sinks on the horizon at which point the light is coming indirectly and more red, yellow and orange light is scattered, sometimes leading to glorious sunsets!

Fish don't have lungs, but gills - these have developed to filter oxygen out of water rather than taking oxygen from the air.

Now, try explaining those in terms that a four year old will understand!

New, and slightly worrying research, suggests that having a healthy diet containinging plenty of fibre has a detrimental effect on your chances of having a baby. This is something women trying for a baby will be horrified to hear.

Wholemeal bread, brown pasta and brown rice when eaten in large quantities seem to effect the hormone levels of women and therefore may impact on fertility levels.  The more wholemeal food women ate, the lower the levels of vital hormones that influence the reproduction process.

The research was carried out in America, using a sample of 250 women of childbearing age, over a two year period.  They made two important discoveries when looking at the women and their fibre intake:

• Hormone levels were less in those with a high fibre diet
• There was an increase in something called anovulation (which is when a women goes through her menstrual cycle but her ovaries fail to release an egg)

Anovulation is known to occur when hormone levels drop due to anxiety, stress or extreme exercise.

This is the first time that a healthy diet has been deemed to impact on a person in a negative way.  Serious claims!