Shunning midday sun may not boost a child’s weight
Parents can protect their children from harmful ultraviolet radiation by encouraging them to stay inside during midday, without increasing their odds of becoming overweight from reduced activity, a new study from Australia suggests.
Experts advise everyone, especially fair-skinned people, to limit their time outdoors during peak UV radiation hours—typically between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. A potential problem is that those are also peak playtime hours for children, and there’s been some concern that keeping them indoors will cut out exercise time and spur excess weight gain.
Down’s syndrome test eliminates miscarriage risk
A new non-invasive test that examines fetal DNA can pick up genetic abnormalities such as Down’s syndrome and, unlike more intrusive tests that may raise the risk of miscarriage, the new diagnostic tool developed by the US company Ravgen poses no threat to the mother or fetus.
The test uses fetal DNA extracted from blood samples taken from the mother to screen for chromosomal abnormalities, researchers explained. In a preliminary study of 60 pregnant women reported online by The Lancet medical journal the test produced promising results.
Obesity poses larger diabetes risk than inactivity
Although obesity and lack of physical activity both raise the risk of type 2 diabetes in women, obesity appears to be the more important factor, researchers report in the journal Diabetes Care.
Dr. Frank Hu of the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, and colleagues note that the relative contribution of obesity and inactivity to the risk of developing type 2 diabetes remains controversial.
