In Brief

By Alain L. Sanders

CLEAN YOUR PLATE Have you ever battled with your kids to eat till the plate is empty? A study in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association suggests you back away from this food fight, which may contribute to overeating among children. When served bigger than usual portions of macaroni and cheese, three-year-olds ate until they felt full. But five-year-olds had already learned to ignore their bodies' signals that they had had enough to eat, and instead ate more when they were served more.

STAYING POWER A study from a Dallas hospital, published in the American Journal of Nursing, has a message for health providers: involve patients' relatives in their treatment. Nearly all relatives surveyed who stayed by their loved ones during medical emergencies like the insertion of a chest tube or CPR said that being there helped them better understand the situation, comfort the patient and--in cases where the patient died--come to closure. Attending doctors and nurses agreed.

NIGHT-SHIFT TOLL One downside of today's booming, round-the-clock economy is heightened stress on shift workers with kids. A study in the February issue of the Journal of Marriage and the Family reveals that the risk of a marital breakup can increase as much as threefold when a mom works at night and sixfold when a dad does so. But there is no increased risk for childless couples, who do not have to juggle nighttime work obligations with daytime parenting.

--By Alain L. Sanders