Resolve to Take Personal Inventory This New Years
Temple UniversityInstead of making resolutions which are often times quickly forgotten, New Years is a good time to take personal inventory of our lives, says a Temple University psychologist.
Instead of making resolutions which are often times quickly forgotten, New Years is a good time to take personal inventory of our lives, says a Temple University psychologist.
Now is also the time to turn your attention to getting your home prepared to keep you warm this winter, says a Temple University expert in heating, ventilating and air conditioning.
As parents buy new computers and other technology this holiday season, it's important they keep their children safe and help them maximize learning. The National Center for Family Literacy, through its work with the Verizon Foundation and the national Tech Savvy Awards, has created helpful tips.
The holidays are a popular time to fly to visit family and friends. Many people have problems with their ears when flying, especially during takeoff and landing. The House Ear Institute (HEI) has tips to make air travel more comfortable.
Experts from UMDNJ provide tips on everything from managing children's expectations and coping with grief and caregiver stress to how to take care of your feet during marathon shopping, eating well, dieting success and quitting smoking. Also included are tips for cancer prevention gifts for the holidays.
Interested in keeping the pounds off this holiday season? A nutrition expert at Washington University in St. Louis has some very simple tips for remembering accurate portion sizes, which may be even more important than the food choices you make.
Want to begin to be more environmentally friendly in 2009 but can't afford a hybrid car? Don't worry "” there are plenty of ways to lessen your impact on the environment that don't come with such a daunting price tag, says Matt Malten, assistant vice chancellor for campus sustainability at Washington University in St. Louis. And they likely will even save you some money without cramping your carbon-creating lifestyle "” much.
Many parents around the country will purchase toys for their children this coming holiday season. While choosing toys that will further a child's education development is important, it's also a great idea for parents to remember to play with their children and engage with them in their new gifts. R. Keith Sawyer, Ph.D., associate professor of education in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, offers advice to parents worried about making the right toy choice for their children.
So it will soon be 2009 "” the year you decided is the one to start or finish that degree you've always intended to earn. But if it's been awhile since you've stepped foot inside a classroom "” or at least one that wasn't your kids' "” here are some suggestions to help you follow through on your New Year's resolution.
The latest video game "“ a perennial favorite for holiday gifts "“ could provide just the encouragement teenagers need to embrace many of their core studies, such as courses in the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering and math.
As Americans are stuggling to make ends meet with rising gas and food costs, they are grappling more than ever with what's appropriate when it comes to rewarding service providers with tips, gifts and other token gratuities, suggests Leonard Green, Ph.D., a psychology professor in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis who studies tipping behavior.
For college students, the winter break can be a welcome time off. Classes are over, finals are finished and it's a time to spend with family and friends. But, says a practicing psychologist at Washington University in St. Louis, the break between semesters can also be a very stressful time for students.
If winter driving terrifies you, where better to learn the skills you need than in the land of ice and snow?
This time of year offers a cornucopia of cancer fighting foods and many of them will end up on the dinner table this holiday season. Stephanie Meyers, RD, LDN, CNSD, a nutritionist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, says many foods are at their nutritional peak now so it's important to incorporate them into a healthy diet. The key, however, is to know what to look for and how to prepare it.
Three small stories about how to stay health this holiday season.
Retailers like Kmart and TJ Maxx have experienced a sharp increase in customer demand for their layaway programs, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. Holiday consumers see layaway as a payment alternative at a time when credit card companies are reducing purchase limits and access to loans is tightening amid the country's ongoing financial crisis.
A Kansas State University professor is working to develop a standard formula for determining the temperature ratings for cold-weather clothing. The goal is to have all manufacturers doing the same testing so a consumer can compare one product to another.
A K-State textiles professor says layering clothing, wearing a hat and using thick fabrics is key to keeping warm.
What ingredients should you look for in a moisturizer? Well-controlled studies are few and far between. And despite the long lists of obscure ingredients, all moisturizers help with dry skin for a pretty simple reason: they supply water to the skin and contain a greasy substance that holds it in, reports the February 2008 issue of the Harvard Health Letter.
As the holiday season comes to a close and the champagne glasses and party trays are put away for next year, many people are finding the high-calorie foods and beverages of the holiday season have had a serious impact on their waistlines.
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have shown that smokers are far more likely to try to quit when living where smoking is not socially acceptable. And the more these smokers try to quit, the more they succeed.
The AANS offers this advice for winter sports enthusiasts: Whether you are a novice or advanced, an average person or a celebrity "“ proceed with caution, and play it safe on the slopes and snow. Wearing a helmet and following other safety precautions may save your life or the life of your child.
Joining a gym is easy. What's hard is sticking with an exercise routine for more than a few weeks into the new year. To start and stick with a new workout plan through 2008, a University of Michigan Health System fitness expert offers advice for setting reasonable fitness goals, and staying motivated at the gym.
Don't have the time or money to sign up for a gym membership? That shouldn't keep you from making a New Year's resolution to get fit. U-M Health System fitness experts say you don't have to join a gym to develop a sustainable fitness regimen. With the right equipment and motivation, you can start an exercise program at home that will last.
Cold weather is here, which means it's time to give special attention to your pets.
The end of the calendar year has enormous impact as we construct our lives to a very large extent around the calendar, with December 31 being a very important date. But instead of making resolutions which are often times quickly forgotten, New Years is a good time to take personal inventory of our lives.
A little common sense can save people from tragedies this Christmas season, says Dr. Robert S. Fleming, a professor of management at Rowan University and a nationally recognized authority on fire and emergency preparedness.
Today's busy families have moved toward a pattern of individual activities (listening to an iPod, surfing the internet), rather than joint activities, according to Dennis Orthner, a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Social Work. Orthner offers seven tips to keep the holidays happy.
Typically habits advocated in health interventions will fade over time, but 18 months after taking a month-long health education class, participants were far more active and ate much healthier than when they enrolled. People looking for a New Year's resolution may want to consider signing up for a work- or community-sponsored health education class.
Physicians with University of California, San Diego Medical Center and School of Medicine say "Savor the seasonal offerings"¦ just do it sensibly."
As the Christmas shopping season moves into its final days, new research from the University of New Hampshire shows that certain shoppers who exhibit distinct cognitive skills are more apt to be impulse buyers.
It's December 27 and cabin fever has set in. The out-of-town relatives are driving you crazy, the frig is down to egg nog and a left-over cheese ball, you've run out of batteries, the cat has knocked most of the ornaments off the tree, the kids are reeling from their candy cane sugar buzz, three new toys have already broken. HELP! How can you escape?
Santa Claus is well adapted to living in the subzero temperatures of the North Pole. But how will Santa cope with the heat when he travels to hot climates with his sleigh full of toys? Physiologist Lisa Leon, a physiologist who studies the body's physiological responses to heat, can tell us how Santa can keep himself safe and comfortable "“ and how we can help.
One night each year, nine magic reindeer pull Santa and his toy-filled sleigh around the world. But what about the reindeer who are not part of the "˜deer dream team'? Dr. Perry Barboza is a physiologist who studies reindeer at the Institute of Arctic Biology at the University of Alaska who says that some of the characteristics of the non-mythical reindeer get overlooked in the Christmas crush.
The word holiday comes from "holy day," but the way we celebrate holidays is anything but holy, said Gettysburg College philosophy professor Steven Gimbel. Instead, he argues, we use our holidays to celebrate vices rather than virtues.
According to experts at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, a recent study may have discovered an intriguing option to help quiet children's coughs.
The houseguests are gone. The gifts have been exchanged. The decorations are down, and so are you. If you're feeling blue following the holidays, you're not alone. Why is depression so common after the holidays? You can beat your post-holiday blues.
Health-related New Year's resolutions top the list of promises American adults make to themselves every year. An expert offers tips on how to succesfully keep resolutions.
'Tis better to give (with documentation) than receive (a phone call from the IRS). A business dean has suggestions for optimizing your good intentions and playing by the (new) rules.
Perks such as free shipping and exclusive online incentives continue to drive consumers to the web. Bargain hunting remains the primary reason for online sales, while shipping costs remain the top frustration, The Conference Board and TNS report today.
Plan out your calories like your budget to help you lose weight after the holidays.
Holiday celebrations focused on food are difficult for persons recovering from eating disorders, and challenging for their family and friends. Theresa Fassihi, PhD, a psychologist with the Eating Disorders Program at The Menninger Clinic, offers some do's and don'ts for families and friends celebrating the holidays with persons recovering from eating disorders.
In December's tipsheet, Indiana University psychologists and an informatics professor offer tips for managing e-mail, lightening up the holiday blues and helping adolescents understand depression and low self-esteem.
What should a family understand if a child or relative chooses to disclose their sexual orientation during the annual holiday gathering or decides to reveal more about his/her experiences as a gay or lesbian person?
This holiday season, "green" is all the rage. Here are some ideas from the National Wildlife Federation for exciting ways to spread holiday cheer and do something good for the planet too.
For college students, the winter break can be a welcome time off. Classes are over, finals are finished and it it's a time to spend with family and friends. But, says a practicing psychologist at Washington University in St. Louis, the break between semesters can also be a very stressful time for students.
The quintessential holiday scene "“ if not children eagerly unwrapping presents from under the Christmas tree "“ normally involves a family gathered around a table covered with home-cooked food. The reality is that, for the rest of the year, families don't routinely convene during mealtimes.
Whether your holiday tradition involves a buffet brunch or a sit-down dinner with seven fishes, abundant amounts of food will be featured. And with the cost of food outpacing the rate of inflation over the past year, entertaining your crowd will be pricey.
Whether you are headed to grandma's house, down the road or across the country, experts at C.S. Mott Children's Hospital say safety must come first when traveling this winter. To help, they offer seven tips to make sure you and your family travel safely by plane, train or automobile to your holiday destination.
From sledding accidents to snowmobile crashes, pediatric trauma experts at the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital say they see a startling number of snow-related injuries among children each year. In an effort to prevent injury among children this winter season, Mott experts offer seven tips to keep people on sleds, skates, skis and snowmobiles safe in the snow.