Strollerderby : smoking

They Say: You're More Likely to Smoke if Your Mother Did While Pregnant

Shannon LC Cate — Thu, 21 May 2009 20:00:00 GMT

In case we needed yet another reason not to smoke--and to harass people who do--here's a new study that shows a four-fold increase in the likelihood of being a smoker at age 22 if your mother smoked during pregnancy and/or your early childhood.

Researchers are suggesting that exposure to cigarettes in utero may lead to changes in the brain that put the baby at risk for future nicotine dependence. But the study was not careful enough to rule out social factors, like an increased likelihood that a smoking mother perhaps will have smoking friends, will accept smoking in her home, will be less alarmed if her teen takes up smoking, etc.

Then again, we are already pretty conclusively sure that smoking is nothing but bad for a developing fetus, leading to premature birth and low birth weights among other things. Whether it's nature, nurture or a combination that leads the children of smokers to smoke, it's fair to say quit.

I'm not one to pounce on pregnant women for what they eat or drink, and I wouldn't pounce on anyone individually for this either. Smoking is a dreadful addiction, very difficult to quit as we all know. But it's helpful to have clear evidence about something for a change, rather than murky warnings about soft cheese, or inconsistent recommendations about how much--if any--alcohol is okay while pregnant.

The take away here is: If you can at all manage it, don't smoke when you're pregnant. Do everything you can to quit. And for those of us who aren't pregnant, the message is: don't smoke around pregnant women and be supportive and helpful to pregnant women you may know who are trying to quit.

Camel Makes New Cigarettes that Look and Taste Like Candy--Marketed to Kids?

Cole Gamble — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 17:02:00 GMT

The debate over whether tobacco companies market to kids has waged for decades. Now it would appear Camel has invented cigarette candy. Being test marketed in my hometown of Portland (sweet!), new Orbs Dissolvable Tobacco is pellets of what R.J. Reynolds calls dissolvable tobacco and look like a candy mint.

Surely this won’t piss anyone off.

To be fair, nicotine lovers have the right to enjoy the stuff in any form they like as long as it doesn’t hurt others. Orbs would make it easier for those folks to enjoy a nic hit socially. But c’mon. It’s packaged just like chewing gum. R.J. Reynolds is going to catch a lot of hell.

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Are R-Rated Movies the New Gateway Drug?

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 21:08:00 GMT

A new study has found that kids who watch R-rated movies are more likely to smoke cigarettes. But before you rush home and burn your copies of Rain Man and Jerry Maguire, let’s take a closer look at the findings.

Researchers with the Substance Abuse Policy Research Program (part of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation) found that sixth graders who are allowed to watch R-rated movies are significantly more likely to believe they could get their hands on a cigarette if they wanted to. Because previous research has shown that kids who believe cigarettes are readily available are more likely to smoke, researchers are arguing that there is a direct link between R-rated movies and nicotine habits.

They can’t explain the reason for the link, but are speculating that R-rated movies may be more likely to glorify smoking, or that kids who watch films that “require an accompanying parent or guardian” are less likely to be supervised by a parent or guardian. Huh?

Oddly, there is no indication in the study that kids are watching these profane, sexually explicit movies without their parents. When I was in sixth grade, it would have been much easier for me to get a cigarette (all the older kids had them) than to watch, say, Pretty Woman, without my parent’s consent. They did, by the way, consent. And I did, truth be told, occasionally smoke clove cigarettes during my freshman year of college. Aha! These researchers may be on to something after all….

Photo: Wikipedia

Will Quit for Cash

KeriF — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 15:30:00 GMT

I've been known to dangle incentives in front of my kids to get them to do otherwise unpleasant things (see: Let's Make a Deal ). So if they should ever make the foolhardy decision to smoke (as I did), I'll be right there, cash in hand, offering whatever it takes to get them to stop.

According to one study, that amount is $750.

A recent study at General Electric found that 15 percent of workers who were paid up to $750 to quit smoking were still cigarette-free one year later. That's three times as many as in the group who didn't receive the bonus.

“This kind of reward system provides them with direct, positive feedback in the present,” not just delayed, intangible health benefits, said Dr. Kevin Volpp, the lead researcher of the study.

This is precisely why bribing our kids works: eating their vegetables so they grow big and strong is too broad a concept for small kids (or grown adults, apparently). Eating their vegetables so they can have dessert gives them immediate gratification. Just like cash.

Previous studies have attempted to determine if financial incentives worked, but those including too too small a financial incentive, sometimes as low as $10.

Dan Anzalone, who participated in the study and is still tobacco-free three years later, said $750 was "a good incentive."

“I was getting rewarded for something that I should be doing anyway,” said Anzalone, 54. “You’d be surprised at what that little incentive does.”

Results of the study, which started in 2005, were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

They Say: When Parents Smoke, Kids Smoke

KeriF — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 22:28:00 GMT

If you smoke around your kids, your kids are more likely to smoke when they're older, according to a new study by the Harvard School of Public Health. But there's hope. According to Dr. Stephen E. Gilman, co-author of the study, "that risk goes away if parents quit."

The younger the children are when their parents smoke, the more likely the kids are to smoke. Kids under 12 were 3.6 times as likely to smoke as children of non-smokers. But teens over 13 were only 1.7 times more likely to smoke as their peers.

I was a smoker myself, child of two heavy smokers. I fit the mold of this study pretty well: my parents smoked when I was young, though I didn't start smoking myself until my late teens. (What can I say? I'm an idiot.)

But I also know a lot of people (say, I don't know, my sister) who were absolutely disgusted by smoking and turned completely away from it due to extensive early exposure to it.

Of course, whether or not your parents smoke isn't the only factor. Researchers noted that everything from the media to genetic susceptibility can be factors in determining whether or not you're going to smoke.

And, of course, whether or not you're an idiot.

Mom Lets Toddler Smoke

KeriF — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 18:04:00 GMT

We've all heard of kids sneaking cigarette butts out of Mom or Dad's ashtray and trying to smoke them. Heck, most of us have probably done it ourselves, back in our wild early teen years.

But I'd wager that none of us did when we were three years old.

But that's exactly what Kelly Pocock's son did, according to Pocock's "friend" Natasha Dudley, who filmed the three-year-old smoking butts while his mother chatted on the phone nearby in her home in south Wales. Dudley had also seen the boy earlier sneak a butt and smoke it under his bed. Dudley gave the film to child services, who arrested Pocock.

Why didn't Dudley say something to Pocock, who claims she was "schocked" when she heard of the incident from police? Maybe because the young lad looked like he knew what he was doing. According to prosecutor Jonathan Rees: "The video demonstrates the boy placing a cigarette into his mouth, lighting it with a lighter and sucking, drawing smoke clearly into the lungs and he seems to do it with some accomplishment. It doesn't cause him any discomfort. He is sat on a chair close to the mother, who is talking on the phone. It is clear that the boy, at the age of three, knows what to do with a lighter and cigarette."

I used to smoke myself (when I was a bit older than 3), and it took me a long time until I could inhale without collapsing in a coughing fit or making a face in disgust. In fact, it took a kindhearted "friend" of mine to inform me that for the first few months or so, I wasn't actually inhaling at all. So clearly this kid had been at it a while if he did it without any bother. Whether the mom was as shocked as she claimed, I don't know. If she was, she's clearly not paying much attention to the kid, so doesn't really win any points.

Pocock received a 40 week suspended sentence and one year supervision order after pleading guilty to cruelty to a child under the age of 16. She has two other children; let's hope she can keep a better eye on them.

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Finally, Some Good Coming From Cigarette Smoking

SunnyChanel — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 21:00:00 GMT

Now here is something positive coming out of the dirty habit of smoking, health insurance for the children of the United States.

Today, the House will start debating a new bill that would increase the money spent on the State Children’s Health Insurance Program by $33 billion bucks over the next 4 ½ years. The way this increase in funds will be accomplished is by a tax increase on a pack of cigarettes by 61 cents.

The new changes will also help to insure legal immigrants and pregnant immigrants. The supporters in the House have their fingers crossed that the bill will be passed right after Barack Obama takes office. The bill has been vetoed twice in 2007 by George W Bush.

Let's hear it for the smokers! And if some happen to quit smoking because of this price increase, well that's good news too.

Source

They Say: Smoking While Pregnant Makes Kids Aggressive

Brett Singer — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 15:00:00 GMT

I thought it was generally acknowledged that it was a bad idea for women to smoke while pregnant. A new study provides another reason: the kids could end up aggressive. The likelihood of aggressive behavior increases if the family makes less than $40,000 per year. This is according to a study conducted by Canadian doctors that was published in the academic journal Development and Psychopathology.

To clarify, "aggressive behavior" – or "behaviour", as they call it, since some people have to spell things differently – is that which the mothers characterized "as quick to hit, bite, kick, fight and bully others." (I guess spitting is OK. Throwing things, perhaps?) The children studied were between 18 months and three and a half years of age.

"Mothers-to-be whose lives have been marked by anti-social behaviour have a 67 percent chance to have a physically aggressive child if they smoke 10 cigarettes a day while pregnant, compared with 16 percent for those who are non-smokers or who smoke fewer than 10 cigarettes a day. Smoking also seems to be an aggravating factor, although less pronounced, in mothers whose anti-social behaviour is negligible or zero."

Other factors contributing to aggressiveness in preschool kids, sayeth the study: "mothers who are younger than 21, who smoke and who coerce their children to behave." Also, "children from families who earned less than $40,000 per year were at an increased risk for aggressive behaviour." Which I guess means that families earning less than $40,000 are more likely to have aggressive children whether mom puffs or not. But the aggressiveness INCREASED in those families if mom smoked, and DECREASED if she didn't.

Are you bored yet?

Here's my issue with studies like this. We know smoking while pregnant is a bad idea. (Like playing piano in a marching band, as they say on The Animaniacs.) So what exactly is the point of this study? What did we find out, that families with less money and a mother with a nicotine addiction are more likely to have children who exhibit "aggressive behaviour", as defined by a certain specific "behaviours"? So what? How about a study that looks at methods that might help those kids deal with their aggression?

Reading this study makes me feel very aggressive. I need to go bite something. But since my mother doesn't smoke, I'll just bite into a sandwich.

Source: Science Daily

Image: Church Times

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Should Smoking Be Banned In Cars With Kids?

Brett Singer — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 17:00:00 GMT

So. We have third-hand smoke. It's bad. And so on. More fuel for anti-smoking activists. And when someone says, "We're protecting helpless children!" that makes it harder to argue that they are intruding into our personal lives. Right?

A town in Washington State (can't ban smoking in D.C. – Obama's a smoker!) is considering a bill that would ban smoking in cars with children.
From the AP: "A member of the Tobacco Advisory Board of Pierce County, Leonard Sanderson, told The Olympian the proposal would make it a secondary offense, meaning smoking drivers could be ticketed if they were pulled over for another offense, such as speeding."

I was surprised to learn that California, Arkansas, Louisiana and Maine have all made smoking in cars that have kids in them against the law.

Here's the problem. There's no doubt that smoking around children is bad for their health. I get it. But unless you make smoking illegal (not gonna happen), how is this not a privacy violation? You can't drink and drive, but that's all the time, not just around children. Talking on a cell phone while driving has been deemed dangerous, so most states have laws that say you have to wear a headset. Driving without a seatbelt is dangerous, so if you don't wear a seatbelt, you get a ticket. And so on. None of those laws, however, are specific to children.

Does the law apply to your own children? What about other people's kids? Can you smoke in the car when there are no kids there? Now that we know about third-hand smoke, won't the little tykes be at risk anyway if they ride in a car that was, at one time or another, smoked in? And at what age is it safe to be exposed to second-hand smoke?

And how about bacon, or other smoked meats? Those aren't good for children, right? I mean, come on.

(In case you were wondering, most of that was me going off the deep end for comic effect. Thank you. Tip your waitresses.)

I think it would be great if nobody smoked. It's unhealthy, creates enormous costs for health insurers as those smokers age, and there's the second-hand, third-hand, and fourth-hand (just wait, it'll happen) smoke to contend with. It's a bad habit. But it's still legal. Until it isn't, this seems like an unreasonable law, like the one about smokers not being allowed foster children (which, considering that some kids are writing letters to woo potential foster parents, seems like an unfair restriction).

What do you think? Is this too much of an invasion of privacy? Or does it not matter if it's to "protect our children"?

Source: AP via nwsource.com

Image: Church Times

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Third Hand Smoke Can Harm Your Kids

Brett Singer — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 15:00:00 GMT

Do you smoke, or do you know someone who smokes? Do you think your kids will be OK as long as they don't smoke around them?

Well, you're wrong.

Everyone knows about second-hand smoke. It's easy to avoid – just don't spend time with smokers when they are, in fact, smoking. However, there's a new danger – third-hand smoke. This new term, coined by doctors from Boston's MassGeneral Hospital for Children, describes, "the invisible yet toxic brew of gases and particles clinging to smokers’ hair and clothing, not to mention cushions and carpeting, that lingers long after smoke has cleared from a room."

And it gets even more fun: "The residue includes heavy metals, carcinogens and even radioactive materials that young children can get on their hands and ingest, especially if they’re crawling or playing on the floor." Cuz kids never play on the floor.

Dr. Philip Landrigan of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York added, "simply closing the kitchen door to take a smoke is not protecting the kids from the effects of that smoke." See, that much I think people knew. But that gross lingering scent that clings to your clothes and hair after you spend time at a bar that still allows people to puff away freely? Who knew that was dangerous too?

So what to do? Avoid smokers? Avoid rooms where smokers have been? Don't go anywhere that smokers congregate? Live in a literal bubble?

I've found that avoiding smoke is fairly easy, but I do know people who smoke. And they smell like it. The fact that's more than just gross might make me think twice before I let them in my house to sit on my furniture. That should be a fun conversation.

Source: NYTimes

Image: MSNBC

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Cigarettes Are Even Worse for Kids Than We Thought

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 22:30:00 GMT

And yet again experts have found that smoking cigarettes is bad for you and everyone around you. Researchers have identified a little known nicotine threat they're calling third-hand smoke: the toxins left behind in a smoker's hair, clothes, and environment long after they've put out their cigarette.

It's particularly important that smokers with kids know about this new threat, since common wisdom has long held that parents can smoke outside or in the car if their kids aren't around. It turns out that the carcinogenic residue left behind by cigarettes can be ingested by babies and children who have never been exposed to second-hand smoke.

Here are just a few of the toxins found in third-hand smoke: carbon monoxide, lead, and arsenic. Probably not stuff you'd like your kids to be ingesting.

Photo: ABC News

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Salma Smoking Hot? NOT!

SunnyChanel — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 21:00:00 GMT

When I see someone puffing on a cancer stick while around a baby or a child, I have the almost uncontrollable urge to grab the cigarette out of their mouth and crush it with the very self-righteous sole of my shoe. We all know about the studies that have shown the effects of second hand smoke, and to expose those precious little lungs of babies, toddlers and kids to their filthy smoke just is unfair.

Parents give up a lot. Sleep, freedom, and all sense of order. One other thing that should be undeniably on that list is the nasty habit of smoking. When seeing the literally smoking hot mom Salma Hayek with her 15-month-old Valentina puffing on cigarette while on a shopping trip, it just rattled my cage as they say. Yes, she did have Grandma watch little Valentina while she stepped away to smoke. And yes, I am being pretty damn judgmental. But it seems like this is a habit she should end for the sake of not only her daughter’s health, but her own.

Does it make you mad when you see parents smoking around their offspring?

Photo: Just Jared

They Say: Smokers' Families More Likely To Go Hungry

Amy Kuras — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 17:02:00 GMT

If you’ve ever smoked (hi!) you know that it’s a powerful addiction and tough to kick. Like, I think quitting smoking was harder than giving birth to either of my children and/or the recovery from c-sections. The only reason I have not started again is remembering how completely heinous quitting was and never, ever wanting to do that again. EV-ER.

Thank God I did that before my kids were born, because it turns out that kids in smoking households are almost twice more likely than kids in nonsmoking households to be underfed and undernourished.

My first response on seeing that was “hell yes, have you SEEN the cost of a pack of smokes these days?” but in all seriousness, yikes. This article said that low income smoking households spend between 2 percent and 20 percent of their income on tobacco.

I like to think I am a better person than that, that if it was food for the kids or another pack of smokes, I’d find a way to quit. But when I remember how nicotine cravings felt like rats nibbling at my skin, I don’t know. And according to the article, parents seem to be more likely to go without food themselves than to deprive their kids, which means while their kids may be undernourished the parents are literally smoking themselves into starvation.

What helped me quit was using every damn thing at my disposal – online support, phone support, drugs, and lots and lots of bitching. Lower income people may not have those things available to them. I’m not sure if I know what the solution is, but certainly boosting food aid and making sure everybody can get help to quit are two good starts.

Smokers No Longer Allowed Foster Children

Brett Singer — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 16:45:00 GMT

The East London borough of Redbridge will no longer allow smokers to be foster parents.

From The Scotsman:

The ban, which was passed unanimously at a cabinet meeting of Redbridge Council last night, means that children in the east London borough will not be placed with foster carers who smoke after January 2010.
Councillors say the move is crucial in protecting children.

I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, children shouldn't be inhaling second-hand smoke because it is a health risk. On the other hand, this is discrimination, isn't it? I'm actually a big smoker's rights guy in certain areas. For example, I think it should be legal for me to start an airline that lets people smoke – Up In Smoke Air. Make smoking illegal on commercial flights, fine. But why can't I start a business where the whole point is to give smokers a place to go? (I'm not a smoker, but I was for many years.)

Another publication, Business Report, has a little more info on the ban:

"Some people will feel it is an intrusion on personal freedoms," said councillor Michael Stark. "But we also know that smoking increases the risk of serious illness in childhood.
"On balance, we have decided children in our care shouldn't grow up breathing second-hand smoke."
...
A spokesperson for Forest, a pro-smoking group, said: "It's going to exclude people who could be outstanding foster parents.
"It sends out an insidious message that smokers in general are unfit parents and I don't think any politician has the right to do that."

Look, it's a nasty, unhealthy habit that has proven to be unhealthy for children (and everyone else) to be around. But is it better for kids to stay in a potentially worse situation? And if this ban is OK, doesn’t that open the door for banning other behaviors? I'm slightly surprised at my reaction to this story, actually. What do you think – is it OK for a government to ban smokers from being foster parents? Or is that going too far?

Source: The Scotsman, Business Report,

Image: Church Times

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They Say: Secondhand Smoke Worse for Kids Than the Rest of Us

JeanneSager — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 14:58:00 GMT

Ever roll your cart out of the department store, right into a cloud of methane, formaldehyde and hydrogen cyanide? If I sound like one of those TheTruth ads, good. I hate when I can't keep my kid from the clutches of the smokers.

For 17 years, I had a several-pack-a-day habit. Then I left home for college. The remnants of a childhood spent living with a smoker now live in the pocket of my purse, a chunky plastic medicated inhaler. A minor cold in my husband quickly settles in my chest, the phlegm choking the air from my lungs.

I'm walking proof of the results of a study released this week that shows secondhand smoke is harder on kids than it is on adults. Scientists at Tufts University in Boston found higher traces of carbon monoxide in the blood of kids who breathed in the secondhand smoke than adults who breathed the same air. Because kids have smaller bodies, they're breathing in a higher percentage of air per body weight - and that can have a determinatal affect on those bodies.

So I was a little shocked when I read the headline of Babble Parental Advisory: Thank You for Smoking. But I don't judge a book by it's cover, so I kept reading.

Rebecca Odes and Ceridwen Morris say a smoking friend shouldn't be banned from hanging out around your kid because of the educational benefits of exposing them to a smoker and the emotional aspect of having an adult friend. I agree you have to talk with your kids about smoking instead of airbrushing smokers out of their lives. Even making a friend smoke outside - but within sight - so you can point out that they're being separated from the party because of their decision to choose something unhealthy can have a positive affect. What kid wants to be kicked out to stand in the rain while everyone's inside having cake and ice cream?

I do think an ultimatum is in order for our friends - or anyone who comes near our kids. I don't care how much of a pain in the ass you have to be. Tell them standing a few feet away, while the wind blows back this way, isn't doing anyone any good. Tell them standing next to the door of the house just means it's going to follow them in when they're done. Tell them to stand in the rain for all you care.

And if you're embarrassed, just think about your kid 17 years down the road, choking over a bowl of steaming hot water, struggling for some air.

Image: CBS News

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Santa Claus says: Smoke More

Brett Singer — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 16:45:00 GMT

Well, that's what he used to say. Check out some of these vintage cigarette ads that were recently profiled in the New York Times.

Of the numerous cancer stick advertisements that now look completely ridiculous, my favorite are these two.

First, the baby:

Yes, I wish my kids would tell me to smoke more.

And of course, there's Santa Claus:

Clearly Santa's throat was scratchy from spending all that time in chimneys. Not the Pall Malls.

Source/images: NYTimes

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Pregnant Women Still Puffing Away

Amy Kuras — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 19:31:00 GMT

I have a confession to make: I am an ex-smoker. I quit five years ago this month and it still ranks as one of the hardest things I've ever accomplished.

I quit because we were trying to have a baby. Nine months later, I finally got successfully knocked up (apparently I had to give birth to myself as a nonsmoker first). And craved cigarettes like I hadn’t since the initial Trainspotting-like detox from smoking – so thank goodness I didn’t have to count on pregnancy to get me to quit.

And if I had (shockingly, less than half of pregnant women do quit), chances are good it would not have stuck. Fully half of all pregnant women who quit during pregnancy go back to it within six months. Some health agencies are trying new approaches to help pregnant women quit, like offering gift cards for X amount of time smoke free.

Women with postpartum depression are much more likely to go back to smoking, and experts point to stress as the cause in other cases. Add in the (mistaken) belief that cigarettes will help you shed the baby weight, and the exhaustion that comes from having a little baby around, and you pretty much have a recipe for relapse. I know since my son arrived five months ago, I have been tempted briefly to smoke and before he was born there were whole weeks at time I never even thought about cigarettes.

For smokers, that smoke break is a little time to yourself, a calming force, and a stimulant all at once. So it makes sense that new motherhood, when all those things are desperately needed, triggers the smoking urge. If you're a new mom and new ex-smoker struggling with the urge, find support (most states have smoking cessation hotlines, and QuitNet helped me enormously) and remind yourself staying off the smokes is easy in comparison to pretty much any common parenting challenge.

Is it fair to take pictures of Britney's kids?

Brett Singer — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 01:53:00 GMT

You may have heard about the photographs of Britney Spears smoking while 2-year-old Sean Preston was playing with her cigarette lighter. Well, the actual photo doesn't quite show that. Here it is:

Now, far be it from me to disagree with the celebrity media machine, but this doesn't look as bad as it sounds. In this pic she looks to be taking the cigarettes away from her child. That would be the right thing to do. The better thing to do would be to not smoke at all, and especially not in front of your kids. Second-hand smoke is very dangerous, especially to little lungs. It also makes me wonder if she was smoking while pregnant, which would be much worse. My guess – and I have nothing to back this up – is that she probably was. As a former smoker, I know how hard it is to quit, and it looks to me like the Britster is quite the nicotine addict.

Here's the part that gets me: the photos were taken at her house. Why? Presumably a photog with a mega-ultra-zoom lens – a "Pavarotti", as El Federline famously referred to them on his ill-fated rap album – was suspended from a helicopter or something and took the shot through her window or on her balcony.

She's a celebrity, and over 18 (although emotionally she might be, like, 12, but let's not go there). But her kids aren't. Not to sound like a celebrity defending dipstick ("LEAVE...BRITNEY...ALONE!"), but maybe there should be a law that prevents the kids from being photographed, at least when they're at home. As someone points out over at MomLogic, they didn't ask to be in this bizarre situation.

There are celebrities whose children you almost never see candid pictures of – Madonna, Howard Stern, Christie Brinkley, and I'm sure there are dozens more that I can't think of at the moment. Of course, those people aren't the unbelievable mess that Brit appears to be. At best, this photo shows poor judgment on her part, not only the smoking but also hanging out with her kid in front of an open window where a sleazoid photographer can get a clear shot. Um, curtains? A really high hedge? Move someplace else?

Of course, if nobody wanted to see the pictures, they wouldn't be worth anything, and photographers wouldn't take them. But that's a different topic.

Here are the rest of the photos. Hey, at least she looks pretty good in her bikini.

images: popsugar.com

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They Say: Coffee Makes Poor Fertility Worse

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 20:23:00 GMT

The bad news is, Dutch researchers have found that caffeine consumption lowers the chances that a woman with poor fertility will be able to conceive. The good news is, we’re talking a lot of coffee.

The study of 9,000 women who had received in vitro fertilization found that drinking four or more cups of coffee a day lowered the chances of conception by 26 percent. Drinking alcohol three or more times a week was equally damaging to subfertile women’s chances of conception, and cigarette smoking and obesity were the worst fertility offenders. In other words, healthier women stand a better chance of conception. (Though I must say that if coffee makes you unhealthy, I don’t want to be well.)

It’s important to keep in mind that these findings do not apply to all women. Fertility expert Bill Ledger colorfully put the study into perspective: “A lot of women can have 20 cups of coffee a day and get pregnant while falling off a log, but if you’re already subfertile, it could push you over the edge.”

Photo: Cafe At Home

Low Birth Weight Babies, Especially Girls, Likely to Develop Autism

Cole Gamble — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 17:05:00 GMT

The possible causes for autism grew by one today as new research finds babies born before term, underweight and especially female are twice as likely to develop autism… This is according to a report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Although it is not understood what this link means, experts say it is further prompting for pregnant women to seek prenatal care. Currently one in every 150 children in the US is autistic and 1 in every 8 children is born premature.

Mommy Needs a Smoke

Rachael Brownell (Redsy) — Thu, 29 May 2008 23:01:00 GMT

Raising children is like taming a wild octopus high on crack, but in a good way. Naturally, parents are often quite interested in ways to relax and unwind after a long arduous day of 'rearing. It's high octane, baby! Which is why Mommy and Daddy and Daddy and Mommy need to C.H.I.L.L.

Luckily, there are plenty of ways to do this that don't involve swearing, screaming, spanking, or drinking...

For example, you could take up exercise. Or? You could eat more fruits and vegetables. Or meditate. Or practice tantric sex.

Or smoke a nicotine-free fancy European cigarette?? You bet!!

In an imperfect world full of parents with truly destructive habits I support finding alternatives that are still edgy but retain an element of health. And sure, we don't want to set a bad example for the kids by smoking away their youth... but we also don't want to be uptight yellers who never have any fun or sell our babies on craigslist.

A good friend of mine is using the Gamucci as a way to quit smoking and it's really working! I don't smoke, but if I decide to start, this is where I'm stocking up!

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Woman Sued For Smoking In Her Own Home

Amy S.F. Lutz — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 17:35:00 GMT

Look, I am no fan of cigarette smoking, and it's not allowed in my house - which means my mother, who visits every couple of months from Florida, has to huddle on the front porch during the long winter months to get her fix.

Still, I'm not sure how I feel about the New York City couple who sued their neighbor, Galila Huff, claiming her cigarette smoke spread into the hallway of their apartment building, making it "smell like a casino," and endangering the health of their son.

Apartment living is tough, no doubt about it. And neighbors have to be considerate of one another to make it work. But how much control can we really expect to exert over our neighbors? Although I'm sympathetic to Jonathan and Jenny Selbin's (both lawyers, by the way) desire not to breathe in second-hand smoke, I would also never want to be sued for doing something completely legal in the privacy of my own home.

Fortunately, the suit was recently settled after a company called Aerus offered to install air-filtration equipment in both apartments free of charge - which, given the notoriously high cost of living in NYC, is probably the most shocking part of this whole story.

Dad's Monkey is Mom's Monkey, Too

Adrienne Martini — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 19:00:00 GMT

In theory, kicking your substance of choice -- whether that is booze, smokes or something more illegal -- should be a piece of cake. Just stop doing it, right? The reality of quitting is a completely different beastie. But cleaning up is even more important when there is a small person in the works.

Moms have a biological reason to stop smoking/drinking/etc when the bun is in the oven and are often able to use that as a tool to quit. Dads, however, seem to get a free pass. A new study out of the University of Washington indicates that dad's habits have a huge impact on mom's behavior, too.

Researchers studied a group of young (21-24 year old) parents. Almost all of those new moms who quit while pregnant were back at the bar and/or bong two years later. Dads didn't appear to cut back their use at all, which created a household environment that made it nearly impossible for mom to stay sober.

Perhaps it may be time, as the Seattle Post-Intelligencer Editorial Board suggests, to stop giving dads a free pass. Or, at least, to realize that they contribute something other than sperm to a growing child.

When Bad Things Happen to Good Peeps

Rachael Brownell (Redsy) — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 13:11:00 GMT

Mama peep smoked a few times while pregnant. She admits it now. Maybe it was the pressure to keep her girlish figure, or all that talk of keeping her nerves calm. Whatever the case, she admits that pack wasn't a good idea...

She thinks she is responsible for her baby's smoking habit...

The effects of such a young, fresh peep smoking can only be used now as a warning to fellow mama and papa peeps.

She hopes it's not too late for the others...

More Peepresearch conducted here....

Cigarettes in Kids Movies, In Life, at Grandma's

Madeline Holler — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 20:34:00 GMT

I can kind of sympathize with Eric Alterman's rage in this post on Media Matters. He's pissed because he took his two 9-year-olds to see "Definitely, Maybe" which, according to him, wound up being cigarette porn instead of a nice father-daughter family flick.

He says the movie glamorized smoking, especially for young females, and also made it appear to be easy to kick the habit.

Also:

It was a two hour cancer commercial. It was morally indefensible and disgusting, since the movie is being marketed to teens and tweens. I wonder if the cigarette companies paid for this kind of loving attention, and I wonder how many people will die of lung cancer to put money in the pockets of the Hollywood moguls who made it.

Strong language, but I get his point. Incidentally, the fact that smoking would be part of the movie was no secret.

Still, here's my question. How DO we bring up smoking with the kids. I live in a part of the country where smoking is banned practically everywhere. You barely even see butts on the ground and it's not terribly common to smell second-hand smoke. (But of course I make a big deal out of gagging when I do.) Would such a movie have been an opportunity to talk about smoking, point it out, say "see, they made smoking look great, didn't they?"

The main smoker in our lives, my mother-in-law, keeps it a big ol' secret from the kids and there are all these euphemisms (lies?) everybody uses to explain why she has to go to the garage but, no, you can't go with her. Isn't that kind of making it interesting by making it secretive and worth lying about too?

So what is it with smoking: should kids see it or not? What do you tell your kids about smoking -- especially if you're a smoker?