news 2018

Men respond to their spouse's illness just as much as women do and as a result are better caregivers in later life than previous research suggests, according to a new Oxford University collaboration. Men respond to their spouse's illness just as much as women do and as a result are better caregivers in later life than previous research suggests, according to a new Oxford University collaboration.

Teenagers who regularly clash with their parents are more likely to have given time to a charity or humanitarian cause, a study has shown. The survey of 13 and 14 year-olds carried out by academics at Cardiff University, showed those who argued "a lot" with their mother and father, compared to those who "never" argued, were also more likely to have been involved with a human rights organisation in the past 12 months and to have contacted a politician or signed a petition.

Children of migrants to Chinese cities have lower rates of obesity than youngsters in more affluent established urban families - probably because their grandparents are not around to over-feed them, a new study has found. Fewer opportunities for unhealthy snacking and less pressure for academic achievement, leading to more active play, also contribute to migrant children's lower obesity rates.

Mothers who 'connect' with their baby during pregnancy are more likely to interact in a more positive way with their infant after it is born, according to a study carried out at the University of Cambridge. Interaction is important for helping infants learn and develop. Although we found a relationship between a mother's attitude towards her baby during pregnancy and her later interactions, this link was only modest.

Attending universal childcare from age three significantly improves the school readiness of children from immigrant and disadvantaged family backgrounds, a new UCL study has found. However, the research by the Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM), shows the same universal childcare, only has a modest impact on the school readiness of children from advantaged backgrounds.

Three-quarters of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) cases have their origins in poor lung function pathways beginning in childhood. These pathways are associated with exposures in childhood, and amplified by factors in adulthood, according to a cohort study published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine journal.

Some memories containing inaccurate information can be beneficial to dementia sufferers because it enables them to retain key information researchers say. The University of Birmingham researchers suggest that distorted memories play a role in preserving knowledge for someone with dementia and that the role they play should be evaluated.

New research has found no evidence Omega-3 fish oil supplements help aid or improve the reading ability or memory function of underperforming school-children. These findings are in contradiction to an earlier study run by the same team using the same supplement. In the second high quality trial of its kind, published in PLOS-ONE , the researchers found an entirely different result to an earlier study carried out in 2012 , where omega-3 supplements were found to have a beneficial effect on the reading ability and working memory of school children with learning needs such as ADHD.

Researchers have made a major breakthrough in the assessment of language development among bilingual families and in the identification of those children who require extra support to improve their language skills. During a three-year study involving nine UK universities including the University of Birmingham, academics interviewed almost 400 families with two-year-old children learning English and another of 13 common additional languages.