THE WEEK News
What the scientists are saying...
Feed your baby
on demand Should you feed your baby on demand – or try to make him or her stick to a timetable? It’s a ques- tion that has long vexed new mothers, says The Daily Telegraph, and according to the latest research, the answer is that “on demand” is best. Scientists at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane have found that babies who are fed whenever they seem to want it – even if it is merely to soothe – end up with healthier weights than those fed according to a schedule. Researchers followed 293 new mothers for the first two years of their babies’ lives. “Obesity prevention needs to start very early,” said Prof Lynne Daniels. “Babies have an innate capacity to regulate their intake. We are advising mothers to trust their baby.”
Wisdom Wit & “Never invest in any
idea you can’t illustrate with a crayon.”
Wall Street investor Peter Lynch, quoted in Te Australian Financial Review
The wildlife in your tummy button
To claim a FREE copy of The Week please call 0845 357 3003 quoting ‘First Eleven’
VIEWPOINT
How to close the class divide at school
Why, despite endless reforms, do middle- class pupils still do so much better at school than their more deprived peers? Simple, says Jenni Russell: it’s because we’re obsessed with exam performance when we should be thinking about how to build character. Te “critical
www.firstelevenmagazine.co.uk
It’s generally thought to be just fluff, but an analysis of the contents of human navels has revealed some rather more exotic debris: a myriad of bacteria, including 662 unrecognised strains which may even be new species. Ninety-five volunteers had their navels swabbed for the exercise, reports The Independent. Some of the belly buttons were found to be devoid of life, but in the others, a total of 1,400 strains of bacteria were identified. Science writer Carl Zimmer, who took part in the Belly Button Biodiversity study, learned that his navel was harbouring 53 species. “Several, such as Marinomonas, have only been found in the ocean before,” he wrote. “I am particularly baffled that I carry a species
difference between the classes”, as Nobel Prize-winning economist James Heckman pointed out on his recent UK lecture tour, “is not so much intelligence as readiness to learn”. Unlike children brought up in poor
households, middle-class kids tend to pick up qualities such as persistence and self- control in the home. Research shows that before they start school, they’ll have heard six times as many words of encouragement
called Georgenia. Before me, scientists had only found it living in the soil. In Japan.” The researchers behind the project were keen to point out that the vast majority of the bacteria are harmless. “We imagine germs as bad, and yet most are not. Most are either good or simply present,” they said.
young people aged eight to 17 live in households without any books
OF THE WEEK Tree in
STATISTICS ten Te Independent
as reprimands, while “a child on welfare will have been criticised twice for every word of praise”. No amount of literacy hours can make up for that difference. But almost anyone in their formative years “can be taught sociability, concentration and the importance of deferring gratification”. It’ll take time, but implementing Heckman’s ideas could be transformative in the long term. Jenni Russell in The Sunday Times
Autumn 2011 FirstEleven 13
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116