Copyright 2000 Daily News, L.P.
Daily News (New
York)
April 30, 2000, Sunday SPORTS FINAL EDITION
SECTION: LIFELINE; Pg. 16
LENGTH: 1289 words
HEADLINE:
THE EARLY YEARS
BYLINE: BY LESLIE DICKSTEIN
BODY:
HELPING CHILDREN HEAR0-2 YEARS
One of
the greatest pleasures of new parenthood is hearing your baby respond to your
voice with his first coos and gurgles. Yet many children - thousands each year -
may go for months without hearing anything - from the sound of a rattle to their
parents' "I love you" - because they leave the hospital with undetected hearing
loss.
According to the National Campaign for Hearing Health, some 12,000
babies are born with some form of hearing loss each year. Yet less than half of
all newborns have their hearing tested before leaving the hospital. Their
disability may go unnoticed until they are school age or even older.
"Deafness is the most common birth defect," says Cameron Page, an NCHH
associate. "Yet even a lot of pediatricians and doctors aren't aware of the
importance of [infant hearing tests]. Parents have to be proactive."
That's the message the NCHH hopes to get out through "May Babies," an
initiative that aims to increase infant hearing screenings by
at least 50%.
The NCHH has published a national report card identifying
which states support or mandate universal newborn hearing screenings. Currently,
according to the report, New York rates unsatisfactory (only 9.7% of newborns
are screened). But a new law mandating statewide screenings may increase the
numbers by the fall.
"All babies born in the state will be screened for
hearing loss," says Lynn Spivak, director of the Hearing and Speech Center at
the North Shore Long Island Jewish Hospital. "The sooner we get to those babies,
the better off they are."
In the meantime, suggests Spivak, parents can
request in-hospital screenings or take their baby to an outpatient audiology
center. High-risk babies - those born prematurely or who have a facial or
cranial abnormality, some kind of syndrome or a family history of hearing loss -
should almost always be tested.
DIFFERENT ROADS3-5 YEARS
Even if
you think you know someone inside out, their parenting style may surprise you.
Your old college friend may let her kids run wild until they collapse into bed
at midnight. Your neighbor may think a slap on the behind is the best cure for a
child that won't behave. Even your spouse may come up with a punishment that
knocks you for a loop.
What should parents do in such circumstances? Say
something to your friend about her methods of discipline, and you risk ruining
the relationship. Keep your mouth shut, and your child gets exposed to
potentially damaging behaviors.
"The first thing for parents to keep in
mind is that there are different strokes for different folks," says Arlene
Eisenberg, co-author of the "What to Expect" series. "There isn't just one right
way to parent. What may seem like bad parenting to you may be perfectly good
parenting for someone else."
On the other hand, she says, if a friend is
doing something you really object to - hitting her children, for example, or not
putting her children in car seats - you might try saying something in a
noncritical way. Try, "You know, I recently read somewhere that spanking doesn't
work because it ends up teaching kids that hitting is an acceptable way of
expressing anger."
Or use yourself as an example. Say, "You know, I used
to let my children go to bed whenever they wanted, but I found they actually
like having some kind of structure because it makes them feel safe."
But
ultimately, says Eisenberg, parents must consider the needs of their children
first. If you don't want your child exposed to spanking, for example, you may
want to forgo play dates with certain families for a while. You can still
maintain the adult relationship. Just don't bring the kids.
MEDIA,
ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO6-10 YEARS
For many kids, media consumption is a
full-time job. They're spending up to 40 hours a week plugged in to some form of
entertainment - television, movies, the Internet, CDs.
But what messages
are kids getting from their steady diet of Hollywood and technology?
According to a recent Kaiser Family Foundation report, nearly 90% of the
most popular movies show people - usually attractive, high-status characters -
smoking. Though less common than on the big screen, lighting up is fairly common
on TV, too: According to the report, about 22% of the most popular TV programs
show smokers, most of whom are the kind of person your kid might emulate.
Alcohol has an even rosier image in movies and TV. Three out of four
episodes of the most popular TV shows depict alcohol use and almost all movies
(93%) show characters drinking (and without any consequences). Researchers say
it's unclear whether watching people smoke, drink or do drugs causes a child to
take up the behavior. But one thing is certain: Repeated media exposure to
successful, attractive people using alcohol, tobacco and drugs reinforces the
idea that such behaviors are normal.
"It's important to think about how
[substances] are being depicted, and what message is being communicated," says
Vicky Rideout, Kaiser's entertainment media and public health program director.
For starters watch or listen to what your kids are tuned in to, and
encourage them to think critically about the content. "Especially kids who are
in that special window - age 8 to 12," says Rideout. "Evidence shows that kids
in that age group want to hear from their parents. After that time, a parent's
influence goes down markedly."
Another recommendation: monitor the
amount of time children spend with media. "Two-thirds of the kids in this age
group have televisions in their bedrooms," says Rideout. "That leads to more
isolated, uncommented upon media consumption."
STEROID ABUSE11-15 YEARS
With teens under pressure to look and perform their best, the use of
anabolic steroids is on the rise. Despite serious side effects, steroid use has
jumped substantially in recent years, particularly among girls and athletes.
Anabolic steroids can only be obtained legally if you have a perscription; but
children say they are easy to get on the street. Steroid supplements such as
Dehydroepian-drosterone (DHEA) and Androstenedione (ANDRO) are widely available
at retail stores.
A recent report from the National Institute on Drug
Abuse shows that from 1998 to 1999, steroid use rose from 1.2% to 1.7% for
eighth-graders, and from 2% to 2.7% for 10th-graders. The increase is even more
pronounced among athletes, ranging from 4% to 12% during the same period. Most
troubling, experts say, is NIDA's finding that while steroid use is going up,
knowledge of the drugs' risks is decreasing. "The perception of harm going down
has always been a predictor that use is going to increase," says Timothy Condon,
NIDA's associate director. "This information needs to get to the the kids and
the parents."
Anabolic steroids can stunt bone growth in adolescents and
permanently damage the heart, liver and kidneys. In males, it may cause
impotence, reduced sperm production, shrunken testicles and permanently enlarged
breasts. In girls, side effects include irreversible lowering of the voice,
smaller breasts and excessive body hair.
NIDA is backing a prevention
program called ATLAS (Adolescents Training and Learning to Avoid Steroids),
developed by Drs. Linn Goldberg and Diane Elliot, both of the Oregon Health
Sciences University. Unlike other drug programs, ATLAS is a team-centered
effort. Children learn that good nutrition and healthy training are not only
good for them, but good for teams they play on.
Goldberg says, "What you
need are coaches, who can be very influential, parents, who can be very
influential, and teammates."
The ATLAS program is a product of Sunburst
Technology and is available on the Web at Sunburst.com for an initial fee of
$149.95.
GRAPHIC: PHOTODISC
LOAD-DATE: May 1, 2000 
