How Playpens Slowly Disappeared

Adorable 'facial cues' fade at that age: researchers

(NEWSER) - No one's saying that 5-year-olds can't be adorable—but it appears that they're past their prime, in cuteness terms. Researchers in Canada and China polled adults on the cuteness factor of kids from infancy to 6 years old. Subjects called the younger children cuter, with a big shift at age 4½. At that point, key "facial cues" like big eyes and heads combined with small noses and mouths become less apparent, Time reports. More»

Don't feed them pureed meals: study

(NEWSER) - Babies may face a lower risk of obesity if they feed themselves finger food when they're first learning to eat solids, a study suggests. Researchers found that babies who were spoon-fed pureed food developed more of a propensity for sweets than did their finger-fed counterparts; the kids who munched finger food, in a process known as "baby-led weaning," showed more interest in carbs like pasta and rice, AFP reports. More»

Watch TV at age 2, suffer for it at age 10

(NEWSER) - Two-year-olds who watch a lot of TV grow up to become 10-year-olds who are fatter than other kids, are bullied more by peers, and are worse at math. That's what scientists found after tracking more 1,300 Canadian children born in the 1990s. "Our findings make a compelling public health argument against excessive viewing in early childhood, the study's head researcher told the Independent . More»

Offspring of hands-off parents test better: scientists

(NEWSER) - American children whose parents use spanking for discipline have lower IQs than those who aren't spanked, a new study finds. Researchers assessed about 800 2- to 4-year-olds and 700 5- to 9-year-olds and revisited them 4 years later, reporting a dropoff of up to 5 IQ points in kids whose parents engaged in corporal punishment, the Los Angeles Times reports. “The more spanking, the slower the development of the child's mental ability," the lead researcher says. "But even small amounts of spanking made a difference." More»

(NEWSER) - Teens forced to move often by their parents’ jobs are much more likely to attempt suicide than those who stay put, MSNBC reports. Kids between 11 and 17 who moved three or more times were twice as likely to try to kill themselves as children who grew up in the same place, Danish researchers found. If a family moved 10 times, the likelihood of suicide quadrupled the average. More»