U of M News Wire: Jan. 18, 2007

 
 
Out-of-control children’s birthday parties in America lead to pressured and spoiled kids

By Patty Mattern
U of M News Wire

 
Children’s birthday parties are careening out of control in America, leading to pressured parents and overindulged kids. University of Minnesota family social science professor William Doherty along with a group of Minnesota parents have come together to put the brakes on the birthday party craziness.
 
This week they launched their “Birthdays Without Pressure” project in an effort to start a national conversation about the difficulties birthday excesses cause.
 
“We’re raising children who feel entitled to bigger and better parties each year, with more stuff to fill their lives,” said Doherty, a College of Education and Human Development professor. “And parents are feeling pressured to be expert party planners who provide the ‘special experiences’ that only lots of money can buy.”
 
Doherty, who has practiced marriage and family therapy for 30 years, considers “Birthdays Without Pressure” one of the most important public engagement efforts in his U of M career.
 
Overindulgent birthday parties are a phenomenon in urban and rural areas and it’s not just a problem among upper income families. The challenge hits middle-income families as well, Doherty said.
 
“Toys overflow and birthday parties become Hollywood productions,” he said. So Doherty advises parents on how to parent wisely in this too much of everything world.
 
Evidence of out of control birthday parties is everywhere, according to members of Birthdays Without Pressure. Some examples include:
 
• A 1-year-old’s birthday in a Minnesota community had 60 guests, the gift opening takes two hours and the infant sleeps through most of it.
 
• A stretch limousine picks up 7-year-old children and takes them to their friend’s birthday party.
 
• A 6-year-old birthday party guest is disappointed by a St. Paul party without party bags and exclaims, “This is a rip off!”
 
• A rich New York father, David H. Brooks, spent an estimated $10 million on his 13-year-olds party, which included performances by Aerosmith and 50 Cent and $10,000 gift bags for the guests.
 
“Even less extravagant parties are often beyond what many parents want to do, but they feel the pressure of community standards that creep up each year,” Doherty said.
 
Parents say that more extravagant and expensive birthday parties for children are the ultimate example of parents trying to keep up with the Joneses.
 
It seems parents are starting to celebrate children’s birthdays at an earlier age, said Julie Elhard, who has a 6-year-old son. Already by 4-years-old, a child will have a party with 10 to 15 kids and each one of the kids will bring a $10 to $20 gift.
 
At age 5 parents try to deliver even more, Elhard said.
 
“When children get to be 5, the birthday party gets to be quite a production where you have to rent huge inflatable bouncers for the yard or take kids to Chuck E. Cheese’s or to stores where each guest builds their own expensive stuffed animal,” she said.
 
Just at the pizza/arcade alone parents can spend a minimum of $100, she said. And with most parties today, parents provide gift bags costing around $10 for each party guest.
 
Even middle class parents cannot afford this, she said. And Doherty points to a research study by his colleagues showing that low income mothers feel the same pressure to do more than they can afford for their children’s birthday parties.
 
“Every parent wants to do right by his or her child,” Doherty said. “The problem is the escalating standards for what is ‘right.’”
 
Elhard along with Doherty and other parents in the Birthdays Without Pressure group created a Web site where they raise awareness about the problem and offer alternatives for children and parents who want to have birthdays without pressure. The group has also developed a quiz where parents can rate how much pressure they feel personally and in their communities. To visit the Web site, go to www.birthdayswithoutpressure.org

 
 
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Adult stem cells clear a hurdle
- A type of adult stem cell discovered at the University can replace bone marrow in mice -

By Deane Morrison
U of M News Wire
 
 
A type of adult stem cell can replace the bone marrow and regenerate the immune systems of mice, a team of researchers from the University of Minnesota and Stanford University reported this week. If the finding can be extended to humans, it could mean a new and more abundant supply of cells for bone marrow transplant patients. The work is published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.
 
The cells, called MAPCs (multipotent adult progenitor cells), were first identified in 2001 by Catherine Verfaillie, director of the university's Stem Cell Institute, who headed the latest work. True to their name, they can give rise in the laboratory to many tissues, including blood, brain, liver, smooth muscle and the endothelial cells that line the cavities of arteries and veins.
 
A tempestuous history
 
The story of MAPCs has had its ups and downs. At first, many scientists were skeptical about their properties and even their existence because they were hard to grow in the laboratory. But with the advent of improved culture techniques, more laboratories can look forward to repeating and extending Verfaillie's work.
 
One of the early critics was Irving Weissman, director of Stanford's Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine and a co-author of the new study. His inclusion on the research team assured the presence of a dispassionate eye, which is always a good thing in scientific investigations but especially when the stakes are as high as they are in stem cell research.
 
"These experiments point to potential precursors of blood-forming stem cells in an unexpected population of cultured cells," he says, referring to MAPCs. "Scientists must now understand that mouse MAPCs can make normal blood, and we need to explore how they do it."
 
Before MAPCs came along, the prime candidate for replacing blood cells was the cells that do that in normal bone marrow. Called hematopoietic stem cells, or HSCs, they have proved very difficult to grow in large numbers in the laboratory.
 
But large numbers are needed for patients whose own diseased bone marrow has been destroyed by radiation because bone marrow stem cells have a big job to do. They produce both the red cells that carry oxygen to tissues and the several types of white cells that form the basis of the body's immune system.
 
The experiments
 
The Verfaillie team isolated MAPCs from bone marrow of mice and grew them in culture until the cells had divided at least 80 times. They then transplanted the cells into mice whose immune systems had been destroyed by radiation.
 
"The cells not only survived when transplanted, but they completely repopulated the blood system of the mice," Verfaillie says.
 
The MAPCs did not form other cell types, nor did it form tumors in any animals, even though some transplanted MAPCs carried genetic abnormalities as a result of being cultured in the lab so long. Tests showed that white cells derived from the MAPCs had migrated to tissues of the immune system such as the circulating blood, spleen and lymph nodes and appeared to be functioning as immune cells. The chromosomes of those cells tested normal, which led Verfaillie to suggest that the genetically abnormal cells may have been weeded out by the mice's bodies.
 
The researchers also took bone marrow from mice that had received MAPC transplants and transferred it to a new group of irradiated mice. The transplants "took" and regenerated a new blood system in these mice. So did transplants from the second group of mice into a third group.
 
Subsequent research by one of the authors, pediatrics professor Bruce Blazar, has since confirmed the results.
 
"Our results independently confirmed in an additional series of animals the finding that MAPCs can make blood cells," he says.
 
Future directions
 
The researchers stress that much more work must be done with nonhuman animals, and that studies must be replicated with human MAPCs, before any new treatments can become available. It is also possible that someday, transplants of MAPCs into bone marrow will help reduce rejection of other transplanted tissue (for example, liver or the lining of an artery) derived from the same population of MAPCs. That could happen if immune cells arising from MAPC cells in the bone marrow recognize the second transplant as "self" and so refrain from destroying it.
 
Verfaillie has always maintained that her research on adult stem cells does not diminish the importance of investigating the possibilities of all types of stem cells, both embryonic and adult, because it is still too early to know which type(s) will work out best for treating particular conditions.
 
 
 
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Growing Concerns
A column with Dr. Martha Farrell Erickson of the University of Minnesota

 
Question: I am a court appointed special advocate with concerns about a 2- year-old child I’m representing who is currently in foster care. The foster mother is attempting to potty-train the child by making her sit on the toilet until she goes. The child is developmentally delayed and I am concerned with the psychological effects this potty-training tactic may have on her. How should I handle this?
 
Answer: Your concerns are well founded. Forcing potty training before a child is ready can cause a variety of problems, including ongoing difficulty with toileting as well as more general problems in the parent-child relationship. Readiness is the key to effective toilet training. Many typically developing children are not ready at age 2, and it’s extremely unlikely that a 2-year-old with developmental delays would be ready. Even when a child is ready, forcing her to sit on the toilet until she goes is not the best approach.
 
Perhaps in your role as advocate, you can reach out supportively to the foster mother. Let her know you understand her eagerness to have the child out of diapers, but tell her toilet training is more likely to be successful when the child shows the following signs that she’s developmentally ready. Signs include that the child:
 
•  Stays dry for long periods between wet diapers, a sign of a mature bladder
•  Follows a series of simple directions, showing that her language and cognitive skills are advanced enough that she can follow the steps involved in using the toilet independently
•  Knows the words “wet” and “dry” and can feel the difference
•  Can she pull her pants up and down independently
 
Once the child is clearly ready, it’s important to make potty training a positive experience. Many parents find it helps to put the child in colorful “big girl” underwear as well as reading to the child entertaining books about using the potty. Parents also say that getting a doll that wets and having the child help teach the doll to use the potty is effective.
 
Whatever strategies a parent uses, an emphasis on success will make the process go more smoothly. Accidents are bound to happen and should be handled matter-of-factly by saying something like  “Oops, let’s clean up that mess and try again.” But when the child successfully uses the toilet -- and, at frequent intervals in between when a panty-check shows that the child is dry -- it’s time to heap on lots of praise, bright stickers, or special treats. With patience, consistency and encouragement, a parent or foster parent will pave the way for an easier time with other parenting tasks in the future.