U of M News Wire: July 19, 2007

 
Fish is an important part of a healthy diet
People should pay attention to consumption guidelines

By Deborah Swackhamer
U of M News Wire

Fish is an important part of a healthy, balanced diet. High in heart-healthy omega 3 fatty acids, fish is a low-fat source of protein and nutrients. Reports about chemical contamination in water, however, raise questions about how these chemicals may affect your health. It's a balancing act: to be both healthy and safe, you should eat fish, but avoid unlimited consumption.
 
All fish--whether caught locally or purchased in restaurants and stores--contain some environmental chemical contaminants. Three types of chemicals are found in Minnesota fish: mercury, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and perfluorinated compounds (PFCs). These chemicals come largely from industrial sources and man-made products that pollute air and landfills. Over time, they enter lakes, rivers, or oceans and move up through the food web, eventually accumulating in fish. Fish that are bigger, older, or higher in the food web have the most contaminants.
 
The government regulates the safety of commercially sold fish and issues advisories about fish consumption. Minnesota was one of the first states to develop these advisories and has some of the most rigorous procedures for determining advice it provides. The Minnesota Department of Health's Web Site includes a fish consumption advice section, offering resources for anglers and fish consumers.
 
Mercury, PCBs, and PFCs have negative effects on human health, particularly on early development. Because of the impact of these chemicals on developing fetuses, infants, and young children, fish consumption guidelines are stricter for women who are pregnant or might become pregnant, women who are breastfeeding, and children under the age of 15 than they are for the general population. For example, women of childbearing age and children should avoid shark, swordfish, tilefish, and king mackerel because they have high mercury levels, while the general population should limit consumption.
 
At the University of Minnesota, scientists are studying why fish have higher levels of chemical contamination than other meats, such as beef or chicken. The length of the food web appears to be important. While cows and poultry are part of a short food web, fish are near the end of a longer food web. Because each step in a food web has an additive effect on chemical build-up, contaminants can reach significant concentrations in the fish on your dinner table. Understanding this "bioaccumulation" of chemicals may be the first step in developing strategies to interrupt or minimize the process, improving food safety.
 
When it comes to eating fish:
 
         • Eat a balanced diet that includes some fish;
 
         • Choose smaller varieties when eating local fish; and
 
         • Remove skin and fat to lower the level of PCBs. Mercury cannot be removed by cooking or cleaning fish.
 
Deborah Swackhamer is professor of environmental health sciences in the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota and interim director of the Institute on the Environment.

 
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U of M offers one-day class about the central role of honeybees
Researchers will explain why bees are important and the reasons for their recent decline

By Justin Ware
U of M News Wire

Honey Bees do more than make honey. They are also the world's most important insect pollinator of fruit and vegetable crops, home gardens and wildflowers. It has been estimated that honey bees are involved in the pollination of nearly one-third of all the food eaten by Americans; and the honey bee population is in trouble.
 
Members of the public who are interested in bees can attend a one-day University of Minnesota course that will give expert knowledge on the reasons for the decline in the honey bee population. People in the class will also learn about research being done on bees at the U of M and how that research is key to keeping the honey bee population strong in the United States.
 
During this one-day course in the Curiosity Camp program, the public is invited to discover why the number of bee colonies and beekeepers is steadily declining in the United States, how diseases and pests impact honeybees, and how urban sprawl and modern agricultural practices and pesticide use in the environment are putting at risk important sources of food for all Americans. They will learn about the research being conducted in U of M professor Marla Spivak's lab, which centers on keeping bees healthy.
 
Participants will also take a field trip to the university's apiary, where they will put on protective clothing (provided at the apiary) for an up-close tour of life in the hive. They will meet a new honey bee developed at the university called "Minnesota Hygenic" that is good at keeping hives clean and free of a destructive parasitic mite, and will learn how this new strain of honey bees is key to the future of beekeeping across the country.
 
The instructor, Spivak, is a University of Minnesota Extension entomologist and associate professor in the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences. She has worked as a commercial beekeeper and has studied beekeeping in Peru, Venezuela, Costa Rica and throughout the United States. In 2005, the American Beekeeping Federation gave her its award for "Researcher that Conveys Science Most Easily to Beekeepers."
 
Curiosity Camps are daylong learning retreats for adults. Most begin with a morning lecture and discussion, followed by an afternoon field trip or hands-on activity. "Busy as a Honeybee" begins at 9:30 a.m., August 1, at the Continuing Education and Conference Center, 1890 Buford Ave., St. Paul.
 
Camps cost $125 each; discounts apply for University of Minnesota Alumni Association members and Circle of Scholars members. For information or to register for a Curiosity Camp, visit www.cce.umn.edu/curiosity or call (612) 624-4000.
 
 
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Growing Concerns
A parenting question-and-answer column with Dr. Martha Erickson of the University of Minnesota
 
Question:  My 3-year-old daughter has been on the waiting list for two preschools and we just found out she got into both for this fall. So now it’s decision time and we’re torn about which one to send her to. One is a lively, play-oriented school where the kids look like they’re having a lot of fun. The other is a more quiet, serious environment with a strong emphasis on reading and math. The schools in our suburb are very competitive and we don’t want our daughter to start kindergarten at a disadvantage. But our guts tell us she needs time to be a kid. Can you provide some guidance?
 
Answer: Fortunately having fun does not mean sacrificing learning. And getting children ready for school success does not require a quiet, serious environment -- especially at the age of 3. Children learn a great deal through play, particularly in an environment with interesting things to explore and adults to provide developmentally appropriate guidance and encouragement.
 
Young children are naturally curious and eager to learn. Whether acting out a favorite story, measuring ingredients for cookies or taking care of the class guinea pig, children absorb important concepts in language, math and science that will serve them well when they move into the K-12 education system.
 
Equally important to future school success are the social and emotional skills children develop through active interaction with classmates and teachers -- skills such as focusing attention, expressing emotions appropriately and respectfully, understanding other people’s feelings and solving problems together. A well-run “lively, play-oriented” preschool can provide all these things and more.
 
Several years ago Dr. Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, a psychology professor at Temple University, conducted a study that compared children who attended an academic preschool with those who attended a play-oriented preschool. She found no short- or long-term differences in school achievement between the two groups. And, in elementary school, children who had attended the academic preschool were less creative and more anxious than those who had attended the play-oriented preschool.
 
Hirsh Pasek, with colleague Roberta Michnick Golinkoff, has written a book called Einstein Never Used Flashcards: How Our Children Really Learn-and Why They Need to Play More and Memorize Less (2003). This book may be helpful as you decide which preschool will best suit your daughter. The authors also offer creative ways you can encourage your daughter’s learning at home, while having fun at the same time.
 
Dr. Erickson is a senior fellow and director of the Harris Programs in the Center for Early Childhood Education at the University of Minnesota
 
Want to hear more parenting advice?
Dr. Erickson and her daughter can be heard every Sunday, from 2 - 4 pm, on “Good Enough Moms,” on FM107.1 radio in the Twin Cities or via Webcast at www.FM1071.com