RATINGS GAME|Ban R-rated movies and videos and your kids may be better off for it. Researchers at Dartmouth Medical School who surveyed 2,600 children age 9 to 12 and their parents found that kids whose parents did not let them watch R-rated films were 40 percent less likely to consider using cigarettes or alcohol than those with more-permissive parents. Previous studies have found that teenagers are more likely to try a cigarette if their favorite movie stars smoke – one reason anti-smoking programs have sought to reduce onscreen puffing. The study was funded by the National Cancer Institute and published in Pediatrics.|The Washington Post
WEIGHTY MATTERS|Teen girls who frequently weigh themselves are more likely than others to resort to unhealthful dieting measures, and some end up gaining close to twice as much weight, a study of Minnesota students found. The most scale-obsessed girls in the University of Minnesota research were more likely to skip meals, use diet pills or laxatives, smoke, and binge and purge to lose weight. The study – published in the Journal of Adolescent Health – surveyed 2,516 Minnesota junior high and high school girls and boys in the 1998-99 school year, and followed up in 2003-04.|The Associated Press
