Skip the Spoon

The next time you reach for the cough syrup or administer any liquid medicine to your child, don’t replace a proper dosing device with a teaspoon or tablespoon from your kitchen drawer. In a report published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers from Cornell University found that people underdose and overdose regularly when using regular spoons, even though they’re confident that they’re pouring out the correct amount. Although the differentiating amounts were small (participants dosed 8 percent less than prescribed into medium spoons and 11.6 percent more into larger spoons), the disparities do add up over time—especially if you’re taking a liquid medicine a few times a day for several consecutive days. Children may be especially sensitive to incorrect doses.

Don't Believe Everything you Read

If you’re taking the time to read food labels and menus for nutritional content and calories, you’ve taken a big step forward in being proactive with your diet. Unfortunately, as reported in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, prepared foods may contain an average of 8 percent more calories than their package labels state, and restaurant meals may contain as much as 18 percent more. Even worse is that these variations are within approved FDA regulations. So what’s the big deal? Over the course of a single year, consuming just 5 percent more calories than you need (based on a 2,000-calorie daily regimen) can mean a surprising 10-pound weight gain.

Toddler Tooth Trend

One day, tooth-brushing may be as common in schools as hand-washing—and it’s a new regulation in Massachusetts that’s paving the way for new trends in childhood tooth care. Earlier this year, the Bay State became the first in the country to add toothbrush time to the typical nap-snack-and-play routine of preschools, requiring that all kids who eat a meal at daycare or attend for more than four hours a day brush their teeth during class (or have teeth brushed for them if they’re too young to do it themselves); the new mandate also requires kids to be educated about oral health. Considering that poor dental care is one of the most common and chronic ailments of childhood, the move is being lauded by some as groundbreaking—but long overdue.