Kids better than adults when it comes to face recognition

October 6th, 2009 MELBOURNE - Experts have criticised the trend where an increasing number of Aussie preschool girls, as young as six, are transforming into sexualised "mini-adults" by wearing bras, nail polish and lipstick. Child development experts said young girls were now entering their "tween" years between being a child and a teenager at the tender age of six, which is five years earlier than previously.

October 1st, 2009 LONDON - Children who gorge on chocolate and sweets daily are more likely to grow into violent adults, says a new research. A study of almost 17,500 volunteers in the British Cohort Study (BCS) found that 10-year-olds who ate confectionary daily were significantly more likely to have been convicted for violence at the age of 34 years.

September 29th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Strict parenting might not be bad for kids at all - it helps them develop leadership qualities as adults, says a new study. Researchers using data from a Minnesota study of twins found that kids raised with an authoritative parenting style, where parents set clear limits and expectations while being supportive of children, assumed more leadership roles at work.

September 14th, 2009 MELBOURNE - A senior member of the Liberal Party of Australia is drawing plans to protect kids from pornography, saying parents who expose their children to explicit material should face criminal charges. Scott Morrison is pushing for changes to the law Down Under after a child protection case surfaced in his Sydney electorate, where a father views blue movies and web videos in front of his kid aged under five.

September 6th, 2009 MELBOURNE - In a shocking revelation, poor parents in an impoverished western Sydney suburb are feeding their young children cannabis to "keep them quiet", a children's charity has disclosed. Counsellors at the Mount Druitt branch of the renowned Ted Noffs Foundation say parents see the practice as an easy alternative to soften their unruly kids.ews.com.au quoted clinical psychologist Michael Kirton as saying: "We are seeing six-year-olds being given bongs by their families to keep them quiet, stop them crying, or put them to sleep.

August 25th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a new study, Finnish researchers have found that adults born with very low birth weight have lower bone mineral density. Led by Dr. Petteri Hovi, from the National Institute for Health and Welfare Helsinki, Finland, the researchers evaluated skeletal health in 144 adults (ages ranging from 18 to 27 years) who were born preterm with very low birth weight.

August 21st, 2009 WASHINGTON - The affectionate bond between kids and their grandmothers is well known. And now, a new study has revealed that frequent visits to nana's place could keep toddlers away from developing negative old age stereotypes.

August 8th, 2009 WASHINGTON - People get happier as they age and exert more emotional control than younger adults, say researchers. "Life expectancy changed because people changed the way they lived," said Dr Lauren Carstensen.

July 8th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A review by Cochrane researchers suggests that progressive resistance strength training not only helps older adults become stronger but also makes their everyday life easier. As people age, muscle strength decreases naturally.

July 8th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Florida Atlantic University engineers in Boca Raton are working on a superior new face recognition technique that can see through disguises. Lin Huang, from the university's Department of Engineering, says that every face has special features that define people, yet faces can also be very similar.

June 29th, 2009 MELBOURNE - Almost two-thirds of the Australian adults have difficulty spelling the word 'embarrass', finds a new survey. The Galaxy survey commissioned by Westpac was conducted on 400 people, aged over 16 years, from Sydney and Melbourne.

June 7th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Couples who live together only for the sake of their kids, despite having problems with each other, should know that such an arrangement isn't really helpful for the children. A study has found that kids in high-conflict married households tend to do no better than those in stepfather and single-mother families.

May 29th, 2009 MELBOURNE - Kids with impaired thought processes are more likely to develop obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) as adults, according to a new study. The study, conducted by Dr Jessica Grisham from the University of New South Wales, suggests that people at risk of developing OCD could now be identified during childhood.

May 25th, 2009 MELBOURNE - Stressing on the importance of play among children, a leading international development psychologist has said that today's kids are not playing enough, which could affect their mental development in adulthood. Dr Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, of Temple University in Philadelphia, has warned that the trouble with the adults of tomorrow is that the children of today are not playing enough.

April 6th, 2009 MELBOURNE - While parents worry over the link between cell-phone and cancer, mobiles are making their way into the hands of kids as young as nine, according to a study. The prevalence of mobiles among kids came to the fore at the time when the independence of Australia's peak mobile phone research group was being questioned.