Your Health

By Sora Song

GOOD NEWS

TEEN MOMS National birth rates may be up, but through no fault of teenagers. Births to teens ages 15 to 19 declined 3% last year (20% over the past decade) to the lowest rate since recordkeeping began 60 years ago. The drop for teens 15 to 17 was more striking--6% last year--and most dramatic for black teens--30% over the past decade. Praise, said the Department of Health and Human Services, must go straight to parents and to savvier teens, most of them unmarried, who are apparently planning their future with a greater degree of wisdom.

FAT SWITCH In the country's ongoing battle with blubber, researchers have discovered that a protein called Wnt-10b controls fat formation. Wnt-10b inhibited fat precursor cells in mice from becoming full-fledged fat, while, remarkably, cutting off Wnt-10b turned even premuscle cells into flab. Humans also produce Wnt-10b, so further study into what regulates the protein may someday lead to the development of long-awaited antiobesity drugs.

BAD NEWS

RICKETS REDUX Virtually eradicated by the 1960s, the childhood ailment rickets, a vitamin-D deficiency that leads to soft bones, poor growth and seizures, is making a surprise comeback. In a study, doctors found 30 cases among black babies whose mothers had breastfed without vitamin supplements. African Americans are vulnerable because dark skin inhibits absorption of sunlight, needed to produce vitamin D. Tip for moms: use supplements--breast milk has less than 25% of the vitamin D babies need.

FAMILY PLANNING More women are delaying childbirth for careers, but new research provides an unexpected incentive for starting a family early. Doctors have found that the older the mother, the greater the baby's risk of Type 1 diabetes, rising 25% with each five-year jump in age. A 45-year-old mom was three times as likely as a 20-year-old to have a diabetic child.

--By Sora Song

Sources--Good News: National Center for Health Statistics (8/8/00); Science (8/11/00). Bad News: Journal of Pediatrics (8/00); British Medical Journal (8/12/00)