Gender stereotyping is more hurtful than society thinks

Unconsciously or not, many parents promote gender stereotyping among their children, and have certain expectations of them which meet these stereotypes. While many might find this nurturing for a child’s development, they are actually extremely damaging, increasing violence, depression, and suicide rates among them.

Gender stereotyping is the same across many cultural backgrounds

Researchers were interested in how gender stereotyping affects children, so they took interviews of 450 children and their parents. These children came from 15 countries, spread all over five continents. Although there are some cultural differences among these countries, the stereotypes remain quite the same. Boys have to be the strong ones, and girls the vulnerable ones.

Gender stereotyping is everywhere, but it starts from an early age, in the familial environment. Then, as children grow up, they find it in class, at their workplace, in church, and basically everywhere on the street.

Since boys were taught to be tough, and girls got used to be the weaker ones, the latter let themselves become victims, and faced more problems. This led to an increase in the number of girls who dropped out of school, got infected with HIV during unhappy sexual incidents, or became pregnant at an early age.

Stereotypes affect equally boys and girls

However, gender stereotyping cuts both ways. Those boys who don’t manage to meet the standards are also likely to experience a downfall. If they feel they don’t fit the expectations, boys can easily get addicted to alcohol, cigarettes, and a violent behavior.

The problem seems more prevalent among teens, but it actually starts during early childhood. Young boys are taught to be more aggressive at an early age, while girls are made to think they are not fit to be tougher, or to occupy a leading position later in life. Also, many girls find boys smarter precisely because of this.

Although gender stereotyping is everywhere, we often get to ask too much of our children. They shouldn’t grow up to some standards, but follow their own path and do whatever makes them happy. Also, they shouldn’t be made to feel guilty if they are a bit different. All the details of this study have been published in the Journal of Adolescent Health.
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The pen can identify cancerous tumors in 10 seconds

Cancer is a destructive disease which can significantly shorten a person’s lifespan. Therefore, during surgery, doctors should make sure they take everything out, and not omit any possible tissue which could be a malignant growth. Therefore, a team of researchers from the University of Texas devised a method to detect cancerous tumors during surgery.

The pen can tell if a tissue is cancerous or not

Identifying other possible tumors while performing cancer surgery is not an easy task, but the life of the patient might depend on it. Therefore, researchers thought of creating a device to help doctors on this tough quest. This device, called MasSpec Pen, can tell if a tissue is cancerous or not in about ten seconds.

Therefore, as surgeons are taking out cancerous tumors they are already aware of, they can take this pen and test other strange-looking tissues. The device will help them find out if they have to take out more tissue than they previously thought. This is a great method, as they don’t have to perform surgery again on the patient, in case another tumor is discovered.

Accuracy increases for bigger samples of tissue

The pen functions in quite an easy way. It lets off a drop of water, which can be shed over the tissue in question. Then, this drop of water extracts molecules from the tissue, which are analyzed by a spectrometer present in the pen. A few seconds later, the analysis is complete, and doctors can find out if they stumbled upon another malignant tumor.

Researchers have managed to test the pen on 253 samples of tissue, and the results have been impressive. The testing returned a 96 percent accuracy rate, which is really close to showing the device is foolproof. However, the pen worked better on bigger samples, and researchers are now trying to create a newer version to deal with smaller samples as well.

Researchers summed up all their findings in a paper published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
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A new study found that as many as 6 million seniors don’t even walk for 10 straight minutes once a month. Researchers warn of an ‘inactivity epidemic’ plaguing middle-aged people.

Past studies had shown that inactivity can boost the risk of serious health conditions like heart disease, stroke, cancer, and Alzheimer’s even in younger people. The Public Health England found that 41% of people aged 40 to 50 years walk less than 10 minutes at a pace of 3 mph per month.

PHE is behind a nationwide camping targeting the sedentary middle-aged population which encourages them to at least walk to the store instead of using their motor vehicle. Seniors and middle-aged adults are also encouraged to walk on lunch breaks if they want to have a healthy life later on.

Government researchers think that brisk walking for ten minutes daily is achievable even by the most inactive people. The exercise can increase mobility, improve mood, lead to a healthy weight, and even slash the risk of dying prematurely by 15%.

Brits Encouraged to Walk More and Faster

Just walking doesn’t require equipment, new skills, or a gym membership. According to guidelines from the UK’s chief medical officers, adults should do at least 2.5 hours of moderate intensity activity per week.

But the PHE found that 6 million Britons are doing less than half an hour of exercise per week. So, asking these individuals to exercise for 150 minutes per week is unrealistic, PHE researchers wrote in their report.

PHE’s One You campaign encourages inactive adults to walk briskly for just 10 minutes per day. The group has released an app called Active 10 which monitors users and enables them to achieve the goal. GPs were instructed to recommend the app to their patients too.
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A new study found that having a best friend during high school years can improve your mental health in young adulthood. The study revealed that kids aged 15 and 16 with a close friend were more likely to report lower levels of depression and social anxiety through age 25 than their more popular colleagues who lacked a bestie.

Past studies had found too that friendship is teen years is associated with stronger mental health and better academic motivation in later years.

Lead author of the study Rachel K. Narr said her team wanted to know more details on the association such as long-term benefits and how long those benefits last. Narr noted that she had a gut feeling that teens with best friends were more advantaged than their peers without a close friend.

The latest study involved 169 teens who were tracked for more than a decade. The kids had different economic and social backgrounds and were of different races and ethnicities. Kids were interviewed at age 15 and 25.

They had to answer questions about who their besties were, and for how long they knew each other. The interviews also included questions on the level of depression, social anxiety, self-worth, and social acceptance.

Popular Kids Not Necessarily Happy

The study authors made sure that the reported best friends were indeed best friends and the kids who were more popular had evidence about their popularity from others. Researchers focused on “high-quality friendships” which include a high degree of support and attachment.

Researchers explained that there are two kinds of popularity: some people are genuinely likable and a people’s attractor, while other people actively seek popularity and when they get it they use it as power.

Scientists explained that likable people tend to have healthier relationships and even live longer, while status-obsessed people usually end up depressed, anxious, or with addiction issues.

The study was published this week in the journal Child Development.
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