Human Evolution

PBS had a great NOVA episode on last night. Part 1 of 3 on "Becoming Human". It was facinating, and interesting for the whole family. My little seedling even enjoyed watching it... although I've got to admit that some of her comments were along the lines of...

"mom, they're not wearing clothes. tee hee hee!"
and
"I can see her bum!"

which is always great for a pre-pre teen.

Part 2 and 3 are coming... can't miss!

I Can't Get No BMI Satisfaction

from my seedling, but I try. Oh how I try...

First of all my disclaimer… I am not in the public health field, and nor will I ever be. However, I do (as most people should) have an interest in certain findings especially if they relate to me and my family. I have a “pre-teen” girl, so these findings are interesting as I am already aware that she is conscious of her body image. Sometimes she likes it and at other times she doesn’t. I just want to know if I’ll be paying for her therapy for years to come.

The study (soon to be) published regarding overweight children and their "happiness" regarding their self-image has interesting results. What was most surprising is that normal weight boys overall had a more negative image of themselves than girls did. However, girls’ satisfaction with themselves was reduced when their BMI increased.

Girls - Poor body satisfaction
Normal 5.7%
Overweight 10.4%
Obese 13.1 %

Boys - Poor body satisfaction
Normal 7.6%
Overweight 8.4%
Obese 8.1%

Now the reason why this is so interesting is that there have been previous studies that claim that poor body satisfaction can be indicative of their future health (namely eating disorders). The authors also claim that the satisfaction of body image can change over time. Are the children at risk for eating disorders always unhappy with their bodies or just sometimes? I can see that I have to read many more papers to see if someone answered that question. Also, these numbers seem relatively low. Only ~13% of obese girls feel that they have poor body satisfaction?! That is not a lot. Less than 10% of all of the boys in each of the 3 different groups felt they had poor body satisfaction. I am surprised because I expected that over 50% of the obese children would feel that they don't like their bodies from the girls and the boys. Very surprising. (And they took a relatively large sample size; over 2000 girls and boys each were analyzed).

Oh well... I will keep my little seedling active (with hockey, soccer, and dance) and save up some money for her therapy ('cause you know its gonna happen; if not this she will have to go because I kept her too active as a child and she missed lounging around and that ruined her for life). But she will keep questioning her image. I know I still do (and I’m relatively happy with my body… all the parts are in the right places, lol, oh my! how expectation lowers as you get older!)

And Open Access:

Austin, B.S., Haines, J., Veugelers, P.J. (2009). Body satisfaction and body weight: gender differences and sociodemographic determinants. BCM Public Health. (In Press) Accessed (August 28, 2009): http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/9/313/abstract

BioMed Central (2009, August 28). 10- And 11-year-olds Feel Pressure To Have A Perfect Body. ScienceDaily. Retrieved August 28, 2009, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2009/08/090826191843.htm

Wildlife in My Backyard

In my yard, we have a new visitor which is quite interesting to watch. The Goldenrod Crab Spider (Misumena vatia) was found preying upon innocent bumblebee's (not sure the exact sp. sorry...I try not to touch other things' lunch, lol) Try and see if you can see it in the picture on the left (click on pics for a closer view). Its in between the two petals in the front. That fuzzy black blob in the yellow centre is its lunch. A poor fuzzy little bee. (I know bee colonies are currently in trouble because of Colony Collapse Disorder, but I can't help it. Watching these spiders attack their prey is fascinating!) These spiders are found throughout Alberta, and due to its size (~7mm), I think that this was a female Goldenrod Crab Spider. (I say "was" because while researching on the type of spider, etc. I haven't seen it since taking the pictures). During my research, I found that these spiders can range in colour from yellow to white, but always has the darker red stripes down its abdomen which is visible in the fuzzy picture to the left. It is very good at blending into this Shasta Daisy (Leucanthemum x superbum var. Alaska), but can be found anywhere waiting for its next snack. After I finished taking its picture, I sat with my little seedling and watched as it dragged the bee across the flower to nestle it between two rows of petals. The next day, it was gone!

Acorn, John and Sheldon, Ian. 2000. Bugs of Alberta. Pg.150. Lone Pine Publishing. Edmonton, AB.

Search & Rescue Insurance SNAFU

I volunteer for Search & Rescue. ERSARA to be exact.

And currently ERSARA is in discussion with SARA (Search and Rescue Alberta) and the Government of Alberta over insurance issues which has been brought to light because of a horrific event this past winter where two skiers went out of bounds and one died.

The Golden, BC Search and Rescue group has officially suspended their operations because they were unable to handle the claim of the remaining skier who is suing them for not rescuing him or his wife. I want to make clear that the reporting has been inaccurate. According to this CBC story back in February, Golden Search and Rescue refused to research the area after the first time they just “unreturned rental skis and missing persons reports at the resort”. Actually, that would be a first, search-wise. I think that would be the resorts job (esp. the unreturned rental ski bit. Mmmm…… I’ve never been trained to look through paper records before.) And then, according to the reporter, the SAR team told the RCMP the case had been looked into before, so they didn’t look again.

First of all, all Search and Rescue operation must be initiated by the police, and are usually coordinated by the police as to where to look, since they receive all information related to the missing persons, etc. They received all information regarding where the SOS’s were located and therefore were the only ones to task the Golden SAR to where to look. An assigned officer is usually always at the search base, and is always updated on where the teams have looked, which quadrant the teams are currently searching in and discussing with the search managers where the teams will look next.

This is a horrific event, I agree. However, the skiers went out of bounds (and they had to know they were going out of bounds, because there were multiple signs warning them) and not only that, they left SOS signs & then walked away!!!
Helicopters repeatedly found the SOS signs but couldn’t find any people. After 10 days they were found, and sadly the wife had passed away by then.

I know the husband is angry and probably is feeling some survivor guilt (why did she die and not me, etc.) but he needs counseling, NOT a lawsuit. Golden SAR just does not have that kind of power to search wherever and whenever they want. We are told (before being accepted into the SAR team) that we CANNOT search without prior go-ahead from the required authority. If we do, we are just any other civilian. No WCB (workers compensation board), no insurance (if our group is lucky enough to have this), no backup. Also there is no affiliation with any SAR, no equipment usage (if that equipment belongs to SAR, of course you can use your own) and no other help.

This is symptomatic of a deeper problem. Why are people that had no responsibility in the accident being punished & why are the very people who were solely responsible allowed to blame (and punish) everyone else?! What happens when a hikers or a child goes missing in the Golden area this summer? They cannot call SAR because of their inability to work because of this lawsuit.

I don’t believe fingers should be pointed at any one agency. Yes, there were communication problems, and yes, mistakes were made, but no one is perfect. Mistakes were made by the skiing couple, mistakes were made by the RCMP, and mistakes were made by SAR. But really, will a lawsuit help anything? No, it will punish volunteers who will no longer feel like volunteering and all of the good that they have accomplished in the past will be forgotten.

Now, I know mistakes will occur in the future (human nature & murphy’s law, ya know), so if you can, please contact your local MLA and MP and tell them that you want SAR Volunteers to be insured. Tell them that you want them in your community for when something goes wrong. We help when someone goes missing and when disasters happen (some ERSARA members helped with Hurricane Katrina, and lots helped with the Pine Lake Tornado). We are a valuable asset to any district and we need support.

Search and Rescue is a unique volunteering community. We are on call 24 hours a day, EVERY day of the year and sometimes we may risk our lives to save yours (we’re not supposed to though). We cannot choose who we help, and we cannot help at all unless we are called in by the police. So please, support your regional Search and Rescue teams, follow signs and use your freakin’ common sense!!!!

http://www.ersara.com/
http://www.saralberta.org/
http://www.sarvac.ca/
www.nss.gc.ca/site/index_e.asp
http://www.aema.gov.ab.ca/

My little Seedling on the ERSARA Quad

A Boycott Against the Most Evil Fiends There Are...

Soda Pop Companies!!!!I am starting my own boycott ASAP. After watching the 100 mile diet on TFN (The Food Network), I started feeling like I should do that as well. But.... frankly, there are things I just couldn't give up. (Coffee, chocolate... get my drift).

However, I AM going to pledge to stop drinking ALL pop. I refuse to buy it. I refuse to order it in a restaurant. I refuse to receive it (nicely though) at someone else's house. And I even (gasp!) refuse to use it as a liquor mixer.

I'm sure my little seedling will have some hard feelings about this, but the #1 thing given up even after the 100 days finished on the 100 miles was pop. The people felt healthier, lost more weight, and weren't wasting their money on useless "food".

OK or Not? Bragging

Alright, I have to brag. Just a little.

My little Seedling had a hockey tournament over the weekend and did great on Sunday. Walked away with Gold in the Atom B division. Also scored 2 hattricks on Sunday (4 goals in one game, three goals & an assist in the other).

And I asked her if she would like to call Auntie & tell her (her Aunt also plays hockey), & Seedling said she did not want to brag, because no one likes to be around a bragger. I thought that was a little sad, as she worked hard in both games, and deserved those 7 goals & 1 assist.

When is it OK to brag?

I know these are not my accomplishments, but I am extremely proud to be her Mom. She works hard for these & deserves them (the amount of practice she puts into her sports is amazing, not school work though... mmmm). I want people we care about to be proud of her too!

But is she right? I know that when other people brag, it makes me uncomfortable (especially when it is nonstop!). Also, lots of other hockey moms post on Facebook and/or Twitter everything their child does, and it becomes a little much, like "Johnny Appleseed won a game" or "Johnny Appleseed made a friend!".
I guess these would be spectacular if he never wins any games or makes any friends, but I know that he does regularly...
And this is not unique. There are many other circumstances when people brag about themselves "I partied so hard on the weekend", or "I just kicked some butt on the green".

So is it different when you are bragging about yourself? Or your child? Do people REALLY want to know how many drinks you had before passing out?

Well, all I can say is I'm glad I let someone know about her weekend. It seems that no one else will if she has her way...