Infotrak

David Mizejewski, Naturalist at the National Wildlife Federation talked about the benefits of allowing leaves to decompose naturally, rather than raking them up and disposing of them. In addition to serving as a natural fertilizer, he said butterflies and songbirds depend on leaf litter for food sources. He also discussed the environmental impact of bagging up lawn debris for disposal.

The number of children in the U.S. foster care system is at record levels, thanks in part to the opioid crisis. With nearly 450,000 children in the system, Diane Redleaf, family defense attorney, author of They Took the Kids Last Night: How the Child Protection System Puts Families at Risk discussed what happens when caseworkers make mistakes, taking children from parents who are neither abusive nor neglectful. She noted that minority families are disproportionately affected by this trend. She also said that once children are taken, parents and their attorneys sometimes can’t learn where the children are being housed.

Scammers have devised a new scheme to steal thousands of dollars from home buyers who are about to close on a house. Ryan Kalember, Senior Vice President of Cybersecurity Strategy for online security company Proofpoint said buyers are often tricked into wiring their down payment on the day of closing to a fraudulent offshore account, by criminals who have hacked their real estate agent’s or title company's email account. He explained how consumers can protect themselves.

In this age of smartphones, Twitter and information scrolling at the bottom of TV screens, Americans are reading faster than ever. Thomas Newkirk, PhD, Professor Emeritus, University of New Hampshire believes this is a negative trend, and that readers get greater enjoyment and comprehension when they read slowly. He talked about the reasons why people tend to skim text, and techniques they can use to slow down.

Materialism may be more common than ever. Lan Nguyen Chaplin, PhD, Associate Professor of Marketing, University of Illinois at Chicago led a study that tested ways to reduce materialism among young consumers. She found that a teenagers who completed a two-week gratitude journal were significantly more grateful, more generous and less materialistic.

Bonnie Halpern-Felsher, PhD, Professor of Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine led a study that found that teens and young adults who use Juul brand e-cigarettes are failing to recognize the product's addictive potential, despite using it more often than their peers who smoke conventional cigarettes. She said the nicotine levels in a single Juul pod are the equivalent of smoking 1 ½ to 2 packs of cigarettes. She also discussed the high vulnerabilities of teens to brain changes caused by e-cigarettes, as compared to people in their twenties.

Alan Monheit, PhD, Professor of Health Economics and Chair, Department of Health Systems & Policy in the School of Public Health, Rutgers University led a study that examined the relationship between parental education and family healthcare spending. He found that parents educated beyond high school spend significantly more on healthcare, despite differences in family income and health insurance. He also discussed differences he found in healthcare decisions made by single-mother families compared to two-parent families.

Air pollution in the U.S. has decreased since about 1990. Jason West, PhD, Professor of Environmental Sciences and Engineering at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health led a study that found that this improvement resulted in a 47% decrease in deaths related to air pollution exposure. He noted that, despite clear improvements, air pollution remains an important public health issue in the U.S., with an estimated 71,000 deaths in 2010. He discussed the effectiveness of tree planting programs and other steps ordinary people can take to help.

Sarah Stanley Fallaw, PhD, industrial psychologist, researcher, and president of DataPoints, author of The Next Millionaire Next Door: Enduring Strategies for Building Wealth wrote a follow up to her father’s classic book “The Millionaire Next Door.” She talked about several myths relating to millionaires and how they accumulate wealth. She discussed the importance of living below your means, and how to identify and develop behaviors that are conducive to building wealth.

Deborah Thorne, PhD is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Idaho, and Principle Investigator on the nationally-recognized Consumer Bankruptcy Project. Dr. Thorne’s research paper entitled “Graying of U.S. Bankruptcy: Fallout from Life in a Risk Society” found that the rate at which Americans age 65 and older are filing for bankruptcy has more than tripled since 1991. She outlined a number of factors that may contribute to this problem, including rising healthcare expenses and a lack of financial knowledge or discipline to properly save for retirement, since pensions have been replaced by 401k plans.

Andrew Gewirtz, PhD, Professor in the Institute for Biomedical Sciences at Georgia State University was the co-author of a surprising study that found that adding highly refined fiber to processed foods could have negative effects on human health, including liver cancer. He explained what ingredients consumers need to watch for on processed food labels. He said the simplest solution is to eat fruits and vegetables naturally rich in soluble fiber, rather than processed foods.

Elizabeth Saewyc, PhD, RN, FSAHM, FCAHS, FAAN, Professor of Nursing at the University of British Columbia conducted a recent survey that found that boys—not girls—are more likely to report being victims of dating violence committed by partners who hit, slap or push them. While there has been an overall decline in dating violence, she believes that it may still be socially acceptable for girls to hit or slap boys in dating relationships. She suggested that teenagers who date need more support and education programs to address this problem.

Gail J. McGovern, President & CEO of the American Red Cross discussed the Red Cross’ response to the catastrophic damage left by hurricane Michael. She outlined the greatest challenges faced by relief workers on the ground. She said the Red Cross’ greatest needs are blood donations, volunteers and financial donations.

Crime analyst Jeff Asher discussed his research into the connection between weather and gun violence. He found that twice as many people are shot in northern cities on hot days compared to cold ones. He also talked about the potential long term effects of climate change on crime rates.

Ken Dychtwald, Ph.D., gerontologist, psychologist, CEO of Age Wave, a company that conducts research on issues relating to aging populations discussed his recent survey that uncovered the staggering amount of financial support that parents are providing to their adult children. He found that 79% of parents are providing money to their children between age 18 and 34, and the average was $7,000 a year. He said that figure is twice the amount that parents are putting into their own retirement accounts. He explained the possible reasons behind this trend.

Suicide is a national public health issue that affects all Americans, but it is a particularly serious problem among both active duty service members and military veterans. Keita Franklin, PhD, Executive Director of Suicide Prevention for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs discussed the possible reasons behind this trend. She also talked about a new VA campaign intended to increase the availability of mental health and suicide prevention resources for at-risk veterans.

Jean M. Twenge, PhD, is Professor of Psychology at San Diego State University, and author of the book iGen. According to her latest research, fewer than 20 percent of U.S. teens report reading a book, magazine or newspaper daily for pleasure, while more than 80 percent say they use social media every day. She noted that the decline in reading print media was especially steep. She explained why this is such cause for concern and what parents can do to counteract it.

Last year's flu season was one of the deadliest in the last 40 years, with an estimated 80,000 deaths in the U.S. Lisa Lockerd Maragakis, MD, MPH, Senior Director of Infection Prevention at the Johns Hopkins Health System in Baltimore explained why it is important to get a flu shot in October. She discussed the different types of flu vaccine available and dispelled some of the most common myths about it.

Amanda Dixon, Analyst and Senior Reporter at Bankrate.com outlined the results of a recent Bankrate.com survey that found that American households with the lowest incomes spend the most on items they don't need, such as lottery tickets, restaurant food and prepared drinks, like coffee and smoothies. She said even minor changes in a person’s spending can have a dramatic impact on their ability to build an emergency savings fund.

The impulse for parents to protect their children is strong, but Kevin Leman, PhD, psychologist, author of When Your Kid Is Hurting: Helping Your Child through the Tough Days said that very protection can end up handicapping them for life. He said that rather than seeking to save them from unhappiness or struggle, parents must teach their kids how to cope with and rise above their problems. He discussed the importance of listening and offered techniques to get kids to talk about their problems.