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Now it appears that what a pregnant woman eats can also affect her baby’s telomeres.
Animal research suggests that modest protein deprivation in pregnancy causes accelerated telomere shortening in the offspring in a number of tissues, including the reproductive tract, and can lead to earlier mortality.8 When a mother rat is fed a low-protein diet during pregnancy, her daughters have shorter telomeres in their ovaries.
The granddaughters were victims of early cellular aging, all as a result of a low-protein diet two generations earlier.
Babies born at a low birth weight carry an increased risk for cardiovascular disease as they get older,
Rat pups that are born to mothers who don’t get enough protein tend, like their human counterparts, to have a low birth weight. And just like human babies, they often experience a later rebound of weight gain. Susan Ozanne at the University of Cambridge has found that these rat pups have shorter telomeres in the cells of several organs, including the heart aorta. They also have lower levels of an enzyme known as CoQ (ubiquinone). CoQ is a natural antioxidant that is found mostly in our mitochondria, which play a role in energy production. A CoQ deficit has been associated with faster aging of
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Babies of mothers who have inadequate folate during pregnancy have shorter telomeres, further pointing to folate as vital for optimal telomere maintenance.
when mothers experience severe stress and anxiety during pregnancy, their babies tend to have shorter telomeres in their cord blood.17 A baby’s telomeres can suffer from prenatal stress.
the volunteers who had been exposed to prenatal stress were different in a several ways—even after controlling for factors that might influence their current health. They had more insulin resistance. They were more likely to be overweight or obese. When they underwent a lab-stressor test, they released more cortisol. When their immune cells were stimulated, they responded with higher levels of proinflammatory cytokines.19 Finally, they had shorter telomeres.
checking out safer cleaning products and cosmetics here: http://www.ewg.org/consumer-guides. Additionally, plastic PVC shower curtains, perfumes, and other fragrance-containing items such as scented candles may be a significant source of toxins.
an estimated eight million children currently housed in orphanages around the world.
Think for a second, and you’ll surely have no problem producing examples of adults you know who struggle to regulate their emotions. These are the people who detonate at the slightest provocation.
Moderate adversity in childhood, however, can be healthy. Adults who report having a few—but just a few—adverse experiences
in their youth have healthy cardiovascular responses to stress. Their hearts pumped more blood and got them ready to face the situation; in other words, they experienced a vigorous challenge response.
Teaching children how to cope well with stress (versus protecting them from all disappointments) is the key.
Children (and adults) with more variations in the genes for neurotransmitters that regulate mood, like dopamine and serotonin, tend to be more sensitive to stress. They’re orchids. Those most stress sensitive, based on genetics, tend to benefit more from supportive interventions and will thrive.
anger can have telomere-shortening effects,
If you grew up in a dangerous neighborhood, in an abusive home, or if your family had to struggle just to get food and shelter, your telomeres may have experienced some damage.
By becoming less stress reactive, you will protect your telomeres—and
the writer Pico Iyer refers to smartphones as “weapons of mass distraction.”
See if you can spend twenty minutes talking to a child, playing a game, or just enjoying his or her presence, without a phone or tablet computer nearby.
So the next time your child is under stress, try saying something that acknowledges his or her feelings, such as “You look frustrated.”
An argument cannot escalate if you are not part of it. Sometimes it helps to say you need a time-out for yourself, a small dose of time and space in a different place.
In the heat of the moment, you may remind yourself that although adolescents may look like grown-ups on the outside, they are still children on the inside. They need you to be clear and steady, not to get tangled up in their drama. Remind yourself you’re the one in the room with the adult brain—and that you have the power to remain calm and to avoid escalating the argument. Also, in calm moments, be curious. Rather than tell your teen what to do, ask him or her questions.
A loving relationship with your partner is not only precious but a tool for better parenting. One study tracked children’s reactions to their parents’ daily interactions over three months. The study examined how much emotional resonance or mirroring children had to their parents’ interactions. When the parents showed affection to each other
and the children felt more positive affect, the children tended to have longer telomeres. Conversely, when the parents had conflict, and the child responded with negative emotions, the child tended to have shorter telomeres.39 So remember that emotions are permeable, and especially for sensitive children. Consider warming up your family environment and showing your affection. This is hard to do if angry emotions are running high! But by showing love for your partner, you may also be promoting wellbeing in your child (and maybe his or her telomeres, too).
countries with the biggest gap between their richest citizens and their poorest have the worst health and the most violence. As you can see from figure 29, these countries also have the highest rates of depression, anxiety, and schizophrenia.
in the United States, the top 3 percent in the distribution owns 50 percent of the wealth3
Sweden, which has the lowest income gap of all countries, also has the highest wellbeing, including the wellbeing of children. But it’s also one of the countries with the fastest growing inequality and decreasing child wellbeing (due to a reduction of the redistributive effect of Sweden’s tax and benefit system).
Every day, each of us has the chance to positively influence the life of another person.
