Your Family: May 6, 2002

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FAST-FOOD NETWORKS While Mom and Dad are snoozing on Saturday morning, the kids are being hit with a barrage of ads for fast-food restaurants, according to a study by Louisiana researchers. In 1976, 12% of food plugs aimed at kids were for burgers, fries and other fast fare (43% were for breakfast cereals). Last year 20% of ads sang the praises of fast food. The trend may have contributed to the rise in child obesity, researchers say.

DISHEARTENING Men and women in nontraditional jobs--think women CEOs and househusbands--have an increased risk of heart disease, according to a study presented last week at an American Heart Association meeting. Stay-at-home dads had an 82% higher 10-year death rate than men who worked outside the home, and high-powered women had almost three times the risk of heart disease of those in low-level jobs.

ELDER CARE Getting elderly people involved in setting and achieving goals for their daily care--like dressing, bathing, preparing meals, doing laundry--can help them stay at home longer. A Yale study published last week found that seniors who got this "restorative" care, instead of the usual passive kind, were more mobile, better able to look after themselves and more likely to stay in their homes. They were also much less likely to need a trip to the E.R.

--By Amanda Bower