The Roundup contains information about all of the latest news, commentary, reports, surveys, issue briefs, charts, and fact sheets related to boys' issues collected by our staff during the preceding week.

News Clips

• Black boys facing chronic adversity show signs of early genetic aging
  By the time they have reached the fourth grade, African American boys who have run a childhood gantlet of poverty, shifting family structure, harsh parenting and a mother's low mood and educational attainment will have signs of premature genetic aging that can deepen their vulnerability to mental and physical illness, says a new study.
  LA Times
  April 7, 2014

• Stress Hormone May Drive Risk-Taking by Teen Motorists
  Study found those with lower cortisol levels were more likely to crash
  Teens whose brain chemistry is less affected by stressful situations could be at increased risk for car crashes, a small Canadian study suggests. Safe-driving teens appear to have higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol, said study author Marie Claude Ouimet, an associate professor of medicine and health sciences at the University of Sherbrooke, in Quebec.
  Medline Plus
  April 7, 2014

• Childhood Obesity Adds Nearly $20K to Lifetime Medical Costs: Study
  Losing weight while young may help kids lower future health care expenses, researcher says
  Over a lifetime, direct medical costs for an obese 10-year-old will be nearly $20,000 higher than those of slimmer peers, according to new research. That translates to a whopping $14 billion in additional direct U.S. medical costs over a lifetime for today's obese 10-year-olds, according to the study.
  Medline Plus
  April 7, 2014

• Teenage boys who spend too much time playing computer games have weak bones and are at risk of osteoporosis in later life
  Teenage boys who spend their time outside have stronger bones; Boys who spend a lot of time in front of screens also have higher BMIs; Girls who spend a lot of time in front of screens actually have stronger bones than those who spend less time playing computer games
  Daily Mail
  April 4, 2014

• UN Children's Fund Study Finds Nearly a Quarter Of Latino Teens Don't Attend School
  A United Nations report released earlier this week revealed that 20 percent of teenagers in Latin American countries between the ages of 11 and 18 do not attend schools.
  Latin Post
  April 4, 2014

• Caucasian boys show highest prevalence of color blindness among preschoolers
  The first major study of color blindness in a multi-ethnic group of preschoolers has uncovered that Caucasian male children have the highest prevalence among four major ethnicities, with 1 in 20 testing color blind.
  Science Codex
  April 3, 2014

• Anxious Kids With Comorbidity May Need Specialized Approach
  Approximately 25% of youth with an anxiety disorder and comorbid externalizing symptoms, including aggression, hyperactivity, and conduct problems, experience exacerbation of such symptoms following effective treatment for anxiety, new research shows.
  Medscape Medical
  April 2, 2014

• Pink or blue: Who cares? What colors say (and don't say) about our children
  The funny thing is, pink used to be a "boy" color. An article in Smithsonian magazine quoted a 1918 department store trade publication that said, in part:
  "The generally accepted rule is pink for the boys, and blue for the girls. The reason is that pink, being a more decided and stronger color, is more suitable for the boy, while blue, which is more delicate and dainty, is prettier for the girl."
  AL.com
  April 2, 2014

• Male College-Age Depression Linked To Later Sedentary Behavior
  A new study in the journal Preventive Medicine concluded that sedentary habits, which often stem from depression, are established in the early 20s and these habits can establish a pattern of sedentary behavior later in life.
  Red Orbit
  April 2, 2014

• Circumcision should be offered 'like vaccines' to the parents of baby boys, study claims
  The health benefits of male circumcision 'outweigh the risks 100 to one'; Half of uncircumcised men develop a health problem as a result, it is claimed; It would be 'unethical' not to offer it to the parents of all baby boys, the researchers state.
  Daily Mail
  April 2, 2014

COMMENT

• Feminism can prevent suicide
  Archaic notions of masculinity endanger men
  Miles Groth, a psychology professor at Wagner College, states in his work "Boys to Men: The Science of Masculinity and Manhood," published by Psychology Today, that "Suicides among young males are four times more common than among young females and they are occurring among ever younger males, some in their early teens." What is the cause for these drastically different suicide rates?
  Pipe Dream
  April 8, 2014

International News

INDIA

• Girls Outnumber Boys in Government, Aided Schools
  As against the popular perception, the total number of girl students studying in various government and aided schools across the state is higher than that of boys.
  New Indian Express
  April 3, 2014

INDIA

• Teen boy sunbed use linked to eating disorders
  "Teenage men who regularly use sunbeds are more prone to eating disorders," the Metro reports. A study has found that teen tanners are more likely to engage in unhealthy behaviour, such as using laxatives and vomiting after meals, in order to lose weight or prevent weight gain.
  NHS Choices
  April 7, 2014

• Top boys' school to take girls for first time in 500 years
  The alma mater of D.H. Lawrence, Ken Clarke and Ed Balls is to accept girls for the first time in its 500-year history amid a continuing decline in the number of single-sex boys' schools.
  The Telegraph
  April 4, 2014

• Teaching Our Boys to Face the Competitive Landscape of Today's World
  How then do we reverse this? I say that we start very young. Let's elevate the acquisition of empathy and character to the same level as math and literacy. Our educational environments must set the expectation that failure is a mandatory step in the mastery of anything. Let's make sure that every one of our students knows from the very start that their education that ultimately their success in life is utterly and completely theirs to fight for -- and fight they must, girls and boys alike, side-by-side.
  Huffington Post
  April 3, 2014

• Protestant boys' underachievement: Call for 'urgent action'
  The leader of a unionist working party on educational underachievement among poorer Protestant boys in Northern Ireland has called for urgent action.
  BBC News
  April 3, 2014

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