The 2007 U.S. birth rate was the highest ever – 4.3 million – Utah with the most births and Vermont with the least. Although the birth rate rose slightly for women of all ages, teen birth rates increased the second year in a row and births to unwed mothers were at an all-time high 40%, with more than three-quarters of mothers being 20 or older. With U.S. women averaging 2.1 children and fertility rates higher for all races, the country’s experiencing a “baby boomlet”. However, the lowest U.S. birth rate occurred during the Great Depression, so will birth rates recede in a recession?
The recession affected the Pew Research Center’s dividing states into 2 types. Magnet states attract newcomers – relatively few people living there were born there. Eighty-six percent of Nevadans are from out of state. Arizona, Arkansas and Florida are also magnetic. Sticky states have strong traditional cultures or distinctive features that make people want to stay. Seventy-six percent of people born in Texas have stayed. California, Georgia, North Carolina and Wisconsin are sticky too. Some states are both – especially in the South and West. They grow, but retain a high number of native-born. The down economy, however, is making all states stickier.
Michael Phelps, winner of a record-breaking 8 gold medals at the Beijing Olympics, got into a sticky situation and lost his Kellogg’s endorsement after a picture of him smoking marijuana appeared in the media. Nevertheless, the winning continued. A San Francisco food bank, experiencing reduced donations because of the economy, received a donation from Kellogg’s. Four pallets – over two tons – of corn flakes and frosted flakes with Phelps’ picture on the boxes were delivered. It was another win/win situation. The food bank was thrilled with a donation low-income people can use and Kellogg’s no longer felt boxed in.
According to a study published in “Applied Cognitive Psychology” doodling can keep you from feeling boxed in. Because the brain is designed to constantly process information, doodling provides enough cognitive stimulation during a boring task to prevent the brain from manufacturing its own material – daydreams – which requires a lot more brain energy. In the study volunteers were asked to listen to a long, boring tape of a telephone message. When questioned about what they remembered, the doodlers remembered 29% more than the non-doodlers. Because doodling doesn’t distract from concentration, the world is a safer place. President Obama is a doodler.
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Posted by: Health Articles | Friday, April 24, 2009 at 10:32 AM