When Dale Knuth, now 58, was a child, her brother teased her mercilessly about her weight, and her parents did nothing to stop him, she says, and even told her,“'Yeah, you're getting fat.'"
Decades later, has an active life that includes riding bikes and playing racquetball. Her husband tells her he loves her at any size and always will. But she still thinks about how her life could have turned out without so much shaming in childhood.
Psychologists say that teasing and negative comments about weight, or “fat-shaming” can wreak havoc on kids’ self-esteem and body image and may set them up for a lifetime of struggles with weight. In fact, studies have shown that children subjected to weight-based teasing gain more weight than other kids. So what should a concerned parent do if your child is putting on weight?
Read more for advice from experts about how to help kids have a healthy body image.
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Why do doctors often ignore women’s pain? Why is there a “vaginal rejuvenation” industry? What is up with online advice to put yogurt, or garlic, or jade eggs in your vagina?
Gynecologist Jen Gunter has answers. The author of a new book, The Vagina Bible, Gunter strives to give women the real facts about their intimate health, to counteract dubious advice and patriarchal biases that women encounter every day.
"Misinformation is the opposite of feminism,” she says. “Making an empowered decision requires accurate information.”
Read her advice about how to get the care you need for your vaginal health – and what online tips to definitely avoid.
Bonus: One reason medicine often dismisses women’s pain may be that there are real differences between how men and women experience pain. Read about new research into pain treatments tailored for women. |
If you or someone you love has mild asthma, take note. The steroid inhalers commonly used to prevent asthma attacks may not be effective, according to recent research. Since the early 1990s, the guidelines for treating patients with mild, persistent asthma has been to use a low-dose steroid inhaler twice a day.
The guidance was based mainly on studies of people with severe asthma; the thinking was that if people with mild symptoms used the steroid inhaler early on, it would prevent damage to their airways later.
Now researchers are finding many patients don’t have the Type 2 inflammation that responds well to inhaled steroids.
Read more about the new findings and the possible side effects of inhalers. |
More of this week's health stories from NPR |
We hope you enjoyed these stories. Find more of NPR's health journalism on Shots and follow us on Twitter at @NPRHealth.
Your Shots editor,
Carmel Wroth
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