The Star Online: Business
The Star Online: Business |
- Teen obesity tied to poor mom-child relationship
- S.Korea companies pessimistic on Jan outlook
- India to meet 2011/12 govt stakesale target
| Teen obesity tied to poor mom-child relationship Posted: 27 Dec 2011 06:50 PM PST NEW YORK Dec 28 (Reuters) Toddlers who have poor relationships with their mother are more likely to pack on extra weight as they grow up, according to a U.S. study. Researchers who followed nearly 1,000 children into their teens found that more than 25 percent of those who scored lowest on motherchild relationship tests as toddlers went on to become obese at age 15, findings in Pediatrics said. By contrast, only 13 percent of the children who had a good relationship with their mother became obese. While that doesn't prove cause and effect, researchers say other work has shown links between children's emotional and intellectual development and how they interact with their mother at a young age. It's possible that a stressful childhood could make a lasting impression on children's brains, said Sarah Anderson, who worked on the study. "There is an overlap in the brain between the areas that govern stress and energy balance," said Anderson, at the Ohio State University College of Public Health in Columbus. "This stress response could be related to obesity through appetite regulation." The study was based on 977 children who were videotaped while playing with their mother at about one, two and three years of age. Researchers then assessed the toddler's relationship to their mothers based on the mother's ability to recognize her child's emotional state and respond with warmth, as well as the child's tendency to explore its environment freely, a measure of "attachment security." A quarter of the toddlers had a "poorquality" relationship to their mothers, whereas 22 percent achieved perfect scores at each session. At 15 years, 26 percent of the children with relationship trouble were obese twice as many as those without such problems. However, the gap narrowed as more factors were taken into account, including maternal education and household income. David Gozal, a pediatrician who was not involved in the study, agreed, although he said unhealthy food and a lack of physical activity and sleep are likely to play a bigger role. Still, stress both via genetic reprogramming and behavioral changes may also have an impact, and a poor motherchild relationship could be part of that, he said. "What you see in adulthood is obviously the cumulative effect of what has happened earlier in life," said Gozal, physicianinchief at the Corner Children's Hospital in Chicago. Today, 17 percent of all children and adolescents in the United States are obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But Anderson said that even if poor relationships at home contributed, there is no point in chiding mothers. "Blaming parents is not likely to solve anything. It's important to recognize that there are many competing demands on parents," she added. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| S.Korea companies pessimistic on Jan outlook Posted: 27 Dec 2011 06:47 PM PST SEOUL, Dec 28 (Reuters) Confidence among South Korea's largest companies fell to its lowest in four months in January due to heightened uncertainty at home and the looming euro zone debt crisis, a survey showed Wednesday. The Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) said in a statement that its January business survey index fell to a seasonally adjusted 96.2 from 99.3 for December. An reading below 100 indicates companies expecting their business performance to worsen outnumber those forseeing improvement. The outlook was the lowest since September. The FKI attributed the pessimism to fears of contagion from the debt issues in the euro zone and the United States, as well as the risk of China's economy losing momentum. Companies are also expected to shy away from spending next year due to heightened uncertainty after the death of North Korean leader Kim Jongil, the FKI's statement said. The lobby group for large companies including Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor said it surveyed the country's top 600 firms by sales in late December. A separate quarterly business sentiment survey conducted by South Korea's economy ministry also pointed to a gloomy manufacturing outlook for the first quarter of 2012, with developed economies running out of steam. The Bank of Korea's monthly manufacturing business outlook also fell on poor private consumption and an uncertain financial environment. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| India to meet 2011/12 govt stakesale target Posted: 27 Dec 2011 06:46 PM PST NEW DELHI, Dec 27 (Reuters) The Indian government is confident it will meet its target of raising 400 billion rupees ($7.6 billion) this fiscal year by selling shares in staterun firms, a senior finance ministry official with direct knowledge of the matter said. The government is working on a plan to raise funds by pledging stakes held in tobaccotohotels group ITC, industrial conglomerate Larsen & Toubro and Axis Bank, the senior official said on Tuesday. These funds would be placed with a new investment vehicle that would buy back the government's stake in staterun firms, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The shares in ITC, Larsen & Toubro and Axis Bank are held through the Specified Undertaking of the Unit Trust of India (SUUTI). "The whole impression that SUUTI (route) will not materialize is wrong. We are still working on the modalities," the official said. "We are going to meet the disinvestment target." So far this fiscal year, New Delhi has managed to raise only about $250 million through the sale of a stake in Power Finance Corp in May. With the stakesale programme failing to take off and tax revenue under pressure from slowing economic growth, worries about India's public finances are growing. On Monday, the government announced to sell 150 billion rupees of bonds on Dec. 30 in an unscheduled auction to fund an "emerging cash requirement". The official said the unscheduled auction is part of the borrowing for the second half of the fiscal year that ends in March 2012, which has been advanced. EXTRA MARKET BORROWING ON CARDS? In September, the government increased its borrowing target for the second half of the fiscal year to 2.2 trillion rupees from the budgeted 1.67 trillion, but said this was unlikely to affect the fiscal deficit target of 4.6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). The financial markets are not so sure. A Reuters poll last month showed that the fiscal deficit for the current fiscal year is widely expected to reach 5.5 percent of GDP, which would force the government to borrow an extra 353 billion rupees. "No doubt, there is pressure on the fiscal deficit front. But we are still to decide about our borrowing requirements," the official said. "Once we work that out, we will notify it." However, New Delhi could go for higher borrowing as the budgeted fiscal deficit target will be missed, Press Trust of India reported on Tuesday, quoting an anonymous government official. "Growth slowdown is a big challenge. We may miss the direct tax target ... meeting 4.6 per cent fiscal deficit target is out of the question," PTI quoted the official as saying. "There has to be extra (market) borrowing to bridge (the revenue) deficit. If deficit increases then the government will have to borrow." Bond dealers are already fretting that the government could announce additional bond auctions, pushing up bond yields. The benchmark federal bond yield shot up on Tuesday after Monday's unscheduled debt sale announcement. The 10year benchmark bond yield ended at 8.48 percent, after rising as much as 8.59 percent on the day. On Monday, it gained 12 basis points to close at 8.49 percent. The official sought to allay the markets concerns. "Growth in advance tax numbers has slowed down. It is an open secret now," the official said. "However, there will not be a huge shortfall in revenue receipts." Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
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