Annoying brother or sister may break your toys, but he or she may help you when you are in trouble. A new study suggests that younger siblings might be good for your health.

Children who didn't welcome a baby brother or sister into the family before first grade had almost three times the likelihood of obesity compared with kids who experienced the birth of a sibling when they were around 3 to 4 years old, the study found.

“It is possibly because when there is a younger sibling in the family, a child might become more active—for example, running around more with their younger sibling,” said Julie Lumeng, a public health researcher at the University of Michigan.

“Maybe families are more likely to take the kids to the park when there is a younger sibling, or maybe the child is less likely to sit, watching TV, when there is a younger sibling to ask them to join more active pretend play,” she added.

Mealtimes might also be different with a second kid at the table.Parents of only child can often focus too much on what their kid eats, which can lead to bad eating habits, some previous research suggests.

“When parents use restrictive or pressure­to­eat feeding practices, children have an increased risk of being overweight,” said Jerica Berge, a researcher at the University of Minnesota.

“When a new child is introduced, parents may relax their focus on the older child's eating behaviors, making it possible for the older child to self­regulate their eating,” said Berge. “This self­regulation may lead to a healthier weight for the child with a sibling.”

For their study, Lumeng and colleagues followed 697 U．S. children from birth through age 6.However,the authors acknowledged that their study lacked objectively measured birth weights and information on events such as a divorce, a move or a job loss in the family—all of which can influence the odds of children becoming obese. For more information about this topic, please click here.

It is back to school time in much of the world. Calm and easy mornings are replaced with hurried and busy ones. Children wake up early and get ready for school. Many parents are also getting ready for work, helping their children and preparing food for lunches. 【小题1】 But that may be a big mistake for students. Whether at home, on the way to school or at school — eating something healthy for breakfast may help a student get better grades.

【小题2】 The answer is yes. Experts at healthychildren.org say that in the United States about 8 to 12 percent of all students in grade school do not eat breakfast. By the time students are in high school, about 20 to 30 percent of them ignore the breakfast.

【小题3】 This gives your body the energy you need to think clearly and to remember what you learn. This was the 2005 finding of researchers at Tufts University in the U.S. They found when it comes to giving the brain what it needs to work at its highest level — not all breakfasts make the same effect. The best breakfast should include complex carbohydrates that slowly release energy to the body. 【小题4】 But simply eating a breakfast rich in carbohydrates may make a student tired. So, adding protein helps to prevent that. Having food such as milk, yogurt, eggs or meat can help students to feel full longer.

A good breakfast is not just helpful for school-aged children. 【小题5】 A study from researchers at University of Toronto in Canada found that a breakfast rich in protein and complex carbohydrates increases performance on short- and long-term memory. Carbohydrates and protein are especially important because they have a major effect on long-term memory.