A study released today showed that the children of mother’s who drank lightly during pregnancy scored better on tests and were overall better behaved than the children of mother’s who abstained from alcohol completely:

Researchers found there was no link between light drinking in pregnancy–defined as one to two units a week, or on occasion–and any behavioural or cognitive problems in children at the age of three.

Surprisingly, the University College London study found that some of the children of light-drinking mothers appeared to be doing better than the babies of those who abstained.

Boys born to mothers who drank lightly were 40% less likely to have conduct problems and 30% less likely to be hyperactive, even when the differences between social and economic circumstances were taken into account. They also scored more highly in vocabulary tests and were better able to identify shapes, colours, letters and numbers.

The research has the authority of a large study–it involved 12,495 children–but is likely to further fuel the controversy over alcohol in pregnancy.

Fuck with it!

“More than 4,000 Chinese children are named Olympic Games.” No shit. That headline just kinda jumped out at me. Naming your child “Olympic Games” is the new. Jennifer? Charles? No, Olympic Games. Prince, the artist formerly known as The Artist Formerly Known Prince, is way jealous.

From BBC:

More than 4,000 children in China have been given the name Aoyun, meaning Olympic Games, in the past 15 years.
The rise in popularity of the name is seen as a sign of support for the Games being staged in August in Beijing.
Officials in charge of identity cards say that more than 92% of the 4,104 registered Aoyuns are boys.
It is not uncommon for Chinese children to be given names of common events and popular slogans - such as Defend China, Build the Nation and Space Travel.
There are 290,798 registered Civilisations.
The first surge in Aoyuns came in 1992, when China applied to host to the 2000 Games. About 680 Aoyuns were registered at the time.
In 2002 another 553 Aoyuns were named, after China was chosen to host the 2008 Games.
The BBC’s Chinese service says that in recent weeks babies have also been given names such as Hope for Sichuan, to show solidarity with earthquake victims.