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Can Homeschooling Your Kids Give Them An Academic Edge - HER Week In Health

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In this edition of EmpowHER's "HER Week In Health" for the week of September 9, 2011 we’ll learn that homeschooling your children may give them an academic edge. We’ll also learn that the number of Americans who smoke is on the decline and we debunk a long-held medical belief about menopause and risk of cardiovascular death in women.

Hi, I’m Bailey Mosier and this is EmpowHER’s HER Week in Health.
School is back in session and most of our children are back in the classrooms. In this week’s edition, we’ll learn that homeschooling your children may give them an academic edge. We’ll also learn that the number of Americans who smoke is on the decline and we debunk a long-held medical belief about menopause and risk of cardiovascular death in women.

A study published in the Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science found that structured homeschooling results in higher test scores and reading levels than those found in children who attend public school.

Researchers investigated 74 children between 5 and 10 years old in Canada: 37 were homeschooled versus 37 who attended public schools. Each child was asked to complete standardized tests to assess their reading, writing and arithmetic.

The team found that the public school children did perform at or above expected levels for their ages, but children who received structured homeschooling had even more superior test results including: a half-grade advantage in math to 2.2 grade levels in reading.

If you’re considering teaching your child at home, it might be an option worth looking further into.

The rate of smoking among U.S. adults continues to decline and of those who still light up, they’re smoking less than in previous generations

Officials from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that the number of smokers age 18 and older inched down from 20.9 percent in 2005 to 19.3 percent in 2010. That's 3 million fewer smokers since 2005.

While researchers believe smoking bans, cigarette price hikes and aggressive media campaigns have proven to be effective tools in the war against smoking, 45 million Americans still smoke.

And of those smokers who smoked 30 or more cigarettes a day dropped from 12.7 percent in 2005 to 8.3 percent in 2010, but those who smoked one to nine cigarettes a day jumped from 16.4 percent in 2005 to 21.8 percent in 2010.

Researchers say that more funding for non-smoking programs can further help prevent people from picking up the habit or quit altogether.

Doctors have believed for quite some time that menopause was to blame for the increased risk of cardiovascular death in women. Now, they’re saying that’s simply not true.

Instead, aging and not the hormonal impact of menopause, explains the increasing number of deaths among older women, according to Johns Hopkins researchers.
These new findings are significant because researchers say that special attention should be paid to heart health in women due to their overall lifetime risk and not just after the time of menopause.

That wraps up your EmpowHER HER Week in Health. Join me here, at EmpowHER.com every Friday as we recap the latest in women’s health.

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