12/4/97

The following Ohio University professors are available for insightful interviews on topics in the news. Please contact Dwight Woodward at 614/593-1886 or Todd Anderson at 614/593-1885 to arrange an interview.

PARTY HEARTY WITH THE RIGHT APPROACH: Some experts predict the average American will gain eight to 12 pounds this holiday season, according to Char Kopchik, director of Ohio University's Health Education and Wellness Program. "The key words to avoid the holiday weight gain are balance and moderation," says Kopchik. "You need to eat the good things -- fruits, vegetables, lean meats -- to balance out the high-fat goodies. And it's all right to have that piece of pumpkin pie, but make it a small piece." It's all right to have a couple of alcoholic drinks, but intersperse glasses of water with alcoholic beverages and avoid high-sodium foods that increase thirst. And Kopchick says, no matter what, continue to exercise through the holidays and always eat breakfast. Breakfast eaters burn 300 more calories per day than those who skip it.

NATIONAL SURVEY FINDS AMERICANS BELIEVE A COLLEGE EDUCATION IS WORTH THE COST: Americans think a college education is as good or better than ever and definitely more valued by employers than it used to be. That's the finding of a recent national survey, conducted in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Guido Stempel, distinguished professor of journalism at the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University, oversaw the telephone poll of 1,009 respondents. Twenty-six percent said a college education is better than in the past and 26 percent said it was just a good as ever. Fifty-one percent said a college diploma is valued more by employers than used to be the case and 19 percent said it is valued as much. Seventy-three percent said a college diploma is very important for financial security and 22 percent said it was somewhat important. Sixty-four percent of those polled said it was worth going into debt to fund a college education.

NEW STUDY FINDS READING INTERVENTION HELPS CHILDREN OVERCOME SPEECH PROBLEMS: Many parents know that reading to their children will help them improve their language skills, but a new study at Ohio University found that children slow to acquire language skills improved their skills simply by hearing their parents read to them every day. For the study, parents read two books a day, seven days a week, to their children. At the end of six weeks, researchers saw a marked improvement in all of the children, according to Helen Ezell, assistant professor of hearing and speech at Ohio University and author of the study. "Most speech-language pathologists will recommend that all parents read to their children, but our study suggests that reading intervention can help children with language delays increase their vocabulary skills quickly through a very simple and enjoyable activity at home," Ezell says.