# data[].attributes.headline
Rise in Prescription Drug Misuse and Abuse Impacting Teens

# data[].attributes.subject
Rise in Prescription Drug Misuse and Abuse Impacting Teens

# data[].attributes.body
This article from SAMHSA, talks about the rise in teens and prescription drug use. There is a common misperception amongst teens that because these pills are prescribed from a doctor that they cannot be harmful. There is a range of short- and long-term health consequences when each drug is used inappropriately. Stimulants, opioids, and depressants, which are typically prescribed by doctors, can impact developing adolescent brains and bodies negatively. Some examples include perception as well as fracturing developing neural pathways. While there are other drugs that pose a concern such as cocaine and heroin, prescription drug use is the fastest growing amongst teens. In the PreK-4th Classroom, Teachers should make it a point to educate their students on the effects that prescription drugs, among other drugs, can have on brain development as well as brainstorm other ways to cope with stress and mental health.

# data[].attributes.headline
Amy Coney Barrett Was Trustee at Private School with Anti- LGBTQ Policies.

# data[].attributes.subject
Amy Coney Barrett Was Trustee at Private School with Anti- LGBTQ Policies.

# data[].attributes.body
This article from PBS NewsHour, is about how a Supreme Court nominee was associated with an anti LGBTQ group in a private school for a long period of time. The school had created policies that discriminated towards LGBTQ families, students, and teachers. Children of same sex couples were barred emission and made it clear that openly gay and lesbian teachers were not welcomed inside of the classroom. Amy Coney Barrett served on the board of these schools for nearly three years. The policies at these schools were in place for years both before Barrett served in 2015 and during the time she served. Scholars have said that the school’s teachings on homosexuality and treatment of LGBTQ people are harsher than those of the mainstream catholic church. In the PreK-4th Classroom, it would be great if schools that do hire gay, lesbian or transgender teachers did not discriminate and allowed for the students to see that their teachers have been given equal opportunities and the students can have the same opportunities in the future regardless of differences. Teachers can create a warm, safe, and welcoming environment that allow students to freely express themselves genuinely without judgement.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett served for nearly three years on the board of private Christian schools that effectively barred admission to children of same-sex parents and made it plain that openly gay and lesbian teachers weren't welcome in the classroom.

The policies that discriminated against LGBTQ people and their children were in place for years at Trinity Schools Inc., both before Barrett joined the board in 2015 and during the time she served.

The three schools, in Indiana, Minnesota and Virginia, are affiliated with People of Praise, an insular community rooted in its own interpretation of the Bible, of which Barrett and her husband have been longtime members. At least three of the couple's seven children have attended the Trinity School at Greenlawn, in South Bend, Indiana.

The AP spoke with more than two dozen people who attended or worked at Trinity Schools, or former members of People of Praise. They said the community's teachings have been consistent for decades: Homosexuality is an abomination against God, sex should occur only within marriage and marriage should only be between a man and a woman.

Interviewees told the AP that Trinity's leadership communicated anti-LGBTQ policies and positions in meetings, one-on-one conversations, enrollment agreements, employment agreements, handbooks and written policies - including those in place when Barrett was an active member of the board.

"Trinity Schools does not unlawfully discriminate with respect to race, color, gender, national origin, age, disability, or other legally protected classifications under applicable law, with respect to the administration of its programs," said Jon Balsbaugh, president of Trinity Schools Inc., which runs the three campuses, in an email.

The actions are probably legal, experts said. Scholars said the school's and organization's teachings on homosexuality and treatment of LGBTQ people are harsher than those of the mainstream Catholic church.

Barrett's views on whether LGBTQ people should have the same constitutional rights as other Americans became a focus last week in her Senate confirmation hearing. But her longtime membership in People of Praise and her leadership position at Trinity Schools were not discussed, even though most of the people the AP spoke with said her deep and decades-long involvement in the community signals she would be hostile to gay rights if confirmed.

Suzanne B. Goldberg, a professor at Columbia Law School who studies sexuality and gender law, said private schools have wide legal latitude to set admissions criteria. And, she said, Trinity probably isn't covered by recent Supreme Court rulings outlawing employment discrimination against LGBTQ people because of its affiliation with a religious community. But, she added, cases addressing those questions are likely to come before the high court in the near future, and Barrett's past oversight of Trinity's discriminatory policies raises concerns.

"When any member of the judiciary affiliates themselves with an institution that is committed to discrimination on any ground, it is important to look more closely."

"When any member of the judiciary affiliates themselves with an institution that is committed to discrimination on any ground, it is important to look more closely at how that affects the individual's ability to give all cases a fair hearing," Goldberg said.

The AP sent detailed questions for Barrett to the White House press office. Rather than providing direct answers, White House spokesman Judd Deere instead accused AP of attacking the nominee.

"Because Democrats and the media are unable to attack Judge Barrett's sterling qualifications, they have instead turned to pathetic personal attacks on her children's Christian school, even though the Supreme Court has repeatedly reaffirmed that religious schools are protected by the First Amendment," Deere said in an email.

Nearly all the people interviewed for this story are gay or said they have gay family members. They used words such as "terrified," "petrified" and "frightening" to describe the prospect of Barrett on the high court. Some of them know Barrett, have mutual friends with her or even have been in her home dozens of times. They describe her as "nice" or "a kind person," but told the AP they feared others would suffer if Barrett tries to implement People of Praise's views on homosexuality on the Supreme Court.

About half of the people asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation against themselves or their families from other members of People of Praise, or because they had not come out to everyone in their lives. Among those interviewed were people who attended all three of its schools and who had been active in several of its 22 branches. Their experiences stretched back as far as the 1970s, and as recently as 2020.

NOT WELCOME

Tom Henry was a senior at Trinity School in Eagan, Minnesota, serving as a student ambassador, providing tours to prospective families, when Barrett was an active member of the board.

In early 2017, a lesbian parent asked him whether Trinity was open to gay people and expressed concern about how her child would be treated.

Henry, who is gay, said he didn't know what to say. He had been instructed not to answer questions about People of Praise or Trinity's "politics."

The next day, Henry recalled, he asked the school's then-headmaster, Jon Balsbaugh, how he should have answered. Henry said Balsbaugh pulled a document out of his desk drawer that condemned gay marriage, and explained it was a new policy from People of Praise that was going into the handbook.

"He looked me right in the eye and said, the next time that happens, you tell them they would not be welcome here," Henry recounted. "And he said to me that trans families, gay families, gay students, trans students would not feel welcome at Trinity Schools. And then he said, 'Do we understand each other?' And I said, yes. And I left. And then I quit the student ambassadors that day."

Balsbaugh, who has since been promoted to president of Trinity Schools Inc., says his recollection of the conversation "differs considerably," but declined to give details. He said it is likely he shared the school's guidelines that at that time "had long been published in the parent handbook."

Balsbaugh told the AP in an email that Barrett was not involved in the formulation or passage of any policies pertaining to homosexuality. He said Barrett served on the Trinity board from July 2015 to March 2017, and denied that the school's leadership considered or formulated any new policy related to homosexuality during that time. He didn't say whether the policy as described by Henry was ever adopted.

The school's parent handbook says the board is the highest decision-making body, responsible for hiring the president and developing "broad institutional polices."

THE COMMUNITY

People of Praise is not a church but is a community in which people sign a "covenant" pledging love and service to fellow community members and to God. It has 1,700 members and grew out of the Catholic charismatic movement rooted in Pentecostalism that began in the late 1960s. It emphasizes a personal relationship with Jesus and can include baptism in the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues and prophecy, according to former members, experts who have studied the movement, and its own publications. Most members are Roman Catholic.

Barrett has declined to say whether she is still an active member.
MORE: Affordable Care Act, voting rights in spotlight on Day 3 of Barrett hearing
More than half of the people AP interviewed were involved with Trinity or People of Praise within the last decade. The AP verified the identities of everyone interviewed for this story through posts on the People of Praise and Trinity websites, published athletics results, school and membership directories, past listed addresses, or through other people verified by the AP as Trinity alumni or former members.

SCHOOL POLICIES

Multiple people who spoke with the AP detailed how Trinity's leadership articulated and put in place policies that effectively barred gay families and employees.

A 2018-19 enrollment agreement obtained by the AP says "the only proper place for human sexual activity is marriage, where marriage is a legal and committed relationship between one man and one woman." It goes on to say that activities such as "fornication, pornography, adultery and homosexual acts, and advocating or modeling any of these behaviors" are at odds with the school's core beliefs.

In 2014, the year before Barrett joined the board, the school's trustees voted to limit admissions to the children of legally married couples or single parents. At the time, gay marriage was not legal in Indiana or Virginia. The wording was softened slightly after the 2015 Supreme Court ruling that effectively legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, though it still explicitly opposes LBGTQ relationships.

"The reason was not any desire to judge or punish, but to avoid potential confusion for our students regarding our consistent position that sexual activity is meant to be only within marriage, understood as the union of one man and one woman," Balsbaugh said.

Balsbaugh said families and students don't have to agree with the school's positions, but it's important that parents "understand and be able to support the culture that we are establishing."

In addition to the written policies, school administrators made clear verbally they did not want to admit children of gay families, multiple people told the AP.

One described a faculty meeting at the Trinity School in Minnesota, where Balsbaugh, who was then headmaster, said in response to a question that people who subscribed to a religion other than Christianity would be welcome at the school because they were still "seeking truth." Children of gay couples, on the other hand, would not be accepted, "because their life is so contrary to our beliefs, and essentially that it was a choice," the person recalled Balsbaugh saying.

Balsbaugh said his recollection of the faculty meeting differed, but declined to give details. He denied this was the position of Trinity Schools, but declined to say whether children of gay couples would be admitted. He instead highlighted the school's harassment policy against bullying or other abuse "based upon a student's sex, race, ethnicity, religion, sexuality or perceived sexuality."

"Such behaviors are considered major violations of our code of conduct for students and faculty alike," the policy states.

A faculty employment agreement in place for the 2014-15 school year, obtained by the AP, states that "Blatant sexual immorality (for example, fornication, adultery, homosexual acts, etc.) has no place in the culture of Trinity Schools."

Several people told the AP they were unaware of any openly gay employees and said it was understood that they were not welcome. One gay man spoke with the AP on condition of anonymity for fear of being ousted from his position at the school.

Balsbaugh told the AP many religious schools and faith-based groups have similar faculty agreements. He would not say whether the school has any LGBTQ teachers.

SCHOOL TEACHINGS

Many former students described a controlling and repressive environment where even a friendly hug could earn a detention. Michael Leehan spent six years at Trinity School in Minnesota, graduating in 2015. Leehan, who is gay and had come out to his friends at school, recalled being reprimanded by a dean for hugging a platonic male friend.

"I don't know how else to describe it. He just got a kind of a mean look in his eye and venom in his voice," Leehan said, recalling that the dean told him, "Don't do that stuff here." Leehan remembered a surge of anger - "the feeling of I'm dirty, in the context of this school."

Several former students of varying ages who attend all three Trinity schools separately described being taught a vivid reading from Dante's "Inferno" that depicts the eternal suffering of Sodomites condemned to hell for their sins. Four of them said teachers made clear the passage referred to gay men who were rightly suffering in hell. Some more recent graduates of the Minnesota school, however, said their teacher did not dwell on the passage.

Balsbaugh said Trinity teaches Dante "as a work of imaginative literature, not as a collection of moral or theological statements."
MORE: The unusual tone and timeline of Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation hearing
Cara Wood, 28, attended Trinity School at Meadow View in Falls Church, a Virginia suburb of the nation's capital, and recalled the only time the school addressed homosexuality was when students read the "Inferno" and learned about gay men being in hell. Wood, who is bisexual, graduated in 2010.

"They called it sexual preference rather than ... sexual orientation and typically we just wouldn't address it at all," Wood told the AP.

During her confirmation hearing last week, Barrett also framed sexuality as a "preference." That wording is rejected by LGBTQ advocates because it suggests sexual orientation is a choice.

"I have no agenda, and I do want to be clear that I have never discriminated on the basis of sexual preference and would not ever discriminate on the basis of sexual preference," Barrett said during the Oct. 13 hearing.

After some Democratic senators seized on her use of the term, Barrett apologized, saying she "did not mean any offense or to make any statement by that."

Andrea Turpin-King transferred to the South Bend school in 1990, in the middle of her 7th grade year, after her father was struck and killed by a drunken driver after leaving a well-known gay bar. Her mother hoped she could get a fresh start after she was bullied at another school. The teachers at Trinity were told about what had happened, she said.

Turpin-King recalled that during 9th grade one of her teachers told the class that all gay people go to hell.

"When she said that, all I could picture was my dad's face, and all I could think about was how much I missed his hugs," Turpin-King told the AP. "And so, I said, I don't think that's true. And she said that I was going to go to hell, too."

Turpin-King said: "It felt like a request for me to disavow my father's humanity. Even in death. And I couldn't do that."

LIFE IN PEOPLE OF PRAISE

Many former members told the AP they struggled to reconcile People of Praise's and Trinity Schools' religious teachings with their sexual identity, and suffered fear, anxiety and trauma. Many felt they had to leave, even at the risk of being shunned by friends and family.

One 2015 Trinity graduate who grew up in People of Praise recalled members requesting that the community pray that their gay loved ones would "recover" from their homosexuality.

Another Trinity graduate, who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because his parents are still in People of Praise and his sexuality remains a sensitive topic for them, was forced to undergo conversion therapy after Trinity administrators learned he was gay at age 16. He also recounted being counseled by a senior People of Praise leader that same-sex attraction was "changeable" with treatment and prayer. The widely discredited practice has been condemned by mental health organizations and LGBTQ advocacy groups as pseudoscientific, unethical and psychologically harmful.

People of Praise spokesman Sean Connolly said the group had no knowledge of LGBTQ youths being referred for conversion therapy.

"People of Praise neither advocates for nor pays for such programs," he said.

While some former members said they knew of no explicit People of Praise teaching against gay members, or said gay members could remain as long as they never acted on their sexual desires, most of those who spoke with the AP said it was clear gay people were not welcome.

Asked directly if a married same-sex couple or someone who is openly gay would be welcome within the community, Connolly responded, "People of Praise holds the standard Christian teaching, based on the New Testament, that sexual activity is meant for marriage, understood as the union of a man and a woman."

Camellia Pisegna's family was expelled from the community they had been a part of for 15 years in South Bend when she came out as a lesbian around 1990, she and others told the AP. Pisegna's children were shunned, even from lifelong friends. Even now, Pisegna said, no one has apologized, even though she still lives in the area.

"Any one of these hundreds of people could very easily find me," Pisegna said. "But that's never happened in 30 years."

Connolly said that account of what happened was "not accurate," though he declined to provide details "out of respect for all parties involved."
MORE: How these 2 legal scholars see Amy Coney Barrett's testimony
"We believe that harassing or persecuting gays and lesbians is contrary to the Gospel and that everyone should be treated with dignity and respect," Connolly said in an email.

Massimo Faggioli, a theology professor at Villanova University, said some of the community's teachings are more in keeping with pre-1960s Catholicism than the modern church.

"It comes from a very literalist reading of scripture," Faggioli said. "It's no longer the official language used by the official teaching of the Catholic Church. It's no longer used by the pope. It's no longer used by official documents that still have a negative view of same-sex marriage."

"Even John Paul II, even Pope Benedict, who had more conservative views on these things, they were very careful in never sounding (like) homophobes," Faggioli said.

LEGAL RAMIFICATIONS

Barrett, in her hearing last week, refused to say whether she agreed with the Supreme Court's ruling in Lawrence v. Texas, which in 2003 struck down state laws criminalizing sex acts between those of the same gender. She also repeatedly refused to say whether she agreed with the high court's ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, the landmark 5-to-4 decision in 2015 that effectively legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.

Barrett stressed that she did not intend to signal any opinion one way or another. If confirmed, she insisted, she would keep an open mind about how she might rule in any future cases.

Barrett's position on gay rights is particularly crucial after two of the high court's conservative justices, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, this month wrote a dissenting opinion that appeared to call for the court to reconsider its 2015 same-sex marriage decision. Both Thomas and Alito were in the minority in that decision, as was deceased Justice Antonin Scalia, whose judicial philosophy Barrett has said mirrors her own.

Alphonso David, president of the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ advocacy group that opposes Barrett's confirmation, said his group fears "a far-right Supreme Court that could undermine the rights of marginalized communities and the LGBTQ community for decades."

"Our love is valid, our love is equal, and our rights must be," David said.

Turpin-King said she has briefly met Barrett, and they share mutual friends. Some of her husband's family members are still members of the People of Praise community, and she loves and respects them. Many of Trinity's teachers were wonderful to her. But the thought of Barrett sitting on the Supreme Court scares her.

"I am deeply concerned about my queer friends. I'm concerned about my own children," Turpin-King said. "From what I experienced in People of Praise, as a student of one of their schools, everyone needs to be petrified, frankly."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Amy Coney Barrett was trustee at private school with anti-LGBTQ policies

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett served for nearly three years on the board of private Christian schools that effectively barred admission to children of same-sex parents and made it plain that openly gay and lesbian teachers weren't welcome in the classroom.

# data[].attributes.headline
New Years Resolutions Can Benefit Kids, Say Pediatricians

# data[].attributes.subject
New Years Resolutions Can Benefit Kids, Say Pediatricians

# data[].attributes.body
This article from CNN, is about how New Year's Resolutions can motivate and encourage children to work towards a particular goal they have set for themselves. The article gives different examples that children have made such as growing their muscles, getting better at swimming, drinking water, etc. It states that each goal or resolution should be age appropriate, attainable and can be reached in a reasonable time frame. The reason being that if children do not achieve their goals, they may give up on themselves or on the contrary, give themselves too much credit if their goal is not specific enough. The resolutions can be split into short term and long term, which will give them a more accurate amount of time to complete. The article also touches on how goals should not be competitive towards siblings. Families should be able to sit down together to create their Resolutions to support one another as opposed to go against them to create a positive and rewarding experience. In the PreK-4th Classroom: Teachers can use this tactic year-round and have the students set long term and short-term goals for themselves to give a sense of accomplishment and purpose for overall wellness.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
kids can set their own new year's resolutions - cnn

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
New Year's resolutions can benefit kids. Here are some ideas

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Kids can set their own resolutions for the new year, and the more specific and realistic, the better. Think about riding a two-wheeled bike, learning to swim, reading a whole book by yourself or older kids --- learning to drive.

# data[].attributes.headline
Minimal effort required: a ten-minute run can boost brain processing

# data[].attributes.subject
Minimal effort required: a ten-minute run can boost brain processing

# data[].attributes.body
This article from ScienceDaily, talks about how a short ten-minute run can increase blood flow to parts of the brain that help support mood and other executive functions. Participants were given a set of tasks including the Stroop color-word test. This is when a subject is given a color word written in a different color font. The participant then has to say which color the word is written in without saying the word out loud. To do so, the brain must process both sets of information and inhibit the extraneous information. Results demonstrated that after ten minutes of running, there was a reduction of interference effect time, which means that the participants were saying the correct answers quicker. It also shows that bilateral prefrontal activation had significantly increased during the Stroop color task. In the PreK-4th classroom, teachers can bring their kids outside (weather permitting) and make up a game. If the game involves them running back and forth or in laps for approximately ten minutes maybe before a test or before they are going to learn important information, perhaps they will see an increase in success rate. This will let students see that physical activity is not only important for your body and muscles, but your brain as well.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Running may be a useful activity to undertake for better mental health. University of Tsukuba researchers have found that only ten minutes of moderate-intensity running increases local blood flow to the various loci in the bilateral prefrontal cortex -- the part of the brain that plays an important role in controlling mood and executive functions. These findings may contribute to the development of a wider range of treatment recommendations to benefit mental health.

There's clear evidence that physical activity has many benefits, such as the ability to improve mood, but in previous studies, cycling was often the form of exercise studied. Running, however, has always played an important role in the well-being of humans. The unique form and efficiency of human running, which includes the ability to sustain this form of exertion (i.e., by jogging as opposed to sprinting), and the evolutionary success of humans are closely linked.

Despite this fact, researchers had not yet looked closely at the effects of running on brain regions that control mood and executive functions. "Given the extent of executive control required in coordinating balance, movement, and propulsion during running, it is logical that there would be increased neuronal activation in the prefrontal cortex and that other functions in this region would benefit from this increase in brain resources," explains Professor Hideaki Soya.

To test their hypothesis, the research team used the well-established Stroop Color-Word Test and captured data on hemodynamic changes associated with brain activity while participants were engaged in each task. For example, in one task, incongruent information is shown, i.e., the word red is written in green, and the participant must name the color rather than read out the word. To do so, the brain must process both sets of information and inhibit the extraneous information. The Stroop interference effect was quantified by the difference in response times for this task and those for a simpler version of the task -- stating the names of color swatches.

The results demonstrated that, after ten minutes of moderate-intensity running, there was a significant reduction in Stroop interference effect time. Furthermore, bilateral prefrontal activation had significantly increased during the Stroop task. After running, participants reported being in a better mood. "This was supported by findings of coincident activations in the prefrontal cortical regions involved in mood regulation," first author Chorphaka Damrongthai adds.

Given that many characteristics of the human prefrontal cortex are uniquely human, this study not only sheds light on the present benefits of running but also on the possible role that these benefits may have played in the evolutionary past of humans.

Journal Reference:

Chorphaka Damrongthai, Ryuta Kuwamizu, Kazuya Suwabe, Genta Ochi, Yudai Yamazaki, Takemune Fukuie, Kazutaka Adachi, Michael A. Yassa, Worachat Churdchomjan, Hideaki Soya. Benefit of human moderate running boosting mood and executive function coinciding with bilateral prefrontal activation. Scientific Reports, 2021; 11 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-01654-z

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
fitness; psychology research; nervous system; brain tumor; neuroscience; intelligence; brain-computer interfaces; anger management

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Minimal effort required: A ten-minute run can boost brain processing

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Researchers found that as little as ten minutes of moderate-intensity running could benefit mental health. In study participants, both mood and cognitive functions improved, and the activation of bilateral prefrontal subregions associated with cognitive function and mood also increased. These results demonstrate the potential advantages of exercise prescriptions for various conditions including mental health treatment.

# data[].attributes.headline
Brain Power: How Food Affects Your Mind and Mood

# data[].attributes.subject
Brain Power: How Food Affects Your Mind and Mood

# data[].attributes.body
This is article from Fredrick Health, talks about how food can affect your brain both positively and negatively while comparing your brain and your body to a computer or engine of a car. To make a car or computer run and work properly, you need to fuel them properly. The author of the article equates fuel to food and what the right things are to put into our body. High quality food with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants nourish your brain power the best while low quality food that is refined or processed, can damage your brain and it’s functions. The article also lists healthy choices to make for peak brain performance. In the PreK-4th classroom, teachers can have students create their own plate using cut out pictures from magazines, newspapers, etc. and glue them onto a paper plate to not only introduce and discuss the importance of healthy eating, but to visually show students what a real-life plate should look like.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
You've likely heard the phrase, "You are what you eat." Studies show this may be true. We're learning more about the connections between our food and how it affects our bodies-including our brains. Whether you choose a fast-food hamburger or a healthy salad to-go, the food you eat can impact your thinking and even your mood.
The Brain Train
Your brain is working for you, 24/7. Think of it as a computer or the engine of a car. Your brain drives all of your body's systems and functions, but that engine needs fuel to power you through your day. And that "fuel" is the food you eat.
How Are You Fueling Your Brain?
High-quality "fuel" helps your brain function at its best. Foods with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants nourish your brain and protect it from oxidative stress, which is is an imbalance between the production of free radicals (molecules with one or more unpaired electron) and antioxidants (substances that neutralize or remove free radicals by donating an electron) in the body, which can lead to cell and tissue damage.

On the flip side, low-quality "fuel" can damage your brain and its functions. Processed or refined foods (including refined sugar, for example) fall into this category. These foods diminish your ability to regulate insulin and increase inflammation and oxidative stress. In fact, many studies found links between sugary diets and impaired brain function-and even mood disorders such as depression.

Studies in this area are known as nutritional psychiatry. This is a growing field unexplored for many years. So how do researchers and doctors know which foods affect our overall brain health? Simple: they follow the food we eat. And it all starts in the gut.
A Gut Check
Your "gut health" refers to good bacteria that lives in your digestive system - and here's the interesting twist: researchers have found that 95% of your serotonin is produced in the gastrointestinal tract. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that helps regulate your body's sleep and appetite, control moods, and prevent pain.

Our gut health does much more than digest food, but it also impacts our emotional and mental health.

The "good" bacteria found in your intestines are hard workers. Good bacteria can:

protect you from toxins and "bad" bacteria

limit inflammation

better absorb nutrients from food

activate neural pathways between the gut and brain

Brain Food
So what foods are best for your brain? Check out these helpful resources, including recipes from our friends at LiveWell Frederick, for inspiration that can be found in your kitchen, at the grocery store, and-most importantly-in your gut:

We want you-and your gut-healthy, Frederick. If you have any questions about healthy foods or need nutrition counseling, learn more about our Nutrition & Weight Management services.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Brain Power: How Food Affects Your Mind and Mood

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
We're learning more about the connections between our food and how it affects our bodies-including our brains. Whether you choose a fast-food hamburger or a healthy salad to-go, the food you eat can impact your thinking and even your mood.

# data[].attributes.headline
Sitting more linked to increased feelings of depression, anxiety

# data[].attributes.subject
Sitting more linked to increased feelings of depression, anxiety

# data[].attributes.body
This article from ScienceDaily, links a connection to sitting down regularly with feelings of depression and anxiety. Participants reported how active they were pre-pandemic and noted their well-being using clinical scales. Surveys in this data have shown that participants who were meeting the U.S. Physical Activities Guidelines, which is 2.5-5 hours of physical activity weekly, before the pandemic have decreased their physical activity, on average, by 32% after COVID-19. The same participants reported feeling more depressed, anxious, and lonely. In a follow up study, the same participants saw their mental health improve over an eight-week period after getting adjusted to life in the pandemic, but for people whose sitting times stayed at an all-time high, their depressive symptoms did not recover the same as everyone else. In the PreK-4th classroom, teachers can encourage students to take brain breaks such as go noodle videos, yoga videos, independent reading, etc. They can even build these into their lesson plans to ensure that children are getting out of their seats and moving around throughout the day to help students understand the importance of movement as well as mental and emotional health.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
As people adhered to stay-at-home orders or self-isolated during the early months of the COVID-19 outbreak, daily commutes turned into shuffles between the bedroom and the living room. Clicking Zoom links erased time spent walking to meeting rooms, and Netflix spilled into time otherwise dedicated to the gym.

In short, a lot of people suddenly became more sedentary during the onset of the pandemic. Recently published research found people who continued to spend a higher amount of time sitting between April and June 2020 were likely to have higher symptoms of depression. A closer investigation into this association could play a role in helping people improve their mental health.

"Sitting is a sneaky behavior," said Jacob Meyer, assistant professor of kinesiology at Iowa State University and lead author of the paper. "It's something we do all the time without thinking about it."

As the director of the Wellbeing and Exercise Laboratory at ISU, Meyer and his team look at how physical activity and sedentary behaviors are related to mental health, and how changes to those influence the way people think, feel and perceive the world.

"In March 2020, we knew COVID was going to affect our behavior and what we could do in lots of weird, funky ways that we couldn't predict," Meyer said.

To get a snapshot of those changes, Meyer and a team of researchers received survey responses from more than 3,000 study participants from all 50 states and the District of Colombia. Participants self-reported how much time they spent doing activities, like sitting, looking at screens and exercising, and how those behaviors compared to pre-pandemic times. Using standard clinical scales, they also indicated changes to their mental wellbeing (e.g., depression, anxiety, feeling stressed, lonely).

"We know when people's physical activity and screen time changes, that's related to their mental health in general, but we haven't really seen large population data like this in response to an abrupt change before," Meyer said.

Survey data showed participants who were meeting the U.S. Physical Activity Guidelines (i.e., 2.5-5 hours of moderate to vigorous physical activity each week) before the pandemic decreased their physical activity by 32%, on average, shortly after COVID-19-related restrictions went into effect. The same participants reported feeling more depressed, anxious and lonely. Meyer and his fellow researchers published their findings in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health last year.

Meyer's latest paper in Frontiers in Psychiatry served as a follow up to see whether the participants' behaviors and mental health changed over time. Participants filled out the same survey each week between April and June.

"In the second study, we found that, on average, people saw their mental health improve over the eight-week period," Meyer said. "People adjusted to life in the pandemic. But for people whose sitting times stayed high, their depressive symptoms, on average, didn't recover in the same way as everyone else's."

The participants who continued to spend a large portion of their day sitting experienced blunted mental health improvements.

Meyer emphasized that finding an "association" between sitting and mental health is not the same as saying more sitting causes depression. He said it's possible people who were more depressed sat more or that people who sat more became more depressed. Or there could have been some other factor that the researchers did not identify.

"It's certainly worthy of more investigation," Meyer said, adding that monthly survey data from June 2020 to June 2021 are intended to become publicly available soon. "I think being aware of some of the subtle changes we've made during the pandemic and how they might be beneficial or detrimental is really important as we look to the other side of pandemic life."

Meyer said both starting and stopping a habit is very difficult, even when someone wants to change their behavior. But he hopes more people will recognize that even a little bit of movement can improve their mood and mental health, and try to find ways to build it into their day.

Meyer recommended people take breaks when sitting for long periods of time.

"If you're no longer walking down the hall for in-person meetings, you can still incorporate that break from sitting by taking a short walk before and after your Zoom call," Meyer said.

People working from home can try walking around the block before and after the workday to mimic their pre-pandemic commute, which Meyer said can benefit people physically and mentally, and help add structure to the day.

Researchers at Trinity College Dublin, University of Dublin and University of Limerick contributed to this research.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
mental health research; chronic illness; healthy aging; fitness; mental health; depression; behavior; psychiatry

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Sitting more linked to increased feelings of depression, anxiety

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
During the initial COVID-19 outbreak in March 2020, a lot of people suddenly became more sedentary as they adhered to stay-at-home orders or opted to self-isolate. Recently published research found people who continued to spend a higher amount of time sitting in the weeks following were likely to have higher symptoms of depression.