Learning! Roundup: Doctors Can Be Prejudice Against Weight, Right-Handed Research, Happy Parents, and More!

A roundup of research, including the fact that doctors who only look at the weight of large or fat patients miss medical diagnoses.
Photo by Ronit Shaked.

Doctors Weight Prejudice

If you have a large body you're probably already aware of how the medical industry sees only your size and none of your other health problems when you go in to see them. So consider this more of an encouragement than new information: if your doctor only suggests weight loss when you come in with a problem, try to find another doctor. This advice applies to everyone, but of course the larger you are, the more you probably experience doctors ignoring your entire health as a whole and focusing only on your size.

Right-Handed Research

Sometimes, the need to keep variables under control in research has a dark side by leaving whole segments of the population out. For example, it's now been shown that neuroimaging studies usually only use right-handed people. This means we don't know that much about the brains of left-handed and ambidextrous people.

Happy Parents

Most research goes against the common wisdom that having kids makes you happy, showing that people without kids are typically happier with their lives than those who don't have them. However, that's because research always looked at those with kids still at home and (effectively) ruining their lives! Once the kids move out, it turns out, the parents become happier than the non-parents. It's a long game.

Social Teens

All the worry about teenagers on social media may be on the wrong track: a new study shows that teen boys aren't really impacted at all and that social media only poses a problem for teen girls when it interferes with their sleep or physical activities. As long as they aren't being cyberbullied or staying up all night to chat, it's no big deal.

Taking Breaks

We all know the value of taking a break during a mentally challenging task. Walking away for a little bit means you come back and tackle it with fresh eyes. It can make all the difference in the world! Unless you take your break by looking at your phone, it turns out. These breaks don't actually let the brain fully rest and result in more mental depletion.


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