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The Importance of Correct Car Seat Installation Motor vehicle crashes cause the death of an American child every three hours, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Car seats are documented to reduce injuries and deaths, but are installed incorrectly by parents into their vehicles with startling frequency, researchers say. The University of Alabama at Birmingham and Safe Kids Worldwide have received $2.7 million from the National Institutes of Health to begin studies that look at the use of interactive virtual presence to remotely assist parents to properly install car seats in their vehicles. “When installed correctly, car seats reduce the risk of serious injury and death to infants and young children involved in a vehicle crash roughly threefold,” says David Schwebel, Ph.D., associate dean for research in the UAB College of Arts and Sciences. “We will look at the efficacy of using interactive virtual presence technology to assist parents with the installation of car seats.” New technology, known as interactive virtual presence, enables parents to access an expert who can assist in the car seat installation virtually. With a smartphone or tablet camera, users connect to remote CPS technicians, who walk them through proper installation. The experts see and hear from the parents, and they can point out danger spots or problematic issues directly on the video image through a three-dimensional image overlay. Once the seat is installed, they can talk parents through the steps necessary to verify it was done correctly, and confirm proper installation with their own eyes. If effective, the technology could supplement or replace car seat checks and significantly reduce the number of errors made in car seat installations nationwide, potentially revolutionizing how government, industry and nonprofit agencies help parents install restraints.
Study: Diet Matters When It Comes to Depression Teens with a high-sodium, low-potassium diet are at a higher risk of depression According to a new study from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, teens who consume foods with high levels of sodium and low levels of potassium are more likely to develop symptoms of depression. The study, published in Physiological Reports, suggests that diet is a modifiable risk factor for adolescent depression. “Depression among adolescents in the United States has increased by 30 percent over the last decade, and we wanted to know why and how to decrease this number,” says Sylvie Mrug, Ph.D., chair of the UAB Department of Psychology. “Very little research has been conducted on diet and depression. Our study shows the need to pay attention to what our children are eating.” During the study, urban, low-income, mostly African American adolescents self-reported their depressive symptoms at baseline and a year and a half later in addition to overnight urine collection to measure potassium and sodium levels. The study showed that the effects of high sodium and low potassium on symptoms of depression build up over time. The unique combination of high sodium and low potassium best predicted an increase in adolescent depression. According to researchers, health care providers can use urinary sodium and potassium as biomarkers of risk for subsequent development of depression in adolescents. “Interventions are needed to ensure adolescents are receiving proper nutrition to decrease their risk of depression,” Mrug added. “Food such as fruits, vegetables and yogurt contain low levels of sodium and high amounts of potassium and should be encouraged as part of a teen’s daily diet.” Paul Sanders, M.D., professor in the UAB School of Medicine, recommends that teens avoid highly processed foods, including fast food. “The age-old saying, ‘eat your fruits and vegetables’ comes to mind,” Sanders says. “Although changing diet in this way takes money and effort, it has many health benefits, including improved mental health, as shown in our study.”
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8 | birminghamparent | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019
