Today in Research: Preschoolers Aren't Getting Outside Enough

Discovered: Early BPA exposure has some nasty effects for adults, a new feathery dinosaur, preschoolers don't play outside enough, and the longer the commercial the better.

• Preschoolers don't play outside enough. Nearly half of all tots don't get taken out to play by their parents on a daily basis. So many caged up kids! "Preschool-age children should get at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity a day," according to researcher Dr. Pooja Tandon. "But many preschoolers are not meeting that recommendation. Young children need more opportunities to play outdoors and to help them be more active." Kids should take advantage of outdoor time while they can. (Adult life doesn't lend itself to much sun exposure.) Plus, parents, there are all those studies about the benefits of vitamin D -- the sun vitamin -- including one today on how it adds days to lives of the critically ill. [Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine]

• Early exposure to BPA has the same bad effects as early mercury exposure. When testing the chemical found in many common plastics, researcher Daniel Weber noticed it had the same effects as mercury. Specifically, early exposure to the stuff caused problems both right after birth and later in life. "What was amazing is that exposure only happened at the embryonic stage," Weber said, "but somehow the wiring in the brain had been permanently altered by it. Oh, by the way, BPA is found in a lot of common things like, baby formula and canned soup. Scary, eh? [University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee] 

Read the full story at The Atlantic Wire.