SOCIAL DEMOCRATS

A citizens’ Europe?

The Conference on the Future of Europe could lead to a new European constitution.

27th April 2022

Citizens’ panel two in Florence—’raising popular consciousness about the complexity of social reality and its governance’

During the last decade, European Union affairs have become significantly more politicised, on issues such as trade and austerity, the movement of people and climate change. To those have recently been added healthcare, due to the Covid-19 crisis, and lately defence and security, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

EU policy-making traditionally favoured institutionalised, Brussels-based, peak associations and umbrella organisations, which aggregated diverse interests. This in turn fostered tensions with grassroots groups within member states.

The Conference on the Future of Europe—whose final plenary is scheduled for the end of this week—represents an attempt to move away from the conventional, corporatist model towards ‘deliberative’ and ‘citizen-led’ policy-making. This has been evidenced through an online platform established to collect ideas from any European and especially the innovative European Citizens’ Panels. For the first time, individuals randomly selected from every corner of the continent have participated in formal transnational dialogues to engender recommendations for a better union.

This transition offers opportunities for the democratisation of the EU but it also carries risks: it is crucial to link the micro-exercises of the panels with the macro-level of political debates, within member states and across Europe. Then the politicisation of EU policies, resonating beyond the usual suspects within the ‘Brussels bubble’, would suggest the normalisation of the union as a public sphere—in which the dominant arguments are based on contestation of what the EU does, rather than nationalist Euroscepticism. It thus remains relevant to engage traditional interlocutors, such as parliaments, political parties, trade unions and civil society, at EU and national levels, with the constitutionalisation of the union on the horizon.

Two precedents

The Conference on the Future of Europe evokes two precedents. The first was the Conference of Messina in June 1955, considered a turning-point in the relaunch of European integration. Despite the successes of the 1951 Treaty of Paris establishing the European Coal and Steel Community, the failure of the European Defence Community and of the European Political Community had paralysed the integration process. At Italy’s initiative, the foreign ministers of the six founding member states gathered in Messina to find a way to move forward.

The governments agreed on the setting up of a common European market allied to the expansion of trade and the movement of persons (Italy had a substantial labour surplus), as well as more and cheaper energy. Messina initiated a process which, through an innovative institutional setup, centred on a committee of experts acting under a ministerial mandate. The foundational Treaty of Rome followed in 1957.

The second precedent was the Convention on the Future of Europe. This was convened at a critical juncture between 2001 and 2003—with EU enlargement to the east imminent, stemming from the collapse of the Soviet sphere and the end of the cold war, amid a fraught geopolitical environment after the ‘9/11’ attacks in the United States and the start of the controversial ‘war on terror’.

The convention was tasked by the European Council to ‘resolve three basic challenges: how to bring citizens, and primarily the young, closer to the European design and the European institutions, how to organise politics and the European political area in an enlarged Union and how to develop the Union into a stabilising factor and model in the new, multipolar world’. It drafted a treaty establishing a European constitution, though this was eventually rejected in referenda in France and the Netherlands. It was unclear, however, whether these votes were against Europe per se or its then neoliberal colouring and the substance was preserved in the conventional intergovernmental Treaty of Lisbon of 2007.

Both initiatives were taken at key moments in the process of European integration. Both entailed original institutional designs, conceiving new methods to reform the EU not foreseen in the treaties. Both proved valuable in relaunching the European project.

Now a new constitutional process is due, as urged in recommendation 35 from citizens’ panel two, on European democracy, in the Florence session of the Conference on the Future of Europe: ‘We recommend that the EU reopens the discussion about the constitution of Europe with a view to creating a constitution informed by the citizens of the EU. Citizens should be able to vote in the creation of such a constitution.’

Deliberative democracy

Europe can reinvent democracy for the 21st century, also capitalising on the pluralistic possibilities of the digital age. It is imperative, however, to combat the ‘dark side’ of online life, of organised misinformation and other modes of manipulation which corrode the European public sphere.

Deliberative democracy can help with that, as the European citizens’ panels have once again demonstrated, raising popular consciousness about the complexity of social reality and its governance. Participatory and deliberative democracy should not be considered as replacements for representative democracy but as an integration of it: institutions cannot really be renewed without the involvement of citizens. A permanent European citizens’ assembly would be a step towards a fully-fledged European deliberative democracy. It should become a new EU institution and part of union law-making.

Reforming the EU political system is a burning issue, with the need to adopt qualified majority voting as the ordinary procedure top of the agenda. The European Parliament should be granted more powers, including to initiate legislation (currently confined to the European Commission) as well as on the budget and taxation. More weight should be given to it and to national parliaments, at the expense of the Council of the EU. National parliaments should play a role in EU accountability, to bring European issues into national political debates and encourage parties and parliamentarians to pay more attention to them.

The Spitzenkandidaten approach to appointing the commission president, which gives a role to EU citizens in choosing the executive power, should be formally adopted and implemented, together with transnational party lists in elections to the parliament. Currently the lead candidates are chosen by national parties, but potential candidates should be required to appeal to European as well as national constituencies.

Transnational political participation should be stimulated by encouraging activism on EU policies, allied to a diminished focus on expert-oriented EU interest-group representation.

The European Citizens’ Initiative should be ascribed greater policy impact, with meaningful follow-up required. Pan-European referenda should be considered, not only for constitutional change but also in connection with the ECI and transnational citizens’ assemblies.

The Conference on the Future of Europe has been an educative experiment in democratic citizen engagement at the continental scale. Continuing this experiment could accelerate transnational civic activism and the building of new types of EU institution, including permanent mechanisms of deliberative and participatory democracy. This process should be sustained—developing at least the citizens’ panels experiment—until the 2024 European election.
Possible outcome

This process would strengthen, rather than undermine, the representative institutions. It could pave the way, once the new European Parliament is elected, for the latter to operate as a constitutional assembly. This would complement the convention addressing changes to the treaties which a number of members of the parliament, some governments and many non-governmental organisations are seeing as the possible outcome of the Conference on the Future of Europe, activating article 48 of the Treaty on European Union.

In their coalition deal of last November, the current German government partners declared that the conference ‘should lead to a constitutional convention and the further development of a federal European state’. Citizens Take Over Europe, a coalition of more than 50 civil-society organizations, proposes that such a convention should be organised in the most participatory and inclusive manner, drawing on experiences of citizen involvement in Iceland, Ireland, Romania and Chile.

Such a constitutional path, if initiated, would prove that the approval in December 2020 by the European Council of the NextGenerationEU recovery fund, financed by borrowing on behalf of the union as a whole, was indeed a ‘Hamiltonian moment’ for the EU. Such measures should be recognised as permanent and not provisional, integrated into a new, de facto federal, institutional framework.

The ideology of neoliberalism was sustained through a remote, technocratic discourse. Transnational activism and a bridging of EU and national politics offer a route to bring progressive ideals into the union. The democratic future of our continent lies here—moving from ‘policy without politics’ to policy with politics, through citizens’ protagonism.

This article is an updated synthesis of the paper ‘Citizens’ Europe: an institutional turn for an ever-democratic union?’, published by the Foundation for European Progressive Studies



MICHELE FIORILLO
Michele Fiorillo is a political philosopher whose research focuses on the history of ideas, theories of democracy and European integration. He was co-initiator of CIVICO Europa and of Citizens Take Over Europe, a transnational coalition of more than 50 NGOs.

SEAMUS MONTGOMERY
Seamus is a political anthropologist based in the UK whose work has been primarily with and about EU civil servants. He is currently a postdoctoral affiliate and teaching assistant at the University of Oxford.


FABIO DI NUNNO
Fabio Di Nunno is a teaching assistant at the University of International Studies of Rome (UNINT), a journalist at Città Nuova and contributor to the Annali of the Italian Institute for Historical Studies.



ALVARO OLEART
Alvaro Oleart is a postdoctoral researcher at Studio Europa Maastricht and the Department of Political Science of Maastricht University. He is the author of Framing TTIP in the European Public Spheres: Towards an Empowering Dissensus for EU Integration, published in the Palgrave series of European political sociology.


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Rocket Lab successfully catches Electron booster with helicopter

ORLANDO, Fla., May 2 (UPI) -- Rocket Lab successfully launched and caught an Electron booster with a helicopter for the first time on Monday.

"Helicopter catch!" Rocket Lab tweeted following the successful mission, called "There and back again."

Following the successful catch, the company also conducted its first booster offloading, with the aircraft dropping the rocket on to a waiting ship.

Monday's liftoff was placed on hold about 12 minutes ahead of the scheduled launch but was completed at around 6:50 p.m. EDT from Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand.

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Data collected from both the catching and then offloading the booster onto the recovery ship will be used to streamline the process going forward.

Rocket Lab said the Electron booster stage was in "great condition" after splashdown, adding the pilot noticed different load characteristics than in previous testing during the offloading.

The booster will be further assessed to determine whether it can be launched again.

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Unfavorable conditions forced the company to delay the launch several days, originally pushing it to Friday, then postponing to Sunday before finally being able to launch Monday.

"We don't usually give mother nature quite so much power over launch timing, but for our first helicopter catch attempt we want to line up the best possible conditions to give us the highest chance of a successful catch. In time, we'll narrow those bounds," the company said after first pushing the launch to Friday.

"After a busy week of capture testing, and while we wait for weather to improve, we're taking an additional day for final helicopter and recovery system optimization ahead of our first mid-air capture attempt," the company said Saturday on Twitter.




Rocket Lab used a Sikorsky S-92 helicopter to snag the booster as it fell from the sky.

"We've carried out successful helicopter flights with replica stages, as well as conducted extensive parachute tests. Now it's time to put everything together," Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck told UPI last week.

Engineers have spent the past two years working to make the Electron booster reusable, and recently beefed up the rocket's thermal protection system -- as seen by a new red stripe on the rocket -- which helped it hold up during re-entry and facilitate the catch.

Beck said the company not only beefed up the thermal protection system, but also installed parachutes on the rocket to help slow it down as it fell to Earth to help the helicopter grab the rocket.

"We're excited about this new era of reusability," Beck said.

Chinese scientist and team strike new path to explain how giant planets found their orbit

Mechanism proposed by Zhejiang University scientist Liu Beibei and team in Nature journal may be ‘one of the missing links in solar system history’, says reviewer

New model explains why the Earth’s formation was not affected by the migration of giant planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune billions of years ago, says Liu

Ling Xin in Beijing

A paper published this week in Nature journal challenges the theory of how the giant planets in the solar system migrated to their present-day orbits. Photo: Shutterstock

An international team of researchers has challenged the mainstream theory of when and how the giant planets in the solar system migrated to their present-day orbits.

In a paper published in Nature on Wednesday, they proposed a new theory that could dramatically move the timeline to as early as 5 million years after the solar system was born, instead of hundreds of millions of years afterwards.

“The proposed mechanism may be one of the missing links in solar system history,” one of the paper’s reviewers wrote.



New giant-planet study better explains the formation of our galaxy, says lead author

The story of our solar system started 4.6 billion years ago when a gigantic molecular cloud contracted under its own gravity. The nascent sun rose from the hot, dense centre, while planets took shape around it in a swirling disk made of gas and dust particles.

Among the different types of planets that later formed, “the giant planets are so massive that they had huge impacts on the terrestrial planets and the evolution of the solar system itself,” said the paper’s lead author Liu Beibei from Zhejiang University in eastern China.

It is believed that as Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune grew larger, they migrated towards the sun and reached a stable state where their orbits were much closer to the sun and to each other than they are today. This difference led scientists to look for possible mechanisms that disrupted the stability and brought the planets to their current positions.

The most popular theory, called the Nice model, posits that the instability occurred because of interactions between the giant planets and smaller solid objects beyond Neptune’s orbit, and that the process took a few hundred million years to complete.

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The Nice model was powerful enough to explain a range of observed facts, such as the existence of the Kuiper belt, but there was increasing debate regarding one of its major motivations – a hypothetical event called the Late Heavy Bombardment, said Man Hoi Lee from the University of Hong Kong.

Using theoretical analyses and numerical simulations, Liu and his colleagues from Europe and the US found the instability could have happened much earlier as a result of the gas disk dispersing.

“Picture the early sun as an enormous hair dryer that continued to blow away gas around it,” Liu said. As the disk evaporated from inside out, its inner edge swept across and stirred up each planet’s orbit in turn, until the outward migration of Saturn triggered the instability.

The new model was not only consistent with recent findings about the Late Heavy Bombardment, but better explained why the Earth’s formation was not affected by the migration of the giant planets, he said.

Proving any of the models would be difficult, since the evolution of the solar system cannot be directly observed. Just as the Nice model was modified after its conception, the new model also had to be examined by follow-up studies, said Masahiro Ogihara, a TD Lee Fellow at the Tsung-Dao Lee Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

For instance, it would be useful to check whether the distribution of the so-called Super Earth exoplanet – a planet that orbits a star outside the solar system – was consistent with the new model, Ogihara said.

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Lee said he would be interested to see if the new model could produce the observed spin axis tilts of Jupiter and Saturn, a subject he has investigated intensively.

“For me, the most challenging part of this study is to learn to think beyond what’s been widely accepted,” Liu said. He earned his PhD from the Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics at Peking University in 2015 and held postdoctoral positions in the Netherlands and Sweden before joining Zhejiang University.



Ling Xin is a science journalist based in Beijing. She mainly covers physics, astronomy and space. Her writing has appeared in Science, Scientific American, MIT Technology Review and other English and Chinese outlets. She was a visiting journalist at Science magazine in Washington, and has a master's degree in journalism from Ohio University.

Unique hospital cures elephants in India

 Anadolu Agency profiles unique medical center in India that treats sick and injured elephants
Shuriah Niazi |29.04.2022


NEW DELHI

A medical center in Mathura, 180 kilometers (111 miles) south of the Indian capital New Delhi, armed with all the modern facilities has patients lined up outside awaiting their turn for the treatment.

The patients awaiting diagnosis, laser treatment, thermal imaging, ultrasonography, hydrotherapy, and even quarantine are not humans, but the largest existing land animals – the elephants.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Kartick Satyanarayan, head of Wildlife SOS -- a non-profit conservation organization – coinciding with the World Veterinary Day being observed on Saturday said rehabilitating animals and raising awareness was important for wildlife protection.

“Today, only about 40,000 Asian elephants remain in the wild. The rest are shackled in captivity, snatched away from their natural habitats. In India practices such as riding elephants for tourism, using elephants in wedding processions, and begging remain common despite the increase in public awareness,” he said.

Besides setting up an Elephant Conservation and Care Centre (ECCC) in Mathura in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh in 2010, the organization has set up another center now in Haryana, adjacent to the capital New Delhi.

He said that the hospital focuses on the plight of captive elephants in India, who are privately owned and have the cruel history of being used for begging, or are held in temples for 'blessings the temple visitors' or are being forced to perform in circuses.

The injured, sick, and old elephants now out of work are lined up at the Mathura center. Veterinarians at the hospital say that even after rehabilitation the elephants remain completely dependent on humans for their day-to-day survival.

“Therefore, a team of expert veterinarians provides the best possible care to these ill-treated jumbos. The hospital is equipped to test and diagnose elephants for a host of diseases and pathogens with an inbuilt path lab,” said Satyanarayan.

A dedicated team of veterinarians and trained staff works can be seen working round the clock to cater to the needs of the rescued elephants and to reassure them that they are in a safe place.

Dr. Arun Sha, director at the Wildlife SOS, told Anadolu Agency that veterinarians take care of rescued elephants suffering from critical ailments.

“Many elephants also lose vision either due to malnutrition or injuries. Such elephants require constant monitoring and special amenities such as rubber padding in enclosures. Veterinarians provide the daily medical care needed to these elephants while also preparing diet plans for each elephant to keep them healthy,” he said.

The hospital conducts regular blood diagnoses of the elephants and monitors their health, besides conducting regular workshops for visiting veterinarians, biologists, and elephant caretakers from around the world.

ABOLISH THE DEATH PENALTY

Tenn. Gov. Bill Lee suspends executions, launches review of lethal injections


Under Gov. Bill Lee's order, the state of Tennessee will suspend its lethal injection executions for the rest of the year. File Image courtesy of Florida Department of Corrections

May 2 (UPI) -- Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee on Monday announced a suspension of executions in the state in the wake of a temporary reprieve granted to a death row inmate due to "technical issues" with lethal injections.

Executions have been halted through the end of the year as former U.S. Attorney Ed Stanton conducts an "independent review" of the state's procedures for carrying out lethal injections, Lee announced in a statement.

The move comes less than two weeks after the scheduled execution of 72-year-old death row prisoner Oscar Smith was put on hold after an "issue" was found with the injection.

"I review each death penalty case and believe it is an appropriate punishment for heinous crimes," Lee said. "However, the death penalty is an extremely serious matter, and I expect the Tennessee Department of Correction to leave no question that procedures are correctly followed."

Lee temporarily paused Smith's planned April 21 execution shortly before it was set to be carried out, citing an "oversight" in the lethal injection preparation.

On Monday, he said Stanton's probe would include the circumstances "that led to testing the lethal injection chemicals for only potency and sterility but not endotoxins" in preparing for Smith's execution as well as the "clarity of the lethal injection process manual that was last updated in 2018, and adherence to testing policies since the update."

Staffing levels at the corrections department will also be part of the review, Lee said.

RELATED 'Oversight in preparation' derails execution of Tennessee death row inmate

"An investigation by a respected third-party will ensure any operational failures at TDOC are thoroughly addressed," the Republican governor said. "We will pause scheduled executions through the end of 2022 in order to allow for the review and corrective action to be put in place."

Smith was initially scheduled to receive the lethal injection at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville before the COVID-19 pandemic. He was sentenced to death for the 1989 slayings of his estranged wife Judy Robird Smith and her two sons from a previous relationship, Chad Burnett and Jason Burnett.

Lee had declined to grant Smith clemency shortly before last month's rescheduled execution.

RELATED South Carolina Supreme Court halts firing squad execution

Smith's lawyers argued in March that the three-drug protocol used in Tennessee's lethal injections is inhumane. The protocol includes midazolam (a sedative), vecuronium bromide (a paralytic) and potassium chloride (which causes death), according to the non-partisan Death Penalty Information Center.

Critics of the death penalty have argued that midazolam, which is supposed to make executions painless, doesn't actually numb the pain. The drug, in combination with a paralytic, leaves prisoners unable to express pain, they say

Embracer Group to buy game studios behind 'Tomb Raider,' 'Deus Ex' for $300M


May 2 (UPI) -- Embracer Group is acquiring video game development studios Crystal Dynamics, Eidos-Montreal and Square Enix Montreal from Square Enix alongside a catalog of intellectual properties that includes Tomb Raider, Deus Ex and Thief.

Embracer Group is paying $300 million for the studios and the associated IPs on a "cash and debt-free basis, to be paid in full at closing," according to the Sweden-based company.

The acquisition includes about 1,100 employees across three studios and eight global locations. If it goes through, the deal is expected to close during the second quarter of Embracer's 2022-23 financial year.

"We are thrilled to welcome these studios into the Embracer Group," Lars Wingefors, co-founder and CEO of Embracer Group, said in a news release Monday. "We recognize the fantastic IP, world class creative talent, and track record of excellence that have been demonstrated time and again over the past decades.

"It has been a great pleasure meeting the leadership teams and discussing future plans for how they can realize their ambitions and become a great part of Embracer.

Once the agreement is finalized, Embracer will have more than 14,000 employees, 10,000 game developers and 124 internal studios.

The agreement comes about a month after Crystal Dynamics announced it was developing a brand-new Tomb Raider game on Unreal Engine 5.

Crystal Dynamics also is the studio behind Marvel's Avengers, and it has been helping Microsoft's The Initiative develop the new Perfect Dark title.

Eidos Montreal, meanwhile, is the studio behind Thief 4, Deus Ex Human Revolution and Shadow of the Tomb Raider, among others. Square Enix Montreal is responsible for games like Hitman Go, Tomb Raider Go and Deus Ex Go, and it will continue to focus on mobile games.

Embracer has been undergoing a rapid expansion in recent years and currently owns Gearbox, THQ Nordic, Saber Interactive, Dark Horse Comics and 3D Realms.

President Biden, first lady mark Eid al-Fitr with White House reception


President Joe Biden hosted a reception celebrating the Eid al-Fitr holiday at the White House on Monday in which praised the accomplishments of Muslim Americans. 

Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo

May 2 (UPI) -- President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden celebrated Eid al-Fitr at a White House reception Monday with calls for religious tolerance and praise for the contributions of Muslim Americans.

The Bidens, Vice President Kamala Harris and other dignitaries honored the three-day Muslim holiday marking the end of fasting for Ramadan with a well-attended event at the East Room after last year's celebration was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Muslims typically practice month-long dawn-to-sunset fasting during Ramadan.

Muslim countries across the world have already started celebrating the three-day-long Eid al-Fitr.

RELATED More U.S. public schools close for Islamic holiday Eid al-Fitr

In his remarks, Biden honored the national and civic accomplishments of Muslims in the United States, despite facing challenges from racial and religious bigotry.

"Muslims make our nation stronger every single day, even as they still face real challenges and threats in our society, including targeted violence and Islamophobia. ... It's just astounding," he said.

The Roman Catholic president noted "there's a lot of similarities between all the three major religions" before jokingly adding, "You have a slight advantage for Ramadan. For Lent, I've got to go forty days with no sweets and no ice cream -- [but] I did it."

RELATED Saudi Arabia announces official start of Eid al-Fitr

Biden declared the United States is the only country in the world founded not on a religious or racial grouping, but rather on "an idea" embodied in the preamble to Declaration of Independence, that "all men are created equal."

"We've never met that goal, but we've never walked away from it -- except one brief moment. And we're back," he said.

Jill Biden called Eid is a "joyous" celebration that brings families and communities together.

"It is the wholeness that comes when we give ourselves to others, the lightness we feel when we lay down our burdens at last," she said.

Also speaking at the reception were Talib Shareef, imam of The Nations Mosque in Washington, D.C., and Pakistani vocalist and composer Arooj Aftab.

Some public school districts across the nation will be closed Monday or Tuesday in observance of the Islamic holiday.

"Eid marks the completion of a holy month dedicated to devotion and reflection, when families and communities come together to celebrate their blessings," Biden said in a prepared statement issued ahead of the reception.

"And Eid is also an occasion for Muslims to remember all those who are struggling or impacted by poverty, hunger, conflict, and disease, and to recommit to building a better future for all."

Vegetarian diets are healthy for growing kids, study suggests

By Amy Norton, HealthDay News

A recent study found that children on vegetarian diets were, on average, of similar weight and height as their peers who ate meat. Photo by RitaE/Pixabay

Vegetarian diets are a healthy choice for growing kids -- though they may slightly raise the odds of youngsters being underweight, a new study suggests.

The study, of nearly 9,000 young children, found that those on vegetarian diets were, on average, of similar weight and height as their peers who ate meat. They were also on par when it came to blood levels of iron and vitamin D -- which could potentially be harder to get on a diet free of meat, fish and, sometimes, dairy products.

The one trouble spot was that vegetarian children were twice as likely as other kids to be underweight. However, the vast majority -- 94% -- were not.

The findings, published online Monday in the journal Pediatrics, support existing guidelines. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, for example, says that well-planned vegetarian diets are appropriate for people of all ages, including young children.

RELATED 'Longevity' diet high in vegetables, with fasting, can add to lifespan, researchers say

But while such diets are considered healthful, relatively few studies have looked at the impact on kids' growth and nutritional status, said Dr. Jonathon Maguire, the senior researcher on the new work.

He called his team's findings "good news."

"More and more parents are choosing vegetarian diets for their kids," said Maguire, a pediatrician at St. Michael's Hospital of Unity Health Toronto.

RELATED Low-meat, meat-free diets may reduce cancer risk, study finds

And those parents, more than likely vegetarians themselves, are typically "very thoughtful" about ensuring their kids get the nutrients they need, Maguire said.

"This study suggests that whatever these parents are doing, it's working out well," he said.

When vegetarian diets are done right, Maguire noted, they are rich in vegetables, fruit, high-fiber grains, beans and -- often -- dairy products and eggs. They also typically eschew processed foods high in added sugars and low in nutritional value.

RELATED  Vegetarian diet may lower asthma risk for children

As for the higher likelihood of vegetarian kids being underweight, Maguire said that is something for pediatricians to keep an eye on. Underweight children should have their growth more closely tracked, and their parents may need help from a nutrition specialist in crafting a balanced diet.

Amy Reed is a pediatric dietitian at Cincinnati Children's Hospital and a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

She said that for some young children on vegetarian diets, the high fiber content can be an issue: Fiber-rich foods are filling but often fairly low in calories.

Reed, who was not involved with the study, said that if a child is underweight or there are concerns about nutritional deficiencies, parents can ask for a referral to a dietitian.

With meat-free diets, Reed said, certain nutrients might be harder to get in the right amounts -- including zinc, vitamin B12, protein and calcium. But, she added, that depends on which foods kids are eating.

When they are consuming eggs and dairy, Reed said, those shortfalls are typically not a worry. Plus, kids can get those nutrients from plant foods such as beans, nuts and fortified nondairy "milks," cereals and nutritional yeasts.

"It's important to have an open mind," Reed said. "Vegetarian diets can be healthy at any age."

The study findings are based on 8,907 Canadian children who were 2 years old, on average, at the outset, and followed for an average of three years. At the study's start, 248 children were vegetarian.

Overall, the researchers found, children on meat-free diets were similar to peers as far as growth, weight and blood levels of iron, vitamin D and cholesterol. The only difference was in the risk of being underweight: About 6% of vegetarian kids were underweight, versus roughly 3% of their meat-eating peers.

The large majority of kids on meat-free diets were vegetarian, not vegan (free of all animal products, including dairy and eggs). And vegetarian children consumed about as much cow's milk as non-vegetarian kids -- at just over a cup a day.

Because of that, Maguire said, it's not possible to draw conclusions about vegan diets for young kids.

Reed noted that, in general, children often get "fixated" on a small number of foods between the ages of 2 and 5.

"A lot of kids that age are self-imposed vegetarians, and don't eat meat," she said.

Young children can find meat difficult to chew and swallow, Reed pointed out, and they may prefer protein sources like beans.

She also stressed the importance of parents and kids alike eating plenty of plant foods, which, Reed noted, does not require going meat-free.

More information

The Nemours Foundation has more on vegetarian diets for children.

Copyright © 2022 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Study: Food, beverage marketing increase kids' use of promoted products

NOT FREE SPEECH BUT HYPNOTIC REPETITIVE BRAND PROGRAMING*


Exposure to food advertising appears to increase consumption of those advertised brands among children, a new study suggests.

 Photo by mojzagrebinfo/Pixabay

May 2 (UPI) -- Exposure to food and beverage marketing and advertising boosts consumption of these products appreciably among children and adolescents, an analysis published Monday found.

Seeing marketing campaigns for food and beverage products boosts intake of these brands among people age 19 years and younger by up to 25%, the analysis of data from 80 previously published studies showed.

In addition, young people exposed to these campaigns were up to 30% more likely to indicate a preference for the promoted food and beverage brands, the researchers said in an article published Monday by JAMA Pediatrics.

Several studies included in the analysis also suggest that exposure to food and beverage marketing increased purchase requests for certain brands among children and adolescents, they said.

RELATED Report: Initiative still allows advertising unhealthy foods to kids

In this study, food marketing exposure was associated with increases in children's food intake, choice of and preference toward test items and purchase requests," researchers from the University of Liverpool in England wrote.

However, "there was little evidence to support associations with food purchasing by or on behalf of children, while data relating to dental health and body weight outcomes were scarce," they said.

The findings are based on an analysis of data from 80 studies that collectively enrolled more than 19,000 people age 19 years and younger in dozens of countries globally, according to the researchers.

RELATED Report: Rise in fast-food advertising largely targets Black, Hispanic youths

In the United States, the Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, a voluntary program enacted in 2006, establishes standards for food and beverage product advertising and marketing to children.

Nineteen food and beverage companies have voluntarily pledged to limit unhealthy food advertising to children age 12 years and younger.

However, a recent report by the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Health at the University of Connecticut found that more than one-third of food products advertised to kids are not considered healthy dietary options.

RELATED 'Kid influencers' promoting food brands online tout unhealthy choices

In addition, recent research suggests that social media influencers are promoting unhealthy food choices to young people online and that fast-food companies target Black and Hispanic youth with their advertising.

The World Health Organization recommends that all member countries, including the United States, enact policies to restrict children's exposure to unhealthy food marketing.

"Food and/or non-alcoholic beverage marketing that largely promotes products high in fat, sugar and/or salt is prevalent across television, digital media, outdoor spaces and sport," the researchers wrote.

"Children and adolescents are particularly vulnerable to the effects of food marketing given their immature cognitive and emotional development, peer-group influence and high exposure," they said.

*SUBLIMINAL PROGRAMMING

New Zealand's Mount Ruapehu shows increased volcanic activity

May 2 (UPI) -- The temperature at New Zealand's crater lake Te Wai a-moe has risen about 35 degrees Fahrenheit over the past three days, highlighting continued unrest on Mount Ruapehu and concerning experts about its ongoing volcanic tremors, experts said Monday.

Geoff Kilgour said Mount Ruapehu has shown its strongest volcanic activity "in two decades" with volcanic alert levels remaining at 2. Volcano eruptions are much more likely at Level 2 in than Level 1.



"Over the last week, the level of volcanic tremor has varied, with bursts of strong tremor interspersed by short, periods of weaker tremor," Kilgour said, according to the New Zealand Herald.

"This represents a change in character in the tremor, and the driving processes remain unclear."

Staffers from GNS Science, New Zealand's leading geoscience and isotope research service, have noticed an increased frequency of aerial gas measurements in sampling and a gas measurement flight last week.

"Mount Ruapehu is an active volcano and has the potential to erupt with little or no warning when in a state of elevated volcanic unrest," Kilgour said. "Volcanic Alert Level 2 indicates the primary hazards are those expected during volcanic unrest; steam discharge, volcanic gas, earthquakes, landslides and hydrothermal activity."

Kilgour said the chances for a prolonged eruptive episode or a larger eruption, similar to an episode in 1995-96, though, is unlikely.

"Such an eruption would most likely only follow a sequence of smaller eruptions," Kilgour said.