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Nosferatu - Why Do Audiences Keep Coming Back for an Updated Classic?

It's the latest take on an old classic. Nosferatu took the Christmas box office by storm and might be the first time a vampire movie dominated the traditional holiday cinema season that's usually family friendly and purposely 'PG'. Even the critics agree that this new take on an old classic was worth the 'bite'. An adaptation of F.W. Murnau’s 1922 silent nightmare (which itself was based on Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula and remade once before, in 1979, by Werner Herzog), Nosferatu recounts the tale of a most devious Count: Orlok (Bill Skarsgård), who strives to reach Europe’s shores by purchasing an aged manor house by way of a deal solidified with real estate agent Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult). Yet Orlok isn’t interested in seeing Germany’s tourist sights—his true goal is reuniting with Ellen Hutter (Lily-Rose Depp), Thomas’ bride, who called out to him as a girl and, in doing so, created a wicked bond that strengthens by the day. As imagined by Eggers and Skarsgård, the vampiric fiend is a towering figure of corruption and carnality who both resembles his predecessors and is a unique monster in his own right, and his reign of terror plays out via a series of lush, hypnotic set pieces that resound with unnerving malice and profane perversity. January - The Daily Beast Horror movies have always had a certain allure for audiences, but there a re a few questions to ask: What does this story have that makes it possible to be remade over and over and still stay entertaining? What is it about vampires in particular that are linked to romance? As well, why do we pay money to be scared and why is this genre so popular and lasting? If you're covering this particular film or movies in general - then let us help with your questions and stories. James Kendrick is a professor and undergraduate program director in the Department of Film & Digital Media at Baylor University, where he teaches about film theory/aesthetics, the history of motion pictures, media and society, the films of Steven Spielberg, violence in the media, and horror film. James Kendrick is available to speak with media. In fact, Nosferatu is James' favorite movie, so simply click on his icon now to arrange an interview time today.

Expert: Meta ditches fact checking, a major loss for the American people

Meta moving away from fact-checking towards a "community notes" model is the equivalent of crowd-sourcing truth, says the University of Delaware's Dannagal Young. This shift in policy is a victory for intuition, common sense and lived experience over data, expertise and evidence. It also stands as another example of media institutions acting preemptively to avoid political and economic fallout under the incoming administration. Young, director of UD's Center for Political Communication and professor of communication, can talk about epistemology (how people understand the world) and how it relates to populism and populist leaders like incoming President Donald Trump. Young can also discuss the following: • The contents of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's announcement video, in which he explains that recent elections mark a "cultural tipping point" in the direction of "free speech." "He's acknowledging that this policy change isn't a principled stance Meta is now taking, as much as a response to what he thinks the public is calling for (a dubious conclusion to draw from a narrow electoral victory)," Young said. • Zuckerberg's new stance, and how it will allow him to curry favor with the incoming administration because it allows Meta to avoid having to moderate Trump-friendly content. • Why content moderation and fact checking are expensive, and how moving away from that model is a "WIN-WIN-WIN for Meta: politically, culturally, and economically. And a LOSE LOSE LOSE for the American people: socially, culturally, and democratically," Young said.

Legacy of Former President Jimmy Carter

Following the death of Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United States, Dr. Meena Bose was featured in a Newsday article about his legacy. Dr. Bose is a Hofstra University professor of political science, executive dean of the Public Policy and Public Service program, and director of the Kalikow Center for the Study of the American Presidency. She noted that Carter served under difficult economic and political times. “But then, of course, he went on to have a highly successful post-presidency winning the Nobel Peace Prize, being highly active in public housing policy, voting rights … and really was quite active on the public scene until just a few years ago,” she said. The article also referenced the Hofstra Cultural Center’s 1990 three-day presidential conference on the Carter administration, which President Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter attended.

Los Angeles wildfires: Experts address health concerns and evacuation strategies

Major wildfires are once again raging in California, this time in Los Angeles County. According to news reports, they have so far been responsible for two deaths, 1,000 damaged structures and the evacuation of more than 30,000 residents. Experts from the University of Delaware's Disaster Research Center can comment on health impacts, evacuation strategies and how to manage pets and animals during disasters. Below are three of the Disaster Research Center core faculty and the topics they can discuss related to the current wildfires: Jennifer Horney, founding director of UD’s epidemiology program: Health impacts of disasters (mental and physical) as well as evacuation. Additionally, exposure to wildfire smoke which increases risk of respiratory infections; the scale of these fires during a very high period for these infectious diseases (flu, RSV, COVID) may also put pressure on public health and health care systems. Tricia Wachtendorf, co-director of the Disaster Research Center and professor of sociology and criminal justice: Disaster donations, social vulnerability and evacuation. Sarah DeYoung, associate professor of sociology and criminal justice: Pets and animals during evacuations.

New Year's Resolutions: Why they fail and how we can stick to them

By now, most people have already made their New Year's resolutions and (hopefully) put them into practice. But most people — about 90% — give up on them within the first few weeks of the year. University of Delaware experts dig into the psychology behind why resolutions fail and offer a recipe for success. The timing of New Year’s resolutions also isn’t always ideal. According to Philip Gable, professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, a lack of commitment is one reason why many people fail to achieve their goals. “New Year's resolutions sometimes lack in commitment,” he said. “It's just this time of year when people feel like they should make a resolution, as opposed to other times in the year when it's less common but maybe more meaningful, like if you get a doctor's report and realize you need to change that aspect of your life.” In order to be part of the 10% of people who keep their New Year’s resolutions, Gable said to break down big goals into small, achievable steps. “I think a lot of times with goals, people will commit to a very big goal and not realize the smaller steps they need to take to achieve that goal,” Gable said. “If we have too big of a goal, we get emotionally distressed when we can't do it, or we fail because we set too big of a goal. Or maybe we couldn't think through all of the elements required to meet that really big goal. So starting small gives us something achievable, and then that gives you a platform to go to the next thing.” Naomi Sadeh, associate professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of Delaware, said that part of the reason it’s so hard to make long-term changes is that humans are wired to prioritize instant gratification over delayed rewards. In other words, when posed with an option, we tend to pick the easy choice with an immediate outcome to satisfy a need today instead of delaying gratification for a bigger reward — we splurge on items we don’t really need instead of saving money, order takeout instead of cooking a healthy meal, or binge-watch a TV show instead of going to the gym. “With impulsivity and with breaking New Year's resolutions, often it's when people tend to opt for that sooner, smaller reward over the longer, bigger reward,” Sadeh said. “The sooner reward is really tempting, even if it's not as satisfying in the long run as the longer goal or bigger goal that you had.” When people set goals, they tend to feel very motivated for a few days and falsely assume they’re committed to their goal. But as soon as that motivation wears off, they give up. “There's potentially a mismatch in the timing of your goals,” said Rob West, interim chair and professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences. “Your goals are immediate, they're conscious, they're volitional. You have those in the moment, and they can be developed and abandoned quickly. But habits take a considerable amount of time and repetition.” To connect directly with Gable, visit his profile and click on the connect button. Interviews with other researchers can be arranged by contacting UD's Media Relations department.

AI Everywhere: Where Artificial Intelligence and Health Care Intersect

Imagine a world where AI doesn’t just support health care providers, but anticipates their next move — detecting diseases faster than human eyes, analyzing patterns and patient data that humans might overlook and revolutionizing health care decision making at every level. Driven by data, AI can identify which patients are most likely to have repeated emergency department visits or thrive from personalized medicine. With the power of robotics enhanced by AI, people with medical needs can gain more independence, managing daily tasks such as taking medication, monitoring their health and receiving personalized care, all from the comfort of their own homes. And this is just the beginning. “AI is transforming – and is going to continue transforming – every industry, especially health care,” said Bharat Rao, a notable figure in the fields of health care, technology and AI. Rao himself has made significant contributions to artificial intelligence, machine learning and data analytics, particularly in health care innovation. His current start-up, CareNostics, uses AI technology to identify patients at increased risk for chronic disease. “We take this for granted,” he said, “but it’s like what I used to see on Star Trek as a kid. The opportunities are limitless.” Rao was a keynote speaker at ChristianaCare’s inaugural Innovation Summit, a two-day conference at ChristianaCare’s Newark campus in Delaware, in fall 2024. During panel discussions and keynotes, more than 200 attendees heard about current and future health tech from national innovators and thought leaders, as well as technical advice for inventors who want to patent ideas and protect intellectual property in a world where “AI Is Everywhere,” the conference’s theme. Speakers emphasized that it’s not just technologists, but also researchers, clinicians and other health care professionals who play an essential role in implementing AI-based health care solutions. “There’s no AI without HI, which is human intelligence,” said Catherine Burch, MS, CXA, CUA, vice president of innovation at ChristianaCare. “You want to help shape the future, not wait for it to shape you.” How AI helps improve patient care “AI is incredibly good at reducing noise in images,” said speaker David Lloyd, a technical leader at Amazon, who discussed the use of AI in radiology. “It can detect anomalies, and it can automate radiologist reports, which saves time for radiologists.” Data informatics is another example of the power of AI to help health professionals determine which patients are at an increased risk for falls, malnutrition or recurrent asthma attacks, enabling them to optimize patient health and prevent hospitalizations. “Some patients with asthma go to the ER repeatedly because their treatment plan isn’t working,” said speaker Vikram Anand, head of data at CareNostics. When patients have uncontrolled asthma, data-rich platforms like CareNostics can provide treating physicians with guidelines and other support to improve patient care, which may lead to evidence-based medication changes or other therapies, he said. Using robots as part of the health care team in patient homes may sound like science fiction, but speakers discussed the current evolution of consumer robotics, like Amazon’s Astro. Astro follows patients around their home, interacts with them and supports their care. When ChristianaCare tested Astro’s impact on HomeHealth patients, they found that it reduced feelings of isolation by 60%. “Astro is like Alexa on wheels,” said speaker Pam Szczerba, PT, MPT, CPHQ, director of ChristianaCare’s HomeHealth quality, education and risk management, who studied patients’ experiences with Astro. “People like interacting with Alexa, but they can only interact in the room they’re in. Astro’s mobility lets it go to the patient.” Based on early successes, health professionals are assessing robots as an extension of clinicians in the home. Early results show that patients with robots show improved activation with their care plans. This may lead to more widespread distribution of household robots to newly diagnosed patients to help prevent disease complications, avoidable emergency department visits and re-hospitalizations. How AI helps ease provider burden Speakers also discussed the potential of AI to improve health care delivery and patient outcomes by handling more administrative work for health professionals. “We can reduce some of the redundancy of work to free up time for people to be creative,” said speaker Terrance Bowman, managing director at Code Differently, a company that educates and prepares people to work in technology-driven workplaces. “AI should be taking the ‘administrivia’ – administrative trivial tasks – out of your life,” said speaker Nate Gach, director of innovation at Independence Blue Cross. “When you want folks to do the creative part of the job that takes brain power, have ChatGPT respond to easy emails.” Other examples shared included the power of AI to record meetings, create summaries and send participants automated meeting minutes. Benefits can be seen across industries. Specific to health care, eliminating the need for note-taking during visits enables more personalized and attentive provider-patient interaction. With the evolution of ambient speech apps, clinicians are no longer just dictating notes into the electronic health record. Now AI is listening to the conversation and creating the notes and associated recommendations. “The physician is no longer spending ‘pajama time’ doing catch-up work, at home late into the evening,” said speaker Tyler Flatt, a director and leading expert in AI and digital transformation at Microsoft. “Especially as we’re dealing with burnout, it’s better for patient and physician satisfaction.” AI may also help caregivers uncover details that they hadn’t noticed, helping them diagnosis patients with subtle symptoms. “We feed a large quantity of data and have it suggest commonalities about patients,” said speaker Matthew Mauriello, assistant professor of computer and information sciences at the University of Delaware. “Some things are very insightful, but humans miss them.” AI has also been used for patient engagement, including chatbots that can assist with tasks like scheduling clinical appointments or acknowledging patient questions. “One of the things AI is great at is natural language understanding,” said David Lloyd. “You can alleviate a lot of the burden if you have something that can talk to your patients, especially if it’s an administrative task.” Creating new health innovations “The key is to think of something you’ve done that’s original and non-obvious,” said Rao, who holds more than 60 patents in AI. “The process of writing about it will help you flesh it out.” Turning breakthrough ideas into game changers is just the start — protecting these innovations is what ensures they shape the future, rather than fade into the past. “Keeping it secret and internal to your organization until you know what you want to do with it is important,” Greg Bernabeo, partner at FisherBroyles, LLP, said. “Otherwise, the opportunity is lost, and you can’t get the genie back in the bottle.” Benefits of non-obvious thinking People who pursue “non-obvious” ideas are often on the cutting edge of technology in and out of health care, said keynote speaker, Ben DuPont, while discussing innovative ideas with Randy Gaboriault, MS, MBA, senior vice president and chief digital and information officer at ChristianaCare. “Amazon was not founded by a book retailer; Airbnb was not founded by somebody who was in hospitality,” said DuPont, author, entrepreneur, and co-founder and partner at Chartline Capital Partners venture capital fund. “Before Uber, the founders were running around Paris and they couldn’t get a taxi.” Innovative ideas often arise when people consider non-obvious points of view while thinking about solutions, DuPont said. Non-experts have the ability to cut through the clutter and find the frustration, which can lead to innovative solutions, which DuPont explores in his book “Non-Obvious Thinking: How to See What Others Miss.” Health providers, for example, may discover ideas when they move out of their comfort zones. “If you want to be a better doctor, go do something that has nothing to do with medicine,” he said. “Innovation happens at the collision of seemingly unrelated disciplines.” Diversity in the workplace is necessary, “but it’s not just diversity in the way people look: It’s diversity in how people think,” DuPont said. “There are people that think in dramatic and different ways. We need those people around the table. They might say: ‘If we just move this little thing over here’ … and it starts an avalanche that changes the world.” Involving the future generation During the Innovation Summit, students with an interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) from St. Mark’s High School in Wilmington, Delaware, competed against one another at ChristianaCare’s inaugural HealthSpark ChallengeTM. Twenty-six high school juniors and seniors were divided into five teams, then challenged to brainstorm ideas for solutions to address the negative mental health effects of social media on teenagers. Each team created a concept poster and pitched their ideas to Summit attendees. The attendees then voted for their favorite solution. The winning solution, Editing Identifiers, is designed to help minimize negative feelings about body image among teens. The solution would use AI technology to identify altered photos on social media. The goal would be to show teens that photos of “perfect” people aren’t real and alleviate the feelings of body dysmorphia. Looking forward Summit speakers highlighted many ways that AI is already incorporated into health care, as well as ways that health tech, AI, and robotics may improve care for patients in the coming years. “We are just scratching the surface,” Rao said. “It’s like laparoscopic surgery – years ago, it was considered experimental or dangerous. Today, surgery is commonly done laparoscopically, with better outcomes and less infection. AI can help identify care gaps and get the right treatment to the right patient. It’s going to be good for the patient.” In a rapidly evolving landscape, the integration of AI into health care not only enhances patient care but also creates opportunities for innovation and collaboration, said ChristianaCare’s Gaboriault. “As AI continues to advance, the health care industry stands on the brink of a revolution, one where the possibilities are as vast as the data that fuels them.”

Saving the world, one yard at a time

University of Delaware professor Doug Tallamy has a simple mission: Encourage people to rid their property of invasive plants and replace them with native ones. One of the ways he's tackling it is through a concept called “Homegrown National Park,” a grassroots initiative he co-founded to offer a simple solution for the biodiversity crisis — the decline of a variety of animals, plants and numerous species. Tallamy, the TA Baker Professor of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Delaware, is trying to encourage everyone to do their part to protect the planet. If invasive plants (which don’t belong in an area and can ultimately harm the ecosystem by taking away essential resources from other plants) grow out of control, then an area loses its biodiversity, the ability for multiple plant and animal species to function at once and create a rich ecosystem. Invasive species are prolific. For example, many invasive plants produce berries, which some birds eat. The birds then spread those seeds around. So, once invasive plants are in an area, they’re hard to get rid of. The idea is to replace them with native plants, which have historically belonged to a region and provide critical habitat for insects, birds and other creatures. It's an uphill climb, but Tallamy persists and is trying to save the world, one yard at a time. “Everybody has a responsibility of doing things that sustain their little piece of the earth, and there are a whole bunch of things one individual can do to help in that regard,” Tallamy said. What’s not so simple, however, is getting the Earth’s 8 billion people (or, at least, anyone with property) to do this. “We are trying to change the culture so that [replacing invasive plants with native ones] becomes the norm, not the exception,” Tallamy said. “We’re not getting rid of lawns. But we don’t need 44 million acres of them. There are now so many people on the planet that natural systems are not functioning the way they need to sustain us.” A snowball effect Much of our current plant culture revolves around colorful, aesthetically pleasing ornamental plants that don’t support the local food web. When they grow out of control, a local yard or larger region loses out on biodiversity. The natural world is all connected. For example, Tallamy said, if we lose pollinators like our native bees that transport pollen between plants, then we also lose most of our plants that produce flowers and fruits. It’s a snowball effect. “If that happens, the energy flow through our terrestrial ecosystems is almost totally disrupted, which means the food webs that support our vertebrate animals, our amphibians, our reptiles, our birds and our mammals would collapse and all those animals would disappear,” Tallamy said. “Without insect decomposers, the creatures that break down dead material, mostly plants, would rot and only bacteria and fungi would endure.” “Homegrown National Park” has generated a lot of buzz for Tallamy, who received recognition for it in October by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. The MHS awarded Tallamy with its highest honor, the George Robert White Medal of Honor, for eminent service in the field of horticulture. Conservation in action Tallamy’s quest to “change the culture” on planting can be witnessed in the fall at UD. On a warm October afternoon, he and a group of students from the Introduction to Insect and Wildlife Field Studies (ENWC 165) course trudged out to UD Wetlands to curtail some pesky invasive plants native to Asia. Equipped with clippers, loppers and handsaws, they walked behind Worrilow Hall, part of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources’ 350-acre campus, which includes the UD Wetlands, an area that was formerly a dairy cow pasture but transformed into wetlands in 2008 because pollution from the farm was reaching the local watershed. The wetlands were created because wetlands, by design, absorb nitrogen from runoff before it goes into waterways. They then release it as a gas into the atmosphere. But the UD Wetlands repeatedly deal with pesky invasive plants such as Porcelain-berry and Chinese elm. Over the years, UD students have stymied the species from overtaking the area. “See this? This is a good guy,” said Tallamy to the students as he held up a fallen branch. “You just want to get the Porcelain-berry off of it. They’ll grow back very well. But we want to nip [the Porcelain-berry] in the bud.” Taylor Kelly, a senior wildlife ecology and conservation major who took part in the invasive species removal, said Tallamy has helped her better understand the interconnectedness of various ecosystems. “Native plants provide so much value to our local pollinators, which add value to our local birds because they feed on pollinators, seeds, fruit and trees,” Kelly said. When native plants are in their natural environment, she added, it is a beautiful thing to see. Gardening with intention Tallamy, who began his teaching career at the University of Delaware in 1982, has published numerous research papers about entomology and written three books about native plants, insects and ecosystems, with a fourth book soon to come out. Lately, much of his career has revolved around public outreach. He often lectures across the country about native plants and their ecosystem value and is regularly quoted in outlets like The New York Times, The Washington Post and Natural History Magazine. “Dr. Tallamy is a rare scientist that is able to explain his work to everyone,” said Jake Bowman, UD professor of wildlife ecology and chair of the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology. “His passion for the importance of native plants has driven a major shift in thinking.” Years ago, when Tallamy first set out to spread his messages about native plants, he anticipated a lot of pushback from horticulture enthusiasts who he thought might be resentful about being told how to choose their plants. Instead, Tallamy found that many actually embraced his ideas, including Delaware’s own Master Gardeners, a group of about 300 volunteer educators trained by UD Cooperative Extension. Among his supporters are Delaware Master Gardeners Karen Kollias, Brent Marsh and Judy Pfister, who each praised Tallamy for the impact he has had on how they garden. Kollias now “gardens with intention”— not for herself or her neighbors, but for the environment. “I was a gardener before,” she said. “Now I consider myself an ecological gardener.” After Marsh received a copy of Tallamy’s 2007 book, Bringing Nature Home, which talks about the link between native plants and native wildlife, Marsh became a Master Gardener and began planting native species in his Georgetown lawn. Today, native plants such as woodland sunflowers and oak trees adorn Marsh’s yard, and he is grateful for the value of native plants that he learned through Tallamy’s book. “Someday, maybe 20 years from now when I’m 100 years old, somebody's going to buy my house and they’re going to say, ‘Who planted all these oak trees?!’” Marsh chuckled. “Doug Tallamy changed my life.” As Tallamy has sought to simplify scientific knowledge with the general public, Pfister has utilized Tallamy’s approach to do the same. “He has a way of just making the whole thing a big circle, tying the need for a plant back to the need for a bird back to the need for a tree,” she said. Tallamy, who has been delighted by the fervor ignited by his native plants teachings, said the future of the Earth and its diverse ecosystems will in large part depend on how people treat their yards. “In the past, we asked our landscapes to do one thing, and that was, be pretty,” Tallamy said. “Now we have to ask them to do two things: be pretty and ecologically functional. That's the horticultural challenge of today.” But it’s one Tallamy believes can be achieved. Sometimes, he wishes he could speak to his 10-year-old self and tell the young boy to dig another pond for the toads to colonize. Restore. Conserve. Focus on keeping nature’s ecosystems intact, he would say. “We have to do both,” Tallamy said. “Yes, we have to conserve what’s out there, but we have to get in the mindset that we can really put a lot of it back.” Tallamy and Homegrown National Park co-founder Michelle Alfandari have created a database for people to type in their zip code and discover which native plants are best for their area.

Villanova Professor Investigates Impacts of Hurricanes on Florida Coast

In October 2024, during the height of hurricane season, Hurricanes Milton and Helene swept across the southeastern United States. Their impact on Florida was severe, with damages totaling tens of billions of dollars. While communities in affected states continue to rebuild, a team of researchers mobilized to assess the damage caused in the hopes of better understanding the impacts of hurricane activity in the future. Jonathan Hubler, PhD, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at Villanova University, along with Villanova civil engineering graduate student Sarah Burghardt, traveled to Florida with a joint team from the Nearshore Extreme Events Reconnaissance (NEER) Association and the Geotechnical Extreme Events Reconnaissance (GEER) Association to investigate the immediate aftereffects of Hurricanes Milton and Helene. The National Science Foundation-sponsored trip gathered natural hazards research experts and practitioners from across the country, who quickly jumped at the opportunity to examine the impacts of two tropical storms that occurred in quick succession of each other. A few main areas of study were identified by the team so they could hit the ground running once they touched down in Florida. The researchers wanted to focus primarily on the effects of storm surge, waves, sediment erosion and deposition, and debris transport and accumulation from both hurricanes through pre-storm, during-storm, and post-storm data collection. Over 750 miles were covered across just a few days as data was surveyed and collected from Cedar Key, Horseshoe Beach, Venice, Port Charlotte, Port St. Lucie, Vero Beach and other coastal towns. “This was a unique opportunity for our team of scientists because our team collected data before the storms so we will be able to analyze the direct impacts of the storms utilizing the post-storm data that we collected,” said Dr. Hubler. “Although the destruction was difficult to witness firsthand, we are hopeful that our findings will help to mitigate the impact of these major storms in the future.” The data set collected from these storm sites is expected to improve the understanding, prediction, and mitigation of erosion as well as assess the performance of different shoreline protection systems during severe tropical storm events. Findings from the trip will be shared publicly through the NSF’s Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI) DesignSafe-CI, a nationwide network tailored for data sharing among the natural hazards engineering research community. Local Florida communities will also be notified of relevant findings to increase awareness and understanding of risk assessments when preparing for tropical storm events. “It was a productive few days spent in Florida as we collected a significant amount of data and covered a lot of ground in a short span of time. I’m grateful to have been included on this research team and that I had the chance to bring one of my students along. This real-world experience in the field will help further her learning as she completes her studies,” said Dr. Hubler. Dr. Hubler traveled with the NEER and GEER team again in November for another data collection effort. Although the 2024 hurricane season has come to a close, researchers like Dr. Hubler continue to study their impact year-round to discover new mitigation strategies for next year’s season.

Is all screen time bad? Experts weigh in on healthy habits for kids and teens.

With the winter holiday season upon us, many children and adolescents will be home from school for break. As with any extended periods of time outside of school, screen time for children will become a topic of discussion for families. "For academic benefits of screens, it isn't only about the screen 'time,' but about the type of activities youth are doing on screens," said Teya Rutherford, associate professor at the University of Delaware. "There is huge variance in the quality of engagement with online games, etc." During the holiday season, children and adolescents have way more time to fall down the rabbit hole of social media and general web surfing. The American Psychological Association recently released guidelines to help parents coach their teens to have healthier relationships with viewing videos online. Some of the findings include limiting screen time, monitoring content and teaching children and adolescents about misinformation. "This finding is in line with the literature on parental monitoring – in that, if parents monitor their adolescents’ use of social media, then outcomes (i.e., academic achievement) are often better for the adolescent, than for the adolescent whose parent does not engage in such monitoring behaviors," said Mellissa Gordon, associate professor at the University of Delaware. Rutherford can speak about creating engaging online environments, the science behind learning in online environments, motivating students to learn in STEM contexts and self-regulated learning. Gordon conducts research on the social mechanisms that influence adolescent and young adult development. In a 2023 Youth and Society study, she found that as middle schoolers’ social media use increased, their academic performance suffered.  Both can be contacted by emailing mediarelations@udel.edu.

Health for the holidays: Expert provides tips for keeping diets in tact

'Tis the season for meals with friends and family and sneaking in snacks before New Year's resolutions put the fun to a halt. Indeed, the holidays are a time for celebration, but they can also make it challenging to maintain balance in our lives. Sharon Collison, licensed registered dietitian and instructor of clinical nutrition at the University of Delaware, says dietary substitutes, meal routines and comfortable clothing are key to savoring the season without going overboard. Collison, a board-certified specialist in obesity and weight management who provides medical nutrition therapy in the Nutrition Clinic in UD's College of Health Sciences, offered practical tips to help holiday revelers stay on the beam. How can folks enjoy their favorite holiday foods without overindulging? Don't skip meals on the day of the holiday. If you're overly hungry when the holiday meal is served, it will be harder to keep portions controlled. Also, make choices. Decide what foods at the meal are most appealing to you and eat a moderate portion (such as a cup). For example, if the meal has mashed potatoes and a sweet potato casserole, decide which one is most appealing to you and enjoy. Try to be more mindful about choices, eat slowly, and make sure you are aware of how much you are eating. Check-in with yourself throughout the meal and pay attention to fullness signals. How can we maintain a positive body image during the season of indulgence? Wear clothes that make you feel the most confident AND comfortable. Avoid clothing that is too tight, making you feel even more uncomfortable after eating. Also, make physical activity a priority during the holiday season. Several studies support the benefit of physical activity on body image independent of the effect on body weight. Will dessert kill diets, or is it all about balance? Absolutely not! Diets are the problem, not dessert. I recommend eating dessert while paying attention to portions and eating mindfully. Not allowing yourself dessert or depriving yourself can backfire and lead to extreme dieting and overindulging, which is more harmful to your well-being. What are some tips for moderating alcohol consumption at holiday parties? Alternate alcoholic beverages with a glass of water or flavored seltzer. This will help you stay hydrated, too. What are some festive non-alcoholic drink options for celebrations? Flavored seltzer with added orange slices and fresh cranberries. How do we stay active during the colder holiday months? Bundle up in layers and go for a walk/hike. Purchase inexpensive exercise equipment, such as a stationary bike, to exercise without going outside or to a gym. Set a daily step goal and reach it at home by walking and talking on the phone with family or friends, dancing, and cleaning. How can we handle food guilt or pressure to eat during family meals? Depending on your situation and family dynamics, consider talking to your family about perceived pressure to eat. Think about how you want to eat at holiday gatherings and tell your family you may eat differently than you did in the past. Ask them not to comment or draw attention and allow you to do what is best for you. Try to avoid extremes in eating; neither extreme works in the long run. Being too restrictive doesn't allow you to enjoy food. Food is meant to be enjoyed. Allow yourself to enjoy special foods over the holidays. Pay attention to both extremes so that you're not under eating or overeating. If you are still struggling with guilt or feel you are unable to avoid these extremes, consider working with a Registered Dietitian and psychotherapist who have the training to help you. How can we make healthy eating choices while traveling for the holidays? Consider packing some foods to give you more options. For example, bring everything you need to continue your breakfast routine. Plan ideas for lunches that you know help you feel your best. Since breakfast and lunch are closer to your regular routine, give yourself more flexibility with your dinner meal. Also, don’t be afraid to plan and research restaurants with options you feel good about. Lastly, set a goal to ensure each meal/snack includes a serving of fruit or vegetables, which will help you consume smaller portions of higher-calorie foods. How can we return to a balanced diet after a season of treats and large meals? If you avoid the extreme of eating much more than usual at holiday meals, you will much more easily be able to return to your regular food intake patterns. But try not to look at the holiday season as a time to avoid setting limits on food intake. Make choices where you want to eat more than you might otherwise eat, but make these choices mindfully, and try not to view any meal as an unlimited buffet. What small steps can we take to set healthy goals for the new year? Avoid the common goal of starting a diet on January 1 or 2. Instead, start increasing physical activity during the holiday season. Focus on what to add to your diet rather than what to avoid; try setting a goal to ensure that each meal/snack includes vegetables and/or fruit, get two servings of whole grains/day, or eat a plant-based meal once/day or three meals/week. What are some healthy swaps for traditional holiday dishes? The American Heart Association (AHA) has great heart-healthy holiday recipes. But here are some easy ways to modify your own recipes: • Use fat-free half-and-half in place of heavy cream or regular half-and-half • Use Truvia brown sugar baking blend instead of brown sugar (Tip: Reduce the portion of Truvia baking blend to half the amount of sugar.) • Substitute white whole wheat flour for white flour in baking recipes; this will increase dietary fiber without changing the texture of the baked good that would occur if substituted with whole wheat flour. • Use 1/2 full eggs + 1/2 liquid egg white to reduce calories/fat/cholesterol in any recipe (1/8 cup liquid egg/egg white = 1 egg). • Use applesauce instead of 1/2 of the oil in a recipe to reduce fat content and calories. • Use fat-free plain Greek yogurt in place of sour cream. • It's important that food tastes good and is enjoyed; too many modifications can take the enjoyment out of a favorite food. If any of these modifications change the taste/texture of the recipe too much, consider replacing half of the ingredients as suggested and still include half of the original ingredient (sour cream, oil, sugar, etc.) to reduce overall calories/fat/sugar.