Das Gesundheitswesen
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Twelve years after its introduction, long-term care insurance is back on the agenda and up for political reform. This paper shows why long-term care insurance needs to be reformed. ⋯ The principal conclusion is that, while there is a broad consensus about the structural improvement of long-term care insurance, opinions differ widely in the matter of its sustained financing. As a consequence, a coherent financing concept has yet to emerge.
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Das Gesundheitswesen · Mar 2007
[Bedtime, television and computer habits of primary school children in Germany].
Pediatricians recommend daily sleep of at least ten hours for children aged 9 and 10 years. Sufficient sleep is necessary for maintaining the body's homeostasis, as well as for fixing memories and learning. Lack of sleep in children has been associated with a diminished school performance, reduced attention span, and obesity. Adulthood is influenced by childhood lifestyle habits. Data from 4th graders in 34 schools in Mainz and its surroundings were analysed in order to determine negative health lifestyle factors in German primary school children, such as lack of sleep and increased leisure time spent watching television and computer gaming. ⋯ Every fourth child does not obtain a sleep duration of 10 hours, under the assumption that primary schoolchildren need to be awake at 7 am on weekdays. Lifestyle factors that may negatively influence a child's development determine their actual and future habits. Sufficient sleep and less television and computer leisure times should be assertively emphasized to parents and carers of primary school students, in order to prevent the negative consequences of lack of sleep, such as diminished school performance. Developing sex-specific prevention programs, which take into account the complex lifestyles and habits of primary schoolchildren, seems to be relevant.