ETCETERA

When friendship is deeply meaningful

London: A single supportive close friendship can help young people from low-income background to thrive in challenging circumstances, says new research, reports LANS.

“Boys’ and girls’ best friendship are an important source of meaning and strength in the face of substantial adversity,” said lead researcher Rebecca Graber from University of Sussex in Britain.

Young people from low-income areas typically face substantial challenges to good physical health, mental health, academic achievement and employment.

Previous research has linked these challenges to involvement with peers and membership of larger friendship groups particularly among boys – but has not looked at whether young people’s best friendships, could positively contribute to resilience: self-reliance, a balanced perspective on life, and the ability to make meaning from difficult circumstances.

In the new study, the researchers surveyed 409 student aged between 11 and 19 from three schools and two colleges in Yorkshire serving catchment areas with poor socioeconomic status. The researchers found that both boys’ and girls’ best friendship facilitated effective ways of coping (such as planning, reframing an issue in a positive way and using emotional support) that helped them develop resilience to complex challenges.A significant gender difference also emerged: counter-intuitively, girls’ best friendship had a slight tendency to promote risky and ineffective ways of coping with adversity (such as self-blame and substance use), but boys’ best friendships did not. “Our research suggests that boys’ best friendships may be intimate, trustworthy and supportive, even as they face social pressures towards a stoic or macho masculinity,” Graber said. The research was published in the British Journal of Psychology.   

‘GARAM MASALA’ Burger in the U.S

Washington: A 9-year-old Indian-American girl who floored the Obamas by serving them a Quinoa burger with raita, enhanced with ‘garam masala’, cumin and ginger, won a chance to attend the Kids “State Dinner hosted by first lady Michelle, reports PTI.

Shreya Patel from Chicago was pleasantly surprised when US president Barak Obama came to her table during the kids State Dinner hosted at the White house. Accompanied by her mother Priti Patel, Shreya was the only Indian-American to have been invited by the First Lady for now what has become an annual event.The 55th participation to the Kids State Dinner were selected from a national Healthy Lunchtime Challenge. Nearly 1,000 kids had entered the competition this year. “I have watched my mom and grandma make all sorts of delicious food in the kitchen with an Indian twist since I was born,“  Shreya said.

“I have been helping them cook since I was three. I love to mix, measure, chop and even clean up afterwards,” she said.

“My grandma and I came up with this recipe together because we both love sandwiches. We make this recipe often to take to school for lunch or even on picnics with friends,“ Shreya added.

Though the dinner is hosted by the First lady, Obama has been making a surprise crash into the party every year. “I particularly am impressed with the Barackamole. So I’m expecting people to save me a little sampling of the Barackamole," he said amidst laughter. He said broccoli is his favorite vegetable. “I eat it all the time,“ Obama said. “You blew the judges away with your talent and creativity. You included fruits and veggies from every color of the rainbow in your recipes. You used all kinds of ingredients- Flax seed- do any of the adults even know what flax seed is? Cumin, and we have yellow miso paste that was included in one of the recipes- pretty sophisticated,” the First lady said in her remarks. One of the participant Dillon Andrews, 12, from Wyoming was invited for his Indian tacos. “When I was little, I lived in San Francisco, and was exposed to all sorts of culture and food," he said. The kids’ State Dinner is part of Michelle’s move to combat childhood obesity. Her “Let’s Move” initiative is 5-plus years old. After lunch, the winners got a tour of the first lady’s White House Kitchen Garden – to walk off the calories.