Are Our Kitchens Making Us Fat?
It’s possible that today’s oversized kitchens have something to do with the fact that, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly one in every three Americans is obese and nearly two in three are overweight. The use of the spacious, open-plan kitchen as secondary living space could be encouraging people to spend more time around food than is good for them. Half a century ago, when the average American kitchen measured about 80 square feet and the average American man weighed about 166 pounds, the kitchen was mostly closed off, food was served in the dining room and the kitchen light was turned off after the dishes were cleaned. Today’s 225-square-foot kitchen is a place for dads, weighing on average about 191 pounds, to hang out with the rest of the family who can be using the space to play board games, pay bills, watch television or prepare pancakes. Central islands, identified as among the most requested features for a newly built kitchen in an American Institute of Architects survey, open up the temptation to serve buffet-style dinner, and that’s “a disaster waiting to happen,” says Dawn Jackson Blatner, a registered dietitian and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. “I see about a hundred patients a month for weight-management issues. One of the first things we suggest is that people stop eating ‘family style,’ where they keep the food out on the island and tell people to help themselves. Rather, we really want people to put one serving on a plate, take it out of the kitchen and eat it in a dining room. If food is in our sight, it will most likely end up in our mouth.” (www.washingtonpost.com)
Washington Post (4/6/06); Jeff Turrentine
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Immigration Reform Could Create Construction Worker Shortage
If immigration reform doesn’t include a guest worker program and a program to address illegal immigrant issues, the home building industry could be in danger of losing a significant portion of its labor force, according to Michael Strauss of NAHB. An estimated 20% of the current residential construction workforce nationwide is composed of foreign-born workers, according to NAHB, and Gary Roden, immediate past chairman of Associated Builders and Contractors, estimated that undocumented immigrants constitute a “sizable” share of both residential and commercial construction, though it is not as much as 50% of the workforce. “They (immigrants) are productive workers and they are needed in our industry,” Strauss said. “An efficient and effective guest worker program should be created in order to stop the incentive for illegal immigration into the U.S. NAHB believes Congress should allow non-U.S. citizens to apply for the right to work legally for a certain time, and possibly allow opportunities for permanent residency or citizenship. Obviously, these workers should be required to pay all taxes and other fees; in short, they should be held to the same standards as U.S. workers.” (www.inman.com)
Inman News (4/6/06); Janis Mara
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Should Kids Have Their Own Space? Psychologists Say Siblings Fare Better When They Share
With NAHB research showing that 40% of new homes are being built with at least four bedrooms, new home buyers typically have enough space to give their children their own separate bedrooms, but Ken Beuchamp, a psychology professor at University of the Pacific, believes that siblings who share rooms are stronger socially than those who don’t. “Parents want one kid in one room and do it without a whole lot of thought about it,” he said. However, “the privacy might be good for the parent but maybe not so good for the kid.” Sharing a room teaches siblings how to negotiate, how to live together and how to deal with another person, he said, and it better prepares them for living in a college dormitory. “Benefits of single rooms? Nothing comes to mind. There are positive benefits in a shared room, but in terms of being independent, there isn’t anything of value, any skill development that I can see.” Beauchamp does concede, however, that age differences of more than a couple of years may make sharing a room not such a good idea. “There’s a big difference between a 12-year-old and a 16-year-old,” he said. “If you have the space to do it, it’s best to give them their own rooms.” (www.recordnet.com)
Stockton Record (4/3/06); Keith Reid
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The Quality Goes in Before These Names Go On
In a good marketing move, K. Hovnanian Homes has joined in a partnership with Good Housekeeping to promote products in its houses that carry the magazine’s seal and a two-year limited warranty. Less widely known, but another seal that prospective new-home buyers should recognize, is certification from the NAHB Research Center, an indication that the product meets or exceeds recognized industry standards. After products are certified in the Research Center’s labs in Upper Marlboro, Md., manufacturers undergo periodic audits of their quality-control systems, and products are selected randomly and re-tested to ensure compliance. During a thermal shock test to make sure tubs and showers won’t crack, samples are put through 250 hot- and cold-water cycles. First, they are hit with 150-degree Fahrenheit water for 90 seconds. Next, they are drained for 30 seconds and filled with 50-degree water. Finally, they are drained again, and the cycle starts anew. Sinks go through 500 cycles of alternating 190- and 70-degree water, with no draining time, and if cracks develop in any of the units, says project manager Chuck Arnold, “we do an analysis to try to figure out what caused the failure and relay that information back to the manufacturer.” A frying pan is dropped from exactly 12 inches above kitchen sinks to see whether the plastic will crack. (www.chicagotribune.com)
Chicago Tribune (4/2/06); Lew Sichelman
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Should Risk Beget Rules?
Federal financial regulators want to impose new creditworthiness restrictions and disclosure requirements on “payment option,” interest-only and piggyback loans, but banks and mortgage companies say the clamp-down isn’t needed and could stifle innovations that have helped consumers deal with high housing prices. In a March 29 letter to regulators, the Mortgage Bankers Association said its research indicates that its members restrict these “exotic” loans to borrowers with higher credit scores and larger downpayments. The regulators are concerned that unsophisticated borrowers could get stuck with hefty increases in their monthly payments that they aren’t able to handle. For example, negative amortization options in a mortgage can add as much as 12%-15% onto a home buyer’s debt in the early years of the loan and lead to monthly pay increases of 100% or more after the loan is reset at market rates and a fully amortizing loan payment schedule. If interest rates have been rising steadily during the early years of the loan, the monthly payment increase could turn out to be well over 150%. Monthly payments on interest-only loans can jump by 30% or more. (www.washingtonpost.com)
Washington Post (4/8/06); Kenneth R. Harney
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Housing Construction and Sales Continue Unabated, But Builders Are Squeezed
Rising land and materials costs are shrinking profit margins in Houston’s booming housing market, where competition is limiting price increases. As a result a couple of builders, including Richmond American Homes and Armadillo Homes of San Antonio, have left or are leaving. “In Houston, Texas generally builders don’t make as much money as in other markets,” said Mike Inselmann, president of Metrostudy, who estimates that builder margins in the area range from 5%-8%. Builders are using a variety of techniques to turn a profit in Houston’s tough market. With most of the new construction concentrated in the entry-level market, Trendmaker, for example, is building higher-end houses. Other builders rein in costs by tightly controlling the number of homes they build. Builders also have opened more of their own design centers, which allows them to build basic houses and give their buyers the option to pick and choose what they want, adding profitable extras. (www.chron.com)
Houston Chronicle (4/5/06); Nancy Sarnoff
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