Talk to your babies

Talking to babies for at least 30 minutes daily can measurably increase their intelligence and language skills. Researchers studied 140 nine-month-old babies. Parents of half the group were advised on how best to talk to their babies, while the other half received no suggestions to do so. After seven years "the average intelligence of the (talked-to) group was a year and three months ahead of the other group," and their language skills were "very significantly higher," states the report. Researchers believes that parents today talk less to their babies than in the past because of major changes in society. For instance, more mothers go out to work, and televisions and computers have replaced conversation in many homes.