The skull is formed by the fusion of several flat bones held together by the cranial sutures.

Each of the flat bones consists of a thick outer table, the spongy diploe, and a thinner inner table. The inner table is lined by a thick, fibrous, adherent dura mater. A shallow subdural space lies between the inner surface of the dura and the thin arachnoid mater that covers the surface of the brain. See depictions of the skull in the images below. A skull fracture is a break in the skull bone and generally occurs as a result of direct impact. The skull is deformed by localized impact, which may damage the cranial contents even when the skull does not fracture. If the force and deformation is excessive, the skull fractures at or near the site of impact. Uncomplicated skull fractures themselves rarely produce neurologic deficit, but the associated intracranial injury may have serious neurologic sequelae. A fracture indicates that substantial force has been applied to thehead and is likely to have damaged the cranial contents. Skull fractures may occur with no associated neurologic damage, and conversely, fatal injury to membranes, blood vessels, and brain may occur without overlying fracture. However, skull fractures may be associated with intracranial hemorrhage, which may create an intracranial space-occupying lesion. In addition, cerebral edema associated with skull fractures is a common and frequently fatal complication of head injury and may develop within minutes or hours of injury. Cerebral edema may accompany diffuse axonal injury or a space-occupying lesion, such as an intracranial hematoma. In children, brain swelling may be the only identifiable feature of head injury. Severe brain edema or a large intracranial hemorrhage may cause downward brain displacement and coning, which is usually fatal.

Skull thickness is not uniform, and therefore, the impact of forces required to cause a fracture depends on the site of the impact. The skull is thick at the glabella, the external occipital protuberance, the mastoid processes, and the external angular process. The skull vault is comparatively thinner than the base of the skull. The skull vault is composed of cancellous bone, the diplo, which is sandwiched between the inner and outer tables and consists of the lamina externa (1.5 mm) and the lamina interna (0.5 mm). The diplo does not form where the skull is covered with muscles, leaving the vault thin and prone to fracture. Skull fractures are more easily sustained at the thin squamous temporal and parietal bones, the sphenoid sinus, the foramen magnum, the petrous temporal ridge, and the inner parts of the sphenoid wings at the skull base. The middle cranial fossa forms the thinnest part of the skull and thus represents the weakest part, which is further weakened by the presence of multiple foramina. Other sites at risk for fracture are the cribriform plate, the roof of orbits in the anterior cranial fossa, and the areas between the mastoid and dural sinuses in the posterior cranial fossa.

A few days ago, Angelas endocrinologist, Dr. Sioksoan Chan Cua, and I talked, in passing, about the growing number of obesity cases among children and young teens, which is very alarming. She said that she has been reading my blogs, and agreed that blogs are good media for sharing experienes and information. At first, I was not really concerned because not one of my 7 kids and 2 grandkids is fat. But when I came across Food and Nutrition Research Institutes (FNRI) article, which mentioned about the emerging problem of overnutrition, overweight and obesity among children and adolescents, particularly in the middle and upper socioeconomic groups, I felt I had to write about it, for my sake (it is not only a matter of overnutrition, but the type of foods taken and ones lifestyle), and for the sake of other moms like me.

National data revealed that 1 percent of young children (1-10 years old) and 3 percent of adolescents (1117 years old) were classified as overweight (5th NNS, FNRI-DOST). Among private school children specifically, there was an even higher prevalence of obesity that ranged from 25 to 50 percent. The major reasons stated for the development of obesity in both studies were sedentary lifestyle and intake of high calorie, high fat food

The study was conducted in 2003, I wonder how much the percentages have increased over the last 4 years. This is alarming, because being overweight is a risk factor to diabetes and hypertension, even for very young people. The sedentary lifestyle and intake of high calorie, high fat food were the words that struck me hard. With todays age of cable TVs, computers, video gaming and consoles (PS2, PS3, XBox, WII, etc.), hand held consoles (Game Boy, PSP, etc.), and social networks (Friendster, Multiply, MySpace, blogging), a large number of kids lead a sedentary lifestyle in the home. Good that during school days, there is PE in school, where our kids go for ballgames, exercises, and extra-curricular activities and clubs, like pep squad, gymnastics, dance, theater, but this is only maybe once or twice a week. And summer is fast approaching. There is a big chance that more than half of the time, our children would be staying at home. More so, look at the food that our children eat. Blame it on fast foods, blame it on television, blame it on advertising, most of the foods available have high calorie and high fat contents. If you look at the labels of most of the juices and mineral drinks that are available in the market, you will find that the major content is sugar (or its other forms). I guess it is high time that parents and schools initiate something, to curb the situation. In Thailand, about 600 primary schools vowed to ban sugary drinks from the playgoundI know of some schools that have a no soft drink day once a week. and classroom in an effort to curb soaring child obesity rates in the kingdom. Tens of thousands of children across the country will be without their lemonade and cola under the voluntary measures, introduced as part of the governments sugar reduction campaign. (source: The Philippine Star, 22 Feb 2007). Isnt it about time that we carefully look into what our children eat, maybe, slowly wean them away from junk foods, and other foods with high calorie and high fat content? Maybe, carefully look into labels of juices and foods for sugar and fat content? Maybe educate ourselves , our other family members who stay in our homes, our household help, and our kids? Also, isnt about time that we take some time with them for exercises or physical activities? It will not only for their good, but for ours as well, our health and our familys happiness.