Blog Posts by Lylah M. Alphonse, Senior Editor, Yahoo! Shine

Yet another study confirms what people have been saying for ages: Stop drinking diet soda. Like, right now. Drinking just one 12-ounce can of an artificially sweetened fizzy drink per week can increase your risk of Type 2 diabetes by 33 percent, French researchers found. And given that most people don't stop at a single weekly serving, your real risk for diabetes could actually be much higher.

Diet Soda May Increase Risk of Depression

The study, which was announced Thursday and will be published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, was conducted by France's National Institute of Health and Medical Research and covered 66,118 middle-aged women whose dietary habits and health were tracked from 1993 to 2007.

Diet Soda May Be Making You Fat

The results were unexpected. Though it's well-known that people who consume a lot of sugar are more likely to develop diabetes, the researchers found that participants who drank "light" or "diet" soft drinks had a higher risk of

Read More »from Study: Diet Soda Increases the Risk of Diabetes. Why Do We Still Drink This Stuff?

MIT's charm school is celebrating 20 years of teaching techies good manners. (Photo: Getty Images)Tech-savvy students, faculty, and staff members at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology may be super-advanced when it comes to science, but a campus-only charm school -- where mega minds get to hone their social skills -- is one of the most-popular things on campus right now.

Forget high-end etiquette like whether Americans need to curtsey to queens (they don't). In the MIT program, students who usually spend their lives in the labs learn about social niceties like how to shake hands properly, how to make small talk, and the basic dos and don'ts of table manners.

Related: 25 Manner Every Kid Should Know by Age 9

"The classes we teach are designed for everyone, and we feel that we all have something to learn about etiquette, manners, communication, and personal skills," the school explains on their website. "The nerd stereotype is not only misleading, it does not begin to capture the diverse, dynamic community that we have here at MIT. The bottom line is that not everyone

Read More »from Charm School Teaches Social Graces to the Tech Savvy

The King family was surprised to see the At a time where airlines are charging more for child-free seats and people are routinely enraged about out-of-control kids in public, one restaurant is rewarding parents when their pint-size diners show good manners.

When Laura King and her family got their bill at Sogno di Vino, a small Italian restaurant in Poulsbo, Washington, listed under the subtotal was something they had never seen before: A discount for "Well Behaved Kids."

Related: The No-Kids-Allowed Movement Is Spreading

King was so touched by the restaurant's gesture that she posted a picture of the receipt on her private Facebook page; a friend shared the photo on Reddit with the comment.

"We have not received a discount for our children's behavior prior to this, but we have been complimented on numerous occasions regarding our kids demeanor and behavior," King told Yahoo! Shine on Thursday. The restaurant had also given her children complimentary ice cream.

Related: 8 Real Kid Behavior Problems and How to Fix Them

"As

Read More »from Restaurant Gives Family a Discount for Having Well Behaved Kids

Will this birthday tradition be banned? (Photo: Getty Images)Celebrating birthdays at school just got a little less fun for kids in Australia. New guidelines issued Tuesday by the country's National Health and Medical Research Council say that children can no longer blow out the candles on cakes at school because doing so spreads too many germs.

Related: The Most Germy Place in Schools? It's Not What You Think

"We introduced new national standards to lift the quality of child care across Australia because we believe parents deserve peace of mind when they drop their child off they are receiving quality care to a high standard," Australia's Minister for Early Childhood and Child Care, Kate Elliss, explained in a statement. "All services across the country will be assessed and rated against new National Quality Standard which will ensure that services are meeting basic requirements including children's health, safety and wellbeing."

Related: 5 Ways to De-Germ Your Child After School

But parents aren't feeling much peace of mind. Instead, they're

Read More »from Australian Kids Banned from Birthday Tradition at School

Taken by professionals and amateurs, adults and kids, the photographers who have been shortlisted for the Sony World Photography Awards have created some amazing images. We couldn't stop staring at these photos in particular; they're focused on children from different countries, capturing what life is like for modern-day kids in an ever-changing world. -- By Lylah M. Alphonse, Senior Editor, Yahoo! Shine

Read More »from Modern Kids, Timeless Images: World Phototography Awards Photos

Beyonce's black leather-and-lace Super Bowl outfit may have drawn inspiration from another amazing performer, one the former Destiny's Child leader has looked up to forever: Tina Turner. The proof? This side-by-side look at Beyonce's 2013 costume and one that Turner wore back in 1979.

Tina Turner and Beyonce

Beyonce had a chance to perform with her idol during the 2008 Grammy awards in Los Angeles, when the duo wowed the crowd while wearing plenty of silver and sparkles. It was the first time that Turner, then 68, had performed in more than seven years, and while her kicks may not have been as high as they used to be, she still looked stunning in a silver lame capri-and-bustier set. Beyonce (and her stylists) made sure her outfit matched: She held her own in a super-short sequined number with a neckline that looked a lot like Turner's.

Beyonce and Tina Turner at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards, February 10, 2008 in Los Angeles. (Photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage)

Also on Shine:

Get the Details! Beyonce's Gorgeous Super Bowl Hairstyle
PHOTOS: Beyonce's Super Bowl Halftime Look
WATCH: Celebs React to Beyonce's Super Bowl Performance

Read More »from Was Beyonce's Super Bowl Outfit an Homage to Tina Turner?

Mama June surrounded by her family: Lauryn (Pumpkin), Mike (Sugar Bear), Jessica (Chubbs), Anna (Chickadee), and Alana (Honey Boo Boo).June Shannon may have made a name for herself as a coupon queen, but she's best known for being pint-size beauty queen Honey Boo Boo's mom. Early on, she faced criticism for giving her youngest daughter, Alana, a mixture of Red Bull and Mountain Dew that she called "Go go juice" before beauty pageants, but fans of the show love her for her down-to-earth disposition. With "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo" slated to return to TLC on Sunday (with a Christmas special, of course), Mama June took the time to chat with Yahoo! Shine about what she wishes she knew before she became famous, what she hopes to teach her kids, and what makes her mad.

Related: 8 Reasons Why Mama June Is A Good Parent

What do you wish someone had warned you about before you and your family became TV stars? What would you warn someone else about?

The attention. Nobody could predict that it’d be this big, but you should prepare for anything. I didn’t realize paparazzi would hang around this much. I also didn’t realize fans Read More »from Life Lessons from Honey Boo Boo's Mom, June Shannon

studentsA New Jersey Catholic school wanted to make kids quit cursing, so they asked girls to take a vocabulary purity pledge, vowing not to use foul language for the month of February. But the boys? They were told not to swear, but they didn't have to make any promises.

Related: Is Chivalry Sexist?

"We want ladies to act like ladies," Lori Flynn, the teacher who administered the pledge at Queen of Peace High School, told The Record newspaper in Woodland Park, N.J.

Related: Katie Couric on Cursing in Public

On Friday morning, female students stood, raised their right hands, and recited: “I do solemnly swear not to use profanities of any kind within the walls and properties of Queen of Peace High School. In other words, I swear not to swear. So help me God.”

After the girls had committed themselves to the no-cursing plan, Flynn reportedly told the boys, "Gentlemen, you are not to swear in the presence of ladies." But when girls aren't in the room? Say whatever you want, "gentlemen."

Nicholas

Read More »from WTF? Girls aren't allowed to curse at this NJ school, but boys are?