Childhood Obesity Biggest Issue Among Concerned Adults

In April, the CS Mott Children’s Hospital, a part of the University of Michigan, conducted a poll of adults to determine the issues that most concern them about the health and well-being of the nation’s children. Of the 20 issues listed in the poll, childhood obesity received the highest rating. Read more

Strokes in Children Not the Same as in Adults

For the first time ever, the American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association have issued guidelines for dealing with strokes in infants and children, an event once thought so rare that such guidelines were not warranted.  New diagnostic tools and in-depth studies of the children who experience strokes, however, reveal the event is still uncommon but not so rare that similarities and specific characteristics cannot be documented.  And one very important factor in children’s strokes is that they are quite different from the strokes adults suffer; so different, in fact, that treatment and prevention measures are most effective when handled in an age-appropriate manner. Read more

Preemies Often Plagued by Social, Economic Woes in Adulthood

Modern medicine has made it possible for more and more babies born early to survive a rocky beginning and the majority of them grow up to enjoy a healthy and prosperous adult life. A number of them, however, seem to be destined to a life plagued with problems that range from medical to social and economic woes as they mature into adulthood. Even preemies born without medical complications can face a hard time as an adult, according to an exhaustive study conducted by researchers in Norway who studied the lives of almost a million babies born between 1967 and 1983. Read more

Concern for Others Hardwired In Kids’ Brains

When children age 7 to 12 see another person getting hurt, the same areas of their brains that become active when they are personally hurt also become active just by witnessing the event involving others.  Furthermore, when children of this age range witness someone getting hurt deliberately, the areas of their brains that govern moral reasoning and social interactions also become active. Read more

No News to Moms: Baby’s Smile is Sweet Addiction

Seeing one’s own baby smile affects the same parts of the brain that are activated by drug addictions, according to the findings of a study conducted at the Baylor College of Medicine (BCM).  Other expressions on a baby’s smile provoke responses in the same areas of the brain, although not to the same degree that a smile does. Read more

Low Vitamin D Intake During Pregnancy Risks Baby’s Teeth

Mothers who don’t get enough vitamin D during pregnancy put their children at increased risk for tooth decay early in their childhood.  The vitamin seems to be important to healthy tooth calcification and a reduction in defects of the child’s tooth enamel, which can increase the risk of developing cavities at an early age. Read more

Statins Recommended for Kids’ Cholesterol

In a move sure to stir controversy, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommended on Monday that a more aggressive approach to treating high cholesterol in children should be implemented, even if it means prescribing cholesterol-lowering statin drugs. Read more

Mom’s Diet During Pregnancy May Increase Child’s Risk of Diabetes, Obesity

The old adage that we are what we eat may need a little alteration, according to the findings of a recent study.  It seems likely now that we are what our mothers ate during pregnancy.  And the effect of the mother’s diet may be strongest in female offspring. Read more

New Vaccine May Be Keeping Childhood Rotavirus at Bay

Rotavirus causes vomiting and diarrhea in the youngest children and can often be severe enough to warrant hospitalization.  It can be even worse.  Each day, 1,600 children around the world under the age of 5 die from rotavirus infection. Read more

Annual Blood Pressure Screening for Children Recommended by AHA

The American Heart Association recommends that children over age 3 receive annual blood pressure measurements, noting that even babies can have high blood pressure. A new analysis of blood pressure studies shows that high blood pressure in childhood is a predictor of high blood pressure in adults. Read more

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