Child Health News

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Opinions: Kangaroo care; NTDs, Women's health

New York Times contributing writer Tina Rosen, on the newspaper's "Opinionator" blog, examines the success of a system known as kangaroo care, which has helped to improve the survival rates of premature infants by using skin-to-skin contact with mothers in place of incubators in low-resource settings. The post notes the potential value of such a strategy in poor countries "where pregnant women are unlikely to get the food and care they need," and "low birth weight babies are very common."

16 Dec 2010

Caffeine consumption affects children's sleep quality

Caffeine consumption in children is often blamed for sleep problems and bedwetting. Information on childhood caffeine consumption is limited, and many parents may not know the amount or effects of their child's caffeine consumption. In a study published in The Journal of Pediatrics, researchers found that 75% of children surveyed consumed caffeine on a daily basis, and the more caffeine the children consumed, the less they slept.

16 Dec 2010

Researchers discover newborn's brain respond strongly to mother's voice

A mother's voice will preferentially activate the parts of the brain responsible for language learning, say researchers from the University of Montreal and the Sainte-Justine University Hospital Research Centre.

16 Dec 2010

New report on improving outcome of pregnancy

Moms and babies everywhere deserve high quality health care, and a new report from the March of Dimes and its partners offers providers a vision for how to offer top-notch services while giving moms practical tips to help them make smart choices.

15 Dec 2010

Innovative research investigates importance of reading to newborns in the NICU

The first few days after birth is an important time when babies learn to recognize the sound of their parents' voice and the parents in turn bond with their children. However, the separation between parents and newborns admitted to the intensive care unit can be very difficult and can disrupt the early development of this relationship.

15 Dec 2010

Early intervention for children with autism improves I.Q., language and social skills

Early intervention for children with autism, as young as 6 months of age, may change the development trajectory for later symptoms of the disorder according to a research project being spearheaded by the MIND Institute at the University of California Davis Medical Center. A recent study published by Pediatrics recorded randomized trials of daily therapy through games and pretend play for children, which demonstrated an improvement in I.Q., language and social skills.

15 Dec 2010

New online tools allow parents with autistic children to enjoy holiday season

Rethink Autism, an educational technology company that produces online research-based treatment tools for parents and professionals, offers some suggestions and a free online set of video tips to help families address some of these challenges and enjoy the holidays.

15 Dec 2010

MHRA issues notice of acceptance for BioMarin's GALNS Phase 3 trial in MPS IVA

BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. today announced that the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in the UK has completed review of the Clinical Trial Application (CTA) and issued a notice of acceptance for the Phase 3 trial of N-acetylgalactosamine 6-sulfatase (GALNS) for the treatment of Mucopolysaccharidosis IVA (MPS IVA). The company expects to initiate the Phase 3 pivotal trial early in the first quarter of 2011.

15 Dec 2010

Reuters looks at cost-effectiveness of pursuing malaria vaccine, eradication

Reuters examines the effort to create an effective malaria vaccine and asks: "[I]s the vaccine - and the global health community's aim of completely eradicating a disease that kills a child every 45 seconds - really worth the money?"

15 Dec 2010

Children in Sweden are exposed to a huge number of unhealthy TV advertisements

Children in Sweden are exposed to a huge number of TV advertisements. Food adverts - primarily for fast food and sweets - dominate the advertisements shown during children's viewing times. Research from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, shows that Sweden is no different from other countries when it comes to the number of adverts that children are exposed to.

15 Dec 2010

Research reveals mother's eating habits have huge impact on children's nutrition

As health professionals search for ways to combat the rise in obesity and promote healthy eating, new research reveals a mother's own eating habits - and whether she views her child as a 'picky eater' - has a huge impact on whether her child consumes enough fruits and vegetables.

15 Dec 2010

Flu vaccination during pregnancy prevents infant hospitalization

A three-year study by Yale School of Medicine researchers has found that vaccinating pregnant women against influenza is over 90 percent effective in preventing their infants from being hospitalized with influenza in the first six months of life.

15 Dec 2010

Accidental ingestion of Tessalon could be dangerous for young children, FDA warns

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning that accidental ingestion of Tessalon (benzonatate) by children younger than 10 years can result in serious side effects or death.

15 Dec 2010

Adoption rates plummet to a three decade low

Adoption rates in Australia have touched an all time low since 1970’s. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare revealed that in the last financial year there were just 412 adoptions. That is compared with a peak of more than 8,000 adoptions a year in the early 1970s.

14 Dec 2010

Marketers must pay $2.1M to refund purchasers of Disney- and Marvel heroes-licensed vitamins

As part of its ongoing efforts to stop bogus health claims, the Federal Trade Commission has reached a settlement requiring major marketers of children's vitamins to stop making false and unproven claims that their supplements promote healthy brain and eye development in children. The companies have agreed to pay $2.1 million to provide refunds to consumers who purchased certain multivitamins in their Disney and Marvel Heroes line.

14 Dec 2010

Neonaticide is more common than previously thought

Although rare, the true incidence of neonaticides - the unlawful killing of a baby within the first 24 hours of its life - is more than five times as common as official estimates suggest, suggests research published online in the Fetal and Neonatal edition of the Archives of Disease in Childhood.

14 Dec 2010

GAVI Alliance launches pneumonia vaccine project in Nicaragua

"A new vaccine against the most deadly forms of pneumonia, one of the world's biggest killers of children, [was] launched in Nicaragua [on Sunday] as part of an effort to prevent 700,000 deaths in poorer countries by 2015," Reuters reports (Kelland, 12/10).

14 Dec 2010

Vented bottles prevent nutrient loss in breast milk and infant formula

A recently published University of Nevada study indicates that both breast milk and infant formula should be protected from the air to reduce the impact of oxidation on essential nutrients, including vitamins A and E. An earlier phase of the study showed similar impacts on Vitamin C.

14 Dec 2010

Pelosi releases statement on Obama's signing of Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act

Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today after she attended a ceremony this morning where President Obama signed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. This bipartisan legislation will improve the quality of meals students eat at school, increase the number of healthy meals available to needy children, and provide the first real boost in the federal reimbursement rate for school lunches in more than 30 years.

14 Dec 2010

PenTAG researchers contribute to new NICE guidance on preventing unintentional injury to under-15s

Researchers from the Peninsula Technology Assessment Group (PenTAG) at the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry have contributed to new National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidance on preventing unintentional injury to the under-15s.

14 Dec 2010