Childhood

High-quality childcare can yield long-term benefits

Little ones whose childcare providers emphasize activities that build language skills, reading ability and cooperation in games may reap the benefits through their teen years, according to new research published today in the journal Child Development. Researchers at the University of California, Irvine tracked more than 1,000 children

When tots need shots, a dose of sugar to dull the pain

When given a small amount of sugar beforehand, babies are less likely to cry when receiving injections, according to new research published in the May 12 issue of the Archives of Disease in Childhood. A team of researchers from Canada, Australia and Brazil reviewed 14 studies examining how a boost of sugar affected pain experienced by

The weathering effect: cumulative hardship and health

Not knowing where your food will come from, where you will live, or if there will be heat in your home day to day or week to week can certainly be stressful for anyone. But, according to new research published this week in the journal Pediatrics, the cumulative effect of these hardships can be detrimental to children’s health. The impact

Study: more children are extremely obese

A large scale study of children between the ages of 2 to 19 finds that a growing number of young children are extremely obese—or have a body mass index greater than 35 kg/m. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), children who are in the 85th up to 95th percentile (or have a BMI higher than 25 kg/m,

Keep liquid detergent capsules out of kids’ reach

A recent surge in eye injuries among small children caused by exposure to capsules of liquid detergent prompted eye specialists to issue a warning about keeping the soap packets out of children’s reach. Writing in the British Medical Journal this week, a team of British eye doctors said that problems caused by exposure to the capsules

Study: More kids have chronic health conditions

In the last three decades, chronic health problems including obesity, asthma and behavioral and learning problems have been steadily increasing among children. To get a hold of the magnitude of the problem, researchers from MassGeneral Hospital for Children analyzed data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth-Child Cohort,

When it’s no longer baby fat

Holding on to the belief that children will shed their “baby fat” as they get older may be perpetuating the childhood obesity epidemic, and laying a foundation for obesity later in life among overweight tots. According to 2006 data from the Centers for Disease Control, 16% of American children were obese, and 32% overweight, with a

Children born to older mothers at higher risk for autism

Women who give birth after age 40 face a higher risk of having an autistic child, regardless of the father’s age, according to a comprehensive study of all births in the state of California in the 1990s. Researchers from the University of California, Davis, found that a woman who gave birth after age 40 was 50% more likely to have an

For kids, high sensitivity to stress isn’t necessarily bad

Generally speaking, past research has shown that children who are highly sensitive to stress tend to be at higher risk for health and behavioral problems compared with their less delicate peers. Yet, a new study finds that sensitivity in of itself may not necessarily be what primes children for struggles. According to new research

Study linking vaccines to autism officially retracted

Twelve years ago, the prestigious British medical journal The Lancet published a study indicating a link between the mumps, measles and rubella vaccine (MMR) and autism. The finding validated the fears of a growing subculture suspicious of vaccines, and played a role in the significant decrease in vaccination rates—in the U.K., for

A possible explanation for SIDS?

Abnormal serotonin receptors, which may cause serotonin levels to dip dangerously and undermine a brain network responsible for regulating the body’s autonomic functions, could be a cause of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), according to new research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. An estimated two out of

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