Kids who get wine with meals are less likely to binge as adults than their neighbors who don’t drink with the family, a new study in the journal Addiction, Research and Theory suggests. American researchers interviewed 80 Italian adolescents aged 16-18 and 80 Italian young adults aged 25-30, all from the wine-producing regions of …
Child Development
Attention-deficit diagnosis depends on kids’ birthdays, study shows
Kids who are young for their grade level are unusually likely to be diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) — a worrying sign that, for many kids, plain old immaturity has been misdiagnosed as a clinical disorder.
In two separate studies — both appearing in a forthcoming issue of the Journal of Health …
Drugging children: an under-recognized form of abuse?
The misuse of pharmaceuticals, over-the-counter medications and other types of drugs and alcohol on children should be considered a form of child abuse on par with neglect and physical, sexual and emotional abuse, concludes Dr. Shan Yin in a study published this week in the Journal of Pediatrics. Yin, of the University of Colorado and
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Analyzing baby sounds to detect autism early?
A new technique that identifies early differences in vocal development between children with an autism spectrum disorder or language delay and those developing on a normal trajectory could give pediatricians and other caregivers a tool for earlier detection of autism, and as a result facilitate earlier intervention. To distinguish the
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Is childhood obesity a symptom of neglect?
The issue of whether parents whose children are obese should be charged with neglect has fueled debate and generated controversial court cases, but, according to an article published this week in BMJ, so far there is little research analyzing negligence and obesity — and particularly whether obese children who are put into foster care
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Which comes first, inactivity or childhood obesity?
New research highlighted by the BBC and published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood suggests that the common understanding of the relationship between physical activity and childhood obesity may possibly present things in the wrong order. That is, while it’s a widely held belief — and premise of the First Lady’s Let’s Move
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Study: teens benefit from later school start
New research published this week in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine finds that, starting the school day just a half hour later was associated with significant benefits for teens — from better sleep and enhanced alertness to improved mood and overall well being. The findings contribute to a growing body of research on
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TV and Video Games Lead to Attention Problems
Numerous studies have documented the negative effects of television exposure at a young age; TV viewing has been linked to behavioral and attention problems later in life. Now researchers confirm the same effect of video games on attention problems in both younger children and teens.
Studying two groups of students — a group of 1323 …
How Parental Smoking Affects Kids
There’s plenty of data showing how harmful smoking can be, and that goes for both smokers and the people around them. Two studies published in Pediatrics point out how indirect the effects can be. A study of paternal smoking in Hong Kong finds that children whose fathers smoke are heavier at seven and 11 years old than their …
Cancer risk not higher for babies whose moms live near cell towers
A new study published in BMJ (formerly the British Medical Journal) adds to a growing body of research dedicated to understanding cancer risk potentially posed by cell phone use and proximity to cell phone towers. Researchers from Imperial College London set out to determine whether mothers whose children developed conditions such as
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Have we created too many rules for pregnancy?
Don’t eat cold cuts, swordfish, or “soft” cheese. Try to limit your exposure to stress and don’t drink much caffeine. And, of course, don’t drink alcohol. The list of things that women need to avoid during pregnancy seems to grow
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Assisted reproduction increases congenital defect risk
In new research presented today at the annual meeting of the European Society of Human Genetics in Sweden, French geneticist Dr. Géraldine Viot of Maternité Port Royal hospital in Paris, highlights the elevated risk for congenital defects for children born using assisted reproductive technologies (ART), and stresses the need for
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Parental controls: getting children to watch less TV
To get your kids to watch less television, a study suggests a simple solution for parents: set firm rules and stick with them.
In a study of the screen-gazing habits of 7,415 9-to-15-year-olds — which included watching TV and playing video and computer games — researchers found that children who strongly agreed with the statement …
