Focus: Children's Health Featured Story TOP

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A national study published in the Journal of Pediatrics found that Emergency Department (ED) visits by youth for self-harm were nearly 40 percent higher in rural areas compared to urban settings. Strikingly, ED visits by youth for self-inflicted firearm injuries were three times more common in rural areas. Youth from rural areas presenting to the ED for suicidal ideation or self-harm also were more likely to need to be transferred to another hospital for care, which underscores the insufficient mental health resources in rural hospitals.

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Children with obstructive sleep apnea are nearly three times more likely to develop high blood pressure when they become teenagers than children who never experience sleep apnea, according to a Penn State College of Medicine research study.

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Middle-school aged children who use the internet, social media or video games recreationally for more than an hour each day during the school week have significantly lower grades and test scores, according to a study from the Center for Gambling Studies at Rutgers University-New Brunswick.

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Two experimental drug approaches that target vulnerabilities in cancer cell metabolism may extend survival and enhance the effectiveness of standard chemotherapies for a highly aggressive type of pediatric brain cancer.

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While a pint-sized snorer may seem adorable, studies shows that children with sleep disordered breathing are likely to show aggressive and hyperactive behaviours during the day. The recommended treatment is an adenotonsillectomy – not only to fix the snore, but also the behaviour. Now, new research from the University of South Australia, shows that while surgery can cure a child’s snoring it doesn’t change their behaviour, despite common misconceptions by parents and doctors alike.

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A growing number of young women are at increased risk of having children born with impaired neurological conditions, due to poor iodine intake.

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New research led by a University of Georgia faculty member in collaboration with a University of Southern California research group has shown in a rodent model that daily consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages during adolescence impairs performance on a learning and memory task during adulthood. The group further showed that changes in the bacteria in the gut may be the key to the sugar-induced memory impairment.

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More than a quarter of all U.S. parents say they do not intend to vaccinate their children against COVID-19, according to preliminary results from a study by Indiana University researchers.

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A new study used head impact sensors in four different sports and studied male and female athletes to determine which of these sports put students at the highest risk for head impacts that could lead to concussions.

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A Rutgers pediatrician specializing in critical care discusses how to differentiate among multisystem inflammatory syndrome, acute COVID-19 and Kawasaki disease in children

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In a study published in Open Forum Infectious Diseases, researchers at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) describe the array of rashes seen in MIS-C patients at their hospital through late July 2020, providing photos and information that could help doctors diagnose future cases.

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New research in mice suggests that exercising during pregnancy may help prevent children—especially boys—from developing health problems related to their parents’ obesity. The study is published ahead of print in the Journal of Applied Physiology. It was chosen as an APSselect article for February.

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A pair of research papers from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital report on a medulloblastoma clinical trial that provides insights to guide treatment and shed light on relapsed disease.

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Nearly half of summer camps surveyed by researchers didn’t have official policies requiring campers be vaccinated, according to findings led by Michigan Medicine C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital in JAMA Pediatrics. Of 378 camps represented, just 174 reportedly had immunization policies for campers and 133 (39%) mandated staffers be vaccinated.

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A study from Arizona State University’s REACH Institute has found that when children are exposed to conflict between their divorced or separated parents, they experience fear of abandonment. This worry about being abandoned in response to interparental conflict was associated with future mental health problems in children, especially for children who had strong relationships with their fathers.

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Differences in the immune systems and better blood vessel health were among the factors protecting children from severe COVID-19, according to a new review.

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More than one-third of kids who have COVID-19 are asymptomatic, according to a University of Alberta study that suggests youngsters diagnosed with the disease may represent just a fraction of those infected.

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The number of young people with anxiety doubled from 13 per cent to 24 per cent, during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown 1, according to new research from the University of Bristol.

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Researchers at Rutgers University, the Copenhagen Prospective Studies on Asthma in Childhood and the University of Copenhagen have described for the first time how delivery by caesarean section interferes with a baby’s ability to obtain beneficial germs from the mother’s microbiome, and how this can lead to early childhood asthma.

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A study by UNC School of Medicine researchers finds that neurodevelopmental scores and gray matter volumes at age two years did not differ between children who had MRI-confirmed asymptomatic subdural hemorrhages when they were neonates, compared to children with no history of subdural hemorrhage.