Focus: Children's Health Featured Story TOP

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The tropical disease Leishmaniasis is being tackled by catching female sand flies who carry the parasite that causes the disease

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A low-oxygen environment in the womb may foretell which children should be followed closely, study indicates.

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Researchers from the Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center and the Marcus Autism Center at Emory University School of Medicine are partnering to study musical rhythm synchronization as a part of social development and how it’s disrupted in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in hopes of developing music interventions for improving social communication.

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Many parents permit their adolescent children to drink alcohol, believing this helps teach them responsible use and avoids the appeal of ‘forbidden fruit’.

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A new study in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, published by Elsevier, found that nearly two-thirds of infants (61 percent) and almost all toddlers (98 percent) consumed added sugars in their average daily diets, primarily in the form of flavored yogurts (infants) and fruit drinks (toddlers).

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Young mothers have a greater chance of having a child with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) according to new research from the University of South Australia. Exploring the genetic relationship between female reproductive traits and key psychiatric disorders, it found that the genetic risk of ADHD in children was strongly associated with early maternal age at first birth, particular for women younger than 20.

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When an adult child is diagnosed with epilepsy, their parents face a wide array of social, emotional and financial issues, often with very little support. Striking a balance between caring for their child and allowing independence can be difficult and frustrating.

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First-line health professionals must vastly improve their communication and engagement with parents if they are to help address the growing prevalence of autism among children, say researchers from the University of South Australia.

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Deaf infants who have been exposed to American Sign Language are better at following an adult’s gaze than their hearing peers, supporting the idea that social-cognitive development is sensitive to different kinds of life experiences.

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A University of Maryland School of Medicine study using a preclinical animal model suggests that prenatal exposure to THC, the psychoactive component of cannabis, makes the brain’s dopamine neurons (an integral component of the reward system) hyperactive and increases sensitivity to the behavioral effects of THC during pre-adolescence.

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New research shows that the more a baby weighs at birth relative to its gestational age the higher the risk they will suffer from childhood food allergy or eczema, although not hay fever.

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Researchers said strategies to reduce stress, electronic device and increased daily exercise may improve mothers’ sleep, while providing them with information about healthy sleep requirements, such as regular and early structured bedtimes, may improve sleep for their children.

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Teenagers got 43 more minutes of sleep a night after a four-week intervention that reset their body clocks and helped them go to bed earlier, a study from the Stanford University School of Medicine has shown.

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A new article in Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology shows an association between African American parents/guardians who have experienced the chronic stress associated with exposure to racism and poor asthma control in their young children.

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Female athletes seek specialty medical treatment later than male athletes for sports-related concussions (SRC), and this delay may cause them to experience more symptoms and longer recoveries. The study raises the question of whether, in youth and high school sports, inequities in medical and athletic trainer coverage on the sidelines are contributing to delayed identification and specialized treatment of concussion for female athletes, leading to more symptoms and longer recovery trajectories.

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From improving outcomes in children with brain cancer to lowering the risk of damage to the brainstem in children with central nervous system tumors, a pair of new studies published today add to the growing body of research showing the potential benefits of proton therapy.

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A large study has shown that children of mothers who are anxious during pregnancy and in the first few years of the child's life have twice the risk of having hyperactivity symptoms at age 16. This work is being presented for the first time at the ECNP Congress in Copenhagen.

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Chronic conductive hearing loss, which can result from middle-ear infections, has been linked to speech recognition deficits, according to a new study led by scientists at Massachusetts Eye and Ear.

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According to the recent National Academies report on health disparities in children, one of the most important factors in preventing and addressing disparities is the well-being of the child’s primary caregiver. This finding is based on decades of developmental psychology research from Arizona State University scientists and others. When the primary caregiver is supported, the caregiver-child attachment can buffer against adversities like poverty, trauma and chronic stress.

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A new study from a UT Dallas assistant professor affiliated with the Infant Brain Imaging Study network that included infants later diagnosed with autism suggests that all children benefit from exposure to rich speech environments from their caregivers.

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Sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) trial participants tolerated substantially more peanut protein than is common through accidental exposure. UNC School of Medicine researchers say SLIT (a tiny bit of liquid under the tongue) provides a good cushion of protection and a strong safety signal.

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CARB-X, an international funder of efforts to fight antimicrobial resistance, is awarding up to $15 million to develop a strep throat vaccine based on original research at UC San Diego.

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Researchers used a powerful new computer-assisted technology called single-cell transcriptomics that measures thousands of individual cells simultaneously to map cell types and molecular cascades that drive the growth of SHH-medulloblastoma. In a study published Aug. 29 by the journal Cancer Cell

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Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) announces the selection of physician-scientist Audrey R. Odom John, MD, PhD, renowned as both a malaria researcher and an outstanding clinician, as its new chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases.

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“Will the baby be OK?” In cases of prenatal opioid exposure, the answer is unclear. As part of a National Institutes of Health initiative to study the effects of a child’s environment on his or her life outcomes, University of Utah developmental psychologist Elisabeth Conradt and her colleagues collected and reviewed 52 publications to identify what’s known so far about how prenatal opioid exposure affects childhood outcomes and development.

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Long hospital stays and invasive medical tests help identify serious bacterial infections in infants, but a University of Michigan expert says there may be a more efficient, less painful way to make a diagnosis.

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Diet matters when it comes to depression. Teens who have a high-sodium, low-potassium diet are at a higher risk of depression.

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Regular vision screenings are part of all well-child checks at Penn State Health – but sometimes, caring for a child’s eyes requires additional steps.

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Pediatricians share their summer and back-to-school safety tips for parents and teens.

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According to the National Safety Council (NSC), on average, there are more than three dozen children dying in parked cars every year. In 2018, that number climbed to 52. Dr. Ernest G. Leva of Rutgers Health suggests creating new routines and reminders to help avoid these tragedies.

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There are a lot of myths and misinformation out there about children’s eye health. The American Academy of Ophthalmology debunks seven common myths about children’s eye health.

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A new type of therapeutic food, specifically designed to repair the gut microbiomes of malnourished children, is superior to standard therapy in an initial clinical trial conducted in Bangladesh.

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Health providers would like to give better diet guidelines to parents of children with spina bifida but exact measurements of the children's body composition are hard to obtain. This group aims develop an easy method of gathering body fat information with the ultimate goal of preventing obesity.

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When kids help prepare meals, they eat healthier, learn important life skills and perform better in school. The Kids Cook Monday is an non-profit initiative from the Monday Campaigns that encourages families to make and eat meals together. Learn more about how to bring this program to your community through this video.

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Eight University of Virginia Children’s Hospital specialties earned a top-50 national ranking in U.S. News & World Report’s 2019-2020 “Best Children’s Hospitals” guide.

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Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are more likely to experience bullying than children without ASD and this bullying gets worse with age, according to new research from Binghamton University, State University of New York.

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According to research published today in Autism Research, creating a classification system for ASD based on co-occurring conditions could provide useful insights into the underlying mechanics of ASD and these conditions.

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Scientists successfully bioengineered human liver organoids that faithfully mimic key features of fatal liver disease in the laboratory. This allowed them to uncover underlying disease biology in the organoids and test a potential therapy that in preclinical lab tests reversed an often-fatal childhood condition called Wolman disease.

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To help people appreciate their natural teeth, the American Association of Endodontists (AAE) teamed up with Illinois state Rep. Sam Yingling, D-Grayslake, to proclaim the month of May as Save Your Tooth Month.

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U.S. children and teens who consumed low-calorie or zero-calorie sweetened beverages took in about 200 extra calories on a given day compared to those who drank water, and they took in about the same number of calories as youth who consumed sugary beverages, according to a study published today.

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St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists have completed one of the largest studies yet designed to advance understanding of why Hispanic children are more likely to develop leukemia and less likely to survive

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When infants are playing with objects, their early attempts to pay attention to things are accompanied by bursts of high-frequency activity in their brain. But what happens when parents play together with them? New research, publishing December 13 in the open-access journal PLOS Biology, by Dr Sam Wass of the University of East London in collaboration with Dr Victoria Leong (Cambridge University and Nanyang Technological University, Singapore) and colleagues, shows for the first time that when adults are engaged in joint play together with their infant, their own brains show similar bursts of high-frequency activity. Intriguingly, these bursts of activity are linked to their baby’s attention patterns and not their own.

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Research in mice adds to evidence that dips in the activity of serotonin neurons may increase SIDS risk. The study reveals the activity of serotonin-producing neurons in the infant mouse brain contributes to a fail-safe switch that allows recovery from interrupted breathing. If replicated in human studies, findings could pave the way to screening for SIDS risk, new therapies.

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Mount Sinai Researchers Find Long-Term Structural and Gene Expression Disturbances in Adult Brains in Association with Adolescent THC Exposure; These Changes Mimic Aspects of Psychosis Risk

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A study examined anxiety, depression, social withdrawal, and submissiveness to predict the end of teen friendships. Do friendships end because of one child’s mental health problems or do they end because of differences between friends on the degree to which each friend suffers from these problems? A key finding shows that children’s personal struggles need not adversely impact their social relationships, and mental health issues do not necessarily ruin their chances of making and maintaining worthwhile friendships.

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The lazy days of summer can be peaceful and relaxing, but they can also wreak havoc on your body’s internal clock -- and throw even the most conscientious family’s sleep schedules out of whack.

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A new study shows that a kind of E. coli most associated with “travelers’ diarrhea” and children in underdeveloped areas of the world causes more severe disease in people with blood type A. The bacteria release a protein that latches onto intestinal cells in people with blood type A, but not blood type O or B. A vaccine targeting that protein could potentially protect people with type A blood against the deadliest effects of E. coli infection.

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A new CU Boulder study shows that one hour of bright light at night nearly eliminates melatonin production in young children and keeps it suppressed an hour after light's out. Structural differences may make children's immature eyes more vulnerable to body clock disruption from light.

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New research from an American University professor finds that teen attitudes towards drinking can be changed with the help of a short public service announcement.

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Childhood cancer survivors are at a higher risk of developing physical and emotional difficulties once their treatment is complete. That's why it’s important to connect them with follow-up care and resources.