Marian Freedman is a freelance writer.
Should adult criteria for prediabetes be applied to youngsters?
February 6th 2020A study of hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels that compared levels in normal-weight and obese middle schoolers found that overall distribution of HbA1c was similar in the 2 groups and that the adult-defined cutoff was seen in 2% of normal-weight youth.
Virtual reality education reduces the stress of chest radiography
February 3rd 2020Children who received virtual reality (VR) education before undergoing chest radiography showed lower levels of stress during the procedure than their peers who did not receive the VR exposure, a randomized trial in 99 children found.
Fluoride exposure in pregnancy can affect offspring’s IQ
January 17th 2020A study in 512 mother-child pairs from 6 major cities in Canada found that exposure to higher levels of fluoride during pregnancy was associated with lowered intelligent quotient (IQ) scores in their children at the age of 3 to 4 years.
Learning to drive poses extra risks for teens with attention problems
January 8th 2020Teenagers with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or parent-reported “trouble staying focused” are poorer drivers and make more driving errors than their peers during the teenagers’ learning permit period according to recent survey data.
Sunscreen ingredients are absorbed systemically
August 6th 2019Applying sunscreen as often as manufacturers recommend results in plasma concentrations of sunscreen’s 4 active ingredients that exceed the threshold for safety concerns established by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), according to a recent study.
Web-based tools educate parents about fever
July 9th 2019Parents who use a web-based educational tool to boost what they know about measuring and managing fever gain significantly more knowledge than parents who follow solely written and verbal instruction, according to a trial in caregivers of children with fever.
Financial incentive program for providers reduces pediatric ED visits
July 4th 2019A physician incentive program (PIP) that provides primary care providers (PCPs) with bonuses tied to specific goals to decrease pediatric emergency department (ED) use significantly decreases such visits, according to a retrospective analysis involving 1376 PCPs who participated in the PIP.
WIC food-package changes align with decline in obesity risk
July 2nd 2019An evaluation of national and state-level trends in obesity prevalence among 2- to 4-year-old participants in the US Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) found that the changes in the 2009 WIC food packages to better align with dietary guidelines are associated with a decline in the risk of obesity among these children.
Developmental screening via phone increases referrals
June 17th 2019Young children whose parents are screened via telephone about their offspring’s development are far more likely to be referred for evaluation and to receive services than children who receive usual care from their primary care provider (PCP), a randomized trial involving 152 youngsters found.
Living near greenspace reduces children’s risk of mental health problems
June 7th 2019Living in a dwelling that is close to greenspace reduces youngsters’ risk for behaviors associated with neurobehavioral problems. This relationship varies with the type of behavior, the child’s age, and the proximity of the greenspace, according to a study conducted in an ongoing prospective birth cohort.
Reading books with toddlers: Print or electronic?
June 5th 2019When parents and children read a book together they have better collaborative experiences when the books are traditional print volumes than when they are tablet-based (electronic) books, according to a recent study in 37 parent-toddler pairs.
Two-question teen screening tool predicts future alcohol use, drinking problems
May 1st 2019Adolescents who initially screened as being at highest risk for alcohol problems on a 2-question screen were more likely than their peers to have more drinking days and be at higher risk for alcohol use disorders at 1, 2, and 3 years after the screen, a large study showed. Participants were 12- to 17-year-olds treated for a non–life-threatening injury, illness, or mental health condition in 1 of 16 pediatric emergency departments.
Provider recommendations increase HPV vaccinations
May 1st 2019More providers have been recommending human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination to their adolescent male patients in recent years, and the effort seems to be paying off: HPV vaccination coverage among boys aged 13 to 17 years increased from 8.3% in 2011 to 57.3% in 2016, while the proportion of providers who recommended the vaccination to this patient group increased from 14.2% to 65.5%.
Maternal cotinine levels linked to ADHD in offspring
May 1st 2019Children of women who smoke during pregnancy are more likely to have attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) than children of nonsmoking mothers, according to the first study to investigate the association between smoking and ADHD based on nicotine serum biomarker levels rather than self-reported smoking. Further, the investigation found that as the amount of smoking increases, so does the likelihood of ADHD.
Aerobic exercise speeds recovery from concussion
April 1st 2019Moderate aerobic exercise seems to be an effective treatment for adolescents after sport-related concussion, according to results of a randomized trial conducted in 103 athletes aged 13 to 18 years who entered the study within 10 days of being injured.
Feel more comfortable about recommending HPV vaccine
March 1st 2019Watching a short training video that addresses provider related barriers to vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV) corrects common misperceptions about HPV and the vaccine, increases providers’ comfort in counseling vaccine-hesitant parents, and facilitates vaccine completion.
Too few teenagers are screened for depression
March 1st 2019Whereas rates of screening for adolescent major depressive disorder (MDD) have increased in recent years, they still are insufficient to address the current mental health crisis among adolescents, an analysis of countrywide data for 413,080 12- to 14-year-olds showed.
Not sleeping through the night by age 12 months? Not to worry!
February 1st 2019Many 6- and 12-month-old infants do not yet sleep through the night, but Canadian researchers found no significant associations between this situation and infants’ mental and psychomotor development or their mothers’ mood.
Poverty raises risk of bacterial infection in febrile infants
February 1st 2019Febrile infants from disadvantaged neighborhoods with high rates of childhood poverty are much more likely than their peers from more affluent neighborhoods to have a bacterial source for their fever, according to a retrospective study of infants aged 90 days or younger with a temperature of 100°F or greater who visited an emergency department (ED) of an urban children’s hospital.
Probiotics vs placebo against gastroenteritis
February 1st 2019Of 973 preschool-aged children with acute gastroenteritis who visited 1 of 10 geographically diverse pediatric emergency departments (EDs), those who received a 5-day course of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG, a commonly recommended and used probiotic, did not have better outcomes than those who received placebo, a prospective, randomized trial found.
Does knowing nursing’s maternal benefits affect the decision to breastfeed?
January 1st 2019A survey of more than 700 women who had given birth to at least 1 child found that about one-third of women who were aware that breastfeeding reduces the risk of breast cancer thought this knowledge had contributed to their decision to breastfeed.
Teen food insecurity is associated with later accelerated BMI
January 1st 2019A longitudinal study begun when participants were aged 15 years showed that body mass index (BMI) tends to increase more rapidly over time in individuals who experience food insecurity in their early teenaged years than in those who don’t.