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UNCG study links feeding practices to rapid infant weight gain

A UNC Greensboro (UNCG) study following 299 women and their infants from pregnancy to toddlerhood examined mul ple psychological, biological, and social factors in the context of infants' rapid weight gain.

24 Oct 2024

How your baby’s birth and environment can shape lifelong gut health

Early life factors, like birth mode and green environments, shape infant gut microbiota, with outdoor time becoming crucial in late infancy. Residential greenery impacts diversity only during early infancy.

24 Oct 2024

Innovative pain assessment tool receives $8 million funding

Pain assessment in medicine often relies on imprecise visual rating scales featuring smiling or crying faces, frustrating patients and physicians alike. Children's National Hospital researchers aim to change this with a new device designed to precisely measure pain, backed by an $8-million award from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) Sprint for Women's Health.

24 Oct 2024

Researchers create mini-brains to study autism and test new treatments

Using stem cells generated from patients with a rare and severe form of autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability, Scripps Research scientists have grown personalized "mini-brains" (or organoids) to study the disorder in new detail.

23 Oct 2024

Parental leave availability influences young adults' norms on childcare

In research published in the British Journal of Social Psychology, investigators examined the relationship between countries' parental leave policies and young adults' perceptions of social norms for the division of childcare duties between mothers and fathers.

23 Oct 2024

Maternal antibodies may hinder malaria vaccine effectiveness in infants

Maternal antibodies passed across the placenta can interfere with the response to the malaria vaccine, which would explain its lower efficacy in infants under five months of age, according to research led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), in collaboration with seven African centers (CISM-Mozambique, IHI-Tanzania, CRUN-Burkina Faso, KHRC-Ghana, NNIMR-Ghana, CERMEL-Gabon, KEMRI-Kenya).

23 Oct 2024

Cannabis use linked to thinning cerebral cortex in adolescents

Cannabis use may lead to thinning of the cerebral cortex in adolescents according to a recent study led by Graciela Pineyro and Tomas Paus, researchers at CHU Sainte-Justine and professors at the Université de Montréal Faculty of Medicine.

23 Oct 2024

Restricting fast-food outlets linked to decreased childhood obesity

Planning policies to restrict the number of new fast-food outlets leads to fewer overweight and obese children according to research led by Lancaster University.

23 Oct 2024

Many polio survivors face lifelong late effects

Polio survivors facing the little-known late effects of the disease are being overlooked, writes Neena Bhandari.

23 Oct 2024

Maternal stress and depression alter infant DNA, with potential lifelong impact

Maternal stress and depression during pregnancy and postpartum are linked to DNA methylation changes in infants, potentially affecting their development and long-term health.

23 Oct 2024

Ukrainian researcher develops digital tool for detecting autism and developmental delay in kids

A Ukrainian researcher has developed a new digital tool for detecting autism and developmental delay in children. Her research has been published in Cambridge University Press journal Cambridge Prisms: Global Mental Health.

22 Oct 2024

New drug WNTinib shows promise in treating pediatric liver cancer

A new drug called WNTinib can delay the growth of tumors and improve survival in hepatoblastoma, a type of liver cancer that occurs in young children.

22 Oct 2024

Vaccination of young children could dramatically reduce mpox deaths in DRC

Vaccinating children under five-years-old in endemic mpox regions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) would significantly reduce the number of deaths in the country, according to a new analysis by researchers at the Yale School of Public Health.

22 Oct 2024

New insights into how early educational interventions shape school achievement and intelligence

More than 50 years ago, Craig Ramey, professor and Distinguished Research Scholar at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, began a landmark study to investigate the long-term impacts of early childhood education on children from deeply impoverished, predominantly Black families.

22 Oct 2024

New report explores the landscape of school meal charge policies

Public schools, nonprofit private schools, and residential childcare institutions can participate in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP), which provide federally assisted meals through the USDA.

22 Oct 2024

Study reveals hidden risks of immersive digital environments for young users

The metaverse, a space where the lines between physical and digital realities blur, is rising among younger populations. As of March, 33% of teens own a virtual reality (VR) device and 13% use it weekly.

22 Oct 2024

Study finds connection between air pollution and childhood peanut allergies

Exposure to higher levels of air pollution as a baby is linked to having a peanut allergy throughout childhood, according to a new study.

22 Oct 2024

Mothering over meds: Docs say common treatment for opioid-exposed babies isn’t necessary

On learning last year she was pregnant with her second child, Cailyn Morreale was overcome with fear and trepidation.

22 Oct 2024

Ultra-processed foods linked to liver disease and insulin resistance in obese children

Ultra-processed food consumption in obese adolescents is linked to insulin resistance and liver disease, stressing the need for improved dietary interventions.

22 Oct 2024

Rising asthma rates in sub-Saharan Africa linked to urbanization and lack of care

Rapid urbanization and population growth in sub-Saharan Africa has increased the incidence of asthma in young people, but the lack of diagnosis and care means that many young people are suffering from untreated symptoms of asthma, according to research from Queen Mary University of London.

21 Oct 2024