October 15, 2008, 5:42 PM CT

A walk in the park improves attention in children with ADHD

For children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) tasks that require concentration such as doing homework or taking a test can be very difficult. A simple, inexpensive remedy may be a "dose of nature".

A study conducted at the University of Illinois shows that children with ADHD demonstrate greater attention after a 20-minute walk in a park than after a similar walk in a downtown area or a residential neighborhood.

The study, conducted by child environment and behavior scientists Andrea Faber Taylor and Frances E. Kuo was published in a recent issue of the Journal of Attention Disorders

"From our prior research, we knew there might be a link between spending time in nature and reduced ADHD symptoms," said Faber Taylor. "So to confirm that link we conducted a study in which we took children on walks in three different settings one particularly "green" and two less "green" and kept everything about the walks as similar as possible".

Some children took the "green" walk first; others took it second or last. After each walk, an experimenter who didn't know which walk the child had been on tested their attention using a standard neurocognitive test called Digit Span Backwards, in which a series of numbers are said aloud and the child recites them backwards. It's a test in which practice doesn't improve your score......... Posted by: JoAnn      Read more         Source

October 9, 2008, 10:21 PM CT

Steroid Treatment Offers No Benefit In Preemies

Results of a multicenter study led by Johns Hopkins Children's Center challenge the longstanding practice of treating premature babies with hydrocortisone, a steroid believed to fight inflammation and prevent lung disease. The scientists observed that such therapy offers little or no benefit and that low cortisol levels are not even necessarily harmful. High cortisol levels, conversely, appeared to increase the risk of dangerous bleeding in the brain and require that babies be monitored aggressively to ward off life-threatening complications, as per the study reported in the recent issue of Pediatrics.

Premature babies and adults with a condition known as relative adrenal insufficiency have abnormally low levels of the stress hormone cortisol. The standard therapy for this condition in newborns has been hydrocortisone treatment. These findings, however, shed new light on the clinical meaning of low cortisol levels in preemies, showing that contrary to common belief, low blood concentrations of this hormone do not put extremely low-birth-weight babies (those born weighing less than 2.2 pounds) at higher risk for retinopathy of prematurity - a potentially blinding eye condition - inflammation and lung disease.

Scientists also found no difference in health outcomes between babies with low cortisol levels who were treated with hydrocortisone and those given a placebo. While hydrocortisone had no adverse effects on a baby's health, it also did nothing to prevent or reduce respiratory diseases, infections, hemorrhages or retinopathy......... Posted by: JoAnn      Read more         Source

October 6, 2008, 10:18 PM CT

Free drug samples carry risks for children

Cambridge, MA.Free prescription drug samples distributed to children may be unsafe, as per a research studyby physicians from Cambridge Health Alliance and Hasbro Children's Hospital. The national study, the first to look at free drug sample use among children, appears in the October 2008 issue of Pediatrics

The authors, who also serve as scientists at Harvard Medical School and the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, observed that children usually receive free drug samples from their doctors. One out of every 20 American children received free drug samples in 2004. Among children who took at least one prescription drug in that year, nearly one in 10 got free samples.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration identified significant new safety concerns for four of the top 15 most frequently distributed samples in 2004. These four medications acquired new black box warnings or had significant revisions to existing black box warnings issued since 2004. In addition, two of the top 15 sample medications given to children were schedule II controlled substances (drugs controlled and monitored by the Drug Enforcement Agency due to high potential for abuse). Distribution of these medications, Strattera (atomoxetine) and Adderall (amphetamine/dextroamphetamine), carries risk, particularly when drug sample closets in physician's offices (or home medicine cabinets) are not strictly monitored......... Posted by: JoAnn      Read more         Source

October 6, 2008, 10:12 PM CT

Using a fan during sleep associated with lower risk of SIDS

Fan use appears to be linked to a lower risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) in rooms with inadequate ventilation, as per a report in the recent issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

The national occurence rate of SIDS decreased 56 percent from 1992 to 2003, as per background information in the article. This decline is largely attributed to the increased use of the supine sleep position (lying on the back with head facing up) after the introduction of the "Back to Sleep" campaign in 1994. In more recent years, the decrease in SIDS has leveled off. "Eventhough caretakers should continue to be encouraged to place infants on their backs to sleep, other potentially modifiable risk factors in the sleep environment should be examined to promote further decline in the rate of SIDS." The association between room ventilation and SIDS risk is a factor that has not received sufficient attention. Inadequate room ventilation might facilitate the pooling of carbon dioxide around an infant's nose and mouth, increasing the likelihood of rebreathing. The movement of air in the room may potentially reduce the risk of SIDS.

Kimberly Coleman-Phox, M.P.H., and his colleagues at Kaiser Permanente's Division of Research in Oakland, Calif., analyzed information from interviews of mothers of 185 infants who had died from SIDS and mothers of 312 randomly selected infants from the same county, maternal race/ethnicity and age. Mothers were asked about fan use, pacifier use, open window in the room at the infant's last sleep, room location, sleep surface, number and type of covers over the infant, bedding under the infant and room temperature......... Posted by: JoAnn      Read more         Source

October 2, 2008, 5:04 AM CT

Acupressure calms children before surgery

An acupressure therapy applied to children undergoing anesthesia noticeably lowers their anxiety levels and makes the stress of surgery more calming for them and their families, UC Irvine anesthesiologists have learned.

As per Dr. Zeev Kain, anesthesiology and perioperative care chair, and his Yale University collaborator Dr. Shu-Ming Wang, this noninvasive, drug-free method is an effective, complementary anxiety-relief treatment for children during surgical preparation. Sedatives currently used before anesthesia can cause nausea and prolong sedation.

"Anxiety in children before surgery is bad because of the emotional toll on the child and parents, and this anxiety can lead to prolonged recovery and the increased use of analgesics for postoperative pain," said Kain, who led the acupressure study. "What's great about the use of acupressure is that it costs very little and has no side effects".

In this study, Kain and his Yale colleagues applied adhesive acupressure beads to 52 children between the ages of 8 and 17 who were to undergo endoscopic stomach surgery. In half the children, a bead was applied to the Extra-1 acupoint, which is located in the midpoint between the eyebrows. In the other half, the bead was applied to a spot above the left eyebrow that has no reported clinical effects......... Posted by: JoAnn      Read more         Source

October 1, 2008, 9:30 PM CT

Television Viewing and Aggression

The effect of media violence on behavior is not only an interesting psychological question but is also a relevant public policy and public health issue. Eventhough a number of studies have been conducted examining the link between violence on TV and aggressive behavior, most of these studies have overlooked several other potentially significant factors, including the dramatic context of the violence and the type of violence depicted as well as the race and ethnicity of the viewers.

In a new study appearing in the recent issue of Perspecitves on Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, psychology experts Seymour Feshbach from the University of California, Los Angeles and June Tangney from George Mason University investigated the effect that exposure to violent TV programs has on negative behavior in children from different ethnic backgrounds. To investigate this connection, the psychology experts conducted a study that reviewed TV viewing habits, intelligence, and behavior in 4th, 5th and 6th grade children. To assess these qualities, the children's parents and teachers completed behavioral questionnaires detailing the children's aggression, delinquency and cruelty. The children took IQ tests and completed surveys indicating the TV programs (which were later categorized as violent or non-violent by the researchers) they had watched during a seven day time period......... Posted by: JoAnn      Read more         Source

September 29, 2008, 10:37 PM CT

Birth size is a marker of susceptibility to breast cancer

Birth size, and in particular birth length, correlates with subsequent risk of breast cancer in adulthood, as per a new study published in PLoS Medicine by scientists at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Associations between birth size, perhaps as a marker of the pre-natal environment, and subsequent breast cancer risk have been identified before, but the findings from epidemiological studies have been inconsistent.

In the new study, led by Isabel dos Santos Silva (Professor of Epidemiology), the scientists re-analysed data from published and unpublished studies to obtain more precise estimates of the extent to which birth size affects the risk of breast cancer during the later part of life and to investigate whether they could be explained by associations with other risk factors.

They examined 32 studies, comprising 22,058 cases of breast cancer among a total of more than 600,000 women, most of whom lived in developed countries. They observed that birth weight was positively linked to breast cancer risk in studies where information on birth size was based on birth records (eventhough not in those based on adult self-reports, which tend to be less accurate). Analyses of women with data from birth records showed that a 0.5 kg increment in birth weight was linked to an estimated 7% increase in the risk of breast cancer......... Posted by: Janet      Read more         Source

September 24, 2008, 6:56 PM CT

American kids most medicated

American children are approximately three times more likely to be prescribed psychotropic medicine than children in Europe. A new study published recently in BioMed Central's open access journal Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health claims that the differences may be accounted for by regulatory practices and cultural beliefs about the role of medicine in emotional and behavioural problems.

Julie Zito led a team of scientists from the USA, Gera number of and the Netherlands who investigated prescription levels in the three countries. She said, "Antidepressant and stimulant prevalence were three or more times greater in the US than in the Netherlands and Gera number of, while antipsychotic prevalence was 1.5 to 2.2 times greater".

The use of antidepressants, like Prozac, and stimulants, like Ritalin, in children has been the subject of a great deal of controversy and this study quantifies the differences in practice between the US and Western Europe. The authors claim that the differences may be partly due to different diagnostic classification systems, "The US trend of increasing bipolar diagnosis in children and adolescents does not reflect European practice". The authors also mention government cost restrictions in Europe, the larger number of child psychiatry experts per capita in the US and the use of two or more different psychotropic drugs in a single year in US children as possible explanations......... Posted by: JoAnn      Read more         Source

August 31, 2008, 8:47 PM CT

Magnesium Sulfate Reduces Risk of Cerebral Palsy

Results of a 10-year study reported in the August 28 issue of the New England Journal (NEJM) observed that magnesium sulfate administered to women delivering before 32 weeks of gestation reduced the risk of cerebral palsy by 50 percent. The Beneficial Effects of Antenatal Magnesium Sulfate (BEAM) trial was conducted in 18 centers in the U.S., including Northwestern Memorial, and is the first prenatal intervention ever found to reduce the instance of cerebral palsy correlation to premature birth.

Magnesium sulfate is traditionally used in obstetrics to stop premature labor and prevent seizures in women with hypertension. The BEAM trial studied the link between magnesium sulfate and cerebral palsy by identifying 2,240 women who were likely to give birth more than two months premature. Half of the women intravenously received magnesium sulfate while the other half received a placebo. Children born to the women in the study were examined at two-years-old, and results observed that the children in the magnesium group were 50 percent less likely to develop cerebral palsy in comparison to children in the placebo group.

"This is a substantial breakthrough in maternal fetal medicine that could positively impact the health of thousands of babies," said Alan Peaceman, MD, chair of the Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and an investigator in the study. "After 10 years of studying the effects of magnesium sulfate, it has proven to be a successful method of reducing the outcome of cerebral palsy in premature births"......... Posted by: JoAnn      Read more         Source

August 31, 2008, 8:31 PM CT

New genes for inflammatory bowel disease in children

Scientists have discovered two new genes that increase the risk of developing inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in childhood.

While further study is needed to identify the specific disease-causing mutations in these new genes, the scientists say the genes are especially strong candidates to be added to the list of genes already known to affect IBD. "As we continue to find genes that interact with each other and with environmental influences in this complex, chronic disease, we are building the foundation for personalized therapys tailored to a patient's genetic profile," said co-first author Robert N. Baldassano, M.D., director of the Center for Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

"We will resequence the gene regions we have identified to pinpoint the causative mutations in these genes," added study leader Hakon Hakonarson, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Center for Applied Genomics at Children's Hospital. "We strongly suspect one gene will provide a compelling target for drug development, given what's known about its biology".

Both authors direct research programs at Children's Hospital and are also faculty members of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Their study, performed in collaboration with scientists from the Medical College of Wisconsin, The University of Utah, Cincinnati Children's Hospital and two research hospitals in Italy, appears in advance online publication Aug. 31 in Nature Genetics........ Posted by: Scott      Read more         Source

August 31, 2008, 8:15 PM CT

'Superbug' breast infections controllable in nursing mothers

A number of nursing mothers who have been hospitalized for breast abscesses are afflicted with the "superbug" methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, but as per new research by UT Southwestern Medical Center physicians, conservative therapy can deal with the problem.

The study focused on hospitalized women with mastitis, and showed that MRSA was much more likely to be found in those who had both mastitis (an inflammation of the milk glands) and abscesses (pockets of infection).

"The take-home message is that a patient with mastitis does not necessarily need an antibiotic against MRSA," said Dr. George Wendel, professor of obstetrics and gynecology and senior author of the study, which appears in the recent issue of the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology. "She will improve with a less specific antibiotic as long as she also empties her breasts, either through feeding or pumping, and if there's an abscess, gets it treated".

The study also showed that if a nursing mother has an abscess, she does not immediately need antibiotics against MRSA, but can be switched to them if tests reveal she has MRSA.

The study was designed to determine which antibiotic therapy is best for severe cases of mastitis, which can be caused by clogged milk ducts with or without infection, and breast abscesses, which are caused by bacterial infections, generally by aureus. There are a number of strains of staph, one of which is MRSA......... Posted by: Emily      Read more         Source

August 20, 2008, 8:21 PM CT

Childhood ear infections may predispose to obesity later in life

Scientists are reporting new evidence of a possible link between a history of moderate to severe middle ear infections in childhood and a tendency to be overweight during the later part of life. Their study suggests that prompt diagnosis and therapy of middle ear infections one of the most common childhood conditions requiring medical attention may help fight obesity in some people. The findings were presented today at the 236th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS).

Study leader Linda M. Bartoshuk, Ph.D., noted that chronic, repeated ear infections can damage the chorda tympani nerve, which passes through the middle ear and controls taste sensations. Damage to this nerve appears to intensify the desire for fatty or high-energy foods, which could result in obesity, she said.

Other research has shown that middle ear infections, or otitis media, are becoming more common in children. Childhood obesity is likewise on the rise and has reached epidemic levels, especially in the United States. Eventhough researchers have known for years that ear infections can lead to hearing loss in children that can result in speech and language impairment, a possible link between ear infections and obesity has been largely unexplored until now, said Bartoshuk, who is with the University of Florida's Center for Smell and Taste in Gainesville......... Posted by: JoAnn      Read more         Source

August 18, 2008, 8:58 PM CT

For Earlier Detection Of Autism

Recently, Harvard scientists reported that children with autism have a wide range of genetic defects, making it nearly impossible to develop a simple genetic test to identify the disorder. Now, University of Missouri scientists are studying 3-D imaging to reveal correlations in the facial features and brain structures of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), which will enable them to develop a formula for earlier detection of the disorder. The scientists anticipate their work also will reveal genetic clues that can direct additional research. Autism is a brain disorder characterized by a complex of social, communication and behavioral difficulties.

"When you compare the faces and head shapes of children with specific types of autism to other children, it is obvious there are variations. Currently, autism diagnosis is purely behavior based and doctors use tape measurements to check for facial and brain dissimilarities. We are in the process of developing a quantitative method that will accurately measure these differences and allow for earlier, more precise detection of specific types of the disorder," said Ye Duan, assistant computer science professor in the MU College of Engineering. "Once we have created a formula, we can pre-screen children by performing a quick, non-invasive scan of each child's face and brain to check for abnormalities. Early detection is crucial in treating children and preparing families"......... Posted by: JoAnn      Read more         Source

August 13, 2008, 0:43 AM CT

Poor coordination in childhood is linked to obesity

Poor physical control and coordination in childhood are associated with an increased risk of obesity in later life, suggests a study published on BMJ.com today.

The research contributes to a growing body of evidence on the link between poorer cognitive function in childhood and obesity and type 2 diabetes in adults.

The findings are based on 11 042 individuals, who are part of the ongoing National Child Development Study in Great Britain, which began in 1958.

7990 participants were assessed by teachers at age 7 years to identify poor ability in hand control, coordination, and clumsiness, and 6875 were tested for hand control and coordination at age 11 by a doctor. Tests included copying a simple design to measure accuracy, marking squares on paper within a minute, and the time in seconds it took to pick up 20 matches.

At age 33 body mass index (BMI) was measured. Obesity was defined as a BMI of 30 or over.

The analysis showed that at age 7 years poor hand control, poor coordination, and clumsiness occurred more often among individuals who would be obese adults. In addition, poorer function at age 11 was linked to obesity at age 33.

These findings held true after adjusting for factors likely to influence the results, such as childhood body mass and family social class......... Posted by: JoAnn      Read more         Source

August 13, 2008, 0:35 AM CT

Childhood dairy intake may improve adolescent bone health

Cincinnati, OH, August 13, 2008Dairy is recognized as a key component of a healthy, balanced diet. However, until recently it was unclear how long-term dairy intake contributes to the a number of aspects of bone health in children, including bone density, bone mineral content, and bone area. A new study soon would be published in The Journal of Pediatrics investigates the effect of childhood dairy intake on adolescent bone health.

Dr. Lynn Moore and his colleagues from Boston University School of Medicine analyzed data from the Framingham Children's Study in an effort to understand the relationship between childhood dairy intake and adolescent bone health. The scientists gathered information from 106 children, 3 to 5 years of age at the beginning of the study, over a 12-year period. The families enrolled in the study were given food diaries to complete for the child and were asked to record everything the child ate and drank for several days each year.

The scientists used these diaries, along with information from the United States Department of Agriculture, to calculate the children's average daily intake of dairy and other foods. At the end of the 12-year period, the authors assessed the bone health of the now adolescent study participants. They observed that the adolescents who had consumed 2 or more servings of dairy per day as children had higher levels of bone mineral content and bone density. Even after adjusting for factors that affect normal bone development, including the child's growth, body size, and activity level, the authors observed that these adolescents' average bone mineral content was 175 grams higher than the adolescents who had consumed less than 2 servings of dairy per day......... Posted by: JoAnn      Read more         Source

July 9, 2008, 7:32 PM CT

Vaccinated infants are well protected

In 2006, a pneumococcal vaccine (Prevenar®) was introduced in the childhood vaccination programme in Norway. Two years later, the experiences have been reported in the journal Vaccine. The results show a strong decline in serious pneumococcal infections among young children.

Pneumococcus is a bacterium that can cause serious illnesses in some young children, e.g. meningitis, blood poisoning and pneumonia. Most of those who become ill are previously healthy without any known predisposing factors. The bacterium is present in the nose of up to 80 - 90% of healthy young children.

A growing problem.

A major reason for the introduction of the pneumococcal vaccine in the childhood vaccination programme was a steady increase in the number of cases of severe pneumococcal infection among young children in Norway. The vaccine protects against seven serotypes of pneumococcus which account for 70% of the serious cases of the disease.

Good effect with no vaccine failures.

- Having summed up the experience gained from the first two years after introducing the vaccine, the results confirm that it works as well as intended," says Marianne R. Bergsaker, senior medical officer at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and co-author of the article in Vaccine......... Posted by: JoAnn      Read more         Source

July 7, 2008, 9:58 PM CT

A baby's smile is a natural high

The baby's smile that gladdens a mother's heart also lights up the reward centers of her brain, said Baylor College of Medicine scientists in a report that appears in the journal Pediatrics today.

The finding could help researchers figure out the special mother-infant bond and how it sometimes go wrong, said Dr. Lane Strathearn, assistant professor of pediatrics at BCM and Texas Children's Hospital and a research associate in BCM's Human Neuroimaging Laboratory.

"The relationship between mothers and infants is critical for child development," said Strathearn. "For whatever reason, in some cases, that relationship doesn't develop normally. Neglect and abuse can result, with devastating effects on a child's development".

To study this relationship, Strathearn and colleagues asked 28 first-time mothers with infants aged 5 to 10 months to watch photos of their own babies and other infants while they were in a functional magnetic resonance imaging scanner. The machine measures blood flow in the brain. In the scans, areas of increased blood flow "light up," giving scientists a clue as to where brain activity takes place.

In some of the photos, babies were smiling or happy. In others they were sad, and in some they had neutral expressions......... Posted by: JoAnn      Read more         Source

July 7, 2008, 9:43 PM CT

Newborn vitamin A reduces infant mortality

A single, oral dose of vitamin A, given to infants shortly after birth in the developing world can reduce their risk of death by 15 percent, as per a research studyconducted by scientists at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The study is reported in the July 2008 edition of the journal Pediatrics

"It has long been known that vitamin A supplementation can reduce mortality in children over 6 months of age. Our study showed that vitamin A given at birth can also improve infant survival within the first 6 months of life," said Rolf D.W. Klemm, DrPH, MPH, the study's lead author and a researcher with the Bloomberg School's Center for Human Nutrition.

The study enrolled 15,937 newborns from rural communities in northwest Bangladesh, where over 90 percent of babies are born at home. Half were randomly selected to receive a 50,000 IU dose of vitamin A, while the other half received a placebo. A 200,000 IU dose of vitamin A is recommended semi-annually for older children. The vitamin A was given orally to the infants within a few days of birth, commonly by 7 hours after delivery. The mortality rate for the vitamin A group was 38.5 deaths per 1,000 births in comparison to 45.1 deaths per 1,000 births for the non-vitamin A group.

Eventhough vitamin A reduced infant deaths from all causes, lives were likely saved by reducing the severity of potentially fatal infections which are responsible for most deaths in early infancy in South Asia......... Posted by: JoAnn      Read more         Source

July 7, 2008, 9:16 PM CT

Child care factors associated with weight gain in infancy

Nine-month-old infants regularly cared for by someone other than a parent appear to have higher rates of unfavorable feeding practices and to weigh more than infants cared for only by parents, as per a report in the recent issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Almost three-fourths of infants receive some form of child care by persons who are not their parents during the first year of life, as per background information in the article. Child care has been linked to positive development in cognition (thinking, learning and memory), language, social and emotional realms and academics, the authors note. However, no information previously existed regarding the relationship of child care to infants' weight or to certain feeding practices that may affect the risk of becoming overweight, including breastfeeding and introducing solid foods at an earlier age.

Juhee Kim., Sc.D., of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Karen E. Peterson, Sc.D., of the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, analyzed data collected during home visits with 8,150 9-month-old infants. During the visits, which occurred in 2001 and 2002, the infants were weighed and measured and the primary caregiver provided information regarding child care......... Posted by: JoAnn      Read more         Source

July 1, 2008, 9:44 PM CT

Minimum drinking age of 21 saves lives

One of the most comprehensive studies on the minimum drinking age shows that laws aimed at preventing consumption of alcohol by those under 21 have significantly reduced drinking-related fatal car crashes.

Specifically, the study reported in the July 2008 issue of the journal Accident Analysis and Prevention observed that laws making it illegal to possess or purchase alcohol by anyone under the age of 21 had led to an eleven percent drop in alcohol-related traffic deaths among youth; secondly, they observed that states with strong laws against fake IDs reported seven percent fewer alcohol-related fatalities among drivers under the age of 21.

The study was funded by the Substance Abuse Policy Research Program (SAPRP) of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The study, led by James C. Fell, M.S., of the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (PIRE), accounted for a variety of factors, such as improved safety features in cars, better roadways and tougher adult drunk driving laws, that are supposed to have contributed to a reduction in fatalities involving underage drivers who have consumed alcohol. Fell's research controlled for more variables than any other prior study on the topic, accounting for regional and economic differences, improvements in roadways and vehicles, and changes that lowered the illegal blood alcohol content for driving to.08. Yet, as per Fell, the eleven percent drop in youth fatalities is a "conservative" figure......... Posted by: JoAnn      Read more         Source

June 25, 2008, 10:04 PM CT

Pediatrics review of underage drinking

Underage drinking is a national concern that led the U.S. surgeon general to issue a "Call to Action to Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking" last year. Now, a new report by an Iowa State University researcher assesses the effectiveness of underage drinking prevention programs and provides a better idea of how to achieve key goals outlined by the surgeon general.

Lead author Richard Spoth, director of the Partnerships in Prevention Science Institute (PPSI) at Iowa State, along with co-authors Mark Greenberg and Robert Turrisi of Penn State, published "Preventive Interventions Addressing Underage Drinking: State of the Evidence and Steps Toward Public Health Impact" in the recent issue of Pediatrics -- the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics. The article can be found online here.

"The Pediatrics supplement underscores the scope of the underage drinking problem, reporting that over 4 million youths ages 12-17 drink monthly, and more than half of them have a drinking pattern that puts them at high risk for negative health and social consequences," Spoth said.

Out of the 400 interventions that the scientists identified and screened, 12 were defined as "most promising" because they met these six criteria:

"Essentially, interventions meeting criteria were those that had been tested through rigorous, well-designed studies consistent with accepted standards for intervention research, had demonstrated practically significant results, and had detailed summaries of intervention procedures," said Spoth......... Posted by: JoAnn      Read more         Source

June 18, 2008, 9:08 PM CT

Caesarean sections associated with risk of asthma

Babies born by Caesarean section have a 50 % increased risk of developing asthma in comparison to babies born naturally. Emergency Caesarean sections increase the risk even further. This is shown in a new study based on data from 1.7 million births registered at the Medical Birth Registry at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.

The goal of the study was to investigate the possible link between being born by Caesarean section and later development of asthma.

Summarised results from the study:.

• In comparison to children born in the natural way (i.e. spontaneously and vaginally), children born by Caesarean section had an approximately 50 % increased risk of developing asthma.
• Children born vaginally, but with assistance from vacuum or forceps, had a 20 % increased risk of asthma.
• For children born between 1988 and 1998, planned Caesarean section was linked to an approximately 40 % increased risk of asthma while emergency Caesarean section was linked to a 60 % increased risk.

.

Why do Caesarean sections give an increased risk of asthma?

- We found a moderately strong association between birth by Caesarean section and asthma in childhood, says doctor and research fellow Mette Christophersen Tollånes, who works for both the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and the Department of Public Health and Primary Health Care at the University of Bergen, Norway......... Posted by: Emily      Read more         Source

June 16, 2008, 10:14 PM CT

Blood pressure levels in childhood track into adulthood

Hypertension in childhood is linked to higher blood pressure or high blood pressure in adulthood, as per a research studyby scientists at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Their analyses of previously published blood pressure tracking studies over the last four decades show a consistent relationship between children's blood pressure levels with their blood pressure levels as adults. The results are reported in the June 2008 issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association

"The blood pressure tracking data indicate that children with elevated blood pressure levels often grew up to become adults with elevated blood pressure," said Youfa Wang, MD, PhD, senior author of the study and associate professor with the Bloomberg School's Center for Human Nutrition. "It is important to monitor blood pressure in childrensince early detection and intervention could prevent high blood pressure and related disease risks during the later part of life. For example, studies show that even slightly elevated blood pressure as adults will increase future risks for cardiovascular disease considerably".

Wang and Xiaoli Chen, MD, PhD, former postdoctoral research fellow in the Bloomberg School's Department of International Health, attributed the findings to a systematic review and meta-analysis of 50 cohort studies tracking the systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels of children into adulthood. Scientists analyzed blood pressure levels at various ages and follow-up lengths from previously published studies that monitored children's blood pressure levels for as long as forty years across multiple countries and continents......... Posted by: JoAnn      Read more         Source