Children's Health
Obesity ‘tipping point before age 2
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The “tipping point” in obesity often occurs before age 2 and sometimes as early as 3 months, U.S. researchers found.
Principal investigator Dr. John Harrington, a pediatrician at Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters and of Eastern Virginia Medical School, and colleagues examined records from a pediatric practice of 111 children whose body mass index exceeded 85 percent of that of the general population.
Researchers determined that these children had started gaining weight in infancy at an average rate of .08 excess body mass index units per month. On average, the progression began when the children were 3 months old.
If children won’t go to school
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Children and adolescents who refuse to attend school should not be given doctors’ sick notes. In the current issue of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2010; 107[4]), child and adolescent psychiatrist Martin Knollmann and colleagues explain the causes of school avoidance and describe measures to tackle the problem.
Truancy assumes psychiatric relevance only if it occurs frequently and is accompanied by psychiatric symptoms. Children typically play truant for the first time at the age of about 11 years, whereas anxiety related school avoidance occurs in children as young as 6 years. School avoiders seem to be exposed to more stressful life events, but physical disorders such as asthma or obesity may also play a part.
In contrast to truancy, of which parents are usually unaware, children displaying school avoiding behavior often stay at home. They often express fears and anxieties, especially in the morning, and complain of diffuse physical symptoms.
Three Routines to Help Cut Obesity Risk in Kids
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Experts say one out of every eight kids under the age of five is overweight or obese in this country.
For the first time, a study in the journal Pediatrics outlines three household routines that can dramatically reduce the risk of obesity in your kids.
The first routine is sitting down to dinner every night as a family.
For obese, vaccine needle size matters
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Our ever-expanding waistlines may have outgrown the doctor’s needle, researchers say, in what could be another casualty of the obesity epidemic.
In a new study, the researchers report that using a standard 1-inch needle to immunize obese adolescents against hepatitis B virus produced a much weaker effect than using a longer needle.
“As obesity rises in the US, we need to be aware that the standard of care may have to change to protect obese youth,” study co-author Dr. Amy Middleman of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston told Reuters Health.
Early Artificial Pancreas Trials Show Benefits for Kids, Teenagers with Diabetes While Sleeping Over
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In a landmark study in children and teenagers with type 1 diabetes, JDRF-funded researchers at the University of Cambridge showed that using a first-generation artificial pancreas system overnight can lower the risk of low blood sugar emergencies while sleeping, and at the same time improve diabetes control.
Results from the studies are published in the February 5, 2010 issue of The Lancet, available online at http://www.thelancet.com.
The trials tested the safety and effectiveness of a first-generation artificial pancreas system used overnight in a hospital setting with participants between 5 and 18 years of age with type 1 diabetes. The system combined commercially available blood glucose sensors and insulin pumps, controlled by a sophisticated computer program that determined insulin dosage based on blood glucose levels while the participants slept.
Medical journal retracts autism paper 12 years on
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The Lancet medical journal formally retracted a paper on Tuesday that caused a 12-year international battle over links between the three-in-one childhood MMR vaccine and autism.
The paper, published in 1998 and written by British doctor Andrew Wakefield, suggested the combined measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) shot might be linked to autism and bowel disease.
His assertion, since widely discredited, caused one of the biggest medical rows in a generation and led to a steep drop in the number of vaccinations in the United States, Britain and other parts of Europe, prompting a rise in cases of measles.
Child obesity warning for parents
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Most parents do not realise their four or five year olds are overweight or obese, a survey has revealed.
Half of the mothers who took part in a study thought that their obese four or five year old was normal weight, while 39% of fathers were no better in recognising obesity.
When it came to overweight children, 75% of mothers and 77% of fathers thought that their child was normal weight, according to the February issue of Acta Paediatrica.
Childhood obesity increases heart disease risk later in life
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Obesity alone can increase the risk of future heart disease and stroke in kids, as young as seven years of age, according to a new study.
The study said that the danger persists even in the absence of other cardiovascular risk factors such as high blood pressure.
“This new study demonstrates that the unhealthy consequences of excess body fat start very early. Our study shows that obesity alone is linked to certain abnormalities in the blood that can predispose individuals to developing cardiovascular disease early in adulthood,” said Dr. Nelly Mauras, of Nemours Children’’s Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida and senior author of the study.
First lady backs childhood obesity screening
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New Hampshire’s first lady, a pediatrician, is backing legislation that would require the state’s schools to record children’s body mass index, an indicator of obesity.
Dr. Susan Lynch said she believes the measurement is more helpful than simply looking at a child’s weight to determine health risks of being under- or overweight. Lynch is a strong advocate for preventing and addressing childhood obesity.
“BMI is a poor man’s tool to give us an estimate of body fat content,” Dr. Lynch said Monday.
Calories Listed On Menus Can Help Curb Childhood Obesity
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In another attempt to get control of the staggering obesity rates among today’s youth, restaurants are now offering calorie counts on menu items designed for children. This discovery is based on research done by Dr. Pooja Tandon of the University of Washington in Seattle.
His team interviewed 99 parents of children aged 3 to 6 years old. The parents were given McDonald’s restaurant menus and were asked to pick out meals for themselves and their children. Half of the menus contained specific calorie information while the other half listed pictures only.
Parents consistently chose items that had approximately 100 fewer calories when they were able to see the calorie content.
Special suit helps kids with cerebral palsy
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Nicole was born weighing just one pound, 14 ounces. Doctors diagnosed cerebral palsy.
“As she’s getting older she’s starting to realize more that there is something different. And she wants to be able to do what the other kids do,” said Nicole’s mother, Joy.
Thanks to a special suit and intensive therapy, Nicole really can.
Parents cut kids’ calories when menus are labeled
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When restaurant menus list calories, parents will limit how much fast food their kids eat, a new report suggests.
But parents don’t restrict their own energy intake, according to the report, which joins a growing body of work on the effects of menu labeling.
For the study, researchers randomly assigned 99 parents of 3- to 6-year-olds to one of two groups. Both were shown McDonald’s-like menus and asked to choose foods for themselves and their kids. However, one group’s menu included the calorie content next to the price for each item.
New tools and systems may help patients, primary care clinicians manage obesity
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Using combined and intensive treatments and restructuring care to treat obesity like other chronic diseases may help primary care clinicians and patients better address the condition, according to a commentary and three articles published in the January 25 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Data suggest an extensive gap exists between recommended obesity care and current practice by primary care clinicians, notes Robert F. Kushner, M.D., of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, in the commentary. “The reasons for the gap are complex owing to multiple physician, patient and medical system factors,” he writes. “Cited barriers include a lack of reimbursement, limited time during office visits, lack of training in counseling, competing demands, low confidence in the ability to treat and change patient behaviors, limited resources, the perception that patients are not motivated and a paucity of proven and effective interventions to treat obesity.”
“In this issue of the Archives, three articles on weight loss for overweight or obese patients have potential implications for primary care practice,” Dr. Kushner writes. The findings, outlined below, provide information on effective interventions for obesity and its complications in primary care settings.
Stain repellent chemical linked to thyroid disease in adults
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A study by the University of Exeter and the Peninsula Medical School for the first time links thyroid disease with human exposure to perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). PFOA is a persistent organic chemical used in industrial and consumer goods including nonstick cookware and stain- and water-resistant coatings for carpets and fabrics.
Published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, The study revealed that people with higher concentrations of PFOA in their blood have higher rates of thyroid disease. The researchers analysed samples from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s nationally representative National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).
Tamara Galloway, a professor Ecotoxicology at the University of Exeter and the study’s senior author, says: “Our results highlight a real need for further research into the human health effects of low-level exposures to environmental chemicals like PFOA that are ubiquitous in the environment and in people’s homes. We need to know what they are doing.”
Child fitness: Sneaky strategies aim to get kids moving
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Is your rug rat becoming a sofa spud?
To get that texting, tweeting, gaming child up and exercising, a new book suggests parents try sneaking fitness into the day-to-day routine.
“A sneaky fit kid can burn an extra 400 calories per day,” said Missy Chase Lapine, who co-authored “Sneaky Fitness: Fun, Foolproof Ways to Slip Fitness into Your Child’s Everyday Life” with personal trainer Larysa DiDio.
