Winnipeg Area youth welcome Didan Rwabika, 18, and Rachel Makenge, 18, visiting student leaders from Rwanda and Tanzania, for the sixth annual Youth Empowered leadership conference to discuss how to take action against hunger and poverty and support child health around the world. [More]

A new tool may help standardize the use of computed tomography (CT scans) in children with minor head injury and help reduce the number of scans, according to a new study in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj091421.pdf. [More]

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center announced a $300,000 grant from OneWest Foundation to support the Community Outreach Assistance for Children’s Health (COACH) program. The grant will fund the delivery of free, high-quality healthcare in a mobile medical clinic that reaches out to underserved children and their families in Los Angeles. [More]

Advanced maternal age is linked to a significantly elevated risk of having a child with autism, regardless of the father's age, according to an exhaustive study of all births in California during the 1990s by UC Davis Health System researchers. Advanced paternal age is associated with elevated autism risk only when the father is older and the mother is under 30, the study found. [More]

Cerebral palsy (CP) has increased in infants born prematurely in the United States, according to data presented by researchers from Loyola University Health System (LUHS). These findings were reported at the 30th Annual Meeting of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine in Chicago. [More]

Three out of five women who have given birth to a child with a congenital heart defect (CHD) -- the number-one birth defect and leading killer of infants and newborns -- were never tested for the defect during pregnancy. This is according to a survey just released by Little Hearts, Inc., a national organization that provides support, education, resources, networking and hope to families affected by congenital heart defects. [More]

PLAYTIME LLC is pleased to announce the installation of a new, colorful dinosaur-themed indoor playground at MCGHealth Children's Medical Center in Augusta, GA. [More]

Four leading national health professional associations have collectively recommended the adoption of the World Health Organization (WHO) Growth Charts for monitoring the growth of Canadian children in all primary health care and clinical settings. [More]

A new national study suggests that preschool-aged children are likely to have a lower risk for obesity if they regularly engage in one or more of three specific household routines: eating dinner as a family, getting adequate sleep and limiting their weekday television viewing time. [More]

Deafness is the most common disorder of the senses. Tragically, it commonly strikes in early childhood, severely damaging an affected child's ability to learn speech and language. In many cases, children gradually lose their hearing to become profoundly deaf over a long period of months to years, but scientists know very little about how this progressive loss happens, making prospects for prevention and cure very slim. [More]

Using ultrasound to screen all pregnant women for signs of a shortening cervix improves pregnancy outcomes and is a cost-effective way to reduce preterm birth, Yale School of Medicine researchers report in a new study. [More]

In a study to be presented today at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine's (SMFM) annual meeting, The Pregnancy Meeting -, in Chicago, researchers will unveil findings that show that there is an increased risk of intrauterine fetal death (IUFD), commonly known as stillbirth, in women who have fibroids. [More]

Solvay Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that Phase IIIb data published in the January issue of Clinical Therapeutics confirm that CREON® (pancrelipase) Delayed-Release Capsules significantly improves a key measure of fat absorption in children aged 7-11 years who have exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI) due to cystic fibrosis (CF), EPI is a condition resulting from a deficiency in the production and/or secretion of pancreatic enzymes that are necessary to digest nutrients in food. [More]

A Lancet study examines childbirth practices and the relationship between these practices and maternal and perinatal outcomes in nine Asian countries, as assessed by a WHO global survey. Based on the analysis of over 107,000 deliveries, the authors conclude, "To improve maternal and perinatal outcomes, caesarean section should be done only when there is a medical indication" (Lumbiganon et al., 2/6). These findings "should help us to prioritise our strategies to reduce unnecessary interventions in childbirth," write the authors of a Lancet comment. [More]

Gentium S.p.A. today announced that the abstract titled, "Defibrotide prevents hepatic VOD and reduces significantly VOD-associated complications in children at high risk: final results of a prospective phase II/III multicentre study," has been awarded the Van Bekkum Award for the best abstract submitted to the physician's program for the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation's (EBMT) 36th Annual Meeting, to be held in Vienna, March 21-24, 2010. [More]