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Family dinners can make a difference in children's lives

Compared to teens who have frequent family dinners (five or more per week), those who have infrequent family dinners (fewer than three per week) are twice as likely to use tobacco or marijuana; more than one and a half times likelier to use alcohol; and twice as likely to expect to try drugs in the future, according to The Importance of Family Dinners V, a new report by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University.

23 Sep 2009

Children’s Hospital offers tips on H1N1 and seasonal flu

With the early onset of flu season coinciding with the start of school this year, parents are concerned about the flu. Experts from The Children’s Hospital in Denver, Colo., offer a pediatric perspective on all types of flu, including H1N1, also known as swine flu.

23 Sep 2009

UNAIDS, NGOs partner to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV in Africa

UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe in New York on Monday signed a partnership agreement with several non-governmental organizations (NGOs) pledging to work towards eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV in Africa, Agence France-Presse reports. Presidents Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal and Yoweri Museveni of Uganda attended the signing ceremony.

23 Sep 2009

Also in global health news: Combating sleeping sickness in eastern Africa; China commits to developing countries; Latin America development

The African Development Bank on Tuesday announced it will award eastern African countries $70 million to help fight the neglected tropical disease, trypanasomiasis, commonly known as sleeping sickness, over six years, the Monitor/allAfrica.com reports (Pacutho, 9/22).

23 Sep 2009

Casa Herbalife program launched in Croatia

The Herbalife Family Foundation has established a Casa Herbalife program at the Dom Tuskanac charity (Children and Youth Home) in Zagreb, Croatia, to help support the center to provide good nutrition to children.

23 Sep 2009

Amnesty International report highlights maternal mortality 'emergency' in Sierra Leone

"One in eight women in Sierra Leone risks dying of pregnancy and childbirth complications exacerbated by a combination of poverty, discrimination, inequality and government mismanagement," according to an Amnesty International report, released Tuesday, Reuters AlertNet reports (Fominyen, 9/22).

23 Sep 2009

FCI to educate women about fertility preservation

Life-saving cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation can destroy the reproductive potential of both men and women; an added struggle for the 130,000 people in the US diagnosed with cancer each year. The good news is that advances in fertility technologies now give patients the ability to preserve their fertility prior to treatment, an option many oncologists fail to inform their patients.

23 Sep 2009

British Prime Minister to unveil $1b effort to improve health systems in developing countries

During the U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Wednesday is scheduled to announce that Britain is teaming up with Norway, the Netherlands and Australia to invest $1 billion to strengthen the health systems in developing countries, the Financial Times/NineMSN reports (Jack, 9/21).

23 Sep 2009

Obesity can increase cancer incidence in leukemic children

Obesity is an important factor contributing to chemotherapy resistance and increasing relapse rates among children with leukemia, according to recent findings published online first in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

23 Sep 2009

Chan calls for additional H1N1 vaccines for poor countries during WHO Asia-Pacific regional meeting

During the WHO Asia-Pacific regional meeting Monday, WHO Director-General Margaret Chan discussed the organization's efforts to ensure that poor nations have access to H1N1 vaccines, VOA News reports (Bayron, 9/21).

23 Sep 2009

Government orders additional H1N1 vaccine

Associated Press/Boston Globe reports that on Monday, "the United States ordered more swine flu vaccine, bringing its eventual total to 251 million doses, up from the long-planned 195 million doses.

23 Sep 2009

Search for a Super Community program launched by BC Children's Hospital

BC Children's Hospital Foundation is calling on BC communities of all shapes, sizes and definitions to participate in its Search for a Super Community. The program, launched on September 21 on Global BC TV, gives communities across the province an opportunity to raise their profile while helping raise awareness of the need for a new BC Children's Hospital.

23 Sep 2009

HealthRock to promote health education

The $1 trillion cost and massive government role envisioned by the Obama Administration’s health care reform plan (The Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009) continue to create controversy in Congress and throughout the nation.

23 Sep 2009

African leaders to form alliance to eliminate malaria deaths

African leaders, who are scheduled to meet in New York on Wednesday, are expected to launch an effort - the African Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA) - to eliminate all malaria deaths on the continent by 2015, the Daily Independent/allAfrica.com reports (Shokunbi, 9/22).

23 Sep 2009

U.S. FDA bans flavored cigarettes

One of the first provisions of the new federal law regulating tobacco products will take effect Tuesday as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) enforces a ban on candy, fruit and other flavored cigarettes.

22 Sep 2009

Switch programme offers promise for use in youth obesity prevention

The SwitchTM programme, 'Switch what you Do, View, and Chew', has been shown to be capable of promoting children's fruit and vegetable consumption and lowering 'screen time'. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Medicine tested the programme and report that it offers promise for use in youth obesity prevention.

22 Sep 2009

Study reveals effectiveness of targeted heat therapy in addition to chemotherapy

Patients with soft-tissue sarcomas at high risk of spreading were 30% more likely to be alive and cancer free almost three years after starting treatment if their tumours were heated at the time they received chemotherapy, according to new research. The finding bolsters the case for intensifying exploration of the strategy in other types of cancer.

22 Sep 2009

World Vision calls on U.S. Congress, G20 leaders to make commitments to end hunger

As world leaders gather at the United Nations and G20 meetings this week, the future of the $20 billion food security initiative first proposed at July's G8 summit remains uncertain, say aid policy experts at Christian humanitarian agency World Vision.

22 Sep 2009

National Standards Report on ASD treatments released by National Autism Center

The National Autism Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), today released its National Standards Report, the most comprehensive analysis of treatments for children and adolescents with ASD ever published.

22 Sep 2009

Late diagnosis of bipolar disorder in children and adults

75% of the cases of paediatric bipolar disorder are diagnosed late - up to 18 months - due to the symptoms manifesting themselves in a different manner depending on whether the patient is a child or adult. Moreover, 25% of sufferers have a delay in their medical diagnoses of up to three years and four months, according to a study by the Department of Psychiatry and Medical Psychology at the University Hospital of Navarra, in collaboration with the Paediatric Psychopharmacology Unit at the l Massachusetts General Hospital at Harvard University (Boston, United States).

22 Sep 2009