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New study sheds light on anorexia nervosa

A study led by Howard Steiger, PhD, head of the Douglas Mental Health University Institute Eating Disorders Program, in Montreal, in collaboration with Linda Booij, a researcher with Sainte-Justine Hospital and an assistant professor at Queen's University, is the first to observe effects suggesting that the longer one suffers from active anorexia nervosa (AN), the more likely they are to show disorder-relevant alterations in DNA methylation.

9 Feb 2015

Study gives better look at how parents experience stress

In stressful family circumstances, parenthood sometimes take a bigger toll on fathers' mental health.

6 Feb 2015

Study examines four risk factors that can lead families to varying degrees of hunger

Food insecurity creates a host of unhealthy consequences. The roads leading there can be very different. Understanding those differences may provide a clearer picture of hunger in families and a better way of responding to families' needs. A University of Houston study examined four risk factors for families that can lead to varying degrees of hunger.

5 Feb 2015

Psychopath’s persistent violent behaviour associated with brain abnormalities

Psychopathic violent offenders have abnormalities in the parts of the brain related to learning from punishment, according to an MRI study led by Sheilagh Hodgins and Nigel Blackwood. "One in five violent offenders is a psychopath.

30 Jan 2015

Prenatal program enhances couples' co-parenting relationship, improves childhood outcomes

Children whose parents participated in a prenatal program aimed at enhancing couples' co-parenting relationship were better adjusted at age seven than children whose parents were assigned to a control group, according to Penn State researchers.

20 Jan 2015

Study finds that higher sense of autonomy makes babies smarter

Higher cognitive skills are found in the children of mothers who are consistently able to support the development of their baby's sense of autonomy, according to a study led by researchers at the University of Montreal. The researchers specifically looked at executive functioning, which refers to a range of cognitive processes that are essential for cognitive, social and psychological functioning.

15 Jan 2015

StrongestMom.com releases free video to help prevent accidental injuries to children

To help prevent accidental injuries to children, StrongestMom.com has released a free video in which one of the country's top emergency room physicians and one of the country's top child trauma surgeons talk about their daily experience in the prevention and causes of accidental injury to children.

8 Jan 2015

Healthcare providers can help parents understand sleep patterns of newborn infant

Most parents are not surprised by the irregularity of a newborn infant's sleep patterns, but by six months or so many parents wonder if something is wrong with their baby or their sleeping arrangements if the baby is not sleeping through the night. Healthcare providers, specifically nurse practitioners, can help parents understand what "normal" sleep patterns are for their child, according to researchers.

19 Dec 2014

Raising awareness of sickle cell disease risks

Members of the public in sub-Saharan Africa who are carriers of the hereditary disease sickle cell disease must be educated aggressively through public health campaigns to raise awareness of the risks of parenting offspring with the disease if their partner is also a carrier, according to research published in the International Journal of Medical Engineering and Informatics.

24 Nov 2014

NIH announces 11 awards to improve public health outcomes related to substance use, addiction

More than $11 million over three years will be used to support research exploring the use of social media to advance the scientific understanding, prevention, and treatment of substance use and addiction.

20 Oct 2014

Newborns of mothers who smoke during pregnancy have altered stress hormones, DNA

Researchers from The Miriam Hospital have studied the effects of smoking during pregnancy and its impact on the stress response in newborn babies. Their research indicates that newborns of mothers who smoke cigarettes during pregnancy show lower levels of stress hormones, lowered stress response, and alterations in DNA for a gene that regulates passage of stress hormones from mother to fetus.

20 Oct 2014

Intensive parenting and education provided in homes reduces drug use in pregnant teens

Intensive parenting and health education provided in homes of pregnant American Indian teens reduced the mothers' illegal drug use, depression and behavior problems, and set their young children on track to meet behavioral and emotional milestones they may have otherwise missed.

13 Oct 2014

New partners join Grand Challenges Canada to help protect early brain development

Grand Challenges Canada, funded by the Government of Canada, today welcomed three new partners to the Saving Brains Grand Challenge: Aga Khan Foundation Canada, Norlien Foundation and World Vision Canada. These organizations strengthen the existing partnership with the Bernard van Leer Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Maria Cecilia Souto Vidigal Foundation.

8 Oct 2014

Innovative partnership provides effective intervention program for substance-exposed babies, toddlers

Two decades after its initiation, the University of Miami Linda Ray Intervention Program for substance-exposed babies and toddlers demonstrates long-term success.

25 Sep 2014

Single-family room environment can optimize care for preterm infants

The prevalence of preterm birth - the birth of an infant prior to 37 weeks of pregnancy - is a significant health problem that has increased over the past two decades. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, preterm birth affects nearly 500,000 babies each year, or one of every eight born in the U.S. While medical care has improved survival rates for preterm infants, questions remain about ways to positively impact the neurodevelopmental outcomes of preterm infants.

23 Sep 2014

State policies fail to provide sufficient two-generation supports to families with young children

Recent two-generation approaches to reducing poverty that help children and their parents are receiving increasing attention from researchers, advocates, and foundations.

22 Sep 2014

Socioeconomic inequalities influence overall outcomes for children with asthma

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 6 percent of children younger than five have been diagnosed with asthma, the fastest-growing and most common chronic illness affecting children in the United States.

17 Sep 2014

Early intervention prevents aggressive children from becoming violent, criminal adults

Aggressive children are less likely to become violent criminals or psychiatrically troubled adults if they receive early intervention, says a new study based on more than two decades of research.

16 Sep 2014

Canada funds 22 inventive ideas for improving health in low-resource countries

Grand Challenges Canada, funded by the Government of Canada, today announced $2.4 million in seed funds shared between 22 projects from Canada and nine developing nations, to pursue inventive new ideas for improving health in low-resource countries.

8 Sep 2014

Neuropsychologist sees increase in ADHD diagnoses

Since 2007, there has been a 16 percent increase in ADHD diagnoses in the United States. While this may alarm some parents, Kids In The House experts explain what this increase really means and how parents can help children who have been diagnosed with ADHD.

2 Sep 2014