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Increased stress, reduced sleep alter brain structure and function in children

A new study suggests that variables linked to socioeconomic status (SES) – such as increased stress and reduced sleep – have strong relationships to brain structure and function in children.

11 Jun 2026

Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor researcher joins ARIA IMPACT Network to advance autism therapies

Dr. Jimmy Holder, associate professor in pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine and Principal investigator at the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children's Hospital, and his team have received a grant for up to $17.25 million from Aligning Research to Impact Autism (ARIA) to become a part of the Innovative Medicine and Precision Approaches to Clinical Trials (IMPACT) Network.

11 Jun 2026

High social media use increases mental health risks for adolescents

Adolescents who spend at least two hours a day on social media are more likely to experience depressive symptoms and poorer wellbeing, with the strongest effects in early adolescence, according to new research.

11 Jun 2026

Global warming increases childhood stunting rates in poor communities

In 2022, about 149 million children under age five worldwide suffered from childhood stunting. A critical marker of chronic undernutrition, stunting is more than a metric of physical height.

11 Jun 2026

Teenage risk-taking linked to lower baseline dopamine levels

Teenage risk-taking, such as experimentation with alcohol, cannabis, nicotine and other substances, may reflect a compensatory response to lower baseline dopamine, the brain chemical for reward activity, suggests a new University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine study, published today in Nature Communications.

11 Jun 2026

First-in-the-world gene therapy delivers missing gene directly to infant’s brain, marking historic milestone in precision medicine

An eight-month-old baby from Israel has become the first human ever to receive an experimental gene therapy designed to replace a missing gene responsible for a devastating neurological disease that until now offered no hope of survival.

11 Jun 2026

Physical punishment linked to detrimental childhood outcomes, UCL researchers warn

Hitting children (often referred to as smacking) by parents or caregivers as a form of punishment is linked to behavioral problems and worse exam results and should be prohibited in England and Northern Ireland as soon as possible, UCL researchers say.

11 Jun 2026

Western diet weakens the gut’s nervous system through iron-dependent damage

A JCI study found that exposure to a Western diet in mice and to palmitic acid in murine and ex vivo human enteric nervous system models triggered ferroptosis, characterized by iron loading, lipid peroxidation, mitochondrial stress, and enteric neuronal loss. Boosting Nrf2 signaling protected enteric neurons and prevented Western diet-induced delayed colonic transit in mice, pointing to a potential pathway linking dietary fat exposure to gut motility dysfunction.

10 Jun 2026

NIH awards $1 million five-year grant to study the genetics of cataracts in children

Jennifer Rossen, MD, a pediatric ophthalmologist at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, recently received a $1 million five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health/National Eye Institute (NIH/NEI) to study the genetics of cataracts in children.

10 Jun 2026

Living with cats does not worsen childhood asthma outcomes

Children with asthma and allergies who live with one or more cats do not experience worse asthma outcomes than children without cats at home.

10 Jun 2026

European study connects youth mental health to economic parity

Xabi Martinez-Mendia, a researcher at the EHU-University of the Basque Country, has analysed how adolescent psychotropic drug consumption is linked to gender inequality and economic factors in 32 European countries.

10 Jun 2026

Public health messaging still beats AI chatbots for HPV vaccine promotion

The study finds that AI chatbots boost HPV vaccination intent temporarily, but public health resources are crucial for lasting impact on vaccination decisions.

10 Jun 2026

Women without health insurance are far less likely to take folic acid supplement

A study reveals healthcare access, particularly insurance coverage, significantly impacts folic acid supplement use among U.S. women of reproductive age.

10 Jun 2026

Study finds indoor cats do not trigger child asthma flares

Asthma is the most common chronic disease and one of the main causes of hospitalization among children. The Global Asthma Network has estimated that its global prevalence is 9.1% for children and 11.0% for adolescents, but this percentage varies greatly between countries, regions, and environments.

10 Jun 2026

Fertility challenges may influence children's behavioral and developmental outcomes

Difficulty conceiving a pregnancy may be associated with small differences in children's learning and behavior, according to a new study funded by the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

9 Jun 2026

Moderate screen exposure linked to better concussion outcomes

Researchers at Nationwide Children's Hospital have found that moderate screen time might be better for concussion recovery than no screen time at all.

9 Jun 2026

Active β-catenin promotes aggressive spread of childhood bone cancer

A new research paper was recently published in Volume 17 of Genes & Cancer, titled "Active Beta-Catenin (ABC) promotes an invasive phenotype in pediatric osteosarcoma."

9 Jun 2026

Houston researcher identifies new targets for fatal rhabdomyosarcoma

A cancer researcher at the University of Houston is reporting what makes malignant soft tissue cancer grow in children, identifying key mechanisms and molecular targets to prevent tumor progression in patients in future therapies of the fatal rhabdomyosarcoma.

9 Jun 2026

Uninherited parental genes leave lasting imprint on children's lives

Our parents' genes, even the ones we didn't inherit, leave a measurable lasting imprint on our lives. An international team led by researchers at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health developed a new approach to analyze genetic data from tens of thousands of families.

9 Jun 2026

Fathers shape childhood obesity risk long before birth

New research highlights fathers' influence on childhood obesity risk through sperm changes, lifestyle, and parenting, urging inclusive prevention strategies.

9 Jun 2026