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Biofortified millet improves toddler gut health without adverse effects

Toddlers who ate iron- and zinc-biofortified pearl millet for nine months did not experience adverse effects typically associated with increased iron intake and developed gut microbiomes with distinct and potentially beneficial changes, according to a new study led by researchers at Cornell University's Joan Klein Jacobs Center for Precision Nutrition and Health.

5 Aug 2026

For students, an early social media account may come with a lasting classroom cost

Researchers linked retrospective digital-habit surveys from 5,227 northern Italian students with standardized test records spanning grades 2–10, including 4,545 students in the principal longitudinal analysis. Students who opened social media accounts in grades 6 or 7 had lower later Italian and mathematics scores than matched students who waited until grade 9 or later, although residual confounding cannot be excluded.

5 Aug 2026

Study finds no link between newborn circumcision and autism risk

In a cohort of nearly 3,000 boys followed from birth into childhood, young boys who were circumcised just after birth did not have a higher risk of autism, according to a study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

4 Aug 2026

Study maps how birth order tracks disease risk across 10 million siblings

Researchers analyzing claims from more than 10 million siblings linked first-born status to higher odds of several neurodevelopmental and allergic diagnoses, while second-born status tracked with substance abuse and gastrointestinal conditions. The observational study identified 150 significant birth-order associations across the phenome, but claims data and residual confounding prevent causal conclusions.

4 Aug 2026

NIH funds smartphone platform to improve driving safety for teens

Dr. Jeffrey Keller, Hibernia National Bank/Edward G. Schleider Endowed Chair at LSU's Pennington Biomedical Research Center, and Sara Seifert, president of Minnesota HealthSolutions, have received a new National Institutes of Health Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) award to develop an innovative digital health platform that will help parents support teenagers with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as they learn to drive.

4 Aug 2026

Better sleep may boost academic and social success in adolescents

A new UC Davis Health study published in Psychological Medicine suggests that when it comes to helping adolescents succeed in school and maintain healthy friendships, sleep may matter more than screen time, exercise or diet.

4 Aug 2026

Long-term study highlights ongoing care needs among former CAMHS patients

Four in ten children who attend Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in Scotland go on to attend specialist psychiatric services as adults, according to new research.

4 Aug 2026

Korean study finds no overall childhood cancer link with maternal diabetes

Researchers followed 549,851 Korean children and found no statistically significant association between maternal diabetes and overall childhood cancer. The analysis linked maternal diabetes to an 81% higher relative risk of urinary tract cancer, but the absolute difference was only 37 additional cases per 100,000 offspring.

4 Aug 2026

High childhood body mass index linked to adult childlessness

A study of almost 61,000 women in Denmark, published in the journal JAMA Network Open, finds that women who had an overweight or obesity body mass index (BMI) trajectory during childhood were less likely to have children than women with a normal (average) BMI trajectory, and this effect on childlessness was already apparent in their mid-20s.

4 Aug 2026

New public database tracks state laws regulating youth social media

As of March 2026, every U.S. state had introduced at least one bill seeking to regulate social media or other digital platforms for people younger than 18.

4 Aug 2026

Cat training program benefits children with developmental disabilities

A cat-training program for children with developmental disabilities fostered healthy child behaviors, strengthened relationships between children and their family cats and improved cats' social behavior, a new study found.

4 Aug 2026

Study shows how solid food shapes immune system development

In a mouse model, LMU researchers have discovered a signaling pathway through which diet influences the development of the immune system.

4 Aug 2026

Child-friendly lung test identifies subtle abnormalities before stem cell transplant

As spirometry requires coordinated deep breathing and can be challenging for children to perform, researchers from the USA, as part of the TRANSPIRE study investigating lung complications in children undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), explored the potential of oscillometry, a simple and child-friendly lung function test.

3 Aug 2026

Broader autism definition may lead to confusion and possible misdiagnosis

The definition of autism may have become so wide that it risks confusion and even misdiagnosis, according to a new editorial by UCL Professor Dame Uta Frith, whose pioneering research in the 1960s and 70s lay the foundations for how we understand autism.

3 Aug 2026

Two British birth cohorts find no added health burden from a coastal childhood

Researchers analyzing two British birth cohorts found no association between coastal residence in adolescence and midlife multimorbidity, while an unadjusted association in the 1958 cohort weakened after accounting for neighborhood deprivation.

3 Aug 2026

Large US trial supports silver diamine fluoride for severe early childhood caries

A phase 3 randomized trial of 830 young children with severe early childhood caries found that 38% silver diamine fluoride arrested 54.0% of eligible cavitated dentin lesions at six months, compared with 22.5% after placebo. The noninvasive treatment showed clinically meaningful efficacy, but about half of the lesions remained active, supporting close monitoring and additional preventive care.

3 Aug 2026

Sensitive parenting buffers against child ADHD risks from pregnancy

Research from Oregon Health & Science University's Center for Mental Health Innovation provides new evidence that the way caregivers interact with children when they're very young can protect against the negative effects of inflammation during pregnancy, including increased attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, symptoms in children.

3 Aug 2026

Five large corporations dominate Medicaid mental health care for adolescents

The United States is in the middle of a well-documented adolescent mental health crisis. Because Medicaid provides medical coverage for roughly half of all children in the country, the program has an essential role in responding to that crisis.

3 Aug 2026

Cortisone eye drops may reduce blindness in extremely premature babies

Researchers at the University of Gothenburg and Sahlgrenska University Hospital have conducted the first randomized clinical trial in the world to test cortisone eye drops to slow the progression of serious eye disease in extremely premature babies.

3 Aug 2026

Children remain more vulnerable to influenza despite protective antibody levels

Researchers analyzing 1,518 South African household participants found that higher pre-season antibody titers were associated with lower infection risk for three of four influenza viruses studied. Children remained more susceptible after accounting for measured exposure and antibody titers, while younger children shed viral RNA longer than older adults.

3 Aug 2026