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Frequent family meals can lead to decreased obesity

"Come and get it!" A phrase historically proclaiming that the communal meal is ready, is heard all too infrequently among contemporary American households, especially as children get older.

24 Apr 2012

CMAJ outlines possible causes and treatments for bedwetting in children

Bedwetting in older children is common, but it can be distressing. An article in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) outlines possible causes and evidence for current treatments.

24 Apr 2012

TopBP1 protein prevents early brain cells from DNA damage

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists have rewritten the job description of the protein TopBP1 after demonstrating that it guards early brain cells from DNA damage. Such damage might foreshadow later problems, including cancer.

24 Apr 2012

Mayo Clinic vaccine expert, pediatrician refute 3 common myths about child vaccine safety

In the limited time of an office visit, how can a primary care physician make the case to parents that their child should be vaccinated? During National Infant Immunization Week, a Mayo Clinic vaccine expert and a pediatrician offer suggestions for refuting three of the most common myths about child vaccine safety. Their article, The Clinician's Guide to the Anti-Vaccinationists' Galaxy, is published online this month in the journal Human Immunology.

24 Apr 2012

Latest scientific research in children's health to be presented at PAS meeting

The latest scientific research in children's health will be presented in Boston April 28-May 1 at the Pediatric Academic Societies Annual Meeting. More than 6,500 leaders in academic pediatrics from around the world are expected to attend the meeting at the Hynes Convention Center.

24 Apr 2012

New device can correct bone deformities in children

Another day, another four turns of the screw. That's just a part of life for people, primarily children, undergoing the long and difficult process of distraction osteogenesis, a method to correct bone deformities that leave one limb shorter than the other.

24 Apr 2012

Researchers identify gene that increases risk of MI in newborns with CF

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have identified a gene that modifies the risk of newborns with cystic fibrosis (CF) developing neonatal intestinal obstruction, a potentially lethal complication of CF.

24 Apr 2012

IGF1R-blocking drugs can treat children with Wilms' tumour

An experimental drug that blocks an essential cell protein could be used to treat Wilms' tumour, a childhood cancer that affects the kidneys.

24 Apr 2012

Herpes zoster vaccine safe and well tolerated: Study

The herpes zoster vaccine, also known as the shingles vaccine, is generally safe and well tolerated according to a Vaccine Safety Datalink study of 193,083 adults published online in the Journal of Internal Medicine.

23 Apr 2012

Data from 2 new studies on RHD presented at World Congress of Cardiology

Widespread screening of children in poorer countries is now being studied and is resulting in the diagnosis of rheumatic heart disease (RHD) in patients that would likely have gone undetected under normal circumstances, according to two new studies carried out in Fiji and Uganda presented today at the World Congress of Cardiology.

23 Apr 2012

Praziquantel drug can safely cure snail fever in infants

Thousands of pre-school children in Africa could benefit from access to treatment for an endemic disease, after tests showed infants to be at high risk of infection.

23 Apr 2012

Measles report card for 2011 shows too many cases

According to the CDC in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, last year was the worst year for measles in the U.S. in 15 years. They report that there were 222 cases of measles, a large jump from the 60 or so seen in a typical year. Most of the cases last year were imported — either by foreign visitors or by U.S. residents who picked up the virus overseas.

22 Apr 2012

World finance, development ministers meet in Washington for high-level meeting on water, sanitation

The Guardian reports that "60 finance and development ministers will gather in Washington on Friday at a high-level meeting on sanitation and water." According to the newspaper, "The Sanitation and Water for All meeting, convened by Anthony Lake, executive director of the U.N. children's fund UNICEF, follows an announcement in March by UNICEF and the World Health Organization that the world had met the millennium development goal (MDG) overall target for access to safe drinking water in 2010, but that 783 million people were still missing out."

21 Apr 2012

To achieve AIDS-free generation, needs of youth living with HIV must be addressed in transition services

In this post in USAID's "IMPACTblog," Heather Bergmann of John Snow Inc., who is the technical officer for USAID's AIDSTAR-One project, reports on the need to include youth in transition services for adolescents living with HIV.

21 Apr 2012

Boston Children's Hospital introduces new mobile app

Boston Children's Hospital today announced the launch of its new mobile application (app), Boston Children's Hospital MyWay, providing patients and families with a one-stop mobile information hub for navigating the Boston Children's Hospital patient experience.

21 Apr 2012

March of Dimes selects UTMB scientist to receive Basil O'Connor Starter Scholar Award

The March of Dimes Foundation has chosen University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston assistant professor Muge Kuyumcu-Martinez to receive a two-year, $150,000 Basil O'Connor Starter Scholar Award. The grant will support her research on congenital heart defects, the most common type of major birth defect.

21 Apr 2012

Possible indicators of child abuse

April is Child Abuse Prevention Month and experts at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt are urging all individuals to be able to recognize the signs and symptoms of child abuse, and to be aware that reporting suspected incidents of child abuse is the law in Tennessee and many other states.

20 Apr 2012

K. Hovnanian Children's Hospital announces opening of new specialty care center

K. Hovnanian Children's Hospital at Jersey Shore University Medical Center is proud to announce the grand opening of K. Hovnanian Children's Hospital Specialty Care Center, a consolidated outpatient pediatric center serving as the new home of Meridian Pediatric Associates. The center provides pediatric specialty care services in a comfortable and friendly environment, and is an important first step of the hospital's new pediatric expansion project.

20 Apr 2012

Safe, separate sleep environments for infants are critical to preventing SUIDs

Since 1992, the government's Back-to-Sleep Campaign has encouraged parents to place infants on their backs to sleep. Still, more than 4,500 infants die unexpectedly during sleep each year in the United States. Now, a University of Missouri injury prevention researcher says that safe, separate sleep environments for infants are critical to preventing sudden unexpected infant deaths.

20 Apr 2012

April issue of USAID's 'PRH Connect' available online

The April issue of USAID's "PRH Connect" e-newsletter features a round-up of top news articles; a partnership profile of the Alliance for Reproductive, Maternal and Newborn Health; notes from the field highlighting the DELIVER Project's new photo blog, and links to various resources, publications and research.

20 Apr 2012