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OFID honors UAE ear surgeon with Annual Award for Development

The Director-General of the OPEC Fund for International Development, Mr. Suleiman J. Al-Herbish, today announced Dr. Mazen Al-Hajri as the recipient of the 2011 OFID Award for Development.

11 Apr 2011

Food insecurity can affect children's school performance

Food insecurity not only compromises your health and resilience. It brings along poor school attendance and educational attainment that thwart your future chances in life. Researchers from the Institute of Tropical Medicine for the first time confirmed this, in two thousand Ethiopian teenagers.

11 Apr 2011

Immunization does not increase emergency room visit in children with inherited disorders

Children with inborn errors of metabolism received vaccines on the same immunization schedule as did healthy infants, according to Kaiser Permanente Vaccine Study Center scientists who examined the Kaiser Permanente Northern California population. In addition, immunization was not associated with significant increases in emergency room visits or hospitalizations during the month following vaccination, according to Nicola Klein, MD, PhD, lead author of the study and co-director of the Kaiser Permanente Vaccine Study Center.

11 Apr 2011

Scientists identify new treatment to combat PFAPA syndrome in children

A preliminary study conducted by a team at the National Institutes of Health has identified a promising new treatment in children for the most common form of a rare disorder.

11 Apr 2011

Toxic substances including arsenic in baby food

The latest reports have revealed that there are small amounts of arsenic and other toxins that are found in soil, creeping into the ingredients used in top-selling baby foods. Manufacturers insist the levels are so low they do not pose a health risk. But scientists and food campaigners are calling for efforts to eliminate the chemicals from mass-produced products eaten by millions of young babies. Leading brands from Organix, Hipp, Nestle and Holle were tested by Swedish researchers.

10 Apr 2011

German government, Gates Foundation sign agreement to provide funding for GAVI Alliance

The German government on Wednesday said it would provide an extra 14 million euros or about $19.9 million "for child immunization in the developing world as part of an agreement with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation," the Associated Press reports (4/6).

8 Apr 2011

Cenovus donates $1.3 million to Alberta Children's Hospital to combat childhood cancer

Cenovus Energy Inc. is proud to announce that the company has committed $1.3 million to the Alberta Children's Hospital Foundation to help experts at the Alberta Children's Hospital in the fight against childhood cancer.

8 Apr 2011

Sibling ‘squabbles’ good for the youngest child: Study

According to the latest research from the University of Cambridge sibling rivalry and fighting between siblings increase the social skills, vocabulary and emotional development of younger brothers and sisters. They found that the competitiveness acquired from regular tiffs with the elder sibling may make the second child more popular and successful at school, and in later life.

7 Apr 2011

Shionogi launches CUVPOSA for pediatric chronic severe drooling

Shionogi Inc., the U.S.-based group company of Shionogi & Co., Ltd., today announced the U.S. commercial availability of CUVPOSA™ (glycopyrrolate) oral solution, the first and only FDA-approved treatment to reduce chronic severe drooling in patients aged 3 to 16 with neurologic conditions associated with problem drooling, such as cerebral palsy.

7 Apr 2011

Exercising during pregnancy improves child's heart health after birth

Moms-to-be long have been told by their doctors and baby-related books and websites that staying fit during pregnancy is good for both mother and child. When it was reported a couple of years back that exercising strengthens a fetus' heart control, many pregnant women took heed and hit the ground running, literally. Some signed up for prenatal yoga classes; others found new ways to incorporate low-impact aerobic activities into their daily lives.

7 Apr 2011

Parents and schools may contribute to childhood obesity

Two of the biggest influences on children — parents and schools — may unintentionally contribute to childhood obesity. That's the observation of Susan Terwilliger, clinical associate professor in the Decker School of Nursing at Binghamton University, who studies the problem.

7 Apr 2011

Hartwell honors UCSD scientists with Individual Biomedical Research Award

Three scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine are among this year's 12 winners of Hartwell Individual Biomedical Research Awards, honoring researchers whose work advances children's health.

7 Apr 2011

Busy roads around pregnant woman's home increases likelihood of premature birth of baby

Babies are born earlier when their mothers live near a concentration of freeways and main roads, a study of 970 mothers and their newborn babies in Logan City, south of Brisbane, has found.

7 Apr 2011

Childhood obesity: Positive & negative trends

According to the latest study, fewer Australian pre-schoolers are overweight in recent years compared with the late-1990s and also the social disparities in children's obesity risk seem to be shrinking. These findings were reported in the International Journal of Obesity.

6 Apr 2011

Early Intensive Behavioural Intervention in autism continues to be questioned in Quebec

Early Intensive Behavioural Intervention, the most highly recommended, comprehensively researched and universally recognized treatment for autism, continues to be questioned, underfunded and ultimately threatened - but only in Quebec.

6 Apr 2011

Socioeconomic factors still influence autism diagnosis

While there is an increasing equality in terms of the likelihood that children from communities and families across the socioeconomic spectrum will be diagnosed with autism, a new study finds that such factors still influence the chance of an autism diagnosis, though to a much lesser extent than they did at the height of rising prevalence.

6 Apr 2011

Study finds marked increases in teen use of marijuana and Ecstasy

Following a decade of steady declines, a new national study released today by The Partnership at Drugfree.org and MetLife Foundation indicates that teen drug and alcohol use is headed in the wrong direction, with marked increases in teen use of marijuana and Ecstasy over the past three years.

6 Apr 2011

Book examines impacts of social and environmental change on children

In our fast-changing urban world, the impacts of social and environmental change on children are often overlooked. Children and their Urban Environment examines these impacts in detail, looking at the key activities, spaces and experiences children have and how these can be managed to ensure that children benefit from change.

6 Apr 2011

State roundup: Report urges Mass. city employees to pay more health costs

Officially, Minnesota doesn't pay for an intensive type of autism therapy. Yet it has -- but only for some families. Two years ago, a single mother in the Twin Cities asked the state Medicaid program to pay for an intensive type of autism therapy for her 2-year-old son. She was turned down. State officials said the treatment -- known as Applied Behavior Analysis, or ABA -- is "not now, and never has been,'' a covered service.

6 Apr 2011

Teenage birth rate in the U.S. falls

Encouraging new data shows the teenage birth rate in the U.S. fell to the lowest level on record in 2009 - but is still one of the highest in developed countries. Numbers dropped to 39.1 births per 1,000 females from 61.8 births in 1991, according the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The latest figures record that 410,000 teenage girls aged 15 to 19 years old gave birth in the United States in 2009. The rate is especially high among black and Hispanic teens. Geography plays a key role too with young mothers more common in some states than others.

5 Apr 2011