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Almost half of all adolescents suffer low back pain

A study led by Catalan researchers confirms that 40% of adolescents have low back pain at least once a month. However, the real effect of this pain is minimal in 90% of cases. Another important piece of information: only 35% of adolescents have not had any type of pain in the last month.

4 Mar 2009

Molecular test for cancer relapse in UK children

A molecular marker used in America to predict whether children with a form of kidney cancer, called Wilms' tumour, are more likely to relapse than other children, could be useful for UK patients.

3 Mar 2009

Multiple childhood maltreatments lead to greater adolescent binge drinking

Researchers from Boston University found that multiple types of child maltreatment are robust risk factors for underage binge drinking based on a national multi-year study that explored the influence of social environment on the health of adolescents.

3 Mar 2009

New guidelines for childhood obesity programs

The Academy for Eating Disorders (AED), a global professional association committed to leadership in eating disorders research, education, treatment and prevention, issued guidelines for childhood obesity prevention programs to ensure that community- and school-based efforts are carried out with equal concern for children's physical, social and emotional health.

3 Mar 2009

TV watching linked to increased risk of asthma

Young children who spend more than two hours watching TV every day double their subsequent risk of developing asthma, indicates research published on-line today in the journal Thorax.

3 Mar 2009

Experts still recommend no television under the age of 2

A longitudinal study of infants from birth to age 3 showed TV viewing before the age of 2 does not improve a child's language and visual motor skills, according to research conducted at Children's Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School.

2 Mar 2009

Childhood swimming lessons appropriate as part of a comprehensive drowning prevention strategy

Providing very young children with swimming lessons appears to have a protective effect against drowning and does not increase children's risk of drowning, reported researchers at the National Institutes of Health.

2 Mar 2009

Children born to women who have low blood levels of vitamin B12 have increased risk for neural tube defects

Children born to women who have low blood levels of vitamin B12 shortly before and after conception may have an increased risk of a neural tube defect, according to an analysis by researchers at the National Institutes of Health, Trinity College Dublin, and the Health Research Board of Ireland.

2 Mar 2009

Children reap social benefits from wearing contact lenses instead of glasses

Children wearing contact lenses felt better about how they look, their athletic abilities and acceptance by their friends than did children wearing eyeglasses in a recent study.

2 Mar 2009

Help for children with rheumatic heart disease

These bacteria carry a special protein sequence, the so-called PARF motif, on their surface.

2 Mar 2009

Educational materials for new mothers may prevent shaken baby syndrome

Educational materials on how to deal with crying newborns lead to increased knowledge about infant crying and behaviours that are important to preventing shaken baby syndrome, found two new studies being published online March 2 in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) and Pediatrics.

2 Mar 2009

Better diagnosis and treatment of concussions in children

It's estimated that more than a half million kids in the U.S. go to the hospital each year with a concussion.

2 Mar 2009

Doctors call for change in how non-active tuberculosis in immigrant children treated

New guidelines proposed in the March 2009 issue of the journal Pediatrics by researchers from the Indiana University School of Medicine and Riley Hospital for Children may have a major impact on how pediatricians and family physicians treat non-active tuberculosis (TB) in children who are immigrants, internationally adopted or refugees.

2 Mar 2009