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Canadian Task Force issues new guidelines to prevent, manage childhood obesity

Today the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care issued its latest guidelines on the prevention and management of childhood obesity. With 1 in 3 children classified as either overweight or obese in Canada the prevalence of childhood obesity has more than doubled in the last 40 years.

30 Mar 2015

Effective therapy enables immune system recovery in majority of children

Most children with HIV who have low levels of a key immune cell eventually recover levels of this cell after they begin treatment, according to a new study conducted by researchers at UCLA and other institutions in the U.S. and Brazil.

30 Mar 2015

Maternal diet during pregnancy and lactation may influence weight gain in offspring

Maternal diet during pregnancy and lactation may prime offspring for weight gain and obesity later in life, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers, who looked at rats whose mothers consumed a high-fat diet and found that the offspring's feeding controls and feelings of fullness did not function normally.

30 Mar 2015

RSV infection rate on the rise among young children

Children with Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), a common virus that infects the lungs and breathing passageways, has been on the rise across the nation for the last several years. Though it may only produce minor cold symptoms in adults, it can lead to serious illness in young children and those with compromised immune systems.

30 Mar 2015

New study opens door to preventative treatments for congenital diaphragmatic hernia

Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) is not as well known as muscular dystrophy and cystic fibrosis, but like them it is a life-threatening birth defect, and is just as common. Occurring in one in 3,000 births, CDH causes the guts and liver to protrude through a defective diaphragm and into the chest cavity, where they interfere with the lungs.

30 Mar 2015

Rare genetic mutation explains why flu can kill in rare cases

Nobody likes getting the flu, but for some people, fluids and rest aren't enough. A small number of children who catch the influenza virus fall so ill they end up in the hospital — perhaps needing ventilators to breathe — even while their family and friends recover easily. New research by Rockefeller University scientists, published March 26 in Science, helps explain why: a rare genetic mutation.

30 Mar 2015

APrON study: Pregnant and lactating women not meeting recommended intake of omega-3

Alberta Pregnancy Outcomes and Nutrition (APrON) is a birth cohort involving over two thousand women and their infants from Calgary and Edmonton that was funded by Alberta Innovates Health Solutions and includes researchers at the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary.

30 Mar 2015

Researchers find strong relationship between prenatal PAH exposure and behavioral impairment

Researchers at the Institute for the Developing Mind at Children's Hospital Los Angeles and colleagues at Columbia University's Center for Children's Environmental Health have found a powerful relationship between prenatal PAH exposure and disturbances in parts of the brain that support information processing and behavioral control.

30 Mar 2015

Study suggests new approach to help prevent meningococcal outbreaks

Nasal drops of harmless bacteria can inhibit a related bug that sometimes causes meningococcal disease, according to new findings published online in Clinical Infectious Diseases. The study--conducted among college students, a group at higher risk for this often serious illness--suggests a new approach that could help suppress outbreaks of the disease, if supported by future research.

30 Mar 2015

Many parents underestimate children's weight, finds new study

Parents of obese children may not be able to recognise that their child is overweight unless they are at very extreme levels of obesity, according to research led by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and UCL Institute of Child Health, research partner of Great Ormond Street Hospital.

30 Mar 2015

Skipping lunch is a common practice among children, adolescents, shows study

According to new analysis of data from the 2009-2012 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) that evaluated eating patterns of 3,647 children ages 4-13 years, skipping lunch is a common practice among children and adolescents, with 13% of younger children and 17% of 9-13 year olds skipping lunch on a given day.

30 Mar 2015

CHLA develops first fully-implantable micropacemaker for use in fetus with complete heart block

A team of investigators at Children's Hospital Los Angeles and the University of Southern California have developed the first fully implantable micropacemaker designed for use in a fetus with complete heart block. The team has done preclinical testing and optimization as reported in a recent issue of the journal Heart Rhythm.

29 Mar 2015

Radiation resistance in leukemia can be overcome by using new precision medicine, say researchers

A team of researchers led by Fatih M. Uckun, MD, PhD, of The Saban Research Institute of Children's Hospital Los Angeles and Professor at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine has determined that radiation resistance in leukemia can be overcome by using an engineered protein they recently designed and developed as a new precision medicine against leukemia.

27 Mar 2015

New report explores global issues affecting confidence, hesitation about polio vaccines

A decade on from the Northern Nigeria polio vaccination boycott and its global costs to the polio eradication initiative, a new report examines global issues affecting confidence and hesitation about vaccines since the new millennium.

27 Mar 2015

Ebola more likely to be fatal for young children

Ebola progresses more quickly and is more likely to be fatal for children under five, according to new research. An international group of scientists led by Imperial College London and the World Health Organization analysed data on Ebola cases in children under 16 during the current outbreak in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, comparing them to cases in adults.

27 Mar 2015

LifeCodexx announces promising results from proof-of-principle study of qPCR-based NIPT assay

LifeCodexx AG today reports the successful outcome of a proof-of-principle of its novel assay for non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT assay) based on quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR). This NIPT assay, designed to determine fetal aneuploidies from maternal blood, will offer significant advantages, such as enhanced test performance at affordable prices, over other prenatal examination methods.

27 Mar 2015

Metabolic imbalance can trigger respiratory diseases in early childhood

An imbalance in our metabolism can trigger inflammatory processes in the body and activate the immune system. In a recent study, published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, UFZ researchers have been able to show that this applies even to newborns and children under one year of age, and is correlated with the development of respiratory diseases in early childhood.

26 Mar 2015

Position statement on promise, challenges of non-invasive prenatal testing

Two of the world's largest professional societies of human geneticists have issued a joint position statement on the promise and challenges of non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT), a new procedure to test blood drawn from pregnant mothers for Down syndrome and other chromosomal disorders in the fetus.

26 Mar 2015

Study: HBV exposure increases immune system maturation of infants

A Singapore led study has shown that Hepatitis B Virus Infection (HBV) exposure increases the immune system maturation of infants, which may give a better survival advantage to counteract bacterial infection during early life. These findings radically modify the way that HBV vertical infection of neonates (mother-to-child) is portrayed, and present a paradigm shift in the approach to treatment of patients with chronic hepatitis B.

26 Mar 2015

TB Alliance, U.S. Fund for UNICEF partner to bring new TB treatments for children

TB Alliance has announced a new partnership with the U.S. Fund for UNICEF that will dramatically increase the scope and impact of child and maternal health programs around the world to include the diagnosis and treatment of pediatric tuberculosis (TB), a significant cause of child mortality.

26 Mar 2015

Child Health News

Canadian Task Force issues new guidelines to prevent, manage childhood obesity

Effective therapy enables immune system recovery in majority of children

Maternal diet during pregnancy and lactation may influence weight gain in offspring

RSV infection rate on the rise among young children

New study opens door to preventative treatments for congenital diaphragmatic hernia

Rare genetic mutation explains why flu can kill in rare cases

APrON study: Pregnant and lactating women not meeting recommended intake of omega-3

Researchers find strong relationship between prenatal PAH exposure and behavioral impairment

Study suggests new approach to help prevent meningococcal outbreaks

Many parents underestimate children's weight, finds new study

Skipping lunch is a common practice among children, adolescents, shows study

CHLA develops first fully-implantable micropacemaker for use in fetus with complete heart block

Radiation resistance in leukemia can be overcome by using new precision medicine, say researchers

New report explores global issues affecting confidence, hesitation about polio vaccines

Ebola more likely to be fatal for young children

LifeCodexx announces promising results from proof-of-principle study of qPCR-based NIPT assay

Metabolic imbalance can trigger respiratory diseases in early childhood

Position statement on promise, challenges of non-invasive prenatal testing

Study: HBV exposure increases immune system maturation of infants

TB Alliance, U.S. Fund for UNICEF partner to bring new TB treatments for children

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