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USAID has played vital role in global efforts to end preventable child deaths

Noting USAID last week "released its first progress report examining how reforms enacted three years ago have strengthened the agency's relentless focus on results," Nicole Schiegg, a senior adviser at the agency, writes in the GlobalPost's "Global Pulse" blog, "One of the strongest examples of leveraging innovation and partnership is USAID's contribution to ending preventable child deaths."

28 Mar 2013

Stress during pregnancy increases risk of stillbirth, say researchers

Pregnant women who experienced financial, emotional, or other personal stress in the year before their delivery had an increased chance of having a stillbirth, say researchers who conducted a National Institutes of Health network study.

28 Mar 2013

SNSF-supported study on child development

On average, children take the first steps on their own at the age of 12 months. Many parents perceive this event as a decisive turning point. However, the timing is really of no consequence. Children who start walking early turn out later to be neither more intelligent nor more well-coordinated.

28 Mar 2013

Children are vulnerable to eye injury while playing baseball, expert says

Baseball, America's favorite past time. From watching a child's first T-ball game to aspirations of playing in the Little League World Series, there is just something special about kids and baseball.

28 Mar 2013

Research shows gender differences in parents can affect emotional development in children

The act of talking is not an area where ability is usually considered along gender lines. However, a new study published in Springer's journal Sex Roles has found subtle differences between the sexes in their story-relating ability and specifically the act of reminiscing.

28 Mar 2013

Sugar overloads on Easter can pose serious risks to children's health, Vanderbilt experts say

As Easter approaches, many parents may not want their children indulging in candy-filled eggs and Easter baskets full of sugary treats. Too much sugar can pose serious risks to children's dental and behavioral health, risks that can be minimized by some careful thought and planning, Vanderbilt experts say.

28 Mar 2013

Report highlights consumer product-related injuries in children

Bunk beds and baby change tables are among the hidden dangers around the home causing serious injury and death to Queensland children.

28 Mar 2013

Study suggests sex discrimination starts in womb in male-dominated societies

Women in India are more likely to get prenatal care when pregnant with boys, according to groundbreaking research that has implications for girls' health and survival.

28 Mar 2013

Study links genetic variation, wheezing illness to childhood asthma risk

About 90 percent of children with two copies of a common genetic variation and who wheezed when they caught a cold early in life went on to develop asthma by age 6, according to a study to be published March 28 by the New England Journal of Medicine.

28 Mar 2013

Royal Holloway University supports Muscular Dystrophy Campaign

Royal Holloway University, is today giving money generated by its research into Duchenne muscular dystrophy to the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign.

27 Mar 2013

Genetic variants influence childhood obesity, say researchers

Previous research has shown that obesity runs in families, and twin studies suggest that this is largely due to genetic factors, with heritability estimates over 50%.

27 Mar 2013

Academic performance linked to risky health behaviors in children and teens

Academic performance is linked to risky health behaviors in children and teens, reports a new review in the Journal of Adolescent Health. Health risks that can impact academic success include behaviors tracked by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in young people, such as unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, violence, inappropriate sexual behaviors, and alcohol, drug or tobacco use.

27 Mar 2013

Research indicates vitamin D can control blood-sugar levels in obese youths

Childhood and adolescent obesity rates in the United States have increased dramatically in the past three decades. Being obese puts individuals at greater risk for developing Type 2 diabetes, a disease in which individuals have too much sugar in their blood.

27 Mar 2013

New York Times interviews USAID Administrator Shah about development, efforts to reduce child mortality in India

The New York Times' "India Ink" blog interviews USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah "on his recent trip to Mumbai about transformations in the development sector, the function of the private sector in development work and the aid agency's new programs and partnerships aimed at reducing preventable child deaths."

27 Mar 2013

Academic medical centers launch ASD sub-registry within ResearchMatch

Each year, only five percent of the estimated 1.5 million children with an autism spectrum disorder in the US participate in clinical research studies. This is in stark contrast to pediatric cancer studies, which have a nearly 90 percent enrollment rate - a rate that has helped advance treatment and outcomes for childhood cancers substantially in the last decade.

27 Mar 2013

CHOP researchers moving closer to personalized medicine for children with cancer

Pediatric researchers, investigating the biology of brain tumors in children, are finding that crucial differences in how the same gene is mutated may call for different treatments.

27 Mar 2013

Bill Gates reflects on visit to Ghana to learn about immunization program

"I arrive in Ghana today to see firsthand why the country's immunization system is working so well and meet the people involved," Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, writes in the foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog.

27 Mar 2013

Geiger Gibson Program announces recipients of 2013 Emerging Leaders Award

Each year, the Geiger Gibson Program in Community Health Policy of the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services honors young Emerging Leaders in community health.

26 Mar 2013

Data on experience-related outcomes in children's surgery vary: Report

A review of the available medical literature suggests that data on experience-related outcomes in children's surgery are limited and vary widely in methodologic quality, according to a report published Online First by JAMA Pediatrics, a JAMA Network publication.

26 Mar 2013

Novel cell therapy effective in treating aggressive form of childhood leukemia

Two children with an aggressive form of childhood leukemia had a complete remission of their disease—showing no evidence of cancer cells in their bodies—after treatment with a novel cell therapy that reprogrammed their immune cells to rapidly multiply and destroy leukemia cells.

26 Mar 2013