children's health

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Baby Food Pouches Are Booming, as Are Worries

Pediatricians say overreliance on the sweet snacks is becoming an issue

(Newser) - Spend time on any playground, and you're bound to see a young kid slurping down a "baby food pouch." These packets, filled with pureed food blends, are becoming a popular snack for toddlers and even older kids—but pediatricians and nutritionists are raising concerns. As the Los ...

1 in 3 Kids Needs Glasses
1 in 3 Kids Is
Nearsighted
NEW STUDY
Oct 6, 2024 3:45 PM CDT

1 in 3 Kids Is Nearsighted

Nearsightedness has climbed to 36% among kids across the globe

(Newser) - A new meta-study published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology found that kids need glasses for nearsightedness more than ever. Per the BBC , 1 in 3 kids has developed myopia globally, and that number is set to rise to more than half of all adolescents by 2050.
  • The study: Myopia
...

Consumer Reports: Lunchables Unsafe for School Lunch

14K sign petition calling for their removal from school lunch program

(Newser) - Lunchables contain lead and unhealthy levels of sodium, according to testing by Consumer Reports , which has launched a petition urging the Department of Agriculture to remove the snack kits from the school meal program it oversees. Two versions of the Kraft Heinz kits were made available last year as part...

Antidepressant Use Surging in Young People
Antidepressant Use
Surging in Young People
NEW STUDY
Mar 3, 2024 6:50 AM CST

Antidepressant Use Surging in Young People

Prescriptions up 66% since 2016, particularly among girls and young women

(Newser) - A new study in published in the journal Pediatrics found that antidepressant prescriptions for tweens, teens, and young adults have been on the uptick since 2016, rising 66% through 2022. Pharma News Intelligence reports that the researchers analyzed data from the IQVIA Longitudinal Prescription Database, and learned that monthly dispensing...

Kids Asking for a Dog Should Cite This Research
Dogs Have a Unique
Impact on Kids' Health
NEW STUDY
Feb 11, 2024 5:30 AM CST

Dogs Have a Unique Impact on Kids' Health

Kids with dogs, especially girls, get more exercise, study shows

(Newser) - Kids lobbying for a pet dog have a new argument to add to their arsenal. A new study published in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity found that children with pet dogs were more active than their pup-free peers. According to NPR , the paper followed 600 pre-school...

Daily Soda Habits in Kids May Lead to Alcohol Problems
Drinking Soda Changes
How Kids' Brains Work
NEW STUDY
Nov 12, 2023 5:10 PM CST

Drinking Soda Changes How Kids' Brains Work

Researchers suggest it may make them more susceptible to substance abuse later

(Newser) - If you needed one more reason to keep soda out of the fridge, here's a pretty good one. A new paper published in Substance Use & Misuse says children who consume caffeinated soda daily may be more prone to future addictions. The study, involving 2,000 children ages 9...

Experts Struggle to Explain Rise in Children's Brain Infections

Pandemic could be linked to increase, or even COVID-19 itself

(Newser) - From 2015 to 2021, Nevada's Clark County averaged five cases a year of pediatric brain abscesses. Last year, there were 18. Researchers presented the finding this week to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Epidemic Intelligence Service conference to bring attention to the baffling increase in life-threatening...

Kids Got Their Hands On Lots of Edibles During Pandemic

Study finds 1,375% spike in reports to poison centers involving children under 6 from 2017 to '21

(Newser) - More than 40% of human poison exposure calls to US poison centers in 2020 were about children who'd accidentally been exposed to cannabis, according to a new study, which shows an alarming rise in accidental ingestion of edibles in particular. The number of children under 6 who accidentally ate...

Children's Hospitals in US 'Drowning' in RSV Infections

Unusually high number of cases of respiratory ailments is overwhelming pediatric units

(Newser) - An unusually high number of cases of a respiratory illness among young children has led to overwhelmed pediatric units at hospitals around the nation. The illness is called RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, and NPR rounds up reports from across the country—from DC to Texas, to Baltimore, and Washington...

Unexplained Cases of Liver Illness Among Children Concern WHO
First Death Reported
in Kids' Liver Ailment
UPDATED
Apr 25, 2022 10:45 AM CDT

First Death Reported in Kids' Liver Ailment

Health agencies in US and Europe investigate 'acute hepatitis of unknown origin'

(Newser) - Update: A mysterious liver disease affecting children in the US and Europe has claimed its first life. The World Health Organization didn't specify where the death occurred. It said it has received 169 reports of "acute hepatitis of unknown origin" from a dozen countries, with most of the...

2 Young Kids, Parents Given COVID-19 Vaccine by Mistake
2 Young Kids, Parents Given
COVID-19 Vaccine by Mistake
in case you missed it
Oct 16, 2021 4:30 PM CDT

2 Young Kids, Parents Given COVID-19 Vaccine by Mistake

4-year-old said to be experiencing high blood pressure, rapid heart rate

(Newser) - A family of four from Indiana, including two young kids, says they went to their local Walgreens to get the flu shot but instead received the COVID-19 vaccine. The Evansville family—two adults and two children ages 4 and 5—say they left the Walgreens thinking they'd received the...

Doctors: Let's Take a Look at Children and COVID-19

Digestive problems are often the first symptom

(Newser) - Children have made up only a small fraction of those hospitalized with COVID-19—but experts say the coronavirus can affect them in unexpected ways and it is a mistake to think of them as immune. According to a recent study looking at five children under 6 hospitalized in Wuhan, China,...

How Much Juice to Give Your Kids? None Is Best

New guidelines call for mostly milk and water in early years

(Newser) - Parents of young kids should steer them clear of juices and plant-based milk and focus instead on cow's milk and water, according to new guidelines. The nutrition advocacy group Healthy Eating Research commissioned scientists to create updated advice on what children should drink through age 5, reports the New ...

Polluted Air, the 'New Tobacco,' Kills 600K Kids a Year

WHO estimates that 93% of children worldwide breathe dangerous air

(Newser) - The World Health Organization is out with some new numbers on air pollution, and the numbers are hard to fathom:
  • In 2016, 600,000 children were estimated to have died from acute lower respiratory infections caused by polluted air, reports CNN .
  • About 1.8 billion children worldwide—that would be
...

Cheeseburgers to Vanish From McDonald's Happy Meal Menu

As part of an effort to make the meals healthier

(Newser) - McDonald's will soon banish cheeseburgers and chocolate milk from its Happy Meal menu in an effort to cut down on the calories, sodium, saturated fat, and sugar that kids consume at its restaurants. Diners can still ask specifically for cheeseburgers or chocolate milk with the kid's meal, but...

More Kids, Teens May Be Diagnosed With Hypertension

Based on new AAP guidelines that seek to spur early prevention and intervention

(Newser) - Parents bringing their kids to their well visits will likely review their height, weight, vaccinations, and now ... blood pressure. CNN reports on new guidelines issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics and printed in the September issue of the Pediatrics journal that include updated diagnosis tables based on kids within...

Stop Giving Juice to Babies: Pediatricians

Older kids shouldn't drink much either: AAP

(Newser) - Handing your child a juice box might be easier than slicing up an apple. But for children under 1, it's the wrong move, according to pediatricians. Updated guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics state children under 1 shouldn't drink fruit juice "unless there is a strong...

One in 4 Deaths of Kids Blamed on Pollution
One in 4 Deaths
of Kids Blamed
on Pollution
new report
Mar 6, 2017 11:42 AM CST

One in 4 Deaths of Kids Blamed on Pollution

WHO report highlights risks to young children

(Newser) - Environmental pollution is responsible for the deaths of 1.7 million children under age 5 each year—or one-quarter of all deaths in that age group around the world, Reuters reports. The danger begins in the womb and continues as children are exposed to such factors as dirty air and...

Chemical Used to Kill Lice Linked to Kids' Bad Behavior

Study on pyrethroids is 'cause for concern,' says a child psychiatrist

(Newser) - Here's something else not to like about lice, mosquitoes, and fleas. An insecticide used to kill them—pyrethroids—might be linked to behavior issues in children as young as 6, a French study suggests. The researchers, noting the effects the chemical had on the nervous systems of insects, wondered...

Kids' Headphones Often Don't Deliver Promised Protection

Website finds trouble with half of 30 tested

(Newser) - If you're on the hunt for children's headphones—so-called because they limit the volume of sound that they emit to protect children's ears—experts are issuing a stern warning: They're not necessarily safe, even if they purport to be. The Wirecutter , a product recommendations site, has...

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