Opioids During Pregnancy May Not Raise Psychiatric Risks for Offspring

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• April 25, 2024
• Full Page

Prescription opioids taken during pregnancy are not associated with a substantial increase in risk of developmental disorders like ADHD in children, a new study has found.

“A slightly i...

Pandemic Had Only Minor Effect on Young Kids' Development

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• April 22, 2024
• Full Page

The pandemic caused only “modest” delays in developmental milestones for infants and toddlers, a new study has found.

Previous research has reported that pandemic-related lockdowns disrupted the lives of many people, including families with young children.

Day-...

Almost 70% of Young Kids in Chicago Are Exposed to Lead in Tap Water

• Dennis Thompson and Carole Tanzer Miller HealthDay Reporters
• March 20, 2024
• Full Page

More than two-thirds of Chicago kids younger than 6 live in homes with tap water tainted by lead, a new analysis says.

There are detectable levels of lead in the drinking w...

MS Drugs Can Be Safely Taken While Breastfeeding

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• March 5, 2024
• Full Page

Certain drugs used to treat multiple sclerosis appear to be safe for babies if taken by breastfeeding moms, a new study finds.

Breastfed babies whose moms received monoclonal antibody treatments for MS did not develop any more developmental delays than babies not exposed...

Toddlers Fixated on Screens Talk Less With Parents

• Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
• March 4, 2024
• Full Page

Using TVs and tablets as "e-babysitters" really cuts down on the time toddlers spend interacting with parents or other caregivers, new research shows.

The Australian team of investigators are calling the phenomenon "technoference" -- a scenario where "young children's ex...

Could General Anesthesia in Pregnancy Raise Behavioral Issues in Kids?

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• March 4, 2024
• Full Page

Children exposed to anesthesia in the womb when their pregnant mom has surgery are more likely to suffer from behavioral issues later, a new study finds.

Exposure to general anesthesia before birth was associated with a 31% increased risk of diagnosis with a behavioral d...

Simple Eye Test Might Spot Autism in Kids

• Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
• February 29, 2024
• Full Page

The eyes may have it when it comes to the early diagnosis of autism in children, a new study finds.

Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), have pinpointed a gene that affects how kids' eyes react when they turn their heads.

Typically, pe...

How Is Autism Diagnosed?

• Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
• February 28, 2024
• Full Page

According to the advocacy group Autism Speaks, one in every 36 U.S. children has an autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Early diagnosis is crucial to helping to treat the condition, but how is a diagnosis done?...

Food-Focused Toddlers at Higher Risk for Eating Disorders as Teens

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• February 23, 2024
• Full Page

Toddlers who are really into their food might have a higher risk of developing an eating disorder once they enter adolescence, a new study shows.

Kids ages 4 and 5 with a strong urge to eat when teased with tasty food appear more likely to report a range of eating disord...

Want to Boost Your Preschoolers' Language Skills? Reminisce With Them

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• February 22, 2024
• Full Page

Talking about the “good old days” might elicit eye rolls from teenagers, but it could be the key to boosting a preschooler's language skills, a new study finds.

Reminiscing about past events with preschoolers presents young kids with high-quality speech as good as or...

Long Hours Watching Videos May Stunt Toddlers' Language Development

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• February 22, 2024
• Full Page

Television has been wryly referred to as the “electronic babysitter,” but a new study argues TV or other media could stunt a child's language development.

Children plopped in front of videos for hours on end tend to use phrases and sentences with fewer words, researc...

School Uniforms Might Get in the Way of Kids Exercising

• Carole Tanzer Miller HealthDay Reporter
• February 15, 2024
• Full Page

THURSDAY, Feb. 15, 2024 (Health Day News) -- Schools that want little girls to get plenty of exercise might want to rethink their dress code.

A University of Cambridge study of more than 1 million kids in 135 countries found that in countries where most students wear sch...

Schools May Be Underestimating How Many Kids Are Homeless

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• February 14, 2024
• Full Page

School districts could be severely underestimating how many kids are homeless in their communities, allowing those children to fall through the cracks, a new study warns.

Schools around the United States report that more than 1.2 million students are homeless every year....

Being Born Even a Bit Early Could Harm a Child's Development

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• January 26, 2024
• Full Page

Babies born even slightly early have a higher long-term risk of developmental difficulties that could affect their behavior and learning ability, a new study finds.

Infants born moderately (32-33 weeks) or late preterm (34-36 weeks) are more likely to have epilepsy or pr...

'Big Little Leap' to Kindergarten an Important Milestone for Kids

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• January 23, 2024
• Full Page

Kindergarten might seem like child's play, but embracing the adventure can play a key role in a kid's future educational success, a new study finds.

A successful early transition to kindergarten -- what the researchers called the “big little leap” -- can put a child ...

Study Links Use of Acetaminophen in Pregnancy With Child Behavioral Issues

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• January 18, 2024
• Full Page

Expecting moms who often turn to acetaminophen for their aches and pains are more likely to wind up with kids who have behavioral issues, a new study warns.

Children between the ages of 2 and 4 were more likely to have attention and behavioral problems if their mothers f...

Too Much Screen Time Might Harm Kids' 'Sensory Processing'

• Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
• January 8, 2024
• Full Page

Exposing babies and toddlers to TV and other digital media could be linked to a heightened risk for dysfunction in what's known as "sensory processing," a new study warns.

Kids with "atypical sensory processing" are often hypersensitive to the touch, sound, taste or look...

Ear Infections Could Delay a Child's Speech

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• January 8, 2024
• Full Page

Ear infections are common for kids, but they can lead to long-term developmental problems, a new study finds.

Temporary hearing loss caused by recurring ear infections can lead to delays in language development and sound processing years later, researchers reported recen...

Paxlovid Won't Cut Odds for Long COVID: Study

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• January 8, 2024
• Full Page

Paxlovid might help shorten and diminish a COVID infection, but the antiviral doesn't reduce the risk of developing long COVID, a new study shows.

About 16% of COVID patients treated with Paxlovid wound up with long COVID symptoms, compared to 14% of those not given the ...

Could Mom's Acetaminophen Use in Pregnancy Lead to Language Delays in Kids?

• Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
• January 4, 2024
• Full Page

Acetaminophen, best known as Tylenol in the United States, is a go-to pain med for millions.

However, a new study is raising doubts about its safe use by women who are pregnant.

The researchers found kids born to women who used acetaminophen while pregnant had dela...

Brain's 'Spaces' Hold Clues to Origins of Autism

• Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
• January 4, 2024
• Full Page

The fluid-filled spaces around the brain's blood vessels need proper waste "clearance" every few hours. When that fails to happen, a baby's risk for autism appears to rise, new research shows.

It's too early to say that trouble within these "perivascular" spaces causes a...

New Syndrome May Be Affecting Babies Exposed to Fentanyl

• Robin Foster HealthDay Reporter
• December 5, 2023
• Full Page

Doctors report they are seeing what they think is a new syndrome in babies who are exposed to fentanyl while in the womb.

All of the infants have cleft palates and unusually small heads, and all were born to mothers who said they'd used fentanyl and other drugs while pre...

EPA to Require Removal of All Lead Pipes From U.S. Water System

• Robin Foster HealthDay Reporter
• November 30, 2023
• Full Page

THURSDAY, Nov. 30, 2023 (Healthday News) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday that it plans to require the removal of all lead pipes from the country's water systems.

The proposed rule, an ambitious effort that will cost up to $30 billion over t...

AI Might Accurately Spot Autism in Early Childhood

• Carole Tanzer Miller HealthDay Reporter
• November 21, 2023
• Full Page

University of Louisville researchers say they've developed an artificial intelligence (AI) system with a near-perfect record of diagnosing autism in toddlers.

Using specialized MRI scans of the brain, the tool diagnosed toddlers with 98.5% accuracy, according to findings...

Forget Grandma: Today's Parents Turn to Social Media for Advice, Poll Finds

• Robin Foster HealthDay Reporter
• November 20, 2023
• Full Page

MONDAY, Nov. 20, 2023 (Healthday News) -- Expert advice and self-help books are officially passé: Social media is where nearly all new parents now go for guidance on potty training, sleep issues and toddler tantrums, a new poll shows.

Four in five turn to forums like Ti...

Air Pollution Exposure Before Birth May Harm Reproductive Development: Study

• Dennis Thompson and Carole Tanzer Miller HealthDay Reporters
• November 15, 2023
• Full Page

Air pollution could be harming the development of children, reaching into the womb to alter their healthy growth, a new study reports.

Researchers say certain air pollutants appear to negatively alter a specific measure of prenatal exposure to hormones.

“These fi...

Is Your 18-Year-Old Really 'Mature'? New Brain Study Has Answers

• Cara Murez HealthDay Reporter
• November 6, 2023
• Full Page

An adolescent starts thinking like an adult right around the age of 18, according to new research.

That provides some of the first definitive evidence that executive function matures by that time.

Executive function is a set of mental skills that include the abilit...

Youngest Kids With ADHD in Class No Less Likely to See Diagnosis Fade

• Cara Murez HealthDay Reporter
• October 31, 2023
• Full Page

Experts have long wondered whether diagnoses for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in the youngest children in a class would hold.

A new study suggests that being the youngest, and possibly most immature, did not appear to make a difference.

“We kno...

New Clues to How Inflammation in Young Children's Brains Might Spur Autism

• Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
• October 12, 2023
• Full Page

Severe inflammation very early in childhood might hamper the development of key brain cells, perhaps setting the stage for conditions such as autism or schizophrenia, new research suggests.

The origins of many neurodevelopment disorders remain mysterious. But the new stu...

Want Your Child to Have Empathy? Stay Close

• Denise Mann HealthDay Reporter
• October 9, 2023
• Full Page

Young children who are close to their parents are more likely to grow up to be kind, caring and considerate. These kids may also have fewer mental health problems during early childhood and adolescence, a new study finds.

By contrast, children whose early relationships w...

Nearly 4 in 10 Toddlers Diagnosed With Autism No Longer Have It by Age 6

• Cara Murez HealthDay Reporter
• October 9, 2023
• Full Page

Not all children diagnosed with autism as toddlers continue to have that diagnosis once they reach elementary school, a new study shows.

While some past research has suggested this could be true, the new research backs that up, finding that a large percentage -- about 37...

1 in 4 Teens With Autism May Be Undiagnosed

• Sarah D. Collins HealthDay Reporter
• October 6, 2023
• Full Page

As many as 1 in 4 teens with autism may be undiagnosed, new research suggests.

“Autism is much more prevalent than people assume,” said lead researcher Walter Zahorodny

Spending on Kids' Mental Health Keeps Rising

• Cara Murez HealthDay Reporter
• October 3, 2023
• Full Page

In yet another reminder of the psychic toll the pandemic has taken on young people, new research shows spending on mental health services for U.S. children and adolescents has risen sharply since 2020.

It climbed 26% for youths aged 19 and younger between March 2020 and ...

PFAS Chemicals Tied to Later Puberty in Girls

• Cara Murez HealthDay Reporter
• October 3, 2023
• Full Page

Exposure to ubiquitous chemicals known as PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, may delay puberty in girls, new research indicates.

The study is the first to consider the role hormones play in the delay, according to researchers from the University of Cincinnati....

Breastfeeding in Infancy Tied to Healthier Weight Later for Kids

• Cara Murez HealthDay Reporter
• October 2, 2023
• Full Page

What a baby eats, or how the baby eats, may have an impact on future weight and health, research has shown.

A new study backs that up. It found that 9-...

Playtime With Dad Brings Kids Better Grades at School

• Cara Murez HealthDay Reporter
• September 25, 2023
• Full Page

Most parents want to help their kids do well in school, and for dads the answer may be found in something simple and fun.

A new study from the United Kingdom finds that kids do better in elementary school when their fathers regularly spend time interacting with them thro...

Unsafe Neighborhoods Have Higher Levels of Child Abuse

• Cara Murez HealthDay Reporter
• September 25, 2023
• Full Page

Having safer neighborhoods, where families feel less stress, can help prevent child abuse, according to new research that supports this long-suspected theory.

When parents feel higher levels of stress or hopelessness about their surroundings, they may have a harder time ...

Future of 'Artificial Wombs' for Human Preemies to Be Weighed by FDA Advisors

• Cara Murez HealthDay Reporter
• September 19, 2023
• Full Page

Advisors to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will weigh the possibilities and parameters of experiments with artificial wombs for premature human babies.

Scientists have already had some success with the concept in animals.

During a two-day