June 9, 2008, 9:55 PM CT

Students with a delayed school start time sleep longer

High school students with a delayed school start time are more likely to take advantage of the extra time in bed, and less likely to report daytime sleepiness, as per a research abstract that will be presented on Monday at SLEEP 2008, the 22nd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS).

The study, authored by Zaw W. Htwe, MD, of Norwalk Hospitals Sleep Disorders Center in Norwalk, Conn., focused on 259 high school students who completed the condensed School Sleep Habits Questionnaire. Previous to the delay, students reported sleeping a mean of 422 minutes (7.03 hours) per school night, with a mean bed-time of 10:52 p.m. and a mean wake-up time as 6:12 a.m.

As per the results, after a 40-minute delay in the school start time from 7:35 a.m. to 8:15 a.m., students slept significantly longer on school nights. Total sleep time on school nights increased 33 minutes, which was due mainly to a later rise time. These changes were consistent across all age groups. Students bedtime on school nights was marginally later, and weekend night sleep time decreased slightly. More students reported no problem with sleepiness after the schedule change.

Following a 40-minute delay in start time, the students utilized 83 percent of the extra time for sleep. This increase in sleep time came as a result of being able to sleep in to 6:53 a.m., with little delay in their reported school night bedtime. This study demonstrates that students given the opportunity to sleep longer, will, rather than extend their wake activities on school nights, said Mary B. O'Malley, MD, PhD, corresponding author of the study......... Posted by: JoAnn      Read more         Source

June 9, 2008, 9:29 PM CT

Children with high risk for a sleep-related breathing disorder

Children with high risk for a sleep-related breathing disorder (SRBD) are more likely to have anxiety, as per a research abstract that will be presented on Monday at SLEEP 2008, the 22nd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS).

The study, authored by Shalini Paruthi, MD, of the University of Michigan, focused on 341 families with a child in second through fifth grade, who were surveyed about SRBD symptoms as well as behavior. Parents completed two well-validated instruments: the SRBD subscale of the Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire and the Conners Parent Rating Scale.

As per the results, children with a high risk for an SRBD, in comparison to those without, were more likely to have anxiety. This relationship was independent of hyperactivity, which is known to be linked to both SRBD and anxiety.

SRBD is a common condition in children, and is frequently linked to cognitive and behavioral morbidities such as hyperactivity, said Dr. Paruthi. Anxiety in children is often multifactorial and can be linked to other disorders, including ADHD. As ADHD has been linked to SRBD, our results showed that therapy of an SRBD has been shown to improve behavior and cognitive function in children diagnosed with ADHD, and may translate into therapy options for school age children with anxiety. More studies are needed to further explore this relationship between SRBD and anxiety......... Posted by: JoAnn      Read more         Source

June 9, 2008, 8:27 PM CT

Mother's obesity and newborn deaths

maternal obesity appears to have no impact on the early survival of infants born to white women, the situation is different for black women, scientists report in the June 2008 issue of the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Infants of obese black mothers had a higher risk of death in the first 27 days following birth than newborns of obese white mothers, the scientists found. Furthermore, this black disadvantage in neonatal infant mortality widened with an increase in the body mass index (BMI).

"Even if the infant of an obese black woman survives pregnancy, labor and delivery, that baby is at greater risk of dying than a baby born to an obese white woman," said the study's lead author Hamisu Salihu, MD, PhD, associate professor of epidemiology at the USF College of Public Health.

The scientists analyzed more than 1.4 million births recorded from Missouri's vital records database, covering the period 1978 through 1997. The database linked black and white mother-infant pairs. Among all women, the likelihood of neonatal death (up to 27 days following death) and early neonatal death (up to six days following death) was 20 percent greater than for nonobese women, the researcher found.

Further analysis revealed that the higher risk of neonatal deaths among newborns of obese mothers was confined to blacks only. The rate of neonatal deaths increased significantly with rising BMIs of black women (ranging from 50 to 100-percent increments). However, the offspring of obese white mothers, regardless of the severity of maternal obesity, had no greater risk of neonatal death than the newborns of nonobese women......... Posted by: Emily      Read more         Source

June 1, 2008, 10:49 PM CT

Cold Medication Use in Young Children

significant number of adverse effects and several deaths, leading the FDA to recommend against their use for children less than two years old. Despite these concerns about safety and efficacy, there has been little research on patterns of cough and cold medicine use in very young children. Now, a new study from the Emergency Medicine Network (www.emnet-usa.org) led by Katherine O'Donnell, M.D. of Children's Hospital Boston reveals important new statistics about medicine use in children under the age of two.

As per the study, 1-in-3 children under the age of two with bronchiolitis (a lower respiratory tract infection linked to runny nose, cough, wheezing and/or difficulty breathing) had received over-the-counter cough and cold medicines in the week previous to visiting an emergency department.

This study identifies rates and predictors of cough and cold medicine use previous to the manufacturer recall of and FDA recommendations against use of these medications in children younger than two years of age.

"After the recall and labeling changes, it will be important to monitor for potential ongoing use of these medicines in young children and observe if parents or physicians are turning to other therapies in place of these medications," says O'Donnell......... Posted by: JoAnn      Read more         Source

June 1, 2008, 10:45 PM CT

Mom's behavior key to dad's involvement in child care

Mothers play an important role in determining how much fathers get involved in taking care of their infants, as per new research.

A study of 97 couples observed that fathers were more involved in the day-to-day care of their infants when they received active encouragement from their wife or partner.

In fact, this encouragement was important even after taking into account fathers and mothers views about how involved dads should be, the overall quality of the couples parenting relationship, and how much mothers worked outside the home.

In addition, fathers beliefs about how involved they should be in child care did not matter when mothers were highly critical of fathers parenting. In other words, fathers didnt put their beliefs into practice when faced with a especially judgmental mother.

Mothers are in the drivers seat, said Sarah Schoppe-Sullivan, co-author of the study and assistant professor of human development and family science at Ohio State University.

Mothers can be very encouraging to fathers, and open the gate to their involvement in child care, or be very critical, and close the gate.

This is the first real evidence that mothers, through their behavior, act as gatekeepers by either fostering or curtailing how much fathers take part in caring for their baby......... Posted by: JoAnn      Read more         Source

May 22, 2008, 10:16 PM CT

Fruit juice consumption not related to overweight in children

Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, and Singapore (April 14, 2008) -- Despite studies that assert otherwise, 100% fruit juice consumption is not correlation to overweight in children, as per the authors of A Review of the Relationship Between 100% Fruit Juice Consumption and Weight in Children and Adolescents in the May/recent issue of the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine (AJLM), published by SAGE.

The statistics about overweight children are alarming. Over the past 20 years, there has been an increased prevalence of overweight and at-risk-for overweight in all ages and ethnic groups. In 2002, 10.3% of children 2-5 years of age were overweight, an increase from 7.2% in 1994. In males and females 12-17 years of age, waist circumference increased by 4.0% and 5.2%, respectively, between 1994 and 2004.

The article, authored by Carol E. ONeil, PhD, MPH, LDN, RD, Louisiana State University, and Theresa A. Nicklas, DrPH, USDA/ARS Childrens Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine, examined 21 studies about a relationship between consumption of 100% fruit juice by children and adolescents and weight, and found there is no systematic association between consumption of 100% fruit juice and overweight in children or adolescents.

Health professionals and policy makers should be encouraged to objectively review the literature on all beverages and encourage consumption of healthful beverages including water, milk, and 100% fruit juice, as per the authors. The data support the consumption of 100% fruit juice in moderate amounts, and this may be an important strategy to help children meet the current recommendations for fruit......... Posted by: JoAnn      Read more         Source

May 20, 2008, 10:05 PM CT

Missed childhood vaccinations

A new downloadable software tool will help pediatricians, parents and other health care professionals determine how to adjust complex childhood immunization schedules when one or more vaccine doses arent received at the proper time.

Children usually miss recommended times to receive vaccines. A report issued last month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found an alarming 28 percent of toddlers have not been vaccinated as per U.S. guidelines. Another recent survey observed that only nine percent of children received all of their vaccinations at the recommended times and that only half received all recommended doses by their second birthday.

Once a child falls behind in the vaccination schedule, health care professionals are left to figure out when its appropriate to give any missed vaccines and any future vaccines. They typically have to construct a unique, personalized catch-up schedule for each child often while the child sits in the therapy room.

Scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology are taking the guesswork out of developing individualized catch-up vaccination schedules. A new online tool allows parents and pediatricians to ensure that the missed vaccines and future vaccines are administered without violating guidelines regarding vaccines and doses......... Posted by: JoAnn      Read more         Source

May 20, 2008, 9:47 PM CT

Research tool can detect autism at 9 months of age

The ability to detect autism in children as young as nine months of age is on the horizon, as per scientists at McMaster University.

The Early Autism Study, led by Mel Rutherford, associate professor of psychology in the Faculty of Science, has been using eye tracker technology that measures eye direction while the babies look at faces, eyes, and bouncing balls on a computer screen.

Rutherford presented her peer-evaluated research at the 7th Annual International Meeting for Autism Research in London. (www.autism-insar.org).

Whats important about this study is that now we can distinguish between a group of siblings with autism from a group with no autism at nine months and 12 months, says Rutherford. I can do this in 10 minutes, and it is objective, meaning that the only measure is eye direction; its not influenced by a clinicians report or by intuition. Nobodys been able to distinguish between these groups at so early an age.

Currently, the earliest diagnostic test for autism is reliable around the age of two, and most children in Ontario are diagnosed around age three or four. The earlier the diagnosis the better the overall prognosis, says Rutherford.

There is an urgent need for a quick, reliable and objective screening tool to aid in diagnosing autism much earlier than is presently possible, she says. Developing a tool for the early detection of autism would have profound effects on people with autism, their parents, family members, and future generations of those at risk of developing autism......... Posted by: JoAnn      Read more         Source

May 18, 2008, 9:22 PM CT

Mother's prenatal stress predisposes babies to asthma and allergy

Women who are stressed during pregnancy may pass some of that frazzlement to their fetuses in the form of increased sensitivity to allergen exposure and possibly future asthma risk, as per scientists from Harvard Medical School who will present their findings at the American Thoracic Societys 2008 International Conference in Toronto on Sunday, May 18.

While predisposition to asthma may be, in part, set at birth, the factors that may determine this are not strictly genetic. Certain substances in the environment that cause allergies, such as dust mites, can increase a childs chance of developing asthma and the effects may begin before birth, said Rosalind J. Wright, M.D., M.P.H., assistant professor of medicine at Brigham & Womens Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

Mothers stress during pregnancy can also influence the babies developing immune system. While animal studies suggest that the combination of stress and allergen exposure during pregnancy may magnify the effects on the immune system, this is the first human study to examine this directly. The scientists analyzed levels of maternal stress and mothers exposure to dust mite allergen in their homes while pregnant with respect to cord blood IgE expressiona marker of the childs immune response at birth in 387 infants enrolled in the Asthma Coalition on Community, Environment, and Social Stress (ACCESS) project in Boston......... Posted by: Emily      Read more         Source

May 14, 2008, 7:48 PM CT

Mothers' Depression, Young Children's Injuries

Infants and toddlers whose mothers are severely depressed are almost three times more likely to suffer accidental injuries than other children in the same age group, as per a new study. The study's findings, published recently in the Advanced Access edition of the Journal of Pediatric Psychology, suggest that proper therapy for depression would improve not only the mothers' health, but the health of young children as well.

Previous studies have shown that mothers who reported symptoms consistent with clinical depression had children who experienced a significant number of accidental injuries between the ages 3 months to 2 years.

In his study, UAB psychology expert David Schwebel, Ph.D., director of the UAB Youth Safety Lab, examined the difference between mothers with severe, chronic depression and those who were moderately depressed as their children grew from birth to first grade.

A likely cause for the link between severe maternal depression and young children's injury risk is that chronically depressed mothers may not appropriately safeguard the physical environments that children engage in, Schwebel said. Another cause may be that symptoms of depression include inattention, poor concentration and irritability, which "might lead to poor or inconsistent supervision and enforcement of safety-related rules," he said......... Posted by: JoAnn      Read more         Source