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Paediatrics
Major study debunks race and class theories of intelligence
Babies of different races are born with equal intelligence. The seven-year, global INTERGROWTH-21st Project, led by the University of Oxford, says its research debunks...
General cognitive ability in youth predicts mental capacity later in life
Early adult general cognitive ability (GCA) – the diverse set of skills involved in thinking, such as reasoning, memory and perception – is stronger...
Gently stroking babies 'provides pain relief'
Gently stroking a baby reduces activity in their brain associated with painful experiences, a small UK study has found. Researchers from University of Oxford...
Safety measures 'stifling' children's physical development
Children's physical development is being "stifled" by health and safety as teachers are too scared to let them play outside, The Daily Telegraph reports...
Doctors swallow Lego blocks in 'the noble tradition of self-experimentation'
A team of UK and Australian doctors who swallowed Lego and timed how long it took to pass through their bowels say the results...
GPs overwhelmingly incorrect in deciding on tonsillectomies
An analysis of over 1.6m children from more than 700 UK general practices over 12 years found that only 13% of children suitable for...
Children have 2.5 years to establish healthy gut bacteria
A child has until the age of two-and-a-half to establish healthy gut bacteria – with little change after this point, research has revealed. The...
Barefoot SA children have better balance but may suffer later
South African children – who usually do not wear shoes during physical activity – have better balance and can jump farther than their German...
Less aggression among the young when corporal punishment banned
An international study shows that in countries where there is a complete ban on all corporal punishment of children there is less fighting among...
Limiting children's screen time linked to better cognition
Children aged eight to 11 who used screens for fun for less than two hours a day performed better in tests of mental ability,...
Risk-taking actions associated with lack of sleep in adolescents
Adolescents require 8-10 hours of sleep at night for optimal health, according to sleep experts, yet more than 70% of high school students get...
Popular belief that milk boosts phlegm production is 'a myth'
The widely held and persistent belief that milk boosts phlegm production and worsens respiratory conditions from asthma to the common cold, is a myth,...
Babies given solid food sooner sleep better – large UK study
Babies given solid food plus breast milk from three months sleep better than those who are solely breastfed, a large UK study has found,...
Australia releases guidelines to treatment of transgender children
Australia has become one of the first country's to release guidelines for the care of transgender and gender diverse children and adolescents.
Australia has become...
Screen young people for depression – AAP
Young people should be screened for depression, in accordance with existing guidelines, and primary care clinicians should have the tools in place to identify...
Adolescence 'now lasts from ages 10-24'
Adolescence now lasts from the ages of 10 to 24, although it used to be thought to end at 19, scientists write in The...
Double dose of vitamin D increases bone density in prem babies
If the standard supplementation of 400 IUs of vitamin D is increased to 800 IUs daily there are reductions in the number of premature...
Impact of physical abuse and punishment on kids
Physical abuse was associated with decreases in children's cognitive performance, while non-abusive forms of physical punishment were independently associated with reduced school engagement and...
AAP guidelines on tattoos for young people
Tattoos and body piercings are an increasingly popular form of self-expression, but it is important for young people to carefully consider the consequences and...
Inflammatory bowel disease in children increases cancer risk
Children diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease have an increased risk of cancer, especially gastrointestinal cancers, both in childhood and later in life, finds a...
Anti-TB drug should be given to children, study says
An innovative anti-tuberculosis drug that represents a reprieve for adults whose disease does not respond to other treatments should also be made available to...
Digit length may link to muscular strength in adolescent boys
The ratio of the length of the second (pointer) finger and the length of the fourth (ring) finger – is favourably related to muscular...
Probiotic mixture reduces sepsis by 40% in infants
A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study showed that sepsis and deaths in the first two months of infancy were reduced by 40%, following the administration...
Peanut allergy may be cured with probiotics and peanut oral immunotherapy
An oral treatment for one of the most deadly allergies, to peanuts, is still effective four years after it was administered, a study has...
High levels of serotonin found in infants who died of SIDS
Blood samples from infants who died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) had high levels of serotonin, a chemical that carries signals along and...
Soccer beats swimming and cycling for bone development in boys
Playing soccer can significantly improve bone development in adolescent boys after one-year's training, compared to swimming, cycling and non-sport playing, University of Exeter research...
Most parents make medication measurement errors
More than 80% of parents make measurement errors with their children's medications, of which a third were large errors, suggesting the need for tools...
All children with possible penicillin allergy test negative – small study
Children who, according to their parents, had possible penicillin allergy on the basis of non-specific symptoms all tested negative for actual allergy, a small...
Pretoria teaching hospital rife with paediatric medication errors
The incidence of medication errors in the neonatal intensive care unit and paediatric wards at a Pretoria teaching hospital was higher than values reported...
Serum test to identify abusive head trauma in infants
A serum-based test, which needs to be validated in a larger population and receive regulatory approval, has been developed that would be the first...
Booster vaccine during pregnancy cuts pertussis incidence in infants
Among infants of women who received the Tdap pertussis booster vaccine during pregnancy, the risk of contracting pertussis was reduced by an estimated 91%...
Antibiotic treatment of acute appendicitis mostly safe for children
An analysis of several studies including 404 paediatric patients suggests antibiotic treatment for acute uncomplicated appendicitis is safe and effective in the majority of...
Supportive touch and less painful procedures help prem babies
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) treatments save millions of infants born prematurely every year. But this treatment is not without cost. Painful procedures such...
Estimates show mother-to-child HIV transmission dropping in US
Research has estimated that there were 69 perinatal human immunodeficiency virus or HIV infections among infants born in the US in 2013 (1.75 per...
Secondhand sugar found to pass through breast milk
Fructose, not a natural component of breast milk, is passed from mother to infant through breast milk, found a small proof-of-concept study from the University...
Physical AND mental health problems for low birth-weight babies
Babies born with extremely low birth weight are not only at risk for physical problems but are also more likely to experience mental health...
HPV vaccine delivering benefits
Data show early benefits from the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine in young girls, according to a study at Queen's University and McGill.
Fresh whole blood from a single donor is best
Using fresh whole blood from single donors is better than using component blood from multiple donors in paediatric heart surgery patients.
Alcohol and energy drinks – an explosive mix for teens
US teens aged 15-17 years old who had ever mixed alcohol with energy drinks were four times more likely to meet the criteria for alcohol use disorder than a teen who has tried alcohol but never mixed it with an energy drink.
Oral insulin sparks immune response
Children at risk for Type 1 diabetes, who were given daily doses of oral insulin, developed a protective immune response to the disease, found a pilot study carried out in the US, Germany, Austria and the UK.