Autism Tops List of Worldwide Youth Health Issues
Autism ranks among the top ten health problems for young people under 20. A new study published recently in The Lancet Psychiatry says that nearly 62 million people in 2021 had autism spectrum disorder. “We estimated one in 127 individuals worldwide in 2021 was autistic, placing the autism spectrum within the top ten causes for non-fatal health burden for children and adolescents younger than 20 years,” the research team led by Damian Santomauro, an affiliate assistant professor with the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, concluded.
These numbers show how important it is to diagnose autism early in a child’s life, so they can receive therapy that will help them throughout their lifespan. “Addressing not only the needs of autistic children and adolescents, but also those of adults, who often remain under-represented in research and service provision, is imperative,” researchers wrote.
FDA Disappoints Child Advocates With Its New Limit on Lead in Baby Food
For the first time in history, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has established guidance for levels of lead in processed baby foods that are sold on supermarket shelves and online. The agency’s action, announced Monday, only provides guidance to industry and is not enforceable.
Under the new guidelines, baby food manufacturers should have no more than 10 parts per billion of lead in baby yogurts, custards, puddings, single-ingredient meats, processed fruits and vegetables, and mixtures of fruits, vegetables, grains and meat.
“This includes foods in jars, pouches, tubs or boxes and may include ready-to-eat foods such as purees, as well as semi-prepared foods such as dry infant cereals,” the FDA said in a statement.
However, root vegetables such as carrots and sweet potatoes — which typically contain the highest levels of lead from the soil — and dry infant cereals should contain no more than 20 parts per billion of lead, the FDA announced. “The guidance does not cover infant formula, beverages, or snack foods like puffs and teething biscuits,” the federal agency said. No level of lead is safe for infants and toddlers, according to the Centers for Disease and Prevention, the World Health Organization and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Forever Chemicals Affecting 23 Million Americans Linked to Single Source
As many as 7% of Americans may be exposed to “forever chemicals” in their drinking water because of wastewater treatment alone. Forever chemicals — formally known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — may not be removed effectively from wastewater in processing plants, according to a study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and end up being consumed by 23 million people across the U.S.
The study also found that 75% of these organic fluorine compounds in wastewater are made up of prescription drugs, which are also 62% of the organic fluorine compounds in treated water made available to the public. “We’ve been focused on a small subset of these chemicals, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg,” study co-author Bridger Ruyle, an assistant professor of environmental engineering at New York University, said in a statement.
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Pertussis Cases Surging in the United States
Rates of pertussis in the U.S. are surging, with more than 32,000 cases reported as of mid-December — about six times more than at this time last year and more than have been reported since 2014, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Reported cases have been climbing for several months, CNN reports. About a quarter of all cases have been reported in Illinois, Indiana and other states in the Midwest. Pennsylvania has more reported cases compared with other states.
Some states, such as Oregon, ticked a record-high number of cases recently. For 2024, Oregon recorded the highest number of pertussis cases since 1950, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported. Cases dropped during the pandemic, but, according to the CDC, recent trends suggest that the U.S. is returning to prepandemic levels.
Prevention, in the form of vaccination, is the best way to protect against whooping cough, the CDC says; the agency recommends that children get the DTaP vaccine and adolescents and adults get the Tdap vaccine. Among children, vaccination rates have fallen; only about 92% of kindergartners had gotten their DTaP vaccine for the 2023–2024 school year. This is below the 95% federal target.
As a Child Psychiatrist, I See What Smartphones Are Doing to Kids’ Mental Health — And It’s Terrifying
Smartphone use among children has reached a critical moment. Many of us in the U.K. are increasingly aware of the dangers associated with them — and as a child and adolescent psychiatrist, I am more worried than most. I am witnessing firsthand the sheer devastation that smartphone use is wreaking on our young people’s mental health. The majority of children over 10 I see at my NHS clinic now have a smartphone. An increasingly large proportion of patients have difficulties that are related to, or exacerbated by, their use of technology.
We are seeing profound mental illness stemming from excessive social media use, online bullying, screen addiction, or falling prey to online child sexual exploitation. We are seeing children who are disappearing into online worlds, who are unable to sleep, who are increasingly inattentive and impulsive, emotionally dysregulated and aggressive. Children are crippled by anxiety or a fear of missing out. Who spend hours alone, cut off from those who love them, who spend hour upon hour speaking to strangers.
