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‘They’re About Two Years Behind’: Fears for Children Born During Lockdown as They Start at School
Babies born in 2020 started life in the strange world of lockdown in a small bubble of people with faces hidden behind masks. Social experiences, such as seeing extended family, trips to the playground or mother and baby groups, could not happen.
And struggling public services meant infants were likely to miss out on face-to-face appointments with a health visitor who might have been able to spot developmental difficulties early.
Those babies are now four years old, and in England are arriving at school for the first time this week.
Experts say teachers should be braced to encounter — and tackle — problems ranging from poor speech and language development to social and emotional difficulties.
Social Networks Can’t Be Forced to Filter Content for Kids, Says Judge
A federal judge issued a last-minute partial block on a Texas law that would require some large web services to identify minors and filter what they see online.
Called HB 18 or the Securing Children Online Through Parental Empowerment (SCOPE) Act, it was signed into law last year and was set to take effect over the weekend on Sept.1.
But a late Friday court ruling determined that the “monitoring and filtering” requirements posed a significant threat to online speech.
The SCOPE Act requires a range of web services, particularly large social networks, to apply special rules to users whose registered age is under 18. That includes limiting data collection, banning targeted advertising, and not allowing financial transactions without parental consent.
Autism Drowning Deaths Prompt Push for Children’s Specialized Swim Lessons
Jonathan Eichenholz was three years old when he was diagnosed with autism. His parents nicknamed him “Houdini” because of his propensity to escape from home, school and even his car seat while in traffic.
One afternoon when he was five, Jonathan, who was fascinated with water, slipped out of the family’s Orange County home and into a neighbor’s yard.
The neighbor spotted the boy floating face down in his pool, let out a “bone-chilling scream” and pulled Jonathan out, said Jason Eichenholz, the boy’s father.
Eichenholz raced over and found his son unconscious on the pool deck with ashen skin, blue lips and a distended belly. Eichenholz, a volunteer firefighter, was able to resuscitate him with Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
Children with autism are especially susceptible to the risk of drowning, as they tend both to wander away and to be attracted to water, experts say. That has led advocates to push for specialized swim lessons attuned to those kids’ situations, but much more needs to be done.
“No one tells you when you get a diagnosis of autism that the leading cause of death for your child is drowning,” said Eichenholz, whose son, now 19, took swimming lessons soon after his close call.
Healthy Childhood Diet Can Keep Mind Sharp in 70s and Ward off Dementia
Eating a healthy diet early in life can set the stage for a lifetime of optimal brain function. A study involving 3,059 people, spanning more than seven decades, revealed that eating a high-quality diet as a child and even into middle age leads to better cognitive function later in life, including potentially warding off dementia.
The study, presented at NUTRITION 2024, the American Society for Nutrition’s annual meeting, began tracking participants at the young age of 4 and continued until they reached 70.
This comprehensive lifespan perspective allowed researchers to identify potential links between diet and cognitive ability that may begin much earlier in life than previously thought — and reinforces the importance of eating nutritious foods right from the start.
Mpox in the Democratic Republic of Congo: Children Are at High Risk—health Expert Explains Why
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that children, pregnant women and people with weak immune systems are at higher risk from the mpox outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Reports confirm that children under five account for 39% of all cases in the country, and babies as young as two weeks are being diagnosed with this viral illness.
Because of conflict, political instability and insecurity, large parts of the DRC have not had stable, consistent, sustained health responses or health prevention. As a result, it’s hard to control infectious diseases like mpox.
In a paper on pediatric mpox, my colleagues and I reported that children in Africa were much more vulnerable to monkeypox virus infection than children elsewhere. About 2% of those infected globally were under the age of 18 years, while children in Africa constituted nearly 40% of cases.
In addition, children in any outbreak setting are already vulnerable given their immature and still-developing immune systems, especially under the age of five.
Evaluating the Benefits of and Barriers to Pediatric Obesity Programs
Obesity now affects more than one in five children in the U.S., and while there are effective, recommended interventions, availability is limited for most children.
In two new studies, Yale researchers assessed the cost-effectiveness of one intervention and factors that have hindered and facilitated implementation of another to uncover strategies for improving access to effective pediatric obesity treatment.
The publications are timely as Yale experts, working as members of national medical organizations, have supported a proposal under consideration by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for a new billing code that could allow facilities to be reimbursed by health insurance for intensive health behavior and lifestyle treatment interventions for childhood obesity.
Such a change would thereby encourage implementation of these programs and improve access to them, the researchers say. The studies were published in the journal Obesity.
No Screens Before Age of Two, Swedish Health Authority Tells Parents
Children under the age of two should not be exposed to any screens whatsoever and teenagers should have no more than three hours of screen time a day, according to guidelines announced by health authorities in Sweden.
Parents and guardians should think about how they use screens with their children and tell them what they are doing on their phones when they use them in their presence, the advice says.
The guidelines, announced on Monday, mark the first time that Folkhälsomyndigheten, Sweden’s public health authority, has stipulated how parents should regulate screen time.
This is a sharp reduction on the current average screen time figures among Swedish children and young people, which is estimated to be four hours a day for nine- to 12-year-olds and more than seven hours a day — not including schoolwork — for 17- and 18-year-olds.
