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Study Finds Dangerous Levels of Lead in Children’s Toys, Daily-Use Products
The Business Standard reported:
A recent study by the Environment and Social Development Organization (ESDO) has detected dangerously high levels of lead in children’s toys and other daily-use items in Bangladesh, raising urgent concerns about children’s health and development.
The findings were unveiled today during a report-launch event organized by ESDO at the Centre on Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific in the capital.
The study tested 250 children’s products from popular markets, including Bashundhara City, Orchid Plaza, New Market, and Chawkbazar, revealing that 157 items contained detectable levels of lead, with 92 items exceeding the safety limit of 90 parts per million (ppm).
Experts said as per the World Health Organization, there is no safe level of lead in human blood; any exposure is hazardous, especially for children as it impacts their behavior and learning capabilities.
Is Your Child at Risk? Tips to Deal With Shocking Impact of Poor AQI on Kids’ Health
Just like adults, poor air quality can impact a child’s overall well-being. Shockingly, children will experience various health problems such as respiratory issues like coughing, sneezing, chest congestion, eye allergies, anxiety and stress.
In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Dr Amit Gupta, Senior Neonatologist and Pediatrician at Motherhood Hospitals in Noida, shared, “The alarming reality of poor Air Quality Index (AQI) levels reveal a hidden crisis affecting child health, with long-term repercussions. Similar to adults, children are vulnerable to air pollution that can take a toll on their entire well-being.
As the respiratory system of the child is still developing, exposure to toxic pollutants can lead to not only immediate effects like asthma attacks but also subtle cognitive declines.”
Teens Are Talking to AI Companions, Whether It’s Safe or Not
For parents still catching up on generative artificial intelligence, the rise of the companion chatbot may still be a mystery. In broad strokes, the technology can seem relatively harmless, compared to other threats teens can encounter online, including financial sextortion.
Using AI-powered platforms like Character.AI, Replika, Kindroid and Nomi, teens create lifelike conversation partners with unique traits and characteristics, or engage with companions created by other users. Some are even based on popular television and film characters, but still forge an intense, individual bond with their creator.
Teens use these chatbots for a range of purposes, including to role play, explore their academic and creative interests, and to have romantic or sexually explicit exchanges.
But AI companions are designed to be captivating, and that’s where the trouble often begins, says Robbie Torney, program manager at Common Sense Media.
The nonprofit organization recently released guidelines to help parents understand how AI companions work, along with warning signs indicating that the technology may be dangerous for their teen. Torney said that while parents juggle a number of high-priority conversations with their teens, they should consider talking to them about AI companions as a “pretty urgent” matter.
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The Upside of Adversity: Children Can Learn Resilience From Coping With Difficulties
Research points to the long-term consequences of high levels of childhood stress on later health and psychosocial development. However, it is also well documented that not all forms of adversity are inherently “bad” for children.
As researchers in health promotion with a particular interest in the resilience of equity-deserving populations, we notice that the overwhelming narrative around childhood adversity is that it should be avoided. But this is not always the case.
It’s important to note the distinction between child adversity in general and specific circumstances known as adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Childhood adversity in general is a broad term that captures a wide array of circumstances or events that may pose threats to a child’s physical or psychological well-being.
ACEs are a particularly severe subset of childhood adversities that involve traumatic experiences that occur during childhood. ACEs include abuse, neglect or a death in the family. Experiencing ACEs during childhood, a vulnerable developmental phase, increases the risk of adverse health issues throughout life. ACE-related disorders include post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, obesity and diabetes.
Weed Use During Pregnancy May Harm Kids’ Behavior, Thinking Skills
Smoking marijuana during pregnancy may quell your morning sickness, but it could also harm your child’s development, a new study warns. Cannabis exposure in the womb is associated in early childhood with poorer thinking skills, researchers reported Oct. 28 in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.
These kids also have behavioral problems like impulse control, poor attention and aggressive behavior, researchers found. “Although cannabis is a natural product, there are still many risks to using it during pregnancy,” said lead researcher Sarah Keim, principal investigator in the Center for Biobehavioral Health at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Ohio.
Obesity May Raise Risk of Long COVID in Youth
Elevated body mass index in children and young adults was associated with an increased risk of post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC), or long COVID, a large retrospective cohort study suggested.
Those with obesity had a 25.4% increased risk of long COVID (relative risk [RR] 1.25, 95% CI 1.06-1.48) and those with severe obesity had a 42.1% increased risk (RR 1.42, 95% CI 1.25-1.61) compared with children and young adults who had healthy weight, reported Yong Chen, Ph.D., of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and colleagues.
Similarly, there was an increased likelihood of encountering any manifestation of potential long COVID symptoms and conditions among those with obesity (RR 1.11, 95% CI 1.06-1.15) and severe obesity (RR 1.17, 95% CI 1.14-1.21), they said in JAMA Network.
Marijuana Use Has Fallen ‘Dramatically’ Among U.S. Teens
Weed use among U.S. teenagers fell dramatically over the past decade, a new study shows. By 2021, only about 16% of teens said they were currently using marijuana, down from 23% in 2011, researchers found. All grades experienced a notable decline in current weed use, particularly among ninth graders, researchers said.
Further, the percentage of kids who tried weed for the first time prior to age 13 also notably declined, sinking to about 5% in 2021 from 8% in 2011. Results show that weed use is most prevalent among high school seniors and juniors, with around 1 in 5 reporting regular use, 22% and 19% respectively.
