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Millions of Preterm Births and Thousands of Infant Deaths Linked to Plastic Chemical
Two chemicals used to make plastic more flexible are linked to nearly 2 million premature births and the deaths of 74,000 newborns worldwide in 2018, according to a new study. A baby is considered premature when it is born before the 37th week of pregnancy. About 1 in 10 infants in the US was born premature in 2024, according to the 2025 March of Dimes Report Card.
“Babies who survive may have breathing problems, feeding difficulties, cerebral palsy, developmental delay, vision problems, and hearing problems,” according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The two chemicals in the study — Di-2-ethylhexylphthalate, or DEHP, and its cousin diisononyl phthalate, or DiNP — are part of a family of synthetic chemicals called phthalates.
Why Some Teenage Girls Are Trading Medicine for MAHA
The newest evangelists of the Make America Healthy Again lifestyle aren’t muscled bros crushing reps or wellness moms posting about vaccine schedules — they’re high-school- and college-aged young women. In another, not-too-distant era, they might have channeled their energy into writing “Twilight” fan fiction or playing beer pong. In this era, they’re making “pizza crust” from ground meat, perfecting their supplement regimens and posting Instagram reels about the supposed dangers of Tylenol and seed oils.
For many of them, the path to MAHA followed a similar trajectory: chronic health problems, disappointing encounters with the medical establishment and a search for more satisfying answers. They emerged with some often unproven scientific advice and a message of empowerment: Our chemical-soaked, overmedicated modern lifestyle is making us sick, but we can heal ourselves and reclaim our health by taking charge of what we put into our bodies. We spoke with three young women about the appeal of the MAHA ethos and how it has changed their daily lives.
Vaccine Coverage Drops Among Young Children: CDC
Vaccine coverage for children by the age of 2 declined for eight vaccines, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a new study. CDC researchers compared the percentage of children vaccinated with recommended shots across two time periods. In the first group, the children were born in 2019 and 2020. In the second group, they were born in 2021 and 2022.
Among the second group, vaccine coverage had declined by the time that the children turned 2 compared with the earlier cohort, researchers reported in the paper, published on March 26 by the CDC’s quasi-journal.
The sharpest declines were for vaccines against influenza, which declined by 7.4 percent to 53.5 percent coverage; rotavirus, which declined by 1.7 percent to 74.2 percent coverage; and pneumococcal disease, which declined by 1.5 percent to 80.5 percent coverage. Influenza vaccine coverage has plummeted in recent years, with a 12 percent drop in coverage since 2019.
MAHA Groups Urge Trump Not to Expand School Meat Consumption
The Trump administration’s plan to increase protein consumption in schools across the US is drawing scrutiny from members of the “Make America Healthy Again” coalition, who are warning against making children eat more meat. As the Agriculture Department gears up to align federal school meal programs with nutrition standards the government updated in January, health and agriculture organizations in a letter published Monday urged officials to reduce the amount of processed meat products available in schools and offer more nutritious alternatives.
The missive comes amid growing concern that USDA’s forthcoming rulemaking will seek to increase the amount of animal based proteins schools must offer students in their daily meals. Federal officials recommended Americans eat more protein and avoid highly processed foods in updated dietary guidelines set to shape federal food programs feeding millions through 2030.
“Analyses of school meal programs have long shown that protein adequacy is not the nutritional gap facing children. The more urgent public health priority is increasing dietary fiber and overall food quality,” said the letter, signed by MAHA-aligned nonprofits including Moms Across America and Children’s Health Defense.
Lead Still Raises Risk of Heart Disease, Years After Exposure, Study Warns
Lead may be out of gasoline and paint but it’s not out of our hearts. Physicians and patients alike may assume that lead poisoning is a relic of the past, with the notable exceptions of contaminated water plaguing people in Flint, Mich., or Milwaukee in recent years.
A new study analyzing lead levels in bones reminds us that lead lingers in the body for a lifetime, including in the heart’s vital arteries, where it can elevate blood pressure, injure the lining of blood vessels, and raise risk of death from heart attacks. A new analysis moves lead up from 18th on the global list of leading risk factors for death by coronary artery disease to eighth.
In the paper, published Monday in JAMA, high blood pressure, “bad” cholesterol, obesity, and other familiar predictors of heart attack and stroke are still up there as dangers, contributing to the No. 1 cause of death in the United States and the world. But the new report makes the case that alongside those contributors, lead continues to harm people who were exposed to it in the past, in water or the air or in some other way. Its presence is still felt in and around factories that make lead-acid batteries, food grown from contaminated soil, and other everyday products like some cosmetics, medicines, e-cigarettes, and electronic waste.
What Teens Eat Could Be Affecting Their Mental Health More Than We Thought
A new study led by researchers at Swansea University suggests that the way teenagers eat could influence their mental health. The team also lays out a detailed plan for future research to better understand how diet and mental well-being are connected. Published in the journal Nutrients, the review looked at findings from 19 studies that explored links between diet and mental health in adolescents.
Overall, healthier eating patterns were commonly associated with fewer symptoms of depression. In contrast, lower-quality diets were more often linked to higher levels of psychological distress. The researchers examined six randomized controlled trials and 13 prospective cohort studies. Their analysis found mixed evidence when it came to individual nutrient supplements. For example, some results suggested that vitamin D might help reduce depressive symptoms in teens, but the findings were not consistent.
On the other hand, broader dietary patterns showed clearer trends.
Diets that emphasized overall quality and balance were more consistently linked to better mental health outcomes than focusing on single nutrients alone. The authors emphasize that adolescence is a key stage for brain development and emotional health. This period offers an important window for prevention and early support. Diet stands out as a factor that can be changed and scaled across populations since it is part of everyday life.
