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OB-Gyn Association, Deviating From CDC Guidance, Issues Its Own Vaccine Recommendations
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has released a recommended vaccine schedule for pregnant people, one that diverges from the advice currently offered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ACOG is recommending four vaccines be routinely administered during pregnancy, with several other vaccines recommended under certain circumstances. The new schedule is endorsed by 13 medical societies and health organizations.
“Changing national recommendations coupled with rampant vaccine misinformation are resulting in confusion for both patients and health care professionals,” ACOG President Camille Clare said in a press release. “It is incredibly important for the public to have access to reliable, evidence-based information on maternal immunizations from a trusted source. ACOG is proud to be that source.”
The current CDC vaccine schedule for pregnant people includes only two recommendations, one for a vaccine to protect against tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis, known as Tdap, and one to generate protection against respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, in the developing fetus.
Safety Concerns Biggest Barrier to Vaccination for Parents
Most vaccine-hesitant parents aren’t opposed to vaccination but simply desire to protect their children from all harms, according to a review. A clinical practice review by Murdoch Children’s Research Institute Professor Margie Danchin and University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine Associate Professor Sean O’Leary for the New England Journal of Medicine explained that vaccine hesitancy exists on a spectrum, with safety concerns the biggest barrier.
They described decades of evidence showing that routine childhood vaccines recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics have dramatically reduced serious infectious diseases and have an overwhelmingly excellent safety record. The same results have been produced by Australia’s National Immunisation Program (NIP).
The piece states that health professionals such as GPs, immunization nurses and pharmacists play a critical role in supporting vaccination, as clinicians remain the most trusted source of vaccine information for parents. Clear, confident recommendations from trusted clinicians are strongly associated with higher vaccine uptake.
Schools Must Stop Gender Transitioning Our Kids
Parents, not school administrators or teachers, should be the ones making final decisions for their children’s well-being. Throughout American history, this principle has been understood to be a cornerstone of liberty. Yet, across the country in recent years, public school systems have increasingly sidelined parents while encouraging their children’s gender confusion behind closed doors.
The United States House of Representatives recently took a major step to address this problem by passing the Stopping Indoctrination and Protecting Kids Act. If signed into law, this bill would require that elementary and middle schools that receive federal funds obtain parental consent before making changes to a child’s pronouns, preferred name, and gender markers on any school forms, or before allowing a student to use opposite-sex bathrooms and locker rooms. Most importantly, the bill would withhold funds from schools that “teach or advance concepts related to gender ideology.”
This bill seeks to address a widespread social contagion. School officials in states around the country have socially transitioned children or exposed them to gender ideology without parental notice or consent, and at times directly against parental instructions. In more than one case, children have ultimately attempted suicide after school officials exposed them to this ideology.
My Sister Is Autistic and Nonverbal. Here Are 3 Ways I Connect With Her.
From a young age, I realized that my connection with my sister was fundamentally and profoundly different from my peers’ relationships with their siblings. Skye, who is two and a half years younger than I am (we’re 31 and 28), falls on the severe end of the autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This means she requires very substantial support, i.e., 24/7 care.
Skye is nonverbal, though that term can mean different things even among clinicians and researchers who specialize in autism. That’s, in large part, because there aren’t any universal clinical guidelines that define exactly what qualifies as nonverbal.
“It’s a mess,” said Catherine Lord, the George Tarjan Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Education in the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, whose work focuses on autism and related disorders.
Children Who Sleep Poorly ‘Turn Into Depressed Teenagers’
Depression is more common among teenagers who had poor sleep in early childhood, research indicates. Academics urged parents to try to help young children to avoid problems as they get older by reducing screen time at night and having consistent bed times. They said it was easier to address poor sleep among children than to treat emotional symptoms in teenagers.
A study has linked insomnia to a higher risk of breast, ovarian and uterine cancer among young women. In the latest study, academics at the University of Birmingham examined data collected from more than 15,000 children in the Children of the 90s study, also known as the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. Data on night-time sleep duration was collected when children were six, 18, and 30 months, and at 3.5, four to five, five to six and six to seven years old. Self-reported depression symptoms were taken when the children were 12, 13, 16, 17, 21 and 22 years old.
Teens’ Reading and Math Scores Have Stagnated, US Test Results Show
Younger students have regained ground academically after the pandemic’s disruptions, while older students’ test scores continue to stagnate, according to the latest testing data released by the federal government.
Nine-year-olds rebounded to pre-pandemic reading scores and saw some recovery in math, according to data from a test taken regularly in the U.S. since the 1970s. The same recovery has not emerged for 13-year-olds, whose average scores in math and reading remain below pre-pandemic averages. In fact, the latest reading scores, from teens who took the test in 2024, are essentially the same level as they were when the test started in 1971.
Since the pandemic, schools and state policymakers have focused on overhauling instruction for elementary students, especially in implementing the “science of reading,” which teaches kids to read by understanding how letters form sounds. But recent test scores show educators should also focus more intensely on adolescent learners and turning around academic outcomes in middle school, said Lesley Muldoon, executive director of the National Assessment Governing Board.
Indeed, the 13-year-olds who took the national test experienced the pandemic’s disruption during formative elementary years of schooling. In a few years, they will have graduated — and they may still be behind.
Childhood Egg Allergies Fall as Early Introduction Becomes More Common, New Study Finds
Parents used to be advised to keep allergenic foods like eggs away from babies, especially if allergies ran in the family. But based on recent and evolving evidence, the advice is now almost the opposite — and new research suggests the shift in guidance is paying off.
After the drastic change in guidance to no longer keep allergenic foods away from babies until 1 to 3 years of age and instead introduce them by 6 months of age, the prevalence of egg allergy among children fell by more than 17% in a new study published Monday in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.
“These findings highlight that guideline changes, when based on high-quality evidence and widely adopted, can lead to meaningful reductions in food allergy prevalence,” Jennifer Koplin, group leader of childhood allergy and epidemiology at the University of Queensland Child Health Research Centre and lead author of the new study, said in an email.
When Should Your Kid Get a Smartphone? Scientists Have an Answer
Thirteen at the earliest. That’s when parents should consider getting their child a smartphone, according to a new study published in JAMA Pediatrics.
Parents are often told to wait until their children hit the teen years to give them their first phone, as research continues to roll in showing health worries tied to young people’s social media habits. The new findings back up conventional wisdom, showing a delay of even one year can lead to measurably better mental and physical health.
“Age 13 seems safer,” said Ran Barzilay, an adolescent psychiatrist at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the senior author of the paper. “Even then, make sure that you put some boundary on the amount of time that the kid is on the screen.”
UK’s Starmer to Announce Under-16s Social Media Ban Within Days
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is preparing to announce a ban on under-16s using social media within days after his position hardened following parents’ response to a government consultation. Nine in ten parents who responded to the consultation said they wanted to see such a ban, Technology Secretary Liz Kendall told Sky News on Tuesday morning. She said she’s considering two broad options: a “blanket” ban on under-16s using social media, or age restrictions on key features of social networks and apps. “A ban is on the table,” she said.
The policy is likely to be announced in the next week as part of a series of announcements by Starmer, whose premiership is under threat from a likely leadership challenge this summer from Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham. Also expected in the coming days is the government’s long-awaited defense investment plan — including an uptick in spending — which ministers have promised will come before a NATO summit in early July.
Kendall said ministers are looking at how they could use age verification tools introduced in Britain last year restricting access to pornography sites to adults to prevent children from using social media.
