Results for search "Child Development".
High levels of fluoride in drinking water may dim the intelligence of children, a new U.S. government report shows.
Based on an analysis of published research, the potentially controversial report marks the first time a federal agency has determined there is a link between drinking twice the reco...
A child at the dinner table talks about trouble at school or an argument with a friend, but parents aren't listening: They're checking their smartphones instead.
It's a scenario that plays out millions of times per day across America, and it could be harming the mental health of children, a new study suggests.
Kids ages 9 to 11 who said their parents spent way too much on their smar...
Parents are worried that social media and technology will get in the way of schoolkids building meaningful connections with classmates and teachers during the upcoming school year, a new poll finds.
Half of parents (50%) say too much time spent with technology will be their kids’ top challenge in forming positive connections with those around them, say national poll results from the...
Not all babies born prematurely will suffer long-term developmental problems, a new study finds.
Preemies tend to fall into three risk categories, with about one in five (20%) scoring above average on standard cognitive tests, researchers reported Aug. 13 in the journal Child Development...
A girl's genetics can indirectly influence the age when she has her first period, by accelerating her weight gain in childhood, a new study finds.
A number of other genes also can directly affect the age of puberty, some with profound effects, researchers added.
More than 1,000 genetic variants are tied to the age of a girl's first menstrual period, researchers discovered by analyzi...
When your preschooler pitches a fit, handing them a smartphone or tablet is probably the fastest -- and the worst -- way to stop it, a new study suggests.
"If parents regularly offer a digital device to their child to calm them or to stop a tantrum, the child won't learn to regulate their emotions," said first author Veronika Konok...
Mothers tend to speak less to infants when they're on their smartphones, a new study finds.
Moms talked 16% less to their babies when they were fiddling with their phone, researchers found.
Shorter 1- to 2-minute intervals of phone use interfered with mom-baby interaction even more, decreasing a mother's baby talk by 26%.
"Our advice to new parents is to be cognizant of the im...
If your child is among the youngest in their school grade, it's more likely they'll be mistakenly identified by teachers as having ADHD or autism, a new study confirms.
"Adults involved in identifying or raising concerns over a child's behavior -- such as parents and teachers -- may be inadverte...
Severe forms of autism could be linked to overgrowth of the brain's outer layer that starts while a baby is in the womb, a new study finds.
Toddlers with autism have cerebral cortexes -- often referred to as "gray matter"-- that are roughly 40% larger than those of children without the developmental disorder, researchers reported recently in the journal
Newer epilepsy drugs taken while pregnant won't affect the creative thinking of children, an effect that had been observed in older medications, a new study reports.
Researchers found no difference in creativity scores at age 4 between kids of mothers with epilepsy and those of...
About 1 in 9 American children have ever received an ADHD diagnosis, slightly more than the number of kids currently being treated for the disorder, a new study shows.
About 7.1 million kids (11.4%) have ever been diagnosed with ADHD, according to findings published May 23 in the Journal of Clinical C...
Parents striving to be "perfect"will never attain that goal, and the aim isn't even healthy for their families, a new study says.
The risks of striving for perfection are such that researchers have now created a scale to help parents track their burnout and, if necessary, counter it.
The first-of-its-kind
No one knows what caused the liver and kidney disease that led to Ludwig van Beethoven's untimely death.
But one popular theory"that high lead levels killed the great composer"should be ruled out, researchers argue in the journal Clinical Chemistry.
Analysis of samples taken from preserved locks of Beethoven's hair reve...
Kids are very likely to make the acquaintance of a child diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder at some point, whether they know it or not.
An estimated 95% of children with disabilities enroll in regular schools, experts say.
"Given the rates of autism diagnosis and our ability to identify it, most kids will meet an autistic child at some point during their school-aged years,...
Nearly 100,000 U.S. children lost a parent in 2020 to gun violence or drug overdose, a three-fold rise since 1999, according to a new study.
Overall, these two causes made up nearly a quarter (23%) of parental losses in 2020, almost double the level cited in 1999, according to a team who reported its findings May 4 in the
Prescription opioids taken during pregnancy are not associated with a substantial increase in risk of developmental disorders like ADHD in children, a new study has found.
"A slightly increased risk of neuropsychiatric disorders was found, but this should not be considered clinically meaningful"because it ...
The pandemic caused only "modest"delays in developmental milestones for infants and toddlers, a new study has found.
Previous research has reported that pandemic-related lockdowns disrupted the lives of many people, including families with young children.
Day-to-day life was upended as schools and child care centers closed, many people worked from home and the number of play dates a...
More than two-thirds of Chicago kids younger than 6 live in homes with tap water tainted by lead, a new analysis says.
There are detectable levels of lead in the drinking water supplied to 68% of young children in the Windy City, say researchers with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Pub...
Certain drugs used to treat multiple sclerosis appear to be safe for babies if taken by breastfeeding moms, a new study finds.
Breastfed babies whose moms received monoclonal antibody treatments for MS did not develop any more developmental delays than babies not exposed to the drugs through breast milk. The findings will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's upcoming annual...
Using TVs and tablets as "e-babysitters" really cuts down on the time toddlers spend interacting with parents or other caregivers, new research shows.
The Australian team of investigators are calling the phenomenon "technoference" -- a scenario where "young children's exposure to screen time is interfering with opportunities to talk and interact in their home environment."
The resea...
Children exposed to anesthesia in the womb when their pregnant mom has surgery are more likely to suffer from behavioral issues later, a new study finds.
Exposure to general anesthesia before birth was associated with a 31% increased risk of diagnosis with a behavioral disorder as a child, researchers reported Feb. 29 in the
The eyes may have it when it comes to the early diagnosis of autism in children, a new study finds.
Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), have pinpointed a gene that affects how kids' eyes react when they turn their heads.
Typically, people use what's called the vestibulo-ocular reflex to help their sight coordinate with their head movement.
Howeve...
According to the advocacy group Autism Speaks, one in every 36 U.S. children has an autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Early diagnosis is crucial to helping to treat the condition, but how is a diagnosis done?
Toddlers who are really into their food might have a higher risk of developing an eating disorder once they enter adolescence, a new study shows.
Kids ages 4 and 5 with a strong urge to eat when teased with tasty food appear more likely to report a range of eating disorder symptoms by ages 12 to 14, researchers report Feb. 20 in
Talking about the "good old days"might elicit eye rolls from teenagers, but it could be the key to boosting a preschooler's language skills, a new study finds.
Reminiscing about past events with preschoolers presents young kids with high-quality speech as good as or better than sharing a book or playing with toys, researchers discovered.
"Talk in reminiscing is characterized by long...
Television has been wryly referred to as the "electronic babysitter,"but a new study argues TV or other media could stunt a child's language development.
Children plopped in front of videos for hours on end tend to use phrases and sentences with fewer words, researchers reported recently in the journal Acta Paediatrica.
<...THURSDAY, Feb. 15, 2024 (Health Day News) -- Schools that want little girls to get plenty of exercise might want to rethink their dress code.
A University of Cambridge study of more than 1 million kids in 135 countries found that in countries where most students wear school uniforms, fewer kids get the 60 minutes a day of physical activity recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO...
School districts could be severely underestimating how many kids are homeless in their communities, allowing those children to fall through the cracks, a new study warns.
Schools around the United States report that more than 1.2 million students are homeless every year.
But the information gathered by the districts isn't enough to accurately track homelessness, researchers argue.
Babies born even slightly early have a higher long-term risk of developmental difficulties that could affect their behavior and learning ability, a new study finds.
Infants born moderately (32-33 weeks) or late preterm (34-36 weeks) are more likely to have epilepsy or problems with brain function, motor skills, vision or hearing, according to analysis of data from more than 1 million Swed...
Kindergarten might seem like child's play, but embracing the adventure can play a key role in a kid's future educational success, a new study finds.
A successful early transition to kindergarten -- what the researchers called the "big little leap"-- can put a child firmly on the right path, researchers found.
Kids who made a more successful transition in the first 10 to 14 weeks -- ...
Expecting moms who often turn to acetaminophen for their aches and pains are more likely to wind up with kids who have behavioral issues, a new study warns.
Children between the ages of 2 and 4 were more likely to have attention and behavioral problems if their mothers frequently used acetaminophen during pregnancy, researchers found.
"The kinds of behaviors the caregivers reported ...
Exposing babies and toddlers to TV and other digital media could be linked to a heightened risk for dysfunction in what's known as "sensory processing," a new study warns.
Kids with "atypical sensory processing" are often hypersensitive to the touch, sound, taste or look of stimuli in their environment.
For example, kids might try to avoid the feel of certain clothing, the taste of ...
Ear infections are common for kids, but they can lead to long-term developmental problems, a new study finds.
Temporary hearing loss caused by recurring ear infections can lead to delays in language development and sound processing years later, researchers reported recently in the Internationa...
Paxlovid might help shorten and diminish a COVID infection, but the antiviral doesn't reduce the risk of developing long COVID, a new study shows.
About 16% of COVID patients treated with Paxlovid wound up with long COVID symptoms, compared to 14% of those not given the oral medication, researchers found.
"Our finding that Paxlovid treatment during acute infection is not associated ...
Acetaminophen, best known as Tylenol in the United States, is a go-to pain med for millions.
However, a new study is raising doubts about its safe use by women who are pregnant.
The researchers found kids born to women who used acetaminophen while pregnant had delays in language development, compared to children born to women who didn't use the drug.
This isn't the first time ...
The fluid-filled spaces around the brain's blood vessels need proper waste "clearance" every few hours. When that fails to happen, a baby's risk for autism appears to rise, new research shows.
It's too early to say that trouble within these "perivascular" spaces causes autism, but it seems to be an early marker for the condition, a team from the University of North Carolina (UNC) reports....
Doctors report they are seeing what they think is a new syndrome in babies who are exposed to fentanyl while in the womb.
All of the infants have cleft palates and unusually small heads, and all were born to mothers who said they'd used fentanyl and other drugs while pregnant.
Six babies were first` identified at Nemours Children's Health in Wilmington, Del., two in California and o...
THURSDAY, Nov. 30, 2023 (Healthday News) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday that it plans to require the removal of all lead pipes from the country's water systems.
The proposed rule, an ambitious effort that will cost up to $30 billion over the next decade, would affect about 9 million pipes that send water to homes in countless communities across the United S...
University of Louisville researchers say they've developed an artificial intelligence (AI) system with a near-perfect record of diagnosing autism in toddlers.
Using specialized MRI scans of the brain, the tool diagnosed toddlers with 98.5% accuracy, according to findings scheduled for presentation in Chicago next week at a meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).
MONDAY, Nov. 20, 2023 (Healthday News) -- Expert advice and self-help books are officially passé: Social media is where nearly all new parents now go for guidance on potty training, sleep issues and toddler tantrums, a new poll shows.
Four in five turn to forums like TikTok and Facebook for tips on caring for young children, while nearly half rate social media as very useful for findin...
Air pollution could be harming the development of children, reaching into the womb to alter their healthy growth, a new study reports.
Researchers say certain air pollutants appear to negatively alter a specific measure of prenatal exposure to hormones.
"These findings suggest air pollution may interfere with normal hormone activity during critical periods of prenatal and early infa...
An adolescent starts thinking like an adult right around the age of 18, according to new research.
That provides some of the first definitive evidence that executive function matures by that time.
Executive function is a set of mental skills that include the ability to plan, switch between tasks, resist tempting distractions and focus.
For
Experts have long wondered whether diagnoses for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in the youngest children in a class would hold.
A new study suggests that being the youngest, and possibly most immature, did not appear to make a difference.
"We know the youngest children in their year group are more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD -- but many believe this is because ...
Severe inflammation very early in childhood might hamper the development of key brain cells, perhaps setting the stage for conditions such as autism or schizophrenia, new research suggests.
The origins of many neurodevelopment disorders remain mysterious. But the new study of postmortem brain tissue from children who died between the ages 1 and 5 shows how inflammation affects brain cells...
Young children who are close to their parents are more likely to grow up to be kind, caring and considerate. These kids may also have fewer mental health problems during early childhood and adolescence, a new study finds.
By contrast, children whose early relationships with their parents are emotionally strained or abusive are less likely to become thoughtful and generous.
"Taking t...
Not all children diagnosed with autism as toddlers continue to have that diagnosis once they reach elementary school, a new study shows.
While some past research has suggested this could be true, the new research backs that up, finding that a large percentage -- about 37% -- of these toddlers no longer met the criteria for the condition by the age of 6.
"I think what this shows is t...
As many as 1 in 4 teens with autism may be undiagnosed, new research suggests.
"Autism is much more prevalent than people assume,"said lead researcher Walter Zahorodny, an associate professor at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School in Newark.
The
In yet another reminder of the psychic toll the pandemic has taken on young people, new research shows spending on mental health services for U.S. children and adolescents has risen sharply since 2020.
It climbed 26% for youths aged 19 and younger between March 2020 and August 2022, the RAND Corp. study found. Among a large group whose families had employer-provided insurance, use of ment...
Exposure to ubiquitous chemicals known as PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, may delay puberty in girls, new research indicates.
The study is the first to consider the role hormones play in the delay, according to researchers from the University of Cincinnati.
Delayed puberty can lead to negative long-term health outcomes for girls, such as a higher incidence of breast ca...
What a baby eats, or how the baby eats, may have an impact on future weight and health, research has shown.
A new study backs that up. It found that 9-year-olds who had been breast-fed for six months or more had a lower percentage of body fat than their peers who were ne...