Thursday, December 9, 2010

What's up for kids, Doc?

News from the world of medicine that matters for the younger ones:

Children who attend large group child care facilities before age 2½ appear to develop more respiratory and ear infections at that age, but fewer such illnesses during elementary school years, according to a report.

Targeting the core social deficits of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in early intervention programs yielded sustained improvements in social and communication skills even in very young children who have ASD, according to a study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health.

The "A" grades that high schoolers earn aren't just good for making the honor roll -- they also make them healthier as adults, too. "We already know it matters for things like your work and your earnings, but this proves it also matters for your health." "We already know it matters for things like your work and your earnings, but this proves it also matters for your health," says Pamela Herd, an associate professor of public affairs and sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Vitamin A supplements are still an effective way to reduce childhood death and disease. A new study by Cochrane researchers strongly endorses the continuation of vitamin A supplementation programs, which reduce the incidence of measles and diarrhea and ultimately save lives.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and developmental reading disability (RD) are complex childhood disorders that frequently occur together; if a child is experiencing trouble with reading, symptoms of ADHD are often also present. However, the reason for this correlation remains unknown. A new study  has suggested that the disorders have common genetic influences, which may also lead to slow processing speed -- the brain taking longer to make sense of the information it receives.

Only about one-fourth of children participating in organized sports -- such as baseball, softball or soccer -- receive the government-recommended amount of physical activity during team practices, according to a report.

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