http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. New research at The University of Nottingham is calling for changes to a government scheme which engages community nurses in the prevention of child abuse and neglect in the home as part of a maternal and child health care programme. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-child-abuse.html Health Tue, 14 May 2013 12:47:12 EST news287754424 UNC researchers are launching a 5-year study aimed at understanding the role of oxytocin in postpartum depression and bonding between mothers and babies. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-link-postpartum-depression-hormone.html Psychology & Psychiatry Fri, 10 May 2013 07:50:01 EST news287388997 In a study published in the April 2013 edition of Pediatrics, Emory researchers suggest that late preterm birth and maternal education have a relative impact on standardized test performance—the most common measure of academic performance and principal determinate of grade retention in public schools. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-prematurity-maternal-affect-early-academic.html Pediatrics Wed, 27 Mar 2013 07:20:01 EST news283586718 Obesity rates among small children may finally be on the decline after more than tripling in the United States the past 30 years, a study out Wednesday indicated. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-childhood-obesity-dips-decades.html Overweight and Obesity Thu, 27 Dec 2012 06:41:46 EST news275812895 "Obesity and extreme obesity in childhood, which are more prevalent among minority and low-income families, have been associated with other cardiovascular risk factors, increased health care costs, and premature death. Obesity and extreme obesity during early childhood are likely to continue into adulthood. Understanding trends in extreme obesity is important because the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors increases with severity of childhood obesity," writes Liping Pan, M.D., M.P.H., of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, and colleagues. National trends in extreme obesity among young children living in low-income families have not been known. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-obesity-declining-preschool-aged-children-low-income.html Overweight and Obesity Tue, 25 Dec 2012 16:00:05 EST news275576788 The sweet taste of sugar may provide some comfort for babies during immunisations, according to a new Cochrane systematic review. Researchers found babies did not cry for as long if they were given drops of sugar solution before injections. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-spoonful-sweet-comforts-babies.html Health Tue, 11 Dec 2012 19:00:02 EST news274465690 Prenatal and childhood exposure to flame retardant compounds are linked to poorer attention, fine motor coordination and IQ in school-aged children, a finding by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, that adds to growing health concerns over a chemical prevalent in U.S. households. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-flame-retardants-linked-neurodevelopmental-children.html Health Thu, 15 Nov 2012 03:00:02 EST news272129830 Bisphenol A (BPA), an estrogen-like compound that has drawn increased scrutiny in recent years, has been linked to changes in thyroid hormone levels in pregnant women and newborn boys, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-bpa-linked-thyroid-hormone-pregnant.html Health Thu, 04 Oct 2012 00:00:01 EST news268505034 (Medical Xpress)—Although some family health innovations have proved effective in communities around the globe, many fail to gain widespread use – particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Researchers at Yale's Global Health Leadership Institute (GHLI) examined several maternal and child health programs—such as those promoting breastfeeding and contraception—and produced an integrated and practical model of how to scale-up such programs. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-yale-successful-health.html Health Fri, 21 Sep 2012 06:46:59 EST news267428813 The first ever global study to examine how changes in health inequality are related to overall coverage of maternal and child health interventions has shown that the countries making the most rapid progress in increasing maternal and child health coverage are those with programmes which most effectively address the needs of the poorest women and children in a population. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-equitable-approach-rapidly-maternal-child.html Health Wed, 19 Sep 2012 18:30:08 EST news267291263 The global mortality rate for young children has been nearly halved in the past two decades, but Africa and South Asia have not kept pace, the United Nations said Thursday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-africa-south-asia-lag-boost.html Health Thu, 13 Sep 2012 04:53:22 EST news266730796 (Medical Xpress) -- New mothers who read and write blogs may feel less alone than mothers who do not participate in a blogging community, according to family studies researchers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-blogging-relieves-stress-mothers.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 19 Jun 2012 09:33:41 EST news259317211 Women who are obese before they become pregnant are at higher risk of having children with lower cognitive function - as measured by math and reading tests taken between ages 5 to 7 years - than are mothers with a healthy prepregnancy weight, new research suggests. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-link-pre-pregnancy-obesity-scores.html Health Tue, 08 May 2012 13:20:01 EST news255701155 The Millennium Villages Project aims to co-ordinate improvements across multiple sectors in health, agriculture, the environment, business, education, and infrastructure in villages in sub-Saharan Africa. New research published Online First by The Lancet shows that, three years after implementation, mortality in children aged under 5 years in Millennium Villages has fallen by a third compared with matched control sites, showing that accelerated progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is possible with improvements across a range of sectors. The research is by Professor Jeffrey D Sachs and Dr Paul M Pronyk, The Earth Institute, Columbia University, New York, USA, and colleagues. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-millennium-villages-efforts-mdgs.html Health Mon, 07 May 2012 18:30:01 EST news255629056 A Comment linked to The Lancet Series on Adolescent Health calls for major investments in adolescent health, including moving 10% of total funding for children and adolescents towards preventive interventions in communities and schools within 5 years. It also calls for at least 30% of countries produce their own reports on adolescent health and development compared with the less than 5% that currently do so. The Comment is by Professor Michael Resnick, Division of Adolescent Health and Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA, and lead authors from each of the four Series papers already mentioned in this press release. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-percent-total-funding-children-interventions.html Health Tue, 24 Apr 2012 18:30:08 EST news254507628 An article in this week's edition of the Lancet tracks progress towards Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5, that promote maternal and child health. It finds that skilled birth attendant coverage was the least equitable intervention, while the most the most equitable intervention was early initiation of breastfeeding. The study is by Dr Aluisio J D Barros, Federal University of Pelotas, Brazil, and colleagues. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-countdown-early-breast-equitable-intervention.html Health Thu, 29 Mar 2012 18:30:01 EST news252262286 Voluminous research literature attests to the multiple negative consequences of maternal depression and depressive symptoms for the health and development of children. In contrast, there is a profound paucity of information about depressive symptoms in fathers according to a follow up study by NYU School of Medicine researchers in the February 23rd online edition of Maternal and Child Health Journal. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-characteristics-fathers-depressive-symptoms.html Psychology & Psychiatry Fri, 24 Feb 2012 04:34:37 EST news249280451 A small study of Latina women with young children led by researchers at Johns Hopkins Children's Center shows moms value a pediatrician's empathy and warmth far more than their ability to speak Spanish or other conveniences. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-latina-moms-pediatrician-personality-empathy.html Health Thu, 23 Feb 2012 13:13:54 EST news249225228 The first federally funded report to compare children with special health care needs to children without reveals 14 percent to 19 percent of children in the United States have a special health care need and their insurance is inadequate to cover the greater scope of care they require for optimal health. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-health-home-school-differ-children.html Health Tue, 06 Dec 2011 15:04:20 EST news242406029 The World Health Organisation warned on Saturday that only a stronger political commitment to child health could prevent a dangerous rise in mortality rates at a time of global economic turmoil. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-links-child-mortality-economic-crisis.html Health Sat, 26 Nov 2011 09:41:50 EST news241522900 Exposure during pregnancy to flame retardant chemicals commonly found in the home is linked to lower birthweight babies, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley's School of Public Health. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-flame-retardants-linked-lower-birth-weight-babies.html Health Tue, 30 Aug 2011 14:23:55 EST news233933014 Major progress has been made in reducing the burden of infectious diseases in Brazil as part of a "remarkable" success story for health in the South American country, according to researchers on a series of papers published in The Lancet. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-health-brazil-highlights-major.html Health Mon, 09 May 2011 17:25:05 EST news224180686 Latinas who endure violence at the hands of a partner during or within a year of pregnancy are five times more likely to suffer postpartum depression than women who have not experienced such violence, according to a new study by researchers at the UCLA Center for Culture, Trauma and Mental Health Disparities. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-latinas-victimized-domestic-violence-likelier.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 05 May 2011 09:30:28 EST news223806598