As most parents of preschoolers have witnessed, it’s common for children this age to imitate behaviors they see on television or in movies—whether violent, loving or something in between. This effect of media can be applied to positively impact children’s behavior, according to a study in the March 2013 issue of Pediatrics (published online Feb. 18).

For the study, “Modifying Media Content for Preschool Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial,” researchers studied 820 families with children aged 3 to 5 years who spent some time viewing screens each week. Through their community pediatric practices, half of the families participated in an intervention in which they replaced aggression-filled programming with “prosocial” and/or educational content for the children. The other half of the families were in the control group. The intervention did not attempt to reduce the number of hours of screen time for the children, but it did encourage a positive media diet and co-viewing with parents.

A case manager followed up with families regularly for 12 months. At 6 months and 12 months, the children in the intervention group were spending significantly less time on violent programming than they did at the start of the study compared to the control group. Both the intervention and control groups increased their viewing time slightly during the study, but the control group increased its minutes of violent content, while the intervention group increased its minutes of prosocial and educational content. At 6 months, the children in the intervention group demonstrated significantly less aggression and more prosocial behavior compared to the control group, and the effect lasted throughout the 12 months. The authors concluded that such an intervention can positively impact child behavior.

Courtesy of the American Academy of Pediatrics

CHICAGO – In a study that included approximately 85,000 Norwegian children, maternal use of supplemental folic acid from 4 weeks before to 8 weeks after the start of pregnancy was associated with a lower risk of autistic disorder in children, according to a study appearing in the February 13 issue of JAMA.

“Supplementation with folic acid around the time of conception reduces the risk of neural tube defects in children. This protective effect has led to mandatory fortification of flour with folic acid in several countries, and it is generally recommended that women planning to become pregnant take a daily supplement of folic acid starting 1 month before conception,” according to background information in the article. It has not been determined whether prenatal folic acid supplements protect against other neurodevelopmental disorders.

Pal Surén, M.D., M.P.H., of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, and colleagues investigated the association between the use of maternal folic acid supplements before and in early pregnancy and the subsequent risk of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) (autistic disorder, Asperger syndrome, pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified [PDD-NOS]) in children. The study sample of 85,176 children was derived from the population-based, prospective Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa). The children were born in 2002-2008; by the end of follow-up on March 31, 2012, the age range was 3.3 through 10.2 years (average age, 6.4 years). The exposure of primary interest was use of folic acid from 4 weeks before to 8 weeks after the start of pregnancy, defined as the first day of the last menstrual period before conception. Analyses were adjusted for maternal education level, year of birth, and parity (the number of live-born children a woman has delivered).

A total of 270 children (0.32 percent) in the study sample have been diagnosed with ASDs: 114 (0.13 percent) with autistic disorder, 56 (0.07 percent) with Asperger syndrome, and 100 (0.12 percent) with PDD-NOS. The researchers found that there was an inverse association between folic acid use and subsequent risk of autistic disorder. Autistic disorder was present in 0.10 percent (64/61,042) of children whose mothers took folic acid, compared with 0.21 percent (50/24,134) in children whose mothers did not take folic acid, representing a 39 percent lower odds of autistic disorder in children of folic acid users.

Characteristics of women who used folic acid within the exposure interval included being more likely to have college- or university-level education, to have planned the pregnancy, to be nonsmokers, to have a pre-pregnancy body mass index below 25, and to be first-time mothers.

“No association was found with Asperger syndrome or PDD-NOS, but power was limited. Similar analyses for prenatal fish oil supplements showed no such association with autistic disorder, even though fish oil use was associated with the same maternal characteristics as folic acid use,” the authors write.

The researchers note that the inverse association found for folic acid use in early pregnancy was absent for folic acid use in mid pregnancy.

“Our main finding was that maternal use of folic acid supplements around the time of conception was associated with a lower risk of autistic disorder. This finding does not establish a causal relation between folic acid use and autistic disorder but provides a rationale for replicating the analyses in other study samples and further investigating genetic factors and other biological mechanisms that may explain the inverse association,” the authors conclude.

Evo Stroller (brown)

Name of product:

EVO strollers

Hazard:

Consumer Contact:

Contact Mutsy USA toll-free at (877) 546-9230 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, e-mail atusa@mutsy.nl, or visit the firm’s website at www.mutsy.com for recall information.

High blood pressure during pregnancy — even once or twice during routine medical care — can signal substantially higher risks of heart and kidney disease and diabetes, according to new research in the American Heart Association journal Circulation.

“All of the later life risks were similar in pregnant women who could otherwise be considered low-risk — those who were young, normal weight, non-smokers, with no diabetes during pregnancy,” said Tuija Männistö, M.D., Ph.D., lead author of the study and a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institutes of Health, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in Rockville, Md.

Studies have shown higher heart and kidney disease risk in women with preeclampsia, a serious pregnancy-related disease marked with high blood pressure and measurable protein in the urine.

In the new study, researchers looked at less serious forms of high blood pressure that are much more common in pregnant women. For 40 years, they followed Finnish women who had babies in 1966. They calculated the risk of heart or kidney disease or diabetes in later life among women with high blood pressure during pregnancy, comparing them to women with normal blood pressure during pregnancy.

They found:

• One-third of the women had at least one high blood pressure measurement during pregnancy.
• Women who had any high blood pressure during pregnancy had 14 percent to over 100 percent higher risk of cardiovascular diseases later in life, compared to women with normal blood pressure during pregnancy.
• Women who had any high blood pressure during pregnancy were 2 to 5 times more likely to die from heart attacks than women with normal blood pressure during pregnancy.
• Women who had high blood pressure during pregnancy and healthy blood pressure levels after pregnancy had a 1.6- to 2.5-fold higher risk of having high blood pressure requiring medication or hospitalization later in life.
• Women who had high blood pressure during pregnancy had a 1.4- to 2.2-fold higher risk of having diabetes in later life.
• Women who had transient high blood pressure with and without measurable protein in the urine had a 1.9- to 2.8-fold higher risk of kidney disease in later life, compared to women with normal blood pressure during pregnancy. Transient high blood pressure is temporary high blood pressure that later returns to normal.

“According to our findings, women who have had high blood pressure during pregnancy or who are diagnosed with high blood pressure in pregnancy for the first time might benefit from comprehensive heart disease risk factor checks by their physicians, to decrease their long-term risk of heart diseases,” Männistö said.

Future research should estimate how lifestyle changes during pregnancy, such as diet, affect the risk of developing high blood pressure during pregnancy, Männistö said. Studies also should focus on how lifestyle changes and clinical follow-up after pregnancy could change these women’s long-term health.

Because the study was limited to non-Hispanic Caucasian Finnish women, researchers said they aren’t sure if results would be the same for other racial and ethnic groups.

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by American Heart Association.

Photo Credit: CDC

Most children with chickenpox completely recover. But it can be serious, even fatal, for babies, adolescents, and adults. Be proactive. Get vaccinated if you are not protected against chickenpox.

Units

18,000

Description

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), in cooperation with Bexco Enterprises Inc., dba Million Dollar Baby of Montebello, Calif. is announcing a voluntary recall of 18,000 children’s four-drawer dressers. When a young child climbs up on open dresser drawers, the dresser becomes unstable and poses the risk of tip over and entrapment. CPSC and Million Dollar Baby have received two reports of deaths associated with these dressers. An 11-month-old boy from Tulsa, Okla. and a 20-month-old girl from Camarillo, Calif. were reported to have suffocated when their dressers tipped over, entrapping them between the dresser and the floor. The cause of the deaths has not been determined.

This voluntary recall involves “Emily” style four-drawer dressers with model numbers M4712, M4722, M4732 and M4742 and similar “Ryan” dressers with the model M4733. The dressers were sold in five finishes: Cherry, Ebony, Espresso, Honey Oak and White. The model number, “Million Dollar Baby” and “MADE IN TAIWAN” are printed on a label located on the back of the dresser. The recalled dresser measures 33-inches high by 20-inches deep by 40-inches wide and is a part of the DaVinci children’s bedroom furniture collection. The dressers are made from pine and wood composite.

The recalled dressers were sold at JCPenney and independent juvenile specialty stores nationwide and online at Amazon.com, BabiesRUs.com, BabyUniverse.com and other online retailers from January 2006 through June 2010 for between $230 and $300.

The Million Dollar Baby dressers met applicable voluntary standards when first produced, but a May 2009 voluntary industry standard, and subsequent revisions published in October 2009 and November 2009, requires that tip-over restraints be sold with the dressers. The restraints attach to a wall, framing or other support to help prevent dresser tip-over entrapment hazards to young children. Million Dollar Baby is offering free retrofit kits with tip-over restraints to consumers who have older dressers. Included in the kit is an adhesive warning label that consumers are to attach to the dresser, which describes how to prevent tip-over injuries.

The dressers were manufactured in Taiwan and the USA.

Consumers should immediately stop using and keep the dresser out of a child’s reach. Consumers can contact Million Dollar Baby to receive a free retrofit kit that contains a wall anchor strap, which attaches to the dresser and wall to help prevent the dresser from tipping. The kits can be ordered by visiting the firm’s website atwww.themdbfamily.com/safety2 and click on Safety HQ or call toll-free at (888) 673-6652 between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. PT Monday through Friday.

Courtesy of CPSC.gov

Units

About 2.3 Million

Description

This recall involves Triaminic^® Syrups and Theraflu Warming Relief^® Syrups for coughs, colds and fevers. There are 24 types of these two products included in the recall. A complete list of products, lot numbers and National Drug Codes (NDC) can be found at www.novartisOTC.com. Lot numbers are located on the bottom panel of the box and on the left side of the label on the bottle. The NDC number is located on the upper right corner of the front panel of the Triaminic Syrups box and the upper left corner of the Theraflu Warming Relief Syrups bottle.

Incidents/Injuries

The firm has received 12 reports of children unscrewing the locked caps, including four reports of children ingesting the product. One child required medical attention.

Remedy

Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled product and contact Novartis for instructions on how to return the product for a full refund.

Sold at

Food, drug, mass merchandise and club stores nationwide between May 2010 and December 2011 for about $5.

Manufacturer

Novartis Consumer Health Inc., of Parsippany, NJ

Manufactured in

U.S.A.

Courtesy of cpsc.gov.

Sick children, especially those with some dehydration from flu or other illnesses, risk significant kidney injury if given drugs such as ibuprofen and naproxen, Indiana University School of Medicine researchers said Friday.

In an article published online Jan. 25 by the Journal of Pediatrics, Jason Misurac, M.D., and colleagues from IU and Butler University reported that nearly 3 percent of cases of pediatric acute kidney injury over a decade could be traced directly to having taken the common nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs.

Although relatively few in terms of percentage of total kidney damage cases, the children with problems associated with NSAIDs included four young patients who needed dialysis, and at least seven who may have suffered permanent kidney damage, the researchers said.

“These cases, including some in which patients’ kidney function will need to be monitored for years, as well as the cost of treatment, are quite significant, especially when you consider that alternatives are available and acute kidney injury from NSAIDs is avoidable,” Dr. Misurac, a fellow in pediatric nephrology, said.

Although such drugs have been linked to kidney damage in small, anecdotal reports, the study reported Thursday is believed to be the first large-scale study of the incidence and impact of acute kidney injury caused by NSAIDs.

The research team evaluated medical records at Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health in Indianapolis from January 1999 through June 2010 and found 1,015 cases in which patients had been treated for acute kidney injury from any cause.

After excluding cases in which the acute kidney injuries could possibly be explained by other factors, such as diseases affecting kidney function, the researchers found 27 cases, or 2.7 percent, in which the only factors were the administration of NSAIDs. In nearly all cases, the NSAIDs were administered before the children were admitted to the hospital. Because many of the 1,015 cases involved multiple potential causes of acute kidney injury, the researchers said the 27 cases are likely an underestimate of the number of cases in which NSAIDs contributed to the kidney damage.

Among the researchers’ findings:

• Most of the children had been treated with recommended dosages.
• All of the children under the age of 5 needed to undergo dialysis temporarily, were more likely than the older children to be placed in an intensive care unit and needed longer hospital stays.
• The average cost for hospital and kidney specialist fees in the 27 cases was nearly $13,500, and the costs were much higher for younger children. At least $375,000 was spent on the NSAID-associated kidney injury cases at Riley Hospital over the study period, the researchers said, but billing data for other specialists were not available in the database, suggesting that the actual costs were likely much higher.

NSAIDs affect kidney function by restricting blood flow to the blood-filtering components of the kidneys, which suggests the risks from the drugs are greater among children who are dehydrated due to the effects of their illness, such as vomiting or diarrhea, Dr. Misurac said.

Fever is normal during an infection and not in itself dangerous, he noted, so “one alternative to NSAIDs would be acetaminophen, but another alternative would be no medication at all, at least for a while, to let the body fight the infection.”

In addition to Dr. Misurac, authors of the paper are Sharon P. Andreoli, M.D., Jeffrey D. Leiser, M.D., Ph.D., Corina Nailescu, M.D., and Amy C. Wilson, M.D., of the IU School of Medicine, and Chad A. Knoderer, Pharm.D., of the Butler University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.

Courtesy of Eurekalert.org. 

Doctors have long believed that disabling autistic disorders last a lifetime, but a new study has found that some children who exhibit signature symptoms of the disorder recover completely.