The New York Times (10/31) reports, “People who were restricted to limited amounts of sugar in the first few years of life were less likely to develop diabetes and high blood pressure decades later, a new study has found.” Researchers “reported that those exposed to sugar rationing early in life had a 35 percent lower risk of diabetes and a 20 percent lower risk of high blood pressure in middle age.” Study results indicate that “the onset of those chronic diseases was also delayed by four years for diabetes and two years for high blood pressure.” The findings were published in Science. 

        The Hill (10/31) reports, “Reduction of sugar intake by pregnant women accounted for about one-third of the reduction in risk, the researchers found.”

From the very start, parents and caregivers create a safe, nurturing place where children can thrive. But in the United States, families are often forced to make difficult choices between a paycheck and taking time to care for a new baby or sick family member. Dr. Christiane E.L. Dammann explains why pediatricians support paid family and medical leave—including at least 12 weeks of leave for parents of newborn infants or newly adopted children—for all working adults at HealthyChildren.org.

MedPage Today (10/28) reported, “Poor executive function and aggressive behavior at age 5 years was observed among children exposed to cannabis during pregnancy, a cohort study suggested.” Researchers found that “among 250 children, age-corrected standard scores for attention and inhibitory control on the NIH Toolbox Early Childhood Cognitive Composite were about 0.4 standard deviations lower for those exposed to cannabis compared with those who were unexposed…after propensity score weighting and adjustment for confounders.” One researcher said, “These findings reinforce the existing clinical recommendations that are out there [from] the American Academy of Pediatrics.” The findings were published in JAMA Pediatrics.

HealthDay (10/18) reported children “with good physical fitness are more likely to grow into teens with better mental health and brain function, a new study has found.” Children “who performed better at shuttle sprints scored better on cognitive tests as teenagers, researchers found.” Additionally, “better cardio fitness in childhood added up to lower levels of stress and depression among teenagers, results show.” The findings were published in Sports Medicine.

Healio (10/21) reports, “Sending young children from low-income households to free summer day camps could help reduce gains in BMI during summer break, according to a randomized clinical trial.” The researchers said, “Because most municipalities have some form of summer programming, this intervention approach is readily available for many youth and potentially easy to implement if funds are available to support the cost.” The findings were published in JAMA Pediatrics.

Andrea Pappalardo, M.D., FAAP, talks about managing allergies and asthma outside the home. Her discussion focuses on school policies, best practices for sports and other activities, and teaching children to advocate for themselves. Listen here or on your favorite podcast 

The AP (10/2) reported, “U.S. kindergarten vaccination rates dipped last year and the proportion of children with exemptions rose to an all-time high, according to federal data posted Wednesday.” The percentage “of [children] exempted from vaccine requirements rose to 3.3%, up from 3% the year before.” About “92.7% of kindergartners got their required shots, which is a little lower than the previous two years.” Prior to “the COVID-19 pandemic the vaccination rate was 95%, the coverage level that makes it unlikely that a single infection will spark a disease cluster or outbreak.” The changes might “seem slight but are significant, translating to about 80,000 [children] not getting vaccinated, health officials say.” 

        USA Today (10/3) reported vaccine “exemptions increased in 40 states and Washington, D.C.” The CDC data show “the percentage of children with exemptions in 14 states exceeded 5%.” 

        ABC News (10/3) reported, “For the MMR [measles, mumps and rubella] vaccine, coverage fell from 93.1% during the 2022-23 school year to 92.7% during the 2023-24 school year while DTaP [diphtheria, tetanus and acellular pertussis] vaccination coverage dropped from 92.7% to 92.3% over the same period.” Meanwhile, “coverage for the polio vaccine fell from 93.1% to 92.6% and the percentage of children who received two doses of the chickenpox vaccine declined from 92.8% to 92.3%.”