WebProNews

Tag: child health

  • Quit Smoking For Kids: Exposure Damages Arteries

    “Think of the children,” has been an argument in many a morality campaign.

    While some dangers were imaginary and kids provided a convenient prop for concern trolls, smoking has been seen as one area containing legitimate reasons for health concerns. Particularly the potential negative impact on the health of children.

    Now researchers claim that there is one very strong and valid reason to keep cigarette smoke away from children.

    Seana Gall, a researcher in cardiovascular epidemiology warns, “Exposure to passive smoke in childhood causes direct and irreversible damage to the structure of the arteries”.

    Gall led a University of Tasmania-based study which determined that passive smoke inhalation by children increases their risk for heart attack and stroke as they grow older. The passive smoke exposure actually “ages” the child’s arteries over time and thickens the artery walls.

    For these reasons Gall strongly recommends that parents or persons considering becoming parents quit smoking.

    The World Health Organization has long deemed second hand smoke exposure to be a real danger. The organization has identified 250 harmful chemicals in cigarette smoke, with 50 of those chemicals known to cause cancer.

    Upwards of 6 million people die each year as a result of smoking-related illness. As many as 600,000 smoking-related deaths are said to come from continuous second-hand smoke exposure.

    A third of these deaths are thought to be children who lived in households where they were regularly exposed to second-hand cigarette smoke.

    The WHO emphasizes that the only way to prevent second-hand smoke related illness and death is to remove smoking from environments where others will be impacted.

    Thanks to many laws across the United States, passive or second-hand smoke exposure has been eliminated from school grounds and it is illegal to smoke in a car with a child.

    Despite these bold steps in recent years, legislation can only do so much.

    In order to protect children from the negative consequences of smoking, it is important that the smoking adults in their life not expose them to cigarette smoke in any way, shape, or form.

    The toughest, but most successful manner of accomplishing this is ultimately to quit smoking.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Children Are Eating More Magnets, Shows Study

    Young children eating random objects is nothing new, but a new study has now shown that children are now eating far more magnets than they were a decade ago.

    The study, published in the journal Annals of Emergency Medicine, found that “foreigh body injuries” in children due to magnets was at a rate of 0.57 for every 100,000 children between the years 2002 and 2003. The same rate was found to have jumped to 3.06 per 100,000 children between 2010 and 2011. The numbers show a more than 500% increase in the incidence of children being injured by magnets.

    22,581 magnet injuries in children were seen between 2002 and 2011. 74% of the injuries were due to children swallowing the objects, and 21% of them involved magnets being ingested through a child’s nose. The study found that the risk of injury to children was much greater when more than one magnet was swallowed.

    “It is common for children to put things in their mouth and nose, but the risk of intestinal damage increases dramatically when multiple magnets are swallowed,” said Dr. Jonathan Silverman, lead author of the study and a University of Washington department of pediatrics fellow. “The ingestion of multiple magnets can severely damage intestinal walls to the point that some kids need surgery. The magnets in question were typically those found in kitchen gadgets or desk toys marketed to adults but irresistible to children.”

    The study also found that older children are now suffering from more magnet-related nasal injuries. Silverman attributes this to jewelry that use magnets to imitate nose piercings.

  • Cholesterol and Obesity in Kids Linked to Bedroom TV Viewing

    A new study has shown a correlation between kids who have TVs in their bedroom and childhood obesity.

    Previous studies have shown that poor TV viewing habits during childhood carry on into adulthood, leading to obesity and elevated total cholesterol. According to the study’s authors, the average U.S. child from age 8 to 18 watched 4.5 hours of TV each day, and 70% of them have a TV in their bedroom. Around 1/3 of Americans from age 6 to 19 are considered obese.

    “The established association between TV and obesity is predominantly based on BMI,” said Dr. Peter Katzmarzyk, lead investigator on the study. “The association between TV and fat mass, adiposity stored in specific depots (including abdominal subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissue), and cardiometabolic risk, is less well understood. It is hypothesized that higher levels of TV viewing and the presence of a TV in the bedroom are associated with depot-specific adiposity and cardiometabolic risk.”

    The study looked at 369 Baton Rouge children aged 5 to 18 from 2010 to 2011. The kids’ waist circumference, resting blood pressure, fasting triglycerides, “bad” cholesterol, glucose, fat mass, and stomach fat were all measured.

    The results showed not only that children with a TV in their bedroom were likely to watch more TV, but they also had more fat and a higher waist circumference than children who did not. Kids with a TV in the bedroom were three times more likely to have an elevated heart and metabolic risk; elevated waist circumference; and elevated triglycerides.

    “There was a stronger association between having a TV in the bedroom versus TV viewing time, with the adiposity and health outcomes,” said Dr. Amanda Staiano, co-author of the study. “A bedroom TV may create additional disruptions to healthy habits, above and beyond regular TV viewing. For instance, having a bedroom TV is related to lower amounts of sleep and lower prevalence of regular family meals, independent of total TV viewing time. Both short sleep duration and lack of regular family meals have been related to weight gain and obesity.”

  • Inactivity Health Risk Concerns Greatest For Children, Survey Says

    A survey released this week indicates that U.S. adults rate “not enough exercise” as their leading concern for children’s health. The survey, the National Poll on Children’s Health, was conducted by the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital at the University of Michigan. The results are culled from a nationally representative household survey and reflect health concerns that Adults have for children and teens.

    According to a C.S. Mott report on the the survey, “not enough exercise” has, surprisingly, never topped their list, though 39% of survey respondents considered it their top concern this year. From the report:

    “Not enough exercise” is new to the top of the list of biggest child health problems, as measured in the Poll. From 2007 to 2011, childhood obesity, drug abuse and smoking have consistently been rated as the top 3 health problems for kids from the perspective of adults (not just parents) across the United States.

    Childhood obesity was still a major concern, coming in at the number two spot with 38% considering it a “big problem” for children’s health. Smoking and drug abuse were also considered a big problem, with over 30% of survey respondents. Bullying rounds out the overall top five, concerning 29% of adults.

    The C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital has released a helpful infographic listing the top ten concerns cited in the survey. As you can see below, the list is also parsed out by ethnic group. Though different concerns top the race-specific lists, adult concerns for children’s health are generally uniform, except for the worrying 27% of black adults concerned about childhood racial inequality and gun-related injuries.

    (image)