Peds/OB/GYN

Illinois study identifies 3 risk factors most highly correlated with child obesity
A University of Illinois study has identified the three most significant risk factors for child obesity among preschoolers: (1) inadequate sleep, (2) a parental BMI that classifies the mom or dad as overweight or obese, and (3) parental restriction of a child's eating in order to control his weight. Eurekalert!

Secondhand smoke exposure increases odds of hospital asthma readmission for children
A new study shows that exposure to secondhand smoke at home or in the car dramatically increases the odds of children being readmitted to the hospital within a year of being admitted for asthma. The study, published in the journal Pediatrics, raises the possibility that measurement of tobacco exposure could be used in clinical practice to target smoking cessation efforts and reduce the likelihood of future hospitalizations. Eurekalert!

Gum Chewing in Kids Under-Recognized Cause of Headaches
He advises that doctors make a point of enquiring about the gum chewing habits of adolescents reporting daily or recurrent headaches. "If the neurological examination is normal and the habit is present, they should first of all discontinue it to see if headaches improve, before embarking on expensive diagnostic procedures, or prescribing medications for the headache," Dr. Watemberg notes.

Their findings are published in the January issue of Pediatric Neurology. Medscape

Prophylactic Probiotics Reduce Infantile Colic and Reflux
Treatment with the probiotic Lactobacillus reuteri DSM 17938 during the first 3 months of life reduced the likelihood of colic, regurgitation, and functional constipation. Prophylactic treatment also reduced the public and private costs of managing these conditions.

Flavia Indrio, MD, from University of Bari Aldo Moro, Italy, and colleagues published the results of their large randomized clinical trial online January 13 in JAMA Pediatrics. The cohort included 589 newborns born at 9 neonatal units in Italy between September 1, 2010, and October 30, 2012. The investigators included both breast-fed and formula-fed infants. Medscape

Index detects early signs of deviation from normal brain development
Researchers at Penn Medicine have generated a brain development index from MRI scans that captures the complex patterns of maturation during normal brain development. This index will allow clinicians and researchers for the first time to detect subtle, yet potentially critical early signs of deviation from normal development during late childhood to early adult. The study, published online in the journal Cerebral Cortex, shows a relationship between cognitive development and physical changes in the developing young brain (aged 8 to 21). MedicalXpress

Parental exposure to THC Linked to drug addiction, compulsive behavior in unexposed offspring
Exposing adolescent rats to THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) –the primary psychoactive ingredient in marijuana—can lead to molecular and behavioral alterations in the next generation of offspring, even though progeny were not directly exposed to the drug, researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have found. Male offspring showed stronger motivation to self-administer heroin during their adulthood and molecular changes in the glutamatergic system, which is the most important excitatory pathway for neurotransmission in the brain. Damage in the glutamate pathway, which regulates synaptic plasticity, has been linked to disturbances in goal-directed behavior and habit formation. The study is published online Jan. 22 in Neuropsychopharmacology. Eurekalert!