Articles labeled: cdc

Let’s hope this report is accurate, as it’s very good news. Hopefully next we will see a downward trend.

There was no significant increase in the prevalence of obese children and teens in the U.S. between 1999 and 2006, in contrast to the increase that had been reported in prior years, according to a new study.

“In the United States, the prevalence of overweight among children increased between 1980 and 2004, and the heaviest children have been getting heavier,” the authors write.

Cynthia L. Ogden, Ph.D., of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Hyattsville, Md., and colleagues updated the most recent national estimates of the prevalence of pediatric high body mass index (BMI). Height and weight measurements were obtained from 8,165 children and adolescents as part of the 2003-2004 and 2005-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), which are nationally representative surveys of the U.S. population.

No statistically significant change in high BMI for age was found between 2003-2004 and 2005-2006. No statistically significant trend in high BMI was found over the time periods 1999-2000, 2001-2002, 2003-2004, and 2005-2006.

The Center for Disease Control is reporting that a common virus that’s generally considered to be mild is to blame for the deaths of 5 children.

The five deaths mark the first time an infection was found to be fatal, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Tens of thousands of children get the virus each year, but it seldom causes illness, and then usually mild cases. Young children, with immature immune systems, are at the greatest danger from the virus, called Coxsackievirus B1.

It’s not clear that the virus has mutated to become more dangerous, said Steve Oberste, chief of a CDC laboratory that investigated the deaths. Perhaps the virus’s deadliness was revealed simply through better laboratory tests, he said.

“It’s probably not something that should panic people,” he said.

In our day, if we were looking for a “dreamy high”, we would just smoke some weed. Now kids as young as 6 are playing the “choking game”, which is as crazy and dangerous as it sounds — they use various ligatures (rope, scarves, belts) to constrict their airflow until they become lightheaded and euphoric, which is when they are supposed to release the pressure around their neck. Of course, the situation is ripe for things to go horribly wrong:

A federal study of news reports has identified 82 deaths in 31 states from 1995 to October 2007. Fifty-seven children died in 2005 and 2006 alone.

But even if they survive, say experts at the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, the “game” might leave them with permanent brain damage, seizure disorders or other disabilities.

The CDC paper is the first attempt to gather national statistics on the phenomenon. The actual number of fatalities is probably higher, the scientists said, because there is no requirement that such deaths be reported as a separate category.

Intentional suicides, autoerotic activity or other questionable deaths by hanging or strangulation were not included.

Our first reaction to this story was a loud resounding EWWWW, but then we got our heads out of our butts and remembered not everyone in the world has a kitchen littered with blenders and food processors, or even electricity for that matter. And given the rapid spread of HIV in many developing countries, it’s a pretty serious matter. But the cases that happened here in the U.S.? Come on, people! There’s nothing more American than *not* having to pre-chew your baby’s food.

A HIV-positive mother can infect her baby with the virus if she pre-chews the child’s food, researchers warned today.

US government scientists have identified three cases in which a child was infected in this way. The report raised concern the problem could be far more prevalent in the developing world where the practice of pre-chewing babies’ food is common in some countries.

The scientists said that blood, rather than saliva, carried the virus because in at least two of the cases the infected mothers had bleeding gums or mouth sores.

In some developing countries, some mothers pre-chew food for babies - possibly because they have no other way to blend baby food for toothless infants.

The FDA will decide today if they will ban the marketing and manufacturing of cold medicines for children under 2.

Why do I get this sneaking suspicion that parents will just give their kids medicine that’s directed for older children, causing even more meyhem.

The Food and Drug Administration still hasn’t decided if the remedies are appropriate for older children to continue using, officials told The Associated Press.

Expect a decision on that by spring, the deadline necessary to notify manufacturers before they begin production for next fall’s cold season.

For now, the FDA is issuing a public health advisory on Thursday to warn parents to avoid these drugs for children under age 2 “because serious and potentially life-threatening side effects can occur.”

Thimerosal doesn’t cause brain damage, so unqualified voices against thimersal really need to find another bandwagon to hop on and stop making unscienfic and false conclusions based on false pretenses and incompetent theories. Just stop it already. Simplying believing that it causes brain damage doesn’t make it so:

In the most recent study funded by the CDC, researchers evaluated more than 1,000 kids between the ages of 7 and 10 who were exposed to various levels of thimerosal as babies.

Researchers tested the children extensively, assessing the children in 42 different areas of neurological functioning and making almost 400 different statistical comparisons. They found that for the vast majority of tests, children with high levels of thimerosal exposure performed equally well compared to children with low exposure levels, indicating that thimerosal has no effect on brain development.