Children's Health News

March 30, 2025

Top Headlines

PET Imaging Confirms Direct Involvement of Dopamine in Cognitive Flexibility

Mar. 28, 2025 — Scientists have confirmed a neurobiochemical link between dopamine and cognitive flexibility. PET imaging shows that the brain increases dopamine production when completing cognitively demanding ...

Biological Pathway in the Brain Could Help Explain Why Teenage Girls Are More Depressed Than Boys

Mar. 25, 2025 — Research has shown that a biological brain mechanism called the 'kynurenine pathway' is imbalanced in adolescents with depression, and this imbalance is more pronounced in teenage girls than ...

Adulting Is Hard on the Heart: Teen to Young Adulthood Is a Critical Time to Address Risk

Mar. 26, 2025 — Many youth have heart disease risk factors by their late teens, and preventing or addressing these risks early may reduce the risk of developing cardiovascular disease in the future, according to a ...

Almost Half of Children With Complicated Appendicitis Can Recover from Surgery at Home

Mar. 20, 2025 — Almost half of children who require surgery for complicated appendicitis can safely complete their recovery at home, according to a new ...

Latest Headlines

updated 10:50pm EDT

Compelling Data Point to a Single, Unknown Respiratory Virus as Cause of Kawasaki Disease

Mar. 27, 2025 — New research strongly suggests that Kawasaki disease is caused by a single respiratory virus that is yet to be identified. Findings contradict the ...

Part of the Genetic Risk for Schizophrenia Acts Through the Placenta

Mar. 20, 2025 — An international team has identified associations between modifications in the placenta and the risk of developing schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depression ...

How Family Background Can Help Lead to Athletic Success

Mar. 20, 2025 — Americans have long believed that sports are one area in society that offers kids from all backgrounds the chance to succeed to the best of their abilities. But new research suggests that this belief ...

Classifying Childhood Brain Cancers by Immune Response May Improve Diagnostics and Treatments

Mar. 19, 2025 — The new approach establishes an opportunity to harness the success of immunotherapies that revolutionized the treatment of childhood leukemias for ...

Gender Gap in Teenage Depression Is Twice as Large in London Than in Tokyo, New Study Finds

Mar. 18, 2025 — Research has tracked depressive symptoms in 7100 young people from Tokyo and London and shown girls have more depressive symptoms than boys in both ...

Innovative Infant Wearable Uses Artificial Intelligence for at-Home Assessments of Early Motor Development

Mar. 18, 2025 — The smart MAIJU jumpsuit offers a novel approach to at-home monitoring of infants' early motor development. The wearable device combines expertise in ...

How Childhood Adversity Shapes Brain and Behavior

Mar. 17, 2025 — Early-life adversity affects more than half of the world's children and is a significant risk factor for cognitive and mental health problems later in life. In an extensive and up-to-the-minute ...

Maternal Depression Can Lead to Children's Emotional Overeating, Study Shows

Mar. 17, 2025 — Up to 25% of new mothers suffer from postpartum depression, which can significantly impact their parenting behavior and the wellbeing of their ...

Older Adults Might Be More Resistant to Bird Flu Infections Than Children

Mar. 13, 2025 — Older adults who were exposed to seasonal flu viruses that circulated prior to 1968 are more likely to have some protection against H5N1, and children would benefit more from H5N1 ...

Depressing Findings for Those Suffering from Eating Disorders

Mar. 13, 2025 — New research shows that people with eating disorders are more harshly judged than those suffering from depression, making it much harder for them to seek ...

Study Highlights Noninvasive Hearing Aid

Mar. 13, 2025 — A study highlights a new approach in addressing conductive hearing loss. A team of scientists has designed a new type of hearing aid that not only improves hearing but also offers a safe, ...

Two-Thirds of Children Classified BMI-Overweight Had Normal Fat Estimated With Waist-to-Height Ratio

Mar. 12, 2025 — Body mass index (BMI) was almost three times more likely to classify children as overweight than waist circumference-to-height ratio, according to a new ...

Cause of Post-COVID Inflammatory Shock in Children Identified

Mar. 12, 2025 — MIS-C is a serious inflammatory shock that affects children. It can occur several weeks after a COVID infection and can be life-threatening. Until now, however, the precise cause of the condition was ...

Study Pinpoints the Impact of Prenatal Stress Across 27 Weeks of Pregnancy

Mar. 10, 2025 — Researchers found new insights on the timing of prenatal stress and its effect on infant stress reactivity and temperament -- including differences between ...

What's in a Label? It's Different for Boys Vs. Girls, New Study of Parents Finds

Mar. 10, 2025 — Research has shown that adults instinctively think of men when asked to think of a person -- they describe the most 'typical' person they can imagine as male and assume storybook characters ...

Worldwide Study Finds High Rates of Depression and Anxiety in People With Chronic Pain

Mar. 10, 2025 — A novel analysis of more than 375 published studies concluded that the association between chronic pain and rates of depression and anxiety is staggering. The study found that 40% of adults with ...

Improving School Readiness for Children With Low Birth Weight

Mar. 7, 2025 — School readiness not only impacts kids' academic success, but also their long-term economic and health outcomes. Unfortunately, research reveals a concerning gap in school readiness for children ...

High Temperatures Could Affect Brain Function in Preadolescents

Mar. 6, 2025 — Exposure to high ambient temperatures is associated with lower connectivity in three brain networks in preadolescents, suggesting that heat may impact brain ...

AI May Help Clinicians Personalize Treatment for Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Mar. 6, 2025 — Individuals with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), a condition characterized by daily excessive worry lasting at least six months, have a high relapse rate even after receiving treatment. ...

Genomics to Revolutionize Treatment of Childhood Rare Diseases

Mar. 6, 2025 — A simple genomics blood test could improve treatment and care for childhood epilepsy, but more investment is needed to make access fair and securely join up the data, finds a new ...

Does Getting ADHD Drugs Via Telehealth Increase Addiction Risk?

Mar. 5, 2025 — A study of people who started ADHD stimulant treatment via telehealth vs in-person visits shows no difference in risk of new substance use disorders except for young adults age ...

For Some, Childhood Adversity Can Promote Resilience to Anxiety Disorders

Mar. 5, 2025 — Research has shown that young people who face adversity such as traumatic or stressful events during brain development are 40% more likely to develop anxiety disorders by adulthood. But most people ...

School Absence Patterns Could ID Children With Chronic GI Disorders, Research Suggests

Mar. 4, 2025 — Children who frequently miss school because of abdominal complaints are far more likely to be suffering from chronic disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome than diseases that can be detected with ...

Lack of Medical Oxygen Affects Millions

Mar. 3, 2025 — Hundreds of thousands die each year with millions more suffering due to lack of access to medical ...

A Third of Children Worldwide Forecast to Be Obese or Overweight by 2050

Mar. 3, 2025 — Obesity rates are set to skyrocket, with one in six children and adolescents worldwide forecast to be obese by 2050, according to a new study. But with significant increases predicted within the next ...

Strong Link Between Western Diet During Pregnancy and ADHD

Mar. 3, 2025 — New research reveals that a mother's diet during pregnancy -- characterized by a Western dietary pattern high in fat and sugar and low in fresh ingredients -- may increase the risk of ...

Novel Research Shows Brain Connections Can Predict Future Substance Use in Adolescents

Mar. 3, 2025 — Adolescent substance use is a significant predictor of future addiction and related disorders. Understanding neural mechanisms underlying substance use initiation and frequency during adolescence is ...

Researchers Uncover Blood Metabolites That May Influence Early Childhood Development

Feb. 28, 2025 — Researchers have identified small molecules in the blood that may impact early childhood development, showing how dietary exposures, early life experiences, and gut health can influence a ...

Associative Learning: Primary School Children Outperform All Other Age Groups

Feb. 27, 2025 — The ability to make the connection between an event and its consequences -- experts use the term associative learning -- is a crucial skill for adapting to the environment. It has a huge impact on ...

Drug May Prevent Some Migraine Attacks in Children and Teens

Feb. 26, 2025 — For children and teens living with migraine, there may be a new preventive treatment, according to a preliminary study. Researchers found the drug zonisamide, which has been used to treat seizures, ...