Choking on grapes can kill young children, doctors warn

Young children can choke to death on whole grapes, warn the authors of a new report. Doctors in Scotland describe three choking cases — two of them fatal — that involved boys aged 5 and younger who were eating whole grapes. “There is general awareness of the need to supervise young children when they are eating… but knowledge of the dangers posed by grapes and other similar foods is not widespread,” according to Dr. Jamie Cooper and colleague Dr. Amy Lumsden. Cooper works in the emergency department at Royal Aberdeen…

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Tobacco Exposure Ups Behavioural Issues, Dropout Rates in Children

Children exposed to tobacco smoke in early childhood adopt anti-social behaviour, engage in proactive and reactive aggression, and face conduct problems at school, even drop out at age 12, a research has showed. Exposure to tobacco smoke is toxic to the developing brain at a time when it is most vulnerable to environment input, the researchers said. “Young children have little control over their exposure to household tobacco smoke, which is considered toxic to the brain at a time when its development is exponential,” said lead author and Professor Linda…

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Fatty Food May Up Mental Problems in Children

Love to binge on fatty foods such as oily samosas and cheese-laden pizzas? Beware, as a new study warns that such children may be at risk of developing cognitive and psychiatric problems such as schizophrenia or Alzheimer’s disease in their adulthood. According to the study, diets rich in fat deplete the levels of a key protein known as reelin which help synapses in the brain to work properly. This hampers behavioural flexibility and memory. Low levels of reelin have been associated with a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease in…

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Fewer U.S. Children Lack Access to Healthcare

As a growing number of U.S. children have gained health insurance over the past decade, fewer kids are missing out on things like physicals and dental exams, a recent study suggests. Steep declines in the number of uninsured have been well documented, largely as a result of growth in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. But the current study offers fresh evidence that kids are not only getting insured – they’re also becoming more likely to receive the care they need. “In addition to having improved insurance coverage we…

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High Incidence of Children Death Itself ‘National Calamity’: Pradhan

Likening the death of at least 93 children due to Japanese Encephalitis and other reasons in tribal-dominated Malkangiri district of Odisha to a ‘National Calamity’, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan today said he would take up the matter with the Prime Minister’s Office and other ministries. The official death toll of children in Malkangiri went upto 93 today with death of one more child, official sources said. Asked whether the Centre would declare the Malkangiri children death as a National Calamity, Pradhan said that “the death of around 100 children is…

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