iPad game may treat lazy eye condition in kids

iPad game may treat lazy eye condition in kids A special type of iPad game effectively helped in treating children with amblyopia in restoring their visual abilities, more than the standard treatment, researchers say. Amblyopia — also known as the lazy eye — is the leading cause of monocular visual impairment — a condition in which vision in both eyes is used separately and one of the eyes has no vision with adequate vision in the other — in children. Amblyopia has traditionally been viewed as a monocular disorder that…

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Your DNA can tell how many kids you’ll have

Your DNA can tell how many kids you’ll have (Getty Images photo) The age at which you will have your first child and the number of kids you are likely to have may be encoded in your DNA, say scientists who found that genetic data can be used to accurately predict our reproductive behaviour. The study , led by researchers at University of Oxford, includes an analysis of 62 data sets with information from 2,38,064 men and women on the age at which they had their first child and 3,30,000…

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Summer Breaks Make American Kids Obese: Study

American children are at greater risk of becoming overweight or obese during summer vacation than during the school year, a new study has found. Paul von Hippel of the University of Texas, Austin and colleagues followed more than 18,000 children from the start of kindergarten in 2010 through the end of second grade in 2013, Xinhua news agency reported. Their results, published in the journal Obesity on Wednesday showed that the prevalence of obesity increased from 8.9 per cent to 11.5 per cent, and the prevalence of overweight children increased…

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Are Some Kids Genetically More Vulnerable to Food Advertising?

Children exposed to food advertisements are more likely to overeat, especially if they have a specific version of a gene linked to obesity, a recent study suggests. A gene known as the fat mass and obesity-associated gene, or FTO, comes in various slightly different versions, and was the first to be linked to obesity by genetic studies, the researchers write October 18 in the International Journal of Obesity. These kinds of genes interacting with an environment full of junk food ads may make children more likely to reach for a…

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Vitamin D-Deficient Kids Likely to Develop Asthma, Allergies

Australian researchers have found that children with vitamin D deficiency were more likely to develop asthma and other allergies later in life. Researchers from Western Australia’s Telethon Kids Institute tracked vitamin D levels from birth to age 10 in Perth and found that children were at high risk of developing asthma and allergies as they grew older if they lacked the nutrient at a young age, Xinhua news agency reported. The findings also showed that repeated bouts of vitamin D deficiency in early childhood were linked to higher rates of…

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Increased Smartphone Use May Affect Sleep, Health of Kids

Does your child indulge in playing games or watching videos on a smartphone or tablet even during bedtime? Beware, he/she may be over double the risk of having inadequate sleep, which may lead to various health issues, a study has found. Sleep is an often undervalued but important part of children’s development, with a regular lack of sleep causing adverse physical and mental health consequences, including poor diet, sedative behaviour, obesity, reduced immunity, stunted growth and mental health issues, said the researchers from Cardiff University in Britain. Currently 72 per…

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