Psychological Problems in Childhood Affect Earning Power and Relationships Later

In a 50-year study of more than 17,000 British people who were followed since birth, researchers from the RAND Labor and Population program found that psychological problems during childhood were related to measurable social and financial deficits later in life.

By age 50, those who had experienced serious psychological problems as children had family incomes that were 25% smaller than those of their peers who didn't have the same issues. Kids who had serious psychological problems — such as depression, anxiety, substance abuse or other mental disorders that caused moderate or severe 'emotional maladjustment' as determined by a doctor — were also less likely to have stable personal relationships or to be married by 50.

"These findings demonstrate that childhood psychological problems can have significant negative impacts over the course of an individual's life, much more so than childhood physical health problems," said James P. Smith, one of the study's authors and a senior economist at RAND, in a statement.

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Babies Who Start Solids Too Early More Likely To Be Obese

Ideally, babies are exclusively breast-fed for the first six months of their lives. Then, solid food — really, a misnomer since “solids” consist initially of soupy rice or barley cereal — is introduced. But a quarter of U.S. infants are introduced to solid foods before they hit four months.

Why parents disregard the recommendation from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the World Health Organization to hold off on solids until six months and what that means for these babies down the road is the subject of two new studies in the AAP journal Pediatrics.

One study, published Monday by researchers at Children's Hospital Boston and Harvard University, shows that introducing solids before a baby's 4-month birthday is linked to a sixfold increase in that baby becoming obese by the time he's 3. This was true for infants whose mothers never breast-fed them or weaned them before four months.

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BABY MILK FORMULA MAKES CHILDREN FAT, STUDY FINDS

Research published recently in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has delivered another blow to the reputation of baby milk formula. It shows how consumption of the synthetic product as a baby can cause increased obesity later in childhood.

The British scientists found how body fat mass in five to eight-year-olds was between 22 and 38 percent higher in those who had been given the formula compared to breast-fed infants. Researchers speculated that the children took in more calories at an early age, which altered their metabolism.

The study was led by Atul Singhal, a professor from the University College London. He said: "This study supports the case in the general population for breastfeeding since it is harder to overfeed a breastfed baby."

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Parental Divorce in Childhood Linked to Stroke in Adulthood

Children who experience a parental divorce are over twice as likely to suffer a stroke at some point in their lives, according to new research presented in New Orleans at The Gerontological Society of America's (GSA) 63rd Annual Scientific Meeting.

This finding is based on a representative community sample of over 13,000 people from the 2005 Canadian Community Health Survey. The data analysis was conducted by Esme Fuller-Thomson, PhD, and a team of colleagues at the University of Toronto.

"We were very surprised that the association between parental divorce and stroke remained so strong even after we had adjusted for smoking, obesity, exercise and alcohol consumption," said Fuller-Thomson.

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Late-Preterm Babies at Greater Risk for Problems Later in Childhood

Late-preterm babies -- those born between 34 and 36 weeks -- are at an increased risk for cognitive and emotional problems, regardless of maternal IQ or demographics, according to new research published by Michigan State University researchers in the current edition of the journal Pediatrics.

While late-preterm births (full-term pregnancies last at least 37 weeks) have been associated with such problems before, the study represents one of the most rigorous looks at the issue by accounting for other potential causes, said the study's lead author, Nicole Talge, a postdoctoral research associate in MSU's Department of Epidemiology.

"Previous studies reveal that babies born a little early are at-risk for short-term medical problems and possibly long-term behavioral and cognitive problems," Talge said.

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ANTIBIOTIC TREATMENT FOR EAR INFECTIONS IN KIDS PROVIDES ONLY MODEST BENEFITS, STUDY FINDS

Using antibiotics to treat newly diagnosed acute ear infections among children is modestly more effective than no treatment, but comes with a risk of side effects, according to a new study designed to help advise efforts to rewrite treatment guidelines for the common illness.

Researchers found no evidence that name-brand antibiotics work any better in general than generic antibiotics and that careful examination of the eardrum by a clinician for signs of infection is critical for accurate diagnosis of acute ear infections. The study is published in the Nov. 17 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

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PERIODIZATION OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Period means the circle of time. In this case, the period is periodization. This is a way to facilitate understanding of child development, namely by determining the stages of child's age to be educated in accordance with the physical and psychological condition.

The development is a process from childhood to reach maturity and character of progress or perfection of personality. In other words, development is the emergence of new things, for example, children who initially self-centered, it will eventually turn into a social, and if it was once full of fantasy life, in time they would like reality.

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