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Study Finds Breastfed Babies Are Less Likely to Become Obese

How to break the cycle of diabetes that often plagues families -- especially those in which the parents are overweight -- is a problem that has troubled researchers and physicians for many years. But a study being published in the October issue of Diabetes Care provides families with one tool that may help: Breastfeeding.

The Harvard School of Public Health based study, of more than 15,000 boys and girls between the ages of 9 and 14, found that those who were breastfed during the first year of life were less likely to become obese as they grew older -- regardless of whether their mothers were overweight or had diabetes. This research contradicts a previous study that suggested that children breastfed by mothers with diabetes exhibited poor glucose tolerance and excessive weight gain as they began to grow.

"In contrast to the earlier study, we were able to include mothers in our study who didn't have diabetes, as well as those who did, and our sample size was significantly larger," said lead researcher Elizabeth J. Mayer-Davis, PhD, of the University of South Carolina's Arnold School of Public Health. "We found a substantial benefit to breastfeeding for all children, regardless of their mother's weight or health status. For children at higher risk for diabetes or obesity because of their family history, breastfeeding may play a critical role in helping to reduce the risk of excessive weight gain. Obviously, other factors are important as well, such as continued good nutrition and regular physical activity. But breastfeeding can get them started down a healthy track in life."

Cutting Sex Risk: High school students are reducing their risks of getting sexually transmitted diseases.

Listen: cuttingsexrisk.mp3

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's finding was in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Over about 15 years, high schoolers who ever had sex decreased by 13 percent. Among those who were sexually active, those using condoms increased by 36 percent.

The CDC's Howell Wechsler says a lot of causes could have led to the improvements – from the young people themselves to the influence of educators, youth leaders, government and media campaigns, and parents. But he says too many still put themselves at risk of sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV.

Wechsler advises parents: "You need to know what's going on in the lives of your children, and express clearly, forthrightly and with love the values that you want to transmit to them."

100 Best Employers For Parents - Working Mother Magazine

Eighteen new U.S. companies made the magazine's list, which hits newsstands on Monday. Hundreds of companies apply for the Honor that is used as a recruiting tool and helps in retaining workers, said Editor-in-chief Suzanne Riss.

Top among working mothers' desires are flexibility in the hours they work and the availability of job sharing and telecommuting, Riss said. All but two companies on the list offered job sharing, compared to 18 percent of U.S. companies overall.

Via: Reuters / Working Mother

Abbott
Accenture
Aflac Inc.
Allstate Insurance Co.
American Express Co.
Arnold & Porter LLP
Astrazeneca
Avon Products Inc.

Dairy for teen moms may help build infants' bones

Pregnant teens who get plenty of calcium from dairy foods may be helping their babies build stronger bones, a new study shows.

A woman's calcium requirements peak during pregnancy, and meeting these needs is particularly important for pregnant adolescents, whose own bones are still "growing and maturing," investigators note in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology.

However, pregnant adolescents drink less milk and eat more snack foods than adult pregnant women, Dr. Gary M. Chan of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City and colleagues point out.

via: Reuters

Drug Mix-Up Results in 3 Babies' Deaths

Early last Saturday, nurses at an Indianapolis hospital went to the drug cabinet in the newborn intensive care unit to get blood-thinner for several premature babies.

The nurses didn't realize a pharmacy technician had mistakenly stocked the cabinet with vials containing a dose 1,000 times stronger than what the babies were supposed to receive. And they apparently didn't notice that the label said "heparin," not "hep-lock," and that it was dark blue instead of baby blue.

Those mistakes led to the deaths of three infants. Three others also suffered overdoses but survived.

via: Forbes / AP

Protective breathing reflex absent in newborns

Research suggests that healthy newborn infants do not have what doctors call "nasoaxillary reflex" -- a protective reflex that helps keep their nasal passages open.

They note that the side sleeping position has been associated in one study with a slightly greater risk of SIDS than in the back sleeping position, and that the back sleeping position "has unequivocally been recommended as being preferred to any other position to prevent SIDS."

via: Reuters
via: Archives of Diseases in Childhood September 2006

Infant Virus Test Approved By FDA

The QuickVue RSV test allows for the rapid, qualitative detection of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) directly from nasopharyngeal swab and nasopharyngeal aspirate specimens from symptomatic patients 18 years of age and younger. The test is intended for use as an aid in the rapid diagnosis of acute RSV viral infections. RSV infection is recognized as the leading cause of hospitalization of children during the first year of life.

Having the healthiest baby possible

Women who improve their own health before pregnancy have a better chance of delivering a robust, healthy baby. Three important measures include:

• Managing conditions such as diabetes, hypothyroidism, inherited disorders, obesity, sexually transmitted diseases, and oral health
• Protecting one’s health through supplements such as folic acid, vaccinations for Rubella, Hepatitis B, and screening for HIV
• voiding alcohol, anti-epileptic drugs, acne-controlling medicines, oral anticoagulants and smoking

More information on these and other measures are now freely accessible online in a special Supplement to the Maternal and Child Health Journal, published by Springer. The Supplement provides everything that health care specialists and the public need to know about the importance of women’s health and health care before pregnancy. Dr. Jennifer L. Howse, president of the March of Dimes and a co-author of the lead article of the Supplement, said, “The greatest opportunities for improving the health of mothers and babies lie in prevention strategies implemented before conception.”

News Alerts

Decorate  nursery with baby's  health in mind
"Typically," she says, "we bring baby home to the sickest room in the house."

The nursery is "sick" because we think more about how the room will look than what it will do to our babies' health. Unknowingly, we buy what we think is cute rather than what's safe. Everything in the baby's room -- from the mattress to the paint on the walls -- can emit harmful volatile organic chemicals (VOC) that can cause breathing problems. Lung disease and breathing problems are the No. 1 cause of death in infants less than 1 year old, according to the American Lung Association.

Nutritious, medicinal, it is best for the little ones
For most of the 20th century, American society preferred to tuck away references to this act, which after all is as natural as life itself. And that's the stigma associated with just talking about it. Actually nursing a baby in public was a lot more difficult. Unless the nursing mother stayed at home with her infant, she needed to constantly find locations where she could discreetly feed her baby, and many times a day.

Selection of embryos is on rise for couples
Prospective parents have been using the procedure, known as pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, for more than a decade to screen for genes certain to cause childhood diseases that are severe and largely untreatable.

Baby health linked to mums' weight gain
Weight gain above guidelines during pregnancy is common,  according to researchers, and infants born to women with high weight gain tend  to have worse outcomes.

Delaying childbearing: effect of age on fecundity and outcome of pregnancy

Of the 751 women, 555 became pregnant and 461 had healthy babies. The fall in fecundity was estimated to start at around 31 years (critical age); after 12 cycles the probability of pregnancy in a woman aged greater than 31 was 0.54 compared with 0.74 in a woman aged 20.31. After 24 cycles this difference had decreased (probability of conception 0.75 in women greater than 31 and 0.85 in women 20.31). The probability of having a healthy baby also decreased--by 3.5% a year after the age of 30. Combining both these age effects, the chance of a woman aged 35 having a healthy baby was about half that of a woman aged 25. CONCLUSION--After the age of 31 the probability of conception falls rapidly, but this can be partly compensated for by continuing insemination for more cycles. In addition, the probability of an adverse pregnancy outcome starts to increase at about the same age.