Pediatrics – Public Health
WHO Report | Global progress in tackling maternal and newborn deaths stalls since 2015
25 May, 2023 | 11:36h | UTCNews Release: Global progress in tackling maternal and newborn deaths stalls since 2015: UN – World Health Organization
WHO Report | 152 million babies born preterm in the last decade
23 May, 2023 | 13:15h | UTCNews Release: 152 million babies born preterm in the last decade – World Health Organization
Report: Born too soon: decade of action on preterm birth – World Health Organization
M-A | Impact on childhood mortality of interventions to improve drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene to households
10 May, 2023 | 15:28h | UTC
AAP Policy Statement | Protecting children and adolescents from tobacco and nicotine
4 May, 2023 | 13:43h | UTCProtecting Children and Adolescents From Tobacco and Nicotine – Pediatrics
Clinical Report: Protecting Children and Adolescents From Tobacco and Nicotine – Pediatrics
Commentaries:
Protecting Kids From Tobacco’s Harms: AAP Policy Explained – Health Children
Characteristics of fatal poisonings among infants and young children in the US
25 Apr, 2023 | 14:28h | UTC
Sudden unexpected infant deaths in the US: 2015–2020
25 Apr, 2023 | 14:27h | UTCSudden Unexpected Infant Deaths: 2015–2020 – Pediatrics
Commentary:
Increasing Disparities in Sudden Unexpected Infant Deaths Reflect Societal Failures – Pediatrics
2020 spike in SIDS likely due to diagnostic shifting, not COVID-19 – Contemporary Pediatrics
Analysis | Global coverage and design of sugar-sweetened beverage taxes
5 Apr, 2023 | 12:43h | UTCGlobal Coverage and Design of Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Taxes – JAMA Network Open
Related:
WHO manual on sugar-sweetened beverage taxation policies to promote healthy diets.
M-A: Outcomes following taxation of sugar-sweetened beverages.
Public Policies to Reduce Sugary Drink Consumption in Children and Adolescents – Pediatrics
Cutting back on sugar-sweetened beverages: What works? – Cochrane Library
Sugar-sweetened beverage taxes: Lessons to date and the future of taxation – PLOS Medicine
Banning the promotion of soft drinks could be more effective than a sugar tax – The Conversation
Sugar tax: why health experts want it but politicians and industry are resisting – The Guardian
Commentary on Twitter
With 105 national SSB taxes in effect covering 51% of the world’s population, SSB taxes are no longer a novel policy tool. https://t.co/P0TvIdB4D3
— JAMA Network Open (@JAMANetworkOpen) March 29, 2023
Updated WHO Guidelines | COVID-19 boosters no longer routinely recommended for low-risk groups
30 Mar, 2023 | 14:33h | UTCSummary: The WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) has revised its COVID-19 vaccination roadmap in light of the Omicron variant and widespread population immunity. The revised roadmap prioritizes protecting those at the highest risk of severe disease and death while maintaining resilient health systems. It introduces cost-effectiveness considerations for vaccinating lower-risk individuals, such as healthy children and adolescents, and presents revised booster dose recommendations.
Priority groups are categorized as high, medium, and low, based on factors like risk of severe disease and death. People in the high-priority group, consisting of older adults, individuals with significant comorbidities or immunocompromising conditions, pregnant persons, and frontline health workers, are advised to receive additional boosters 6 or 12 months after the last dose. The medium priority group, which includes healthy adults without comorbidities and children with comorbidities, is recommended to receive primary series and first booster doses. However, SAGE no longer routinely recommends additional boosters for this group due to limited public health gains.
For the low-priority group, encompassing healthy children and adolescents, vaccination decisions should take into account factors such as disease prevalence and cost-effectiveness. It is important to note that the public health benefits of vaccinating healthy children and adolescents are considerably lower compared to established essential vaccines for children, like rotavirus, measles, and pneumococcal conjugate vaccines.
News Release: SAGE updates COVID-19 vaccination guidance – World Health Organization
Commentaries:
No More COVID-19 Boosters for Healthy People, WHO Experts Recommend – Health Policy Watch
WHO vaccine advisers update COVID vaccine recommendations – CIDRAP
M-A | The efficacy of Kangaroo-Mother care to the clinical outcomes of LBW and premature infants
21 Mar, 2023 | 13:35h | UTCSummary: Kangaroo-Mother Care (KMC) is a method that involves skin-to-skin contact between the mother and newborn, frequent exclusive or almost exclusive breastfeeding, and early discharge. KMC is an alternative to traditional care interventions for low birthweight (LBW) infants, and the World Health Organization has recommended its use for LBW infants for over a decade.
The authors conducted a meta-analysis including 17 randomized clinical trials involving 17,668 participants. They found that KMC can significantly reduce neonatal mortality, lower hypothermia and sepsis rates, and reduce the duration of hospital stay. The authors suggest that KMC should be promoted, popularized, and standardized in clinical practice.
Related:
Kangaroo mother care to reduce morbidity and mortality in low birthweight infants – Cochrane Library
COVID-19 pandemic measures may have caused reduced cognitive abilities among German students, study shows
20 Mar, 2023 | 13:50h | UTCSummary: This study investigated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the cognitive abilities of secondary school students in Germany. The study compared the intelligence test performance of 424 students in Grades 7 to 9, tested after the first six months of the pandemic, to the results of two highly comparable student samples tested in 2002 and 2012.
The study found that the 2020 sample had substantially lower intelligence test scores than both the 2002 and 2012 samples. The study also retested the 2020 sample after another full school year of COVID-19-affected schooling in 2021 and found no signs of catching up to previous cohorts or further declines in cognitive performance.
It can be inferred from the article that the lower intelligence test scores of the 2020 sample may have been caused by the prolonged disruption of regular schooling due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including lockdowns and school closures.
The study highlights the potential negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the cognitive abilities of secondary school students and suggests that these consequences should be taken into account when conducting intelligence assessments in the post-pandemic era. It also recommends that appropriate compensatory measures be implemented to address any learning loss or cognitive deficits that may have resulted from the disruption of regular schooling during the pandemic.
Report | Economic impact of overweight and obesity to surpass $4 trillion by 2035
6 Mar, 2023 | 14:32h | UTCSummary:
A recent report from the World Obesity Federation has issued a warning that the number of people worldwide suffering from overweight or obesity could increase significantly by 2035, surpassing the 50% mark. The report, called the World Obesity Atlas 2023, also highlights the significant economic impact of this trend, estimating that the cost of overweight and obesity could reach $4.32tn annually by 2035, equivalent to almost 3% of the global GDP.
The report also identifies two groups that are particularly at risk: children and individuals from lower-income countries. Childhood obesity is a growing concern, as the report predicts it could double by 2035. Additionally, lower-income countries face a rapid increase in obesity prevalence, with nine out of 10 countries with the greatest expected increases in obesity coming from low or lower-middle income countries.
Report: World Obesity Atlas 2023
News release: Economic impact of overweight and obesity to surpass $4 trillion by 2035
Commentary: Report: Obesity could cost the world over $4 trillion a year by 2035 – STAT
Related:
Report: Tenfold increase in childhood and adolescent obesity in four decades
Global cost of obesity-related illness to hit $1.2tn a year from 2025
The Lancet Series: The Double Burden of Malnutrition
M-A | Sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and weight gain in children and adults
6 Mar, 2023 | 14:04h | UTCNews Release: More evidence that sugary drinks cause weight gain – University of Toronto
Perspective | The other long Covid: the pandemic took young people’s present. What will it do to their future?
3 Mar, 2023 | 14:05h | UTC
RCT | Impact of supplementation with milk–cereal mix during 6–12 months of age on growth at 12 months in Delhi, India
2 Mar, 2023 | 12:50h | UTCCommentary: High-protein supplementation improves linear growth in infants – 2 Minute Medicine
AAP Policy Statement | Crowding in the emergency department: challenges and recommendations for the care of children
28 Feb, 2023 | 13:50h | UTCTechnical Report: Crowding in the Emergency Department: Challenges and Best Practices for the Care of Children – Pediatrics
News Release: Crowding in the ED: AAP guidance offers solutions to complex problem – American Academy of Pediatrics
RCT | Evaluation of BNT162b2 Covid-19 vaccine in children younger than 5 years of age
17 Feb, 2023 | 13:27h | UTCSummary: The study was a combined phase 2-3 clinical trial that aimed to determine whether the BNT162b2 vaccine was safe, could elicit an immune response and was effective in preventing COVID-19 in healthy children. The trial was conducted on children aged 6 months to 11 years, with the findings presented for the 6 months to 4 years age group. The results indicated that the vaccine was safe, immunogenic, and effective in reducing the risk of symptomatic COVID-19 by 73.2% in children aged 6 months to 4 years. The vaccine was well-tolerated, and the side effects were mainly mild to moderate. The incidence of fever was similar among those who received the vaccine or a placebo.*
Article: Evaluation of BNT162b2 Covid-19 Vaccine in Children Younger than 5 Years of Age – New England Journal of Medicine (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
*Note: This summary was created through the collaboration of a medical editor and ChatGPT.
SR | The impact of interventions to prevent neonatal healthcare-associated infections in low- and middle-income countries
16 Feb, 2023 | 14:47h | UTC
SR | The impact of antimicrobial stewardship in children in low- and middle-income countries
16 Feb, 2023 | 14:46h | UTC
Updated child and adolescent immunization schedule, United States, 2023
13 Feb, 2023 | 13:05h | UTCChild and Adolescent Immunization Schedule by Age – Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention
See also: Recommended Childhood and Adolescent Immunization Schedule: United States, 2023 – Pediatrics
Commentary: Immunization Schedule for Children, Teens Updated for 2023 – HealthDay
The Lancet Series | Breastfeeding 2023
13 Feb, 2023 | 12:52h | UTCHomepage: Breastfeeding 2023 – The Lancet
Editorial: Unveiling the predatory tactics of the formula milk industry
Breastfeeding: crucially important, but increasingly challenged in a market-driven world
Marketing of commercial milk formula: a system to capture parents, communities, science, and policy
Commentaries:
Expert reaction to review of formula baby milk – Science Media Centre
Systematic estimates of the global, regional and national under-5 mortality burden attributable to birth defects in 2000–2019
10 Feb, 2023 | 13:46h | UTC
AAP Policy Statement | Drinking water from private wells and risks to children
3 Feb, 2023 | 14:08h | UTCPolicy Statement: Drinking Water From Private Wells and Risks to Children – Pediatrics
Technical Report: Drinking Water From Private Wells and Risks to Children – Pediatrics
The introduction of sugary drinks tax in the UK was followed by a drop in obesity cases among children
1 Feb, 2023 | 13:32h | UTCNews Releases:
UK soft drink taxes associated with decreased obesity in girls – PLOS
Commentaries:
UK sugar tax ‘prevents 5,000 cases of obesity in year 6 girls annually’ – The Guardian
Related:
WHO manual on sugar-sweetened beverage taxation policies to promote healthy diets.
M-A: Outcomes following taxation of sugar-sweetened beverages.
Public Policies to Reduce Sugary Drink Consumption in Children and Adolescents – Pediatrics
Cutting back on sugar-sweetened beverages: What works? – Cochrane Library
Sugar-sweetened beverage taxes: Lessons to date and the future of taxation – PLOS Medicine
Banning the promotion of soft drinks could be more effective than a sugar tax – The Conversation
Sugar tax: why health experts want it but politicians and industry are resisting – The Guardian
Commentary from the author on Twitter (thread – click for more)
📢 19 months after the UK Soft Drinks Industry Levy (sugar tax) was implemented, we found an 8% relative reduction in obesity levels in 10/11 year old girls. Greatest reductions were found in girls from schools in the most deprived areas https://t.co/pYDHZZJrur
— Dr Nina Rogers (@Nina_Tr_Rogers) January 26, 2023
Assessment of COVID-19 as the underlying cause of death among children and young people aged 0 to 19 years in the US
1 Feb, 2023 | 13:36h | UTCNews Release: COVID-19 is a leading cause of death in children and young people in the US – University of Oxford
Related:
AAP Clinical Report | Maintaining and improving the oral health of young children
26 Jan, 2023 | 12:41h | UTCMaintaining and Improving the Oral Health of Young Children – Pediatrics