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Home > Health Conditions > Parenting

Parenting

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  • Prevalence of micronutrient deficiency and its impact on the outcome of childhood cancer: A prospective cohort study - Clin Nutr 2022 May 18 - "Selenium deficiency was independently predictive of adverse outcomes in childhood cancer, particularly in haematological malignancies. Zinc deficiency adversely affected solid tumours" - See se-methyl l-selenocysteine at Amazon.com and zinc supplements at Amazon.com.
  • B12 deficiency harms young children's development, and the food relief we provide isn't good enough - Science Daily, 5/3/22 - "A lack of vitamin B12 doesn't just potentially lead to anaemia, it can damage the nervous system. And for young children, B12 is crucial for brain development ... B12 deficiency is one of the most overlooked problems out there when it comes to malnutrition. And unfortunately, we can see that the food relief we provide today is not up to the task" - See vitamin B12 at Amazon.com.
  • Choline Supplementation Partially Restores Dendrite Structural Complexity in Developing Iron-Deficient Mouse Hippocampal Neurons - J Nutr 2021 Dec 27 - "Early-life choline supplementation, with postnatal iron repletion, improves learning/memory performance in formerly iron-deficient (ID) rats" - See citicholine at Amazon.com.
  • Iron supplementation given to nonanemic infants: neurocognitive functioning at 16 years - Nutr Neurosci 2021 Dec 19 - "There is concern that high iron uptake during the critical period of early brain development carries potential risks, especially for nonanemic infants ... Compared to adolescents in the no-added iron condition in infancy, those in the iron-supplemented condition had poorer visual-motor integration, quantitative reasoning skills, and incurred more errors on neurocognitive tasks. Consuming larger amounts of iron-fortified formula in infancy was associated with lower arithmetic achievement. Of adolescents who had high hemoglobin at 6 months (Hb ≥ 125 g/L), those in the iron supplemented condition had poorer performance on arithmetic, quantitative reasoning, and response inhibition tests than those in the no-added iron condition. Of adolescents who had marginally low 6-month hemoglobin (Hb > 100 and < 110 g/L), those who received no-added iron incurred more errors on a visual searching task than those in the iron-supplemented condition"
  • Prevention of Atopic Dermatitis in Mice by Lactobacillus Reuteri Fn041 Through Induction of Regulatory T Cells and Modulation of the Gut Microbiota - Mol Nutr Food Res 2021 Nov 26 - "The development of atopic dermatitis (AD) in infants is closely related to the lagging development of intestinal microbiota, including that inoculated by breast milk bacteria, and immune development. Lactobacillus reuteri Fn041 is a secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA) -coated bacterium derived from human milk ... Our study strengthens the understanding that breast milk-derived sIgA coated potential probiotics are involved in the development of infant intestinal microbiota, thus promoting immune development and preventing allergic diseases, and expanding the knowledge of breast milk sIgA and bacterial interactions on infant immune development" - See probiotic supplements at Amazon.com.
  • Effect of vitamin D supplementation on markers of cardiometabolic risk in children and adolescents: A meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials - Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis 2021 Jun 30 - "Vitamin D supplementation appeared to have a beneficial effect on reducing fasting glucose and TG level when total vitamin D supplementation ≥200,000 IU but not HDL-C, LDL-C TC, blood pressure and waist circumferences levels in children and adolescents" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com and vitamin D at iHerb.
  • N-3 PUFA-Deficiency in Early Life Exhibits Aggravated MPTP-Induced Neurotoxicity in Old Age While Supplementation with DHA/EPA-Enriched Phospholipids Exerts a Neuroprotective Effect - Mol Nutr Food Res 2021 Aug 11 - "Malnutrition in early life affects the growth and development of fetus and children, which has a long-term impact on adult health. Previous studies revealed a relationship between dietary omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (n-3 PUFA) content, brain development, and the prevalence of neurodevelopmental disorders and inflammation ... Dietary n-3 PUFA-deficiency in early life exhibits more aggravated MPTP-induced neurotoxicity in old age, then DHA/EPA-PLs supplementation recovers brain DHA levels and exerts neuroprotective effects in old age in long-term n-3 PUFA-deficient mice, which might provide a potential dietary guidance" - See omega-3 supplements at Amazon.com and iHerb.
  • Effect of Omega-3 Long Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids (n-3 LCPUFA) Supplementation on Cognition in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Literature Review with a Focus on n-3 LCPUFA Blood Values and Dose of DHA and EPA - Nutrients 2020 Oct 12 - "The aims of the current review were to investigate whether: (1) a certain O3I level and (2) a minimum daily n-3 LCPUFA dose are required to improve cognition in 4-25 year olds ... daily supplementation of ≥450 mg DHA + EPA per day and an increase in the O3I to >6% makes it more likely to show efficacy on cognition in children and adolescents" - See omega-3 supplements at Amazon.com and iHerb.
  • Probiotic Reduces Crying Time in Colicky Infants - Medscape, 12/4/19 - "80% of BB-12 recipients showed a ≥50% reduction in crying duration after 28 days, compared with 31.5% of those in the placebo group (P < .0001)" - See probiotic supplements at Amazon.com.
  • Impact of Omega-3 Fatty Acids Among Other Nonpharmacological Interventions on Behavior and Quality of Life in Children with Compromised Conduct in Spain - J Diet Suppl. 2018 Oct 31:1-12 - "Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaires (SDQ) ... The omega-3 fatty acid supplementation subgroup presented greater improvements in each category of SDQ (p < .05), except for the emotion subscale. Omega-3 fatty acid supplementation alone or in combination with other nonpharmacological treatments is effective in improving children's mental health. Overall, nonpharmacological recommendations currently made by pediatricians seem to be effective in improving the perceived health status and patients' QOL and in the reduction of health problems, especially hyperactivity/inattention and conduct problems" - See omega-3 supplements at Amazon.com.
  • Vitamin D Deficiency in Middle Childhood Is Related to Behavior Problems in Adolescence - J Nutr. 2019 Aug 20 - "Vitamin D deficiency (VDD) is associated with depression and schizophrenia in adults ... VDD and low DBP in middle childhood are related to behavior problems in adolescence" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
  • Low levels of vitamin D in elementary school could spell trouble in adolescence - Science Daily, 8/20/19 - "Children with blood vitamin D levels suggestive of deficiency were almost twice as likely to develop externalizing behavior problems -- aggressive and rule breaking behaviors -- as reported by their parents, compared with children who had higher levels of the vitamin ... Also, low levels of the protein that transports vitamin D in blood were related to more self-reported aggressive behavior and anxious/depressed symptoms" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
  • Omega-3: Intervention for childhood behavioral problems? - Science Daily, 5/15/15 - "One hundred children, aged 8 to 16, would each receive a drink containing a gram of omega-3 once a day for six months, matched with 100 children who received the same drink without the supplement ... what was particularly interesting was what was happening at 12 months. The control group returned to the baseline while the omega-3 group continued to go down. In the end, we saw a 42 percent reduction in scores on externalizing behavior and 62 percent reduction in internalizing behavior" - See fish oil supplements at Amazon.com.
  • Childhood Vitamin D Levels Linked to Later Atherosclerosis - Medscape, 2/18/15 - "low 25-hydroxy (25-OH) vitamin-D levels in childhood are associated with increased carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) almost 30 years later, particularly in females" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
  • Probiotics Cut Autoimmunity 33% in Infants at Risk for Diabetes - Medscape, 9/19/14 - "the results show a definite trend that strongly suggests a positive effect of probiotics in infants under the age of 3 months ... One theory is that the probiotics enhance the maturity of the gut barrier to help defend the body against environmental exposure…[to] viruses and foreign proteins ... [With probiotics], the infant is better prepared to process these, and in this way they may not trigger an adverse autoimmune response"
  • Diet during pregnancy and early life may affect children's behavior and intelligence - Science Daily, 9/13/13 - "Blood samples were taken from 493 schoolchildren, aged between seven and nine years, from 74 mainstream schools in Oxfordshire. All of the children were thought to have below-average reading skills ... Analyses of their blood samples showed that, on average, just under two per cent of the children's total blood fatty acids were Omega-3 DHA (Docosahexaenoic acid) and 0.5 per cent were Omega-3 EPA (Eicosapentaenoic acid), with a total of 2.45 per cent for these long-chain Omega-3 combined. This is below the minimum of 4 per cent recommended by leading scientists to maintain cardiovascular health in adults, with 8-12 per cent regarded as optimal for a healthy heart ... levels of Omega-3 fatty acids in the blood significantly predicted a child's behaviour and ability to learn. Higher levels of Omega-3 in the blood, and DHA in particular, were associated with better reading and memory, as well as with fewer behaviour problems as rated by parents and teachers" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
  • Diet during pregnancy and early life may affect children's behavior and intelligence - Science Daily, 9/13/13 - "folic acid, which is recommended in some European countries, to be taken by women during the first three months of pregnancy, can reduce the likelihood of behavioural problems during early childhood. Eating oily fish is also very beneficial, not only for the omega-3 fatty acids they which are 'building blocks' for brain cells, but also for the iodine content which has a positive effect on reading ability in children when measured at age nine"
  • Diets low in polyunsaturated fatty acids may be a problem for youngsters - Science Daily, 9/13/13 - "A proper ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 PUFAs plays an important role in cell function, inflammation, eye development and neural functioning. However, the ideal dietary intake of PUFAs for young children is unclear ... of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, decided to estimate the average intake of PUFAs in the diet for children between infancy and kindergarten ... The ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 intake was high -- about 10. Some experts use this as an indicator of diet quality, with a high ratio being less healthy ... In addition, intake of a key fatty acid known as DHA in children 12 to 60 months of age was low -- lower than what infants generally consume -- and it did not increase with age ... At present, there is no official dietary recommendation in the U.S. for DHA and EPA intake or supplementation among children, although the Institute of Medicine has issued what they call a "reasonable intake" level of two 3-oz servings of fish per week for children ... children are clearly not consuming this much fish" - See Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
  • DHA-Enriched Formula in Infancy Linked to Positive Cognitive Outcomes in Childhood - Science Daily, 8/13/13 - "infants who were fed formula enriched with long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA) from birth to 12 months scored significantly better than a control group on several measures of intelligence conducted between the ages of three to six years ... the children showed accelerated development on detailed tasks involving pattern discrimination, rule-learning and inhibition between the ages of three to five years of age as well as better performance on two widely-used standardized tests of intelligence: the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test at age five and the Weschler Primary Preschool Scales of Intelligence at age six" - See Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
  • Oxytocin administration alters HPA reactivity in the context of parent-infant interaction - Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 2013 Jul 29 - "The neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) and the steroid cortisol (CT) have each been implicated in complex social behavior, including parenting, and one mechanism by which OT is thought to exert its pro-social effects is by attenuating hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) response to stress ... we examined the effects of intranasal OT administered to the parent on parent's and infant's CT levels following parent-child interaction that included a social stressor ... 35 fathers and their 5-month-old infants were observed in a face-to-face-still-face paradigm twice, one week apart ... OT increased fathers' overall CT response to the stress paradigm. Furthermore, OT altered infants' physiological and behavioral response as a function of parent-infant synchrony. Among infants experiencing high parent-infant synchrony, OT elevated infant HPA reactivity and increased infant social gaze to the father while father maintained a still-face. On the other hand, among infants experiencing low social synchrony, parental OT reduced the infant's stress response and diminished social gaze toward the unavailable father. Results are consistent with the "social salience" hypothesis and highlight that OT effects on human social functioning are not uniform and depend on the individual's attachment history and social skills" - See Oxy Pro (Oxytocin) Nasal Spray at International Anti-aging Systems.
  • Low Omega-3 in Kids Linked to Behavior, Cognitive Deficits - Medscape, 7/23/13 - "This study formed the screening stage of a previously published randomized controlled intervention study that included 362 healthy children aged 7 to 9 years from primary schools in Oxfordshire, a large county in the UK, who had low reading scores. The DOLAB study reported that supplementation with 600 mg DHA daily for 16 weeks improved reading and behavior in children with the lowest 20% of reading scores ... The study showed that reading scores were significantly and positively associated with the omega-3 fatty acids DHA (P < .003), docosapentaenoic acid (DPA; P < .04), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA; P < .005), and the omega-3 index (EPA+DHA; P < .04). Total omega-6 fatty acids also showed a positive correlation with reading ... Results were similar for working memory. Scores for Recall of Digits Forward were significantly and positively associated with DHA (P < .003), DPA (P < .04), EPA (P < .005), the omega-3 index (P < .001), and total omega-3 (P < .004)" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
  • Effects of long-chain PUFA supplementation in infant formula on cognitive function in later childhood - Am J Clin Nutr. 2013 Jun 19 - "Infants were randomly assigned to receive formula containing either docosahexaenoic acid and arachidonic acid or no LC-PUFAs for a period of 4 mo. A reference breastfed group was also included. In a follow-up conducted at age 6 y, children received assessments of intelligence quotient (IQ), attention control (Day-Night Test), and speed of processing on the Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFFT) ... IQ scores of children who were fed a formula containing either LC-PUFAs or no LC-PUFAs did not differ at age 6 y. However, children who received LC-PUFAs were faster at processing information compared with children who received unsupplemented formula. Variation in the dietary supply of LC-PUFAs in the first months of life may have long-term consequences for the development of some cognitive functions in later childhood" - See Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
    • Arachidonic acid - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - "Arachidonic acid (AA, sometimes ARA) is a polyunsaturated omega-6 fatty acid 20:4(ω-6). It is the counterpart to the saturated arachidic acid found in peanut oil"
  • Vitamin D supplementation may delay precocious puberty in girls - Science Daily, 6/17/13 - "Among girls, puberty generally begins between the ages of 10 and 14 ... Precocious puberty is diagnosed in girls when sexual development begins before the age of 8 ... girls with precocious puberty were significantly more likely than those with age-appropriate development to have a severe vitamin D deficiency. Among the precocious puberty group, 44 percent had a severe deficiency in vitamin D, compared to 21 percent of the group with age-appropriate physical development"
  • Magnesium may be as important to kids' bone health as calcium - Science Daily, 5/5/13 - "Lots of nutrients are key for children to have healthy bones. One of these appears to be magnesium ... Results showed that the amounts of magnesium consumed and absorbed were key predictors of how much bone children had. Dietary calcium intake, however, was not significantly associated with total bone mineral content or density" - See magnesium supplements at Amazon.com.
  • Choline status and neurodevelopmental outcomes at 5 years of age in the Seychelles Child Development Nutrition Study - Br J Nutr. 2013 Jan 9:1-7 - "The aim of the present study was to examine the association between plasma concentrations of free choline and its related metabolites in children and their neurodevelopment in the Seychelles Child Development Nutrition Study, an ongoing longitudinal study assessing the development of children born to mothers with high fish consumption during pregnancy ... The children's plasma free choline concentration (9.17 (sd 2.09) μmol/l) was moderately, but significantly, correlated with betaine ... Adjusted multiple linear regression revealed that betaine concentrations were positively associated with Preschool Language Scale - total language scores (β = 0.066; P= 0.04), but no other associations were evident" - See citicholine at Amazon.com.
  • Babies' Vision Improves With Fatty Acid Formula Supplements - Medscape, 12/18/12 - "from the Department of Pediatrics at the Children's Hospital of Michigan in Detroit, and colleagues found that long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (LCPUFA) supplementation started within 1 month of birth significantly improved infants' visual acuity at 2, 4, and 12 months of age ... "[R]etinal cells have the highest concentration of [docosahexaenoic acid] in the human body ... the fatty acid is necessary not only for optimal retinal function but also for the proper function of the visual processing centers, optic tract, and optic nerve" - See Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
  • Two cups of milk a day ideal for children's health, new research shows - Science Daily, 12/17/12 - "looked at how cow's milk affected body stores of iron and vitamin D -- two of the most important nutrients in milk -- in more than 1,300 children aged two to five years ... children who drank more cow's milk had higher Vitamin D stores but lower iron stores ... two cups of cow's milk per day was enough to maintain adequate vitamin D levels for most children, while also maintaining iron stores. With additional cow's milk, there was a further reduction in iron stores without greater benefit from vitamin D"
  • Children's healthy diets linked to higher IQ - Science Daily, 8/7/12 - "We found that children who were breastfed at six months and had a healthy diet regularly including foods such as legumes, cheese, fruit and vegetables at 15 and 24 months, had an IQ up to two points higher by age eight ... Those children who had a diet regularly involving biscuits, chocolate, sweets, soft drinks and chips in the first two years of life had IQs up to two points lower by age eight"
  • Soy-based formula? Neonatal plant estrogen exposure leads to adult infertility in female mice - Science Daily, 5/2/12 - "A paper published May 2 in Biology of Reproduction describes the effects of brief prenatal exposure to plant estrogens on the mouse oviduct, modeling the effects of soy-based baby formula on human infants. The results suggest that exposure to estrogenic chemicals in the womb or during childhood has the potential to affect a woman's fertility as an adult, possibly providing the mechanistic basis for some cases of unexplained female infertility ... part of the National Institutes of Health, previously demonstrated that neonatal exposure to the plant estrogen genistein results in complete infertility in female adult mice. Causes of infertility included failure to ovulate, reduced ability of the oviduct to support embryo development before implantation, and failure of the uterus to support effective implantation of blastocyst-stage embryos ... The team now reports that neonatal exposure to genistein changes the level of immune response in the mouse oviduct, known as mucosal immune response. Some of the immune response genes were altered beginning from the time of genistein treatment, while others were altered much later, when the mouse was in early pregnancy. Together, those changes led to harmfully altered immune responses and to compromised oviduct support for preimplantation embryo development, both of which would likely contribute to infertility ... estrogenic chemical exposure to the female fetus, infant, child, and adolescent all have potential impacts on mucosal immunity in the reproductive tract and, therefore, on adult fertility. The authors present the view that limiting such exposures, including minimizing use of soy-based baby formula, is a step toward maintaining female reproductive health"
  • Feeding your baby on demand 'may contribute to higher IQ' - Science Daily, 3/20/12 - "demand-feeding is associated with higher IQ scores at age eight, and this difference is also evident in the results of SATs tests at ages five, seven, 11 and 14 ... The difference in IQ levels of around four to five points, though statistically highly significant, would not make a child at the bottom of the class move to the top, but it would be noticeable"
  • Memo to pediatricians: Screen all kids for vitamin D deficiency, test those at high risk - Science Daily, 2/23/12 - "Prolonged and untreated vitamin D deficiency can affect multiple organs and functions, including bone growth and density, metabolism, heart and immunity, but it rarely causes overt symptoms and often goes unnoticed ... Vitamin D deficiency in childhood can cause skeletal deformities, brittle bones, frequent fractures and lead to premature osteoporosis in later life. However emerging evidence suggests that vitamin D is involved in far more than bone health. Recent studies have found a link between low vitamin D levels and some cancers, heart disease, suppressed immunity and even premature death" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
  • Childhood diet lower in fat and higher in fiber may lower risk for chronic disease in adulthood - Science Daily, 10/28/11 - "In this study, researchers evaluated 230 women between the ages of 25 and 29 years, who nine years before the current study participated in the Dietary Intervention Study in Children (DISC). DISC was a randomized controlled clinical trial of a reduced-fat dietary intervention that strived to limit fat intake to 28 percent of daily caloric intake and increase dietary fiber intake by encouraging consumption of fruits, vegetables and whole grains. The current study was conducted among females who had participated in the DISC trial to determine the longer-term effects of the DISC intervention ... Few participants in our follow-up study met the criteria for metabolic syndrome, however the intervention group had statistically significant lower mean systolic blood pressure and fasting plasma glucose levels compared to the control group ... Longer follow-up studies of DISC participants are needed to determine if the differences found in this study persist or widen with increasing age"
  • Neurophysiologic and neurobehavioral evidence of beneficial effects of prenatal omega-3 fatty acid intake on memory function at school age - Am J Clin Nutr. 2011 Mar 9 - "The beneficial effects of prenatal and early postnatal intakes of omega-3 (n-3) polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) on cognitive development during infancy are well recognized. However, few studies have examined the extent to which these benefits continue to be evident in childhood ... Repeated-measures analyses of variance revealed that children with higher cord plasma concentrations of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), which is an important n-3 PUFA, had a shorter FN400 latency and a larger LPC amplitude; and higher plasma DHA concentrations at the time of testing were associated with increased FN400 amplitude. Cord DHA-related effects were observed regardless of seafood-contaminant amounts. Multiple regression analyses also showed positive associations between cord DHA concentrations and performance on neurobehavioral assessments of memory ... To our knowledge, this study provides the first neurophysiologic and neurobehavioral evidence of long-term beneficial effects of n-3 PUFA intake in utero on memory function in school-age children" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
  • Is Bifidobacterium breve effective in the treatment of childhood constipation? Results from a pilot study - Nutr J. 2011 Feb 23;10(1):19 - "Probiotics are increasingly used in the treatment of functional gastrointestinal disorders. Studies in constipated adults with a Bifidus yoghurt (containing Bifidobacterium breve, Bifidobacterium bifidum and Lactobacillus acidophilus) showed a significant increase in defecation frequency ... The defecation frequency per week significantly increased from 0.9 (0-2) at baseline to 4.9 (0-21) in week 4 (p< 0.01). The mean stool consistency score increased from 2.6 (2-4) at baseline to 3.5 (1-6) in week 4 (p = 0.03). The number of faecal incontinence episodes per week significantly decreased from 9.0 (0-35) at baseline to 1.5 (0-7) in week 4 (p <0.01). Abdominal pain episodes per week significantly decreased from 4.2 (0-7) at baseline to 1.9 (0-7) in week 4 (p = 0.01). No side effects occurred" - See Bifidobacterium breve products at iHerb.
  • Low vitamin D levels linked to allergies in kids - Science Daily, 2/24/11 - "When the resulting data was analyzed by Einstein researchers, no association between vitamin D levels and allergies was observed in adults. But for children and adolescents, low vitamin D levels correlated with sensitivity to 11 of the 17 allergens tested, including both environmental allergens (e.g., ragweed, oak, dog, cockroach) and food allergens (e.g., peanuts). For example, children who had vitamin D deficiency (defined as less than 15 nanograms of vitamin D per milliliter of blood), were 2.4 times as likely to have a peanut allergy than were children with sufficient levels of vitamin D (more than 30 nanograms of vitamin D per milliliter of blood)" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
  • Careful cleaning of children's skin wounds key to healing, regardless of antibiotic choice - Science Daily, 2/21/11 - "proper wound care, not antibiotics, may have been the key to healing"
  • Processed food diet in early childhood may lower subsequent IQ - Science Daily, 2/7/11 - "A diet, high in fats, sugars, and processed foods in early childhood may lower IQ, while a diet packed full of vitamins and nutrients may do the opposite ... Three dietary patterns were identified: "processed" high in fats and sugar intake; "traditional" high in meat and vegetable intake; and "health conscious" high in salad, fruit and vegetables, rice and pasta ... after taking account of potentially influential factors, a predominantly processed food diet at the age of 3 was associated with a lower IQ at the age of 8.5, irrespective of whether the diet improved after that age. Every 1 point increase in dietary pattern score was associated with a 1.67 fall in IQ ... On the other hand, a healthy diet was associated with a higher IQ at the age of 8.5, with every 1 point increase in dietary pattern linked to a 1.2 increase in IQ. Dietary patterns between the ages of 4 and 7 had no impact on IQ"
  • Low blood levels of vitamin D linked to chubbier kids, faster weight gain - Science Daily, 11/8/10 - "the kids with the lowest vitamin D levels at the beginning tended to gain weight faster than the kids with higher levels ... children with the lowest vitamin D levels had more drastic increases in central body fat measures ... Vitamin D deficiency was also linked to slower growth in height among girls but not boys" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
  • Probiotic Reduces Crying Time in Infants With Colic - Medscape, 6/17/10 - "One week of supplementation with the probiotic Lactobacillus reuteri Protectis reduced crying time in colicky babies by 74%, compared with 38% with placebo" - See lactobacillus at Amazon.com.
  • Calcium in early life may prevent obesity later - Science Daily, 5/13/10 - "not getting enough calcium in the earliest days of life could have a more profound, lifelong impact on bone health and perhaps even obesity than previously thought"
  • Supplementing Babies' Formula With DHA Boosts Cognitive Development, Study Finds - Science Daily, 9/15/09 - "children who were breast fed as infants have superior cognitive skills compared to those fed infant formula, and it's thought that this is due to an essential fatty acid in breast milk called docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) ... because infants who display superior performance on the means-end problem-solving task tend to have superior IQ and vocabulary later in childhood, it's possible that the beneficial effects of DHA extend well beyond infancy"
  • Teenage Boys Who Eat Fish At Least Once A Week Achieve Higher Intelligence Scores - Science Daily, 3/9/09 - "Eating fish once a week was enough to increase combined, verbal and visuospatial intelligence scores by an average of six per cent, while eating fish more than once a week increased them by just under 11 per cent" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
  • Pediatrics Group Doubles Children's Recommended Daily Vitamin D Intake - WebMD, 10/13/08 - "The new guidelines are especially important for breastfed babies, since breast milk isn't rich in vitamin D ... I would have probably gone with 400 IU in the first year or two of life, and after that I would have increased it to at least 1,000 and also monitor the vitamin D [blood] level" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
  • Eating Fish in Infancy Lowers Eczema Risk - WebMD, 9/24/08 - "Babies in a newly published study whose diets included fish before the age of 9 months were 24% less likely to develop eczema by their first birthdays than babies who did not eat fish"
  • Assessing the effect of docosahexaenoic acid on cognitive functions in healthy, preschool children: a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study - Clin Pediatr (Phila). 2008 May;47(4):355-62 - "Regression analysis, however, yielded a statistically significant positive (P = .018) association between the blood level of docosahexaenoic acid and higher scores on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, a test of listening comprehension and vocabulary acquisition" - See Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
  • Lack of vitamin D rampant in infants, teens - USA Today, 6/16/08 - "Vitamin D deficiency is much more of a health problem than anyone realized ... 40% of infants and toddlers tested below average for vitamin D. In a previous study, Gordon and fellow researchers discovered that 42% of adolescents were vitamin D deficient ... Current recommendations by the Institute of Medicine suggest 200 IUs of vitamin D a day for children and 400 IUs for adults, but Callahan, who serves on an institute committee that aims to update those guidelines, says she suggests higher levels to many of her patients, at least 800 to 1,000 IUs a day" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
  • Sun Exposure And Vitamin D Levels May Play Strong Role In Risk Of Type 1 Diabetes In Children - Science Daily, 6/5/08 - "This research suggests that childhood type 1 diabetes may be preventable with a modest intake of vitamin D3 (1000 IU/day) for children, ideally with 5 to 10 minutes of sunlight around noontime, when good weather allows"
  • Babies, Tots Low on Vitamin D - WebMD, 6/2/08 - "Forty percent of those kids had suboptimal blood levels of vitamin D, including 12% who had vitamin D deficiency. And X-rays showed that a third of kids with vitamin D deficiency had bone demineralization, a sign of thinner bones ... Breastfed babies were particularly likely to be low in vitamin D"
  • Current Vitamin D Recommendations Fraction Of Safe, Perhaps Essential Levels For Children - Science Daily, 5/27/08 - "The current recommended daily allowance (RDA) of vitamin D for children is 200 International Units (IUs), but new research reveals that children may need and can safely take ten-times that amount ... Only children given the equivalent of 2,000 IUs a day of vitamin D increased 25-OHD levels from the mid-teens to the mid-thirties (ng/ml)--the level considered optimal for adults. None of the children in either trial showed any evidence for vitamin D intoxication"  - See vitamin D products at iHerb.  I've gone to the 2,500 IU on vitamin D.  If you're worried about that being to high, just skip a day or two per week which most do anyway just by forgetting to take them.
  • Vitamin D3 for 1 Year Is Safe in Adolescents - Medscape, 5/5/08 - "Vitamin D3 at doses equivalent to 2000 IU/day for 1 year is safe in adolescents and results in desirable vitamin D levels"
  • Breast development in the first 2 years of life: an association with soy-based infant formulas - J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. 2008 Feb;46(2):191-5 - "We suggest that phytoestrogens impose a preserving effect on breast tissue that is evolved in early infancy, leading eventually to a slower waning of infantile breast tissue"
  • Infants With Poor Intestinal Flora Often Develop Eczema - Science Daily, 1/23/08 - "children with only a limited variety of bacteria in their feces one week after birth more often developed atopical eczema by the age of 18 months"
  • Kids' Bones at Risk From Low Vitamin D - WebMD, 7/9/07 - "55% of the children had lower than recommended vitamin D levels ... Overall, 68% of children had inadequate stores of the vitamin in their blood during the colder months when they spent more time indoors" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
  • Maternal Intake of Vitamin D during Pregnancy May Protect against Early Childhood Wheezing Illnesses - Doctor's Guide, 3/6/06
  • Fatty Acid Supplementation May Be Helpful in Developmental Coordination Disorder - Medscape, 5/6/05 - "117 children with DCD were randomized to dietary supplementation with omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids or placebo for three months in parallel groups, followed by a one-way crossover from placebo to active treatment for an additional three months ... there were significant improvements for active treatment versus placebo in reading, spelling, and behavior for three months of treatment in parallel groups"
  • Low-Fat Diet in Male Infant Affects Later Insulin Resistance Risk - Doctor's Guide, 5/3/05
  • Fortified Formula Boosts Infant Development - WebMD, 4/25/05
  • How Do You Cure Bedwetting? - Dr. Weil, 12/12/03
  • Balanced Nutrition, Better Behaved Kids - CBS News, 5/14/03
  • Baby Supplements, Asthma, Allergy Linked - WebMD, 5/5/03
  • Vitamin A and sudden infant death syndrome in Scandinavia 1992-1995 - Acta Paediatr 2003;92(2):162-4 - "We found an association between increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome and infants not being given vitamin supplementation during their first year of life"
  • Preventing Heart Disease Starts With Children - WebMD, 3/6/03 - "Parents should give their kids low-fat, low-sugar, and low-sodium foods after age 2"
  • Zinc Helps Kids Grow - WebMD, 5/24/02 - "This new report looked at 33 studies on the effects of zinc supplementation on children up to 10 years old that were published between 1976 and 2001 ... Overall, zinc supplementation produced very significant positive effects on both height and weight measures of the children. And the effect was even greater among children who already suffered from stunted growth or were underweight"
  • Premature Infants Who are Exercised Grow Faster - Doctor's Guide, 5/6/02
  • Lactobacillus Safe, Effective For Infectious Diarrhoea In Children - Doctor's Guide, 4/8/02 - see my probiotics page
  • New Formulas May Help Infant Vision - WebMD, 3/18/02 - "babies fed formula containing a type of fatty acids known as long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCP) have better vision than those who didn't receive the fortified formula, and babies must receive either the special formula or breast milk during the first three months"

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