High cost of fruits, vegetables linked to higher body fat in young children

Ref. http://www.sciencedaily.com/

High prices for fresh fruits and vegetables are associated with higher Body Mass Index (BMI) in young children in low- and middle-income households, according to American University researchers in the journal Pediatrics.

"There is a small, but significant, association between the prices of fruit and vegetables and higher child BMI," said Taryn Morrissey, the study's lead author and assistant professor of public administration and policy at AU's School of Public Affairs (SPA).

Research showed that when the prices of fruits and vegetables go up, families may buy less of them and substitute cheaper foods that may not be as healthy and have more calories

Morrissey said that when the prices of fruits and vegetables go up, families may buy less of them and substitute cheaper foods that may not be as healthy and have more calories.

"These associations are driven by changes in the prices of fresh fruits and vegetables rather than frozen or canned," said Alison Jacknowitz, a co-author of the study and an associate professor of public administration and policy at SPA.

BMI is a reliable indicator of total body fat, which is related to the risk of life-threatening diseases. More than 26 percent of 2- to 5-year-old children nationwide were considered overweight, defined as having a BMI above the 85th percentile, in 2009 and 2010, up from 21 percent a decade earlier.

The researchers linked data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort, a nationally representative study of children from infancy to age 5, to local food price data from the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER) Cost-of-Living Index. The study focused on households under 300 percent of the federal poverty line, or a family of four earning $70,650 in 2013.

While, in general, food prices have trended downward in recent decades, particularly the prices of snacks and sugar-sweetened beverages, the real prices of restaurant meals and fruits and vegetables have increased. Fruit and vegetable prices increased by 17 percent between 1997 and 2003 alone. Children living in areas with higher-priced fruits and vegetables averaged higher measures of BMI scores compared with their peers in areas with lower-priced fruits and vegetables.

Another surprising finding was an association between higher fast food prices and an increase in obesity. Morrissey said local fast food outlets may have more freedom than grocery stores to increase their prices in response to higher demand for their products.

The study also identified a small association between higher-priced soft drinks and a lower likelihood of obesity among young children. The study did not find strong associations between food prices and food insecurity, meaning families forced by a lack of money to skip meals, cut portions or otherwise forgo food at some point.

Potential solution for feeding, swallowing difficulties in children with digeorge syndrome, autism

Ref. http://www.sciencedaily.com/

Collaborative research out of the George Washington University (GW) reveals new information on the pathogenesis of feeding and swallowing difficulties often found in children with neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism and intellectual disability. Using an animal model of DiGeorge/22q11 Deletion Syndrome, a genetic disorder that causes autism and intellectual disability, the GW group found clear signs of early feeding and swallowing disruption, and underlying changes in brain development. The research, featured on the cover of Disease Models & Mechanisms, may even lead to a cure for these difficulties -- known as pediatric dysphagia.

"We found that the same mechanisms causing neurodevelopmental disorders are disrupting development in parts of the nervous system that control swallowing and feeding," said Anthony-Samuel LaMantia, Ph.D., professor of pharmacology and physiology at the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS) and director of the GW Institute for Neuroscience. "Cranial nerves, which control food intake and swallowing, aren't developing correctly, which likely contributes to mis-coordination. This is good news -- this is something we can fix."

Up to 80 percent of children with developmental disorders have difficulty ingesting, chewing, or swallowing food, leading to food aspiration, choking, or life-threatening respiratory infections. Despite its high co-incidence with developmental disorders, little was previously known about pediatric dysphagia.

"A lot of children with pediatric dysphagia tend to be sicker from birth onward. Making the health of these kids as stable as possible from birth onward would allow clinicians to pick up on developmental signs sooner, which are often masked by more immediate problems like having ear or respiratory infections, not sleeping or not gaining weight," said LaMantia. "The physiological stress caused by the complications of dysphagia early on likely exacerbates the fundamental behavior issues that will emerge later. A happy, healthy baby is often able to focus on observing and gathering information to drive important experience dependent changes in the brain. A sick baby has less time to do so, possibly making cognitive outcomes even worse."

These findings were a collaborative effort between LaMantia, and Sally Moody, Ph.D., professor of anatomy and regenerative biology at SMHS, with important contributions from Beverly Karpinski, a research scientist who works jointly with LaMantia and Moody; Thomas Maynard, Ph.D., associate research professor of pharmacology and physiology at SMHS and director of the GW Institute for Neuroscience Biomarkers Core; and Irene Zohn, Ph.D. associate professor of pediatrics and pharmacology and physiology and Investigator in the Center for Neuroscience Research at Children's National Medical Center.

LaMantia's lab had been working on issues surrounding disrupted development from DiGeorge/22q11Deletion Syndrome and Moody's lab had, over the course of her career, been working on issues specific to cranial nerve neurons and how they relate to the development of peripheral neurons and cranial facial targets. The combined expertise led to this discovery and will lead to future collaborations.

High family stress can impact child's immune system

Ref. http://www.sciencedaily.com

Children in highly-stressed families had a high level of cortisol, which is a biological marker of stress. This supports the idea that the children were stressed. The research study also points towards the fact that a high level of stress negatively affects the immune system-that is, it is not as resistant when the body is exposed to a high level of stress.

High family stress can lead to the child's immune system being affected, as a research group at the School of Health Sciences at Jönköping University and the Faculty of Health Sciences at Linköping University in Sweden shows in a study being published in the American periodical Journal of Immunology.

Our immune system has the task of protecting us against bacteria and viruses. Our bodies are also equipped to handle everyday stress-that is, stress that lasts only briefly. On the other hand, a difficult, stressful situation or long-term increase in stress can negatively affect the immune system. This kind of long-term stress can develop when a close family member dies or when adults are caught in tough, unmanageable situations.

The research study shows that children in highly-stressed families had a high level of cortisol, which is a biological marker of stress. This supports the idea that the children were stressed. The research study also points towards the fact that a high level of stress negatively affects the immune system-that is, it is not as resistant when the body is exposed to a high level of stress. Instead, the immune system reacts to substances in the body that should be left alone, which perhaps is linked to an autoimmune reaction.

The study included families with five-year-old children (derived from the ABIS [All Children in Southeast Sweden] study). The parents answered questions regarding stress and prospective difficulties that had impacted the family, such as divorce or unemployment. The answers led the researchers to identify a group of children who probably experienced high levels of stress in their families, and a group of children who presumably had grown up with normal stress levels.

The research group at the School of Health Sciences in Jönköping will work further on the project to understand more about how a high level of stress can affect the body. This time, the researchers will turn to young people in the 18-22 age group.

"These young people can themselves report negative experiences in their daily lives and also negative experiences during their childhood" says Maria Faresjö, professor at the School of Health Sciences, which will also lead the continued research project.

Vatican ducks questions from UN on the worldwide child abuse in Catholic institutions

Vatican ducks questions from UN on the worldwide child abuse in Catholic institutions

Ref. http://www.secularism.org.uk/news

The Vatican has failed to answer detailed questions by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child on cases of child sexual abuse committed by members of the clergy, brothers or nuns or brought to the attention of the Holy See. These formal questions were raised as part of the review of the reports the UN Committee require states that have ratified the Convention of the Rights of the Child to provide every five years.

In a formal response to the UN Committee's 'list of issues' or questions, the Holy See based its failure to answer them on the legal technicality that it is "related but separate and distinct from the Catholic Church". It added: "it is not the practice of the Holy See to disclose information on the religious discipline of members of the clergy or religious according to canon law, unless there is a related matter concerning international judicial cooperation with a State and the request by the State is made, generally, through specific procedures".

The UN Committee prefaced its questions by pointing to "the recognition by the Holy See of sexual violence against children committed by members of the clergy, brothers and nuns in numerous countries around the world, and given the scale of the abuses".

Keith Porteous Wood of the (UK) National Secular Society, which, together with victims groups, has submitted evidence about such abuse to the Committee earlier this year, commented: "Under the direct control of the Pope, the Church operates a firm 'command and control structure' over the worldwide Church, particularly over the handling of clerical rape and sexual violence offences. It requires that it is sent all records of the tens of thousands of these criminal offences, and secretes them centrally.

"The huge scale of rape and sexual violence in Catholic institutions worldwide over the last 50 years is a matter of public record, and more is still regularly being reported. The Holy See's and the Church's culpability lies in the fact that, that scale of abuse would have been hugely reduced had those in the Church been required to invariably report credible allegations and suspicions to civil authorities. Instead, there is evidence that in many cases abusers were moved by the Church to other locations where they frequently resumed their sexual violence that has ruined so many lives.

"The Holy See's brazen failure, on arcane legal technicalities, to provide the information sought by the Committee is a new low point in the Church's lamentable record over child abuse.

"Many will be disappointed and surprised by this slap in the face to both the tens if not hundreds of thousands of suffering victims and to a United Nations body.

"The Holy See, under the Pope, uses its considerable diplomatic might to promote the doctrines and the self-interest of the Catholic Church and clearly commands and controls child abuse policy in the Church worldwide, including through its own (canon) "law". It is both shameless and unacceptable for it to undermine the UN's efforts, made in the interest of protecting past and future victims, by refusing to provide the information that the UN seeks.