March 25, 2013
News Clips
- Rule changes can help cut concussions
Although the guidelines cover several concussion-related topics, one statement in particular seems to have received the lion’s share of attention in the popular press. The statement, concerning prevention of concussions, reads: “There is no good clinical evidence that currently available protective equipment will prevent concussion …”
Vancouver Sun
March 23, 2013 - Mental health services among juvenile offenders require examination
A number of gaps and disparities exist in the treatment of mental illness among juvenile adolescents, new research suggests.
Psychiatric Annals
March 22, 2013 - Future Criminals Can Be Identified as Early as Age 6
Conduct problems and hurtful and uncaring behavior in children as young as 6 years are accurate predictors of violent and nonviolent criminal convictions in young adulthood, new research shows.
Medscape
March 22, 2013 - Even a Little Pot Use Ups College Dropout Risk
College students who use marijuana and other illegal substances, even occasionally, are more likely to leave school than students who don’t dabble in drugs, new research finds.
Healthfinder.giv
March 21, 2013 - Study Finds Saliva Testing Predicts Aggression In Boys
A new study indicates that a simple saliva test could be an effective tool in predicting violent behavior. The pilot study, led by Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and published this week online in the journal Psychiatric Quarterly, suggests a link between salivary concentrations of certain hormones and aggression.
Redorbit.com
March 21, 2013 - Child Health Experts Come Out in Favor of Same-Sex Marriage
Kids benefit from having stable home, two loving parents, regardless of sexual orientation, AAP says.
Marriage for same-sex couples — and the right for all parents, regardless of their sexual orientation, to adopt or provide foster care — is the best way to guarantee benefits and security for their children, according to child health experts.
Healthfinder.gov
March 21, 2013 - House passes youth sports concussion bill
The law requires mandatory education for parents, coaches and youth athletes about the dangers of concussions and that children who’ve had a concussion to refrain from playing again until cleared by a doctor.Tennessee will become the 44th state in the country to pass a youth sports concussion law should Gov. Bill Haslam sign the bill as expected.
The Tennessean
March 21, 2013 - One in 50 School-Aged Children in U.S. Has Autism: CDC
The number of children in the United States with autism spectrum disorder has jumped dramatically since 2007, federal health officials reported Wednesday. As of 2012, one in 50 kids between the ages of 6 and 17 has some form of autism, compared with one in 88 only five years earlier, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
HealthFinder.gov
March 20, 2013 - New Worries About Heading the Soccer Ball
But there has been less attention paid to the potential effects of so-called preconcussive impacts, or more minor hits to the head, like those that might be sustained when someone heads a soccer ball. A 2011 brain-scan study of experienced, adult soccer players found subtle structural changes in certain parts of the brain that might be associated with repeated slight impacts.
New York Times
March 20, 2013 - Smoking By Teens Steadies
For years, health officials watched with satisfaction as rates of teen smoking in New York City plummeted, far outpacing the national average. In 2007, the rate dipped to 8.5%. Then it stopped falling.
Wall Street Journal
March 19, 2013 - Public Schools and the School-to-Prison Pipeline
Despite 50 years of desegregation and other significant school change efforts, students from disenfranchised social groups in the United States continue to receive substandard K-12 education and have significantly less access to higher education and other valued social opportunities and resources. In particular, black males are more severely punished, placed in lower ability groups, and likely to drop out of school than their white counterparts.
Huffington Post
March 19, 2013 - Fewer Kids Getting Hurt in Most Sports, Study Finds
However, football and soccer injuries have risen over past decade.
Football has been blamed for a growing number of injuries among young players in the past decade, but a new study finds that football is an exception, and injuries from most other popular sports have dropped in children.
Healthfinder.gov
March 19, 2013 - New Guidelines Raise Safety Bar on Concussions – American Academy of Neurology
Any athlete who suffers a suspected concussion should be withdrawn from play and stay on the sidelines until a qualified health care professional determines that all symptoms have subsided and it is safe to return to the field, new guidelines state. Issued by the American Academy of Neurology, the latest recommendations aim to keep young athletes as safe as possible.
MedlinePlus
March 18, 2013 - Parents’ Worries About HPV Vaccine on the Rise: Study
Both Darden and Cunningham said it’s puzzling that parents’ safety worries about the HPV vaccine would grow so much, so fast. It’s not clear from the study, but Cunningham said he suspects many parents get misinformation online.
Healthfinder.gov
March 18, 2013 - Avoiding Scary Situations May Leave Kids More Anxious: Study
Children who avoid scary situations are more likely to have anxiety, according to researchers who developed a new way to assess avoidance behavior in youngsters. The Mayo Clinic study included more than 800 children, aged 7 to 18, and used two eight-question surveys, one for parents and one for children.
MedlinePlus
March 15, 2013 - Childhood Depression May Be Tied to Later Heart Risk: Study
Teens who were depressed as children are more likely to be obese, to smoke and to be sedentary, a new study finds. The findings suggest that depression during childhood can increase the risk of heart problems later in life, according to the researchers.
MedlinePlus
March 15, 2013 - New Position Statement on Sport-Related Concussion – American College of Sports Medicine
An athlete with concussion should not return to practice or competitive play until all symptoms have resolved, in order to avoid the risk for further injury during the vulnerable period before the brain has recovered, the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine (AMSSM) advises in a position statement on concussions in sport.
Medscape, January 17, 2013
STUDIES
Institute of Medicine Study and Report: Sports-Related Concussions in Youth
An ad hoc committee will conduct a study and prepare a report on sports-related concussions in youth, from elementary school through young adulthood, including military personnel and their dependents. The committee will review the available literature on concussions, in the context of developmental neurobiology, in terms of their causes, relationships to hits to the head or body during sports, effectiveness of protective devices and equipment, screening and diagnosis, treatment and management, and long-term consequences.
Policy
- Representative Napolitano Introduces the Mental Health in Schools Act
Representative Grace Napolitano (D-CA), Co-Chair of the Congressional Mental Health Caucus, introduced H.R. 628, the Mental Health in Schools Act, to revise and expand projects relating to children and violence to provide access to school-based comprehensive mental health programs. The bill has received broad support from the mental health, education, and child welfare communities. Senator Al Franken (D-MN) introduced companion legislation in the Senate last month with nine cosponsors.
International News
PAKISTAN
- Reproductive rights: ‘Parents, teachers and kids don’t know enough’
Just 39% of girls and 50% of boys in Lahore know about reproductive health rights and 53% of girls and 48% of boys in Karachi, according to a report by Lifeline, a Lahore-based NGO. The situation in Islamabad is relatively better, with 62% of girls and 67% of boys aware of these issues.
Tribune.com.pk
March 15, 2013
UK
- Act early for a mental health revolution
There is an understandable reluctance to identify any child as mentally ill, but it is in early years that most mental health troubles have their roots and there is a high price to pay, says Dr Andrew McCulloch, chairman of Mental Health: from Strategy to Reality conference
PublicService.co.uk
March 14, 2013