Children in North Carolina are losing health insurance

A new report by the Washington-based Economic Policy Institute shows North Carolina workers are losing employer-based health insurance at a greater rate than all but one other U.S. state. For children, the news is even worse: they’re losing coverage faster than any other state’s kids.

The study, released Thursday, shows the state’s families are about 150 percent more likely than the average American to have lost medical care offered through the workplace. For the seventh straight year, the share of people covered through work fell.

In North Carolina, the drop was especially precipitous, with 5.4 percent fewer people insured in 2007 than 2001. Only South Carolina saw employer-based health coverage plummet at a greater rate.

When health insurance coverage rates fall, preventive care falls as well, said Allison Jordan, director of Children First/Communities in Schools in Asheville and Buncombe County.

‘It’s inexcusable,’ she said. ‘It’s a benefit both our children and their parents can’t afford to lose.’ Searing said the health care crisis is accelerating.

The downward trend in the rate of employer-sponsored health insurance continued for the seventh year in a row, according to the report, dropping from 68.3 percent in 2000 to 62.9 percent in 2007. More.

FDA approves new drug to prevent joint damage in children

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new use for antihemophilic factor recombinant (Kogenate FS) to reduce the frequency of bleeding episodes and prevent joint damage in children with haemophilia A.

“Administering [the drug] to children with haemophilia A on a daily basis before a bleeding event occurs will reduce bleeding into joints and help prevent joint damage, a major cause of disability in haemophiliacs,” said Jesse Goodman, MD, FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Rockville, Maryland.

In a clinical trial, 65 boys aged less than 30 months with severe haemophilia A and normal joints were observed for 5 years. The patients received either 1 daily dose of the drug or 3 doses at the time of a bleeding episode.

Joint damage during a bleeding episode was 6-fold lower, and the rate of bleeding 8-fold lower, in those boys who received the drug on a daily basis compared with those who received the drug only when a bleeding episode occurred. Most patients received the drug intravenously through a catheter.

Free books for children in the United Kingdom

More than half a million children around the UK are receiving free books. The give-away is part of National Bookstart Day, which will see over 4,000 literary events take place in nurseries, bookshops, children’s centres and nurseries.

The Bookstart initiative encourages sharing books with children from a young age and hands three packs of free books to every child in the UK at the ages of seven months, eighteen months and three years.

The theme of this year’s day is Pirates Ahoy, and children will receive copies of Port Side Pirates by Debbie Harter and Oscar Seaworthy.

TV presenter Gail Porter, who is backing the events, said: “Reading books with your child is one of the nicest activities you can share. I have shared books with my daughter since she was very young.

“We began to spend time looking at the pictures, playing peek-a-boo and reading the rhymes together. It wasn’t long before she got to know each of the books, became a more confident reader herself and started to read to me! I love opening the pages and going on new wonderful adventures together through our books.” More.

Children are in trouble for taking pictures of each other

Boulder investigators were notified this week about an incident involving two elementary-school children snapping inappropriate pictures of each other with a cell phone, police spokeswoman Sarah Huntley said.

Parents of the 6-year-old boy and 11-year-old girl resolved the issue among themselves by agreeing not to let the children play together, but still reported the incident to a YMCA after-school program official. That official told the principal of the Boulder’s Eisenhower Elementary School, which both children attend.

It was reported to police as a potential “sexual assault,” Huntley said, but detectives are considering it an “incident” at this time. “At this point, it’s just photographs,” she said. “It’s not clear whether there are allegations that anyone was touched.”

According to the police report, Huntley said, the incident happened in June when the children were playing outside one of their homes in Boulder. They took photographs of each other partially or entirely naked on the 11-year-old girl’s cell phone, Huntley said.

One of the parents found the pictures, she said. The YMCA official had a legal obligation to report it to the principal, and the principal was obligated to contact police, Huntley said. Officers have notified the Boulder County Department of Social Services, and detectives will follow up with the agency. More.

Is America leaving gifted children behind?

Children with IQs that are probably 160 and higher, have always fascinated us. We are drawn to these rare students, but it’s quite the opposite for moderately and highly gifted students (the 5 percent with IQs between 130 and 160).

Americans aren’t comfortable recognizing exceptional intellect. We have no difficulties with athletic ability - from young children advancing to traveling sports leagues to our highly revered professional athletes. But support is not there for unusual academic potential. Many assume that these students will do well regardless of classroom circumstances - no special teachers nor appropriately leveled curriculum necessary. But most gifted students, bored and frustrated in class, will tune out or act up by the age of 10.

While all Massachusetts teachers must have training in special education, this is not so for gifted education. Few courses exist in our colleges. Gifted children are being left behind. These students, and our country, are suffering the consequences.

Scientists argue over necessary amount of child exercise

Researchers from the Peninsula Medical School in Plymouth, UK, have carried out research that suggests the one hour of moderate exercise a day recommended to children from health experts may not be enough to tackle the rising problem of childhood obesity.

Their research has been published in the most recent issue of the journal “Archives of Diseases in Childhood.” The results come from the EarlyBird study, which has followed the development of over 200 children in Plymouth born in 1995 and 1996.

Researchers found that when these children were aged between five and eight, 42 per cent of boys and only 11 per cent of girls met the government recommended daily exercise level of one hour of moderate exercise.

The study also found that exercise alone had no positive effect on weight control over time, although the research team were keen to stress that this does not mean that exercise has no health benefits for children. More.

5 children catch E. Coli at their daycare center

Five children have now contracted E. Coli at a Middleton daycare, Southwest District Health officials say. Laurie Boston, spokesman for Southwest District Health, says other children are in the process of being tested. No one was has been hospitalized at this point.

‘We are working very closely with the daycare facility, and they are adhering to very strict hygiene standards for thorough hand washing, as well as sanitizing surfaces, said Jennifer Tripp, Communicable Disease Epidemiologist for Southwest District Health. ‘The daycare facility will not allow children to return until a stool specimen indicates they are free of the bacteria.’

Symptoms include nausea, cramping, vomiting, fever and diarrhea. It appears the strain is E. Coli 157, which is the strain that can be serious to young children, Boston said. At this point, it seems to be contained to the daycare, but SWDH is investigating. Most people recover after five to 10 days.

Indian kids are still working despite child labor ban

Activists say there has been little progress in curbing child labour as only 12,000 children have been removed from illegal employment since the ban. According to official statistics, there are 255,000 children employed in homes and at roadside food stalls.

But activists say their numbers could be as high as 20 million. According to Save the Children, the number of children working in homes in Delhi alone is seven to eight million.

According to the 2001 census figures, India has more than 12.6 million child workers. Children’s groups put that number at between 35 to 60 million. More.

Bush rolls over 10 school children in Michigan

bus has rolled over near Ann Arbor, Mich., and children are among the 10 people injured. Huron Valley Ambulance spokeswoman Joyce Williams says the victims in Thursday’s crash are being taken to University of Michigan Hospital.

Their conditions were not immediately available but Williams says nine of the victims need immediate medical attention. The accident happened early Thursday afternoon about 40 miles west of Detroit in Northfield Township.

Michigan State police say three vehicles were involved in the crash on southbound U.S. 23. That part of the freeway has been closed.

Children’s eating disorders

Eating disorders are the most complex mental health problems that a child may experience. Eating disorder refers to states in which food and nourishment have an instrumental and manipulative role: food becomes a way to regulate the appearance of the body. Even children can have different kinds of eating disorders that relate to difficulties in the relationships between the child and his/her caretaker. The most common disorders are anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Anorexia causes an overwhelming fear of being overweight and a drive to be thin, leading to a restriction of calories that can lead to being underweight. Teens with anorexia may also have bulimia nervosa, with a loss of control and binge eating.

The reason behind eating disorders is not exactly known, but it seems to be associated with certain genetic attributes and it is more common in children who have a close relative with an eating disorder. Sometimes it comes from parents. Other factors that make children and adolescents vulnerable to eating disorders are participating in certain activities (especially dance forms like salsa and ballet, skating, athletics, and fashion modeling,), having a perfectionist or obsessive personality, the look-good syndrome and so on.

Treatment of eating disorders is possible but it is slow and difficult and should be overseen by a mental health professional. Parents of such children also need to be compassionate and patient with them. They should try to communicate with their children and not to scold and shout at them for their behaviour. Parents need to identify the disorder in the child and take immediate action. More.