During the 63rd U.N. Department of Public Information/NGO Conference on Monday in Melbourne, Australia, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon "call[ed] on delegates to do more to save the lives of mothers and babies," the Australian Associated Press/Sydney Morning Herald reports (Alexander/Rose, 8/30)...

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) has raised added concern about a study released by The Urban Institute that shows more than one-half of babies in poverty are being raised by mothers living with depression -- creating parenting and child development challenges...

Girls are hitting puberty earlier and earlier. One recent study found that more than 10 percent of American girls have some breast development by age 7. This news has upset many people, but it may make evolutionary sense in some cases for girls to develop faster, according to the authors of a new paper published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science...

The University of Athens Medical School has conducted a comprehensive study to evaluate the relationship between diet quality, levels of physical activity and key lifestyle characteristics amongst a group of 12-17 year old schoolchildren. The objective was to determine the most appropriate health actions to reduce the risks of long-term cardiovascular disease...

A year-long study into the effects of increased physical activity at school has shown that children's fitness levels and body composition do improve with daily participation in sport and particularly so for children from deprived backgrounds...

Required vaccination at several healthcare organizations has boosted their workforce immunization rates past the 98% mark, according to a position paper from the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.
Medscape Medical News

When it comes to treating very short kids with growth hormone, some doctors may be just as swayed by their own attitudes about being short as by data, suggests a new study published online today in Pediatrics.
Reuters Health Information

(MedPage Today) -- Even though some teens use cigarettes to self-medicate, smoking may only increase their depressive symptoms, researchers say.

(MedPage Today) -- Emergency department visits for concussions occurring in children's and teens' team sports have risen sharply since the late 1990s, researchers said.

Very low birth weight and preterm infants not born in highly specialized centers have a higher likelihood of neonatal and predischarge death than similar infants born at specialty hospitals.
Medscape Medical News

(MedPage Today) -- Infants delivered either early or late are at increased risk of cerebral palsy, a large Norwegian population-based study found.

A CDC official says there is no evidence that elderly patients gain more protection against influenza by waiting until October or November to get immunized.
Medscape Medical News

With the highest teen pregnancy rate in the Western Hemisphere and 25% of teens having had a sexually transmitted infection, we should be paying careful attention to media messages about sexuality and contraception, says a revised policy statement by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) "Sexuality, Contraception, and the Media," published in the medical journal Pediatrics...

The American Academy of Pediatrics offers recommendations for a gynecologic examination for adolescents in the pediatric office setting.
Medscape Medical News

Arrhythmias and other cardiac issues are common causes for loss of consciousness with a normal EEG, so why don't all of these patients get a cardiac work-up before starting anticonvulsant treatment?
Pacing and Clinical Electrophysiology

In this video commentary from the CDC, Dr. Shapira explains how newborn screening and recommended follow-up can help to answer whether congenital hypothyroidism is increasing in the United States.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

The coming weeks mark the return to school for many of our youngest citizens. Sadly the satisfaction of making new friends and obtaining good test scores may be overshadowed by the prospect of substance abuse for some school-aged adolescents. The previous decade has witnessed a two-fold increase in both alcohol consumption and intoxication by adolescents age 12 to 17...

Optometrists are encouraging parents and teachers across the country to take their children for a special eye test as part of its Bright Eyes For Back to School campaign which runs next week (from September 6th to 11th)...

Ahead of next month's U.N. Summit in New York, a joint U.N.-NGO conference tracking the world's progress toward reaching the U.N. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) kicked off in Melbourne, Australia, on Monday, ABC News reports (8/30)...

The Canadian government started rolling out its maternal health program in Africa as Minister of International Co-operation Bev Oda embarked on a seven-day visit to Mali and Mozambique, the Globe and Mail reports (York, 8/27)...