As the daily COVID positive count remains low in the State since the past few days, the MI syndrome which generally affects children between 4-6 weeks after the patient is cured from COVID19, has now posed a serious threat.
The syndrome was first noticed during the first wave of COVID19. However, the second wave made things worse and more and more children were affected by the syndrome, forcing health officials to get into emergency mode.
Sounding a note of caution to the people of Odisha, Panigrahi said that 80 PC (percent) of the minor population are asymptomatic. While 15 PC children develop symptoms, only 5 PC of them become seriously ill after developing MI syndrome. Similarly, only 3 PC require oxygen support and the remaining 2 PC become critical and need ICU admission.
stressed on the early diagnosis of the syndrome which will help keep the affected children out of the ICU. Any delay and the patient can become critical after suffering multi-organ failure.
However, urging the people to not panic, Panigrahi said, “Doctors and health workers have already been trained to treat MI Syndrome. People need not panic as the occurrences are few and far between in Bhubaneswar so far.”
Doctor Niranjan Mishra, Director of Public Health said that though the MI Syndrome has already hit the State of Odisha, the situation is far from alarming. However, the parents should keep an eye on their kids for the symptoms so that an early diagnosis can be made.
The Odisha government has asked the authorities to equip all major state-run hospitals and district healthcare institutions with sufficient medical oxygen supply, increase paediatric beds and other allied facilities. Arrangements are also underway to install more number of ICU and HDUs at hospitals, said Mishra.
As per experts, Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) is a condition where different body parts can become inflamed, including the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes, or gastrointestinal organs.
This information was shared by Odisha Public Health Director, Niranjan Mishra on Thursday (Sept 9). Mishra said that though the infection was not detected during the first wave of SARS-COV-2, it gradually came to the fore after cases among children under the age of 10 years increased.
The Public Health Director also stated that under the MI Syndrome, the children can suffer from fever, diarrhoea, vomiting and headaches. Meanwhile, Mishra warned adults to immediately consult a doctor after noticing such symptoms in children after Covid to prevent the situation from turning fatal.
This information was shared by Odisha Health Services Director, Bijay Mohapatra on Monday (Aug 23). Mohapatra stated that as per prediction, the third wave is likely to arrive by September and October. He added that if we go by the prediction, then the peak of the third wave is most likely to arrive in October.
The Health Services Director also informed even though 23 out of 100 children are predicted to get hospitalized during the peak; currently the rate is much lower. He added that the percentage of children getting affected currently is lower than 15 percent.
However, the use of the vaccine and its associated guidelines are yet to be released by the Central government, informed Directorate of Medical Education and Training (DMET) Chief, CBK Mohanty on Saturday (Aug 21). Mohanty stated that since the vaccination drive is under the control of the Central government, the vaccine use cannot be kick-started till both the vaccines and guidelines are rolled out by the concerned authority.
However, as national and international health experts have opined that children might get more infected in the third wave, special precautions are being taken. Accordingly, the state government has made arrangements for children in Odisha, the top health official said.
Mohanty stated that even though the chances of severity and fatality among children are comparatively lower, they can be safeguarded by protecting adults around them. Mohanty emphasized that since children are at risk of getting infected by the virus from adults, the same can be prevented by vaccinating teachers and parents and following Covid appropriate behavior.
Mohanty informed that those children in need of treatment will be treated first without waiting for their Covid test report. Around 3000 beds will be set up for children, which will include 610 ICU beds. And if required, special Covid hospitals will also be set up for children in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Rourkela, the senior health official said.
“As electricity can’t reach everywhere, solar bulbs were provided to us and they have brought drastic changes in our lives,” a villager Phatu Soren said.
In the absence of electricity, solar bulbs have brought a new ray of hope in the tribal dominated village. “My children are able to study in night hours without any problem because of solar lights,” another villager Jamuna Ho said.
The solar panels and lights have been provided by Divine Institute of Engineering & Technology and bulbs have been distributed to nearly 40 families of the village. The locals have also been given instructions about on the use of solar bulbs.
“It was difficult to study in the dark previously but now it has been very convenient. We all are very happy,” a student Lakshmi Ho said.
Chairman of Divine Institute of Engineering & Technology said, “This proposal was brought to us by an association following which we took up the project immediately.”
The Andhra govt recently conducted a 'Janmabhoomi' program under which pension and food supplements were distributed to the locals in Kotia. Moreover, villagers were given food security cards by Andhra officials, who also launched Aadhaar enrolment process. Construction work of a check dam has been started in Sembi area and a tender has also been floated by the neighbouring state for the construction of a 15-km road connecting Kotia to Tadiwalsa in Andhra Pradesh.
“They are planning to spend Rs 48 crore on road construction work,” a Kotia resident, Ranjit Pangi said.
Locals have alleged that even though the Odisha government had announced development projects in the area, the schemes are yet to be implemented.
“We get eggs, milk and other food items from the Andhra government officials. Nothing has been done by Odisha government,” said a Ganjeipadar resident.
Even though the Odisha government has announced projects worth Rs 150 crore for the area, it is yet to be implemented. Moreover, state government officials have been directed to begin selection of beneficiaries from the region for the KALIA scheme.
Meanwhile, the Koraput district collector has said that he is unaware about any development work being carried out by the Andhra government.
“My officials are on the field but I have not received any such information of development work being carried out by the Andhra government,” Koraput collector K Sudarshan Chakraborty said.
In Bhubaneswar, three persons were injured while bursting firecrackers at separate places. All of them have been admitted in the Capital Hospital.
As per reports, adequate arrangements were made at the hospital by putting more number of doctors and nurses on duty.
In Ganjam, one youth suffered critical eye injury in Chopra village of Bhanjanagar while the another suffered burn injuries in Aska. Similarly, in Balasore's Rasalpur one youth suffered minor injury while five suffered burn injuries in Udala in Mayurbhanj.
Meanwhile, a minor boy was critically injured while bursting crackers in Nuapada under Panikoili and was later admitted in SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack.
Despite safety instructions given by local authorities, two persons including a 4-year-old child was injured in Anandapur of Keonjhar during firecracker bursting.
Forced to leave his studies midway in Class 11 due to family constraints, Prakash Rao understands the importance of education and that is why he has been running a primary school called ‘Asha o Aswasana’ for underprivileged children from many slums in nearby areas. Most of what he earns from his tea stall in Buxi Bazar, Rao spends towards the school.
Around 75 students are studying here and they are provided with an afternoon meal along with proper health facilities. The main motive behind this is to ensure proper education and nutrition for many slum children.
Speaking to odishatv.in, Rao expressed, “I cannot do big things and donate huge amount of money for charity but at least I can bring a change by imparting education to the underprivileged children.”
The school that started with only one room in his home has grown up now because of some help from a few generous people in the city. There is one room in his school which is used as classroom along with a small adjacent room as his office and kitchen and the adjacent area is used as a small play school for nursery kids now.
“I am associated with him for last 20 years. His step of running a school for the underprivileged students from his little earning from the tea stall is really commendable,” says another social worker Radheshyam Das.
Rao's school has Classes I to III and after completing primary schooling here, students are sent to other schools for higher studies. Eight girls from his school have passed matriculation and are now in college.
A student from the school Renuka said, “I started my education from this school and Prakash Rao is my first Guru. I am really thankful to him. I didn’t have money to go to college in an auto rickshaw, so Sir has bought me a bi-cycle.“
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Asked about the opposition faced from the parents, Rao replied, “In the beginning days, people usually complained about the need of education for their children, they questioned me but I stayed firm with my decision despite their protest”.
Apart from the school, Rao has been a regular blood donor at the SCB Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack. He has been donating blood since last 43 years. He also provides boiled milk and water for free to the patients coming to SCB Medical. He has even decided to donate his skeleton to the anatomy department of SCB medical College for the study of future medical students.
“Government has provided me an office on the SCB campus and there I provide facilities to boil water and milk for attendants of patients,” informed Prakash Rao.
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His tea stall is also unique in many ways. It is known for a wide variety of teas including sugar free and lemon tea.
“I stay in Bengaluru but whenever I come to Cuttack, I come here to have tea and love the way he serves tea in a clean environment. He is a very nice person and I feel proud to come here to have tea from a social worker,” said one of his customers Rajesh Kumar Das.
https://youtu.be/htUyUNmnyug
According to sources, during his visit to the school, Agarwal entered a classroom and started teaching 'Ramayana' to the students.
“We really felt good about the collector's visit and liked the way he taught us. It was a different experience altogether," a student Om Prakash Pati said.
While urging the school authorities to keep the school premises green and clean Agarwal said,"The school authorities need to focus more on cleanliness and plant more trees inside the campus. Moreover, the school toilets are currently not in a usable condition which has to be fixed. We also interacted with the children."
“The collector focussed on cleanliness during his visit and directed us to repair the broken asbestos roofs. We have made all arrangements to repair them," Headmistress of Satyavadi Vana Vidyalaya, Bhabam Pradhan said.
Later, Agarwal and the local MLA visited different departments of the school. The collector directed for repair of classrooms and urged the school authorities to keep the premises of the school clean.
A decision to this effect was taken at a review meeting presided over by Woman and Child Development Minister Usha Devi at the State Secretariat here today.
Briefing media persons after the meeting, the minister said since there is no road connectivity to the village, which is situated on a hilltop, it would be easier for the district administration to provide the villagers with all basic requirements relating to health and drinking water supply if they come down to the foothill and settle there.
“It all depends on the villagers. If they are not willing to come down the hill, we will make alternative arrangements for them,” she said.
The minister said her department has made provision to provide take-home ration cards and chhatua to each family of the village through Anganwadi workers.
Talking about the malnourishment of the children, the minister said there is no family planning in the village. Some families in the village have 8-9 children. “As per the survey conducted by the my department, 24 families in this village have 122 children. Such disturbing phenomenon is due to lack of awareness among the Juang tribals. We will take necessary steps in this regard to bring these tribals to the mainstream of the society,” she assured.
Meanwhile, Revenue Divisional Commissioner (Central Division), AB Ota held a review meeting on the situation in Nagada village in Cuttack today.
Talking to media persons after the meeting, Ota said the administration had identified 18 malnourished children in the village of which special care had been taken in respect of 14 children and their mothers at a temporary camp set up in the village.
He said for the development of Nagada village, the government has prepared both short and long-term plans in which emphasis has been given on communication, drinking water, health and mini Anganwadi centres. “To ensure these facilities in the village, the state government has appointed secretaries and directors of the Health and Family Welfare, ST and ST Development, Works and Rural Development departments as nodal officers,” he added.
The RDC also informed that the state government has directed local officials to identify villages having a situation similar to Nagada village and take corrective measures at the earliest.
Jajpur Collector Satya Kumar Mallick, who was present in the meeting, told the media that the district administration has provided food to 43 families yesterday while another 43 families of the village would be provided food today.
ADHD is one of the most common neuropsychiatric disorders of childhood and adolescence.
The study, from Tehran University of Medical Sciences in Iran, showed that saffron, which has anti-depressant and memory-enhancing properties, can be as effective at controlling symptoms as methylphenidate, the commonly prescribed drug Ritalin for treating ADHD.
Saffron, known as a spice and nutritional supplement in traditional medicine, could be particularly effective for the 30 per cent of patients who do not respond to or cannot tolerate stimulants like methylphenidate, which causes side effects like nausea, stomach pain, decreased appetite, insomnia, and headache.
For the study, researchers included 54 ADHD patients aged six to 17 years and compared the effects of saffron or methylphenidate over a six-week period.
The patients were randomly assigned to receive either 20-30 mg/d methylphenidate or 20-30 mg/d saffron capsules depending on weight.
The findings, published in the Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology, showed no significant difference in effectiveness.
Previous studies have shown that one-to-one support and a focus on self-regulation may improve academic outcomes of children with ADHD.
In addition, a computerised test of attention and activity to standard care can reduce the time needed to make a diagnostic decision on the disorder.
The study, led by a team from the University of Hong Kong, revealed that children who developed a closer connection with nature had less distress, less hyperactivity and had a healthy lifestyle with regard to active play and eating habits.
They also had fewer behavioural and emotional difficulties, as well as improved pro-social behaviour.
However, despite the extensive, adjacent greenness, many families are not using these areas, the researchers rued in the paper published in the PLOS ONE journal.
"We noticed a tendency where parents are avoiding nature. They perceive it as dirty and dangerous, and their children unfortunately pick up these attitudes," said Tanja Sobko from the University's School of Biological Sciences.
In addition, the green areas are often unwelcoming with signs like "Keep off the grass", Sobko added.
Recent research shows that spending time with nature may bring many health benefits, and many environmental programmes around the world are trying to decrease 'nature-deficit' and 'child-nature disconnectedness' in order to improve children's health.
For the study, the team prepared a new 16-item parent questionnaire (CNI-PPC) to measure "connectedness to nature' in very young children. The questionnaire identified four areas that reflect the child-nature relationship: enjoyment of nature, empathy for nature, responsibility towards nature and awareness of nature.
The results give a new possibility for investigating the link between the outdoor environment and well-being in pre-school children.
The team further plans to test the effect of exposing children to nature and changes in their gut microbiota.
The study, led by a team from the Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, US, showed that high-sugar cereals are heavily promoted during programmes aired for children on TV. Kids who were exposed to such TV ads were more likely to subsequently eat the brands of cereals they had seen advertised, the researchers said.
Children's eating habits develop during the preschool years, and children who are overweight by the age of 5 are likely to remain overweight into adolescence and adulthood.
The adoption of poor eating habits diets of low quality, too few fruits and vegetables and too much sugar, salt and fat can lead to obesity, a known risk factor for 13 cancers, they noted.
"One factor believed to contribute to children's poor quality diets is the marketing of nutritionally-poor foods directly to children," said Jennifer Emond, from the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Centre.
"Brands specifically target children in their advertising knowing that children will ask their parents for those products."
For the study, published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine, the team included preschool-age children to see how exposure to TV ads for high-sugar cereals influences kids' subsequent intake of those advertised cereals.
Emond's team purchased an advertising database and actually counted, by brand, the cereal ads that aired on the children's TV network programmes each child watched. Parents were asked about the shows their kids watched and what cereals their kids ate in the past week, every eight weeks, for one year.
Efforts to promote and support quality diets at a young age are important to foster the lifestyle behaviours needed to maintain a healthy weight and reduce the risk of chronic disease including many cancers.
"There are policy-level actions that could be implemented to reduce children's exposure to food marketing and to improve the quality of the foods marketed to kids. And we as parents have the choice to switch to ad-free TV for our children and for ourselves," Emond noted.
Patients with leukemia have a very low percentage of red blood cells, making them anemic, and have approximately 80 times more white blood cells than people without cancer.
However, the survival rate is only 30 per cent for children diagnosed with MLL-translocation leukemia, a cancer that affects the blood and bone marrow.
"These white blood cells infiltrate many of the tissues and organs of the affected individuals and is a major cause of death in leukemia patients," said Ali Shilatifard, Professor at the Northwestern University in the US.
"This is a monster cancer that we've been dealing with for many years in children.
"We're finally at a point where in five to 10 years, we can get a drug in kids that can be effective. If we can bring that survival rate up to 85 per cent, that's a major accomplishment," Shilatifard said.
In the study, detailed in the journal Genes and Development, the team demonstrated that when a key protein responsible for leukemia, MLL, is stabilised, it slows the progression of the leukemia.
This MLL stabilisation process could potentially work in cancers with solid tumours, such as breast or prostate cancer.
The next step will be to combine the treatments from the past two years of research into a pediatric leukemia "super drug" to test on humans in a clinical trial, the researchers said.
"This opens up a new therapeutic approach not only for leukemia, which is so important for the many children who are diagnosed with this terrible cancer, but also for other types of cancers that plague the population," the study showed.
The team also identified compounds that could slow cancer growth by interrupting a gene transcription process known as "Super Elongation Complex" (SEC).
Smile Train India, a non-government organisation, the National Health Mission and the state Directorate of Health and Family Welfare have signed a memorandum of understanding to enable free surgeries for children with congenital cleft lip and palate.
Through this three-year partnership, the patients for the surgeries will be identified through a programme named the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram.
Smile Train will support free surgeries and post-operative care for the children, a government spokesperson told IANS.
Since 2000, Smile Train has supported more than 1,700 cleft repair surgeries, free of cost, in Himachal Pradesh.
This new partnership looks at intensifying outreach so that more children born with clefts can benefit from the free surgeries and get a chance to lead a normal life.
While signing the memorandum of understanding, Directorate of Health and Family Welfare Mission Director Manmohan Sharma said this partnership will help children with untreated cleft access free treatment in a timely manner through Smile Train India's partner hospitals.
Renu Mehta, Area Director with Strategic Projects in South Asia in Smile Train said: "We are thankful to the state government for their support in spreading awareness about clefts and the treatment available."
"With the support of the state, we are sure that we will be able to reach out to children born with clefts from remote areas, who do not have access to quality cleft treatment or surgery," she added.
The study revealed that those who had no bedtime routine at age nine had shorter self-reported sleep duration and higher body mass index (BMI) at age 15, when compared to those children with age-appropriate bedtimes.
"We think sleep affects physical and mental health, and the ability to learn," said Orfeu Buxton, Professor from the University of Pennsylvania in the US.
"Parenting practices in childhood affect physical health and BMI in the teenage years. Developing a proper routine in childhood is crucial for the future health of the child," Buxton added.
Previous studies have shown that poor sleep can affect academic performance, as well as contribute to death and cases of heart disease and stroke.
For the study, researchers analysed 2,196 children.
The findings, published in the journal SLEEP, showed that one-third of children consistently adhered to age-appropriate bedtimes for ages five to nine.
Bedtime should provide enough of a "window" for the child to get an appropriate amount of sleep, even if the child does not fall asleep right away, said Buxton.
Future family interventions may need to include parental education about sleep health, particularly focusing on parents with low income and low education, Lee said, adding the need for research in childhood sleep behaviour and weight in later life.
The study, published in the journal, 'NeuroImage', showed that babies can recognise faces from profile views after six months of age.
The team also observed that the brain activity of babies enables them to recognise a face regardless of view change.
"Mothers caring for their babies are no exception. However, younger babies do not recognise the face in profile. When we communicate with younger babies, we should look straight at the babies' faces," said Ryusuke Kakigi, Professor from the National Institute for Physiological Sciences in Japan.
For the study, the researchers tested a small group of babies every month during the first three to eight months of their lives.
They first identified developmental changes in babies with regard to the ability to recognise a face from frontal and profile views.
The team measured the babies's brain activity while the baby viewed frontal and profile views of the face using non-invasive near-infrared spectroscopy.
The results suggested that babies gradually recognise the profile faces at around 5.5 months of age, the team said.
The findings suggest that the incidence of an asthma diagnosis among children with obesity was significantly higher than in those in a normal weight range and that 23 to 27 per cent of new asthma cases were directly attributable to obesity.
"Paediatric asthma is among the most prevalent childhood conditions and comes at a high cost to patients, families and the greater health system," said co-author Terri Finkel from Nemours Children's Hospital in Orlando.
"There are few preventable risk factors to reduce the incidence of asthma, but our data show that reducing the onset of childhood obesity could significantly lower the public health burden of asthma," Finkel added.
For the study published in the journal Paediatrics, the research team analysed medical records of more than 500,000 children.
The researchers reviewed de-identified data of patients aged two to 17 without a history of asthma, receiving care from six paediatric academic medical centres between 2009 and 2015.
Overweight or obese patients were matched with normal weight patients of the same age, gender, race, ethnicity, insurance type and location of care.
The researchers found that obesity among children with asthma appears to increase disease severity. Being overweight was identified as a modest risk factor for asthma, and the association was diminished when the most stringent definition of asthma was used.
"Addressing childhood obesity should be a priority to help improve the quality of life of children and help reduce paediatric asthma," Finkel noted.
The study showed that controlled ingestion of the medication, called AR101, derived from peanut protein, could build tolerance as well as reduce severe allergy symptoms.
"Almost 6 million American children are currently living with a life-threatening food allergy," said Christina Ciaccio, Associate Professor from the University of Chicago in the US.
"Every three minutes a food allergy reaction sends someone to the emergency room, contributing to the total annual cost of caring for children with food allergy to nearly $25 billion. Despite this, not a single treatment for food allergy has been approved by the FDA," she said.
However, the drug "is not a quick fix, and it doesn't mean people with peanut allergy will be able to eat peanuts whenever they want", the researchers stressed, in the paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
But it is definitely a breakthrough and "results of this landmark trial are likely to lead to the first FDA-approved treatment for food allergy in 2019", Ciaccio said.
As a result, people who receive and are able to tolerate this treatment should be protected from accidental exposures, the researchers noted, adding that once someone stops the treatment, there is no longer a protective effect.
For the study, the researchers at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) in the US included 496 participants aged from four to 55 years, most were four to 17 year olds, and all had peanut allergy.
One third of the participants were given a placebo, while the remaining two-thirds were given peanut protein powder as part of an oral food challenge (OFC) in increasing amounts until reaching the "maintenance dose" -- equivalent of one peanut daily.
Compared to the placebo group, participants who took AR101 had less severe allergy symptoms.
Furthermore, two-thirds of the people were able to tolerate the equivalent of two peanuts per day after nine to 12 months of treatment, and half the patients tolerated the equivalent of four peanuts.
The disaster also destroyed 48 houses while evacuation and search operations for the missing were underway, National Disaster Management Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.
Among the casualties, there were 11 students of an Islamic school who died after being hit by collapsing buildings in Muara Saladi village of Mandailing Natal during flash floods on Friday, Sutopo told Xinhua news agency.
Scores of people were believed to be buried under the mud. The spokesperson said that the death toll might rise as assessment of the aftermath was still underway.
Flash floods also struck several villages in Tanah Datar and Pasaman districts of West Sumatra province, damaging houses.
Meanwhile, landslides occurred in North Sumatra's Sibolga town, destroying scores of houses.
Soldiers, the police and rescuers were rushing to search and rescue the victims, but the operations were hampered by poor access, as the affected areas were remotely located near mountain with bad roads, said Sutopo.
The floods and landslides came after a series of catastrophes in Indonesia, including multiple strong quakes and an ensuing tsunami that left over 2,000 people dead in Central Sulawesi Province.
The findings, based on the analysis of the impact of the 2015 tobacco display ban in England, revealed that the percentage of children who smoked regularly fell to 40 per cent by 2016, from 57 per cent before.
"The research shows that removing displays made tobacco less visible to children, and that fewer of them bought cigarettes there. This research provides evidence that the introduction of display bans will be an effective measure against children smoking -- and could help save them from starting a deadly habit," said Anthony Laverty, lead author of the research from the School of Public Health at Imperial.
The study published in the journal Tobacco Control, assessed survey responses from 18,000 11-15 year olds from across England between 2010 and 2016.
Among the children who smoked, the most common source of cigarettes was from friends, followed by shops. This remain unchanged between 2010-2016.
Interestingly, there was no increase in children reporting they had purchased cigarettes from illegal sources. The proportion of children who said they had bought cigarettes from street markets remained steady at under 10 per cent between 2010 and 2016.
Other reasons that may have helped reduce smoking rates, could be such as the ban on cigarette vending machines and higher taxes, Laverty said.
However, the researchers found that more than two in three child smokers had not been refused cigarettes when they last attempted to buy them -- a figure that remained unchanged between 2010-2016.
Furthermore, the majority of child smokers said it was easy to buy cigarettes in shops. This rose slightly from 61 per cent in 2010 to 65 per cent in 2016.
While the results are encouraging, more work is needed to ensure effective tobacco control, the researchers said adding that it is still too easy for children to purchase cigarettes in shops.
Besides enforcement, government cuts as well as a licensing system for tobacco retailers -- similar to that seen for alcohol -- needs to be introduced, the researchers suggested.
More than one-third of them, or about 104 million, are in countries affected by conflict or disaster, the report titled "A future stolen: young and out-of-school" revealed on Wednesday.
Additionally, it said one in five young people between 15-17 years old in countries affected by conflicts and disasters have never even entered any school and two in five have never completed primary school, reports Xinhua news agency.
"When a country is hit by conflict or disaster, its children and young people are victimized twice," said Henrietta Fore, Unicef Executive Director.
"In the near term, their schools are damaged, destroyed, occupied by military forces or even deliberately attacked, and they join the millions of young people out of school, and as the years progress they seldom return.
"In the long term they -- and the countries they live in -- will continue to face perpetuating cycles of poverty," she said.
By current trends, the number of 10 to 19 year-olds will rise to more than 1.3 billion by 2030, an increase of 8 per cent, the report said.
Providing this future workforce with quality education and better employment prospects will yield greater economic and social dividends.
With less than 4 per cent of global humanitarian appeals dedicated to education, the report calls for more investment in quality education where children and young people can learn in a safe environment, from pre-primary to upper-secondary, in countries affected by complex humanitarian emergencies and protracted crises.
It said that by current trends, poverty remains the most significant barrier to education globally with the poorest primary school age children four times more likely to be out of school compared to their peers from the richest households.
She revealed all to Vogue magazine as the couple holidayed in the South of France.
The couple sat down with seven-year-old daughter Harper, and her three teenage brothers to reassure them their marriage was solid after David was falsely linked to another woman.
The interview with the magazine was initially intended to mark her 10 years in fashion. But she wanted to address claims which swept social media three months ago that she was divorcing, reports thesun.co.uk.
The fashion designer, 44, requested her husband to join her for the cover photograph - though a "sultry" solo one of Victoria was also taken.
A friend said the Beckhams are always "transparent" with their children.
Sources said: "Allegations about the state of their marriage and ridiculous claims about David are extremely hurtful, and obviously potentially very distressing for the kids.
"Whilst publicly they maintained a united front by laughing off the rumours, behind closed doors they've taken them much more seriously. They sat the children down and addressed these horrific, hurtful whispers.
"Both David and Victoria are very transparent with the kids to ensure they hear things directly from them - and not from the playground. After the latest furore, they once again took the decision to be open and honest with them, reassuring them Daddy is not a cheat."
According to recent studies, excessive weight gain in the first years of life can be associated with lower lung function and a higher risk of childhood asthma.
The new study, led by Erasmus University in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, showed that the infants with the highest weight gain velocity and body mass index had lower lung function at 10 years of age.
Specifically, these children had a lower function related to the smaller airways in relation to their total lung volume.
The study also found that "the later the children reached their peak body mass index, the better their lung function and, in the case of boys, the lower the risk of asthma", said lead author Maribel Casas, researcher at the varsity.
"These results confirm that early childhood growth plays an important role in lung development," Casas added.
Although no relationship between height and weight growth and the risk of asthma was observed, this disproportionate development of lung function could be a risk factor for the development of respiratory disease, the researchers said.
For the study, published in the journal Thorax, the team tracked 4,435 children in the Netherlands from birth until 10 years of age.
The participants' weight and height were measured multiple times during the first three years of life.
The team examined whether early childhood growth patterns -- ascertained by taking repeated weight and height measurements during the first three years of the child's life -- affected respiratory health at the age of 10 years.
According to the researchers, this disorder is characterised by birthmarks on the skin and benign nerve tumours that develop in or on the skin. Brain tumours are also known to occur in children and adults with NF1.
They estimated that only 15-20 per cent of kids with NF1 develop brain tumours. But the study, published in the journal Neurology: Clinical Practice, found that the frequency of brain tumours in this population was more than three times higher.
"I'm not delivering the message anymore that brain tumours are rare in NF1. This study has changed how I decide which children need more surveillance and when to let the neuro-oncologists know that we may have a problem," said senior author David H. Gutmann from the Washington University School of Medicine.
Brain Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans of children with NF1 characteristically show bright spots that are absent in the scans of unaffected children. Unlike tumours, they are generally thought to disappear in teenage years, the researchers said.
Since brain tumours can be confused with harmless bright spots, it has never been clear whether finding these abnormalities via MRI should be a cause for concern, they added.
For the study, the team developed a set of criteria to distinguish tumours from other bright spots. The researchers then analysed scans from 68 NF1 patients and 46 children without NF1 for comparison.
All but four (94 per cent) of the children with NF1 had bright spots, and none of the children without NF1 did. Further, in 57 per cent of the children with bright spots, at least one of the spots was deemed likely to be a tumour, the research team found.
Applying the new criteria to MRI scans will help physicians identify probable tumours, but that does not mean that all children with NF1 should be scanned regularly, the researchers cautioned.
According to the researchers, the results illuminate the need to increase awareness of parental factors that have the potential to contribute to ADHD in children.
The study, published in the journal Asia Pacific Psychiatry, could be incorporated into 'stop smoking' campaigns or depression self-recognition programmes.
"Our finding added to the evidence supporting the need for ADHD prevention strategies and would be helpful in the development of effective public prevention policies intended to promote healthy family environments," said co-author Jin-won Kwon from the Kyungpook National University in South Korea.
For the study, the research team involved 23,561 children and adolescents aged less than 18 years to investigate the risk factors associated with ADHD in them, using a nationally representative sample of the population.
ADHD was assessed using a self-reported diagnosis of ADHD. Among the patients, boys and girls constituted 78 per cent and 22 per cent, respectively.
The researchers considered various risk factors including demographics, obesity, and family environment (household income, parental age, depression in adults in the household, and exposure to environmental smoke at home).
The relationship between ADHD and the considered risk factors was evaluated using multiple logistic regression.
The study identified parent's smoking and depression as family environmental factors associated with children's ADHD.
The annual prevalence of physician-diagnosed ADHD showed a four-fold increase (0.35 per cent in 2005 and 1.36 per cent in 2014) over the study period.
The researchers found that the odds of having a child on the autistic spectrum for those who underwent fertility treatments were 1.5 times higher than those who opted out of it, in the case of progesterone hormone therapy.
Progesterone is an embryonic steroid hormone needed for brain development. There is a hypothesis that it activates a genetic mechanism for the development of autism, Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday.
For the study, the researchers, from the University of Haifa in Israel, included 108,548 boys -- as boys have a higher risk of developing autism than girls.
The researchers also found that progesterone delivery before pregnancy may affect critical stages in fetal brain development.
In recent years, efforts have been made to identify the environmental factors that influence the development of autism. One of the directions that has not been thoroughly tested is the effect of fertility treatments, the report said.
Today there is a scientific and medical controversy. Some studies have found that there is no connection between fertility treatments and autism, especially IVF (In vitro fertilization) treatments. Other studies have linked to individual hormones and autism, the report added.
Autism, or autism spectrum disorder, is a condition related to brain development that impacts how a person perceives and socializes with others, causing problems in social interaction and communication.
New Delhi: Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) Chairperson Swati Maliwal on Sunday ended her nine-day fast after President Ram Nath Kovind approved an ordinance to provide death penalty to those convicted of raping girls below 12 years.
Maliwal, 33, went on an indefinite hunger strike at Rajghat and refused to break it despite failing health till the government acted seriously against those who sexually assault young girls.
On Sunday, the President promulgated The Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance, 2018, which was approved by the cabinet on Saturday.
Maliwal began her fast following the widely condemned rape and murder of an eight-year-old in Jammu and Kashmir in January and similar crimes elsewhere in the country.
Sunny, who is currently here, took to Twitter and posted a photograph of herself along with husband Daniel Weber and their three children.
Sunny captioned it: "God's plan! June 21st, 2017 was the day Daniel and I found out that we might possibily be having three children within a short amount of time. We planned and tried to have a family and after so many years are family is now complete with Asher Singh Weber, Noah Singh Weber and Nisha Kaur Weber."
"Our boys were born a few weeks ago but were alive in our hearts abnd eyes for many years. God planned something so special for us and gave us a large family. We are both proud parents of three beautiful children. Surprise everyone."
Daniel shared the same photograph and tweeted: "Say hello to Noah and Asher Weber! Family. The next chapter of life! Karen (Sunny), Nisha, Noah, Asher and me."
It's a dangerous journey for the children of Burudia village under Rajkanika tehsil as threat of crocodile pouncing upon them is quite imminent.
The village does not have a school, with the nearest one located at Tarasa village, more than a kilometre from Burudia. To reach the school, children wade through the creek that separates the two villages.
"The creek is a narrow one and it spills during rainy season. The creek is also regarded as a habitation corridor of salt-water crocodiles. As there is no school in our village, we are forced to send children to the school in the neighbouring village. Children traverse through the river barrier to attend classroom teaching. However guardians and parents accompany them to ensure their safety," said a local, Ram Chandra Mohanty.
"Parents prefer safety of their wards and stop them from going to school when the tides are high and the creek cannot be crossed," civil society group member, Subhransu Sutar, said.
Sarpanch of Tarasa gram panchayat, Sanjukta Nayak, said a proposal for construction of a mini-bridge over the creek has been approved at the panchayat body meeting and financial allocation is awaited for the construction work to resume.
"Construction of bridge is being taken up on a priority basis. Children are subjected to great hardship as they are made to wade through the water-body. We are concerned about their safety. Till the permanent structure comes up, a temporary bamboo bridge is being built very shortly," Block Development Officer, Rajkanika, Prasant Kumar Rout, said.
Children trek over a virtual death trap as there is possibility of crocodiles straying into water-body from Kharasrota river.
"We pray to God for children's safety as they leave for school. We are left with no other option. It is becoming a risky ritual to wade through croc-infested creek," rued a guardian, Premanand Sahu.
Peshawar: A 5.5-magnitude earthquake today jolted northwest Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, injuring at least nine children and causing panic among the residents, media reports said.
The epicenter of the earthquake was Northwestern city of Bannu located at a depth of 12 kilometre. The temblor was felt in the Swat Valley and Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, Pakistan Meteorological Department was quoted as saying by The Express Tribune.
The children were injured in Bannu's Government Model School near Tankhi Bazaar, the newspaper report said.
The panic-stricken children rushed out of the three-story building. Few jumped from second and third floor of the building. The injured have been moved to District Headquarters Hospital, the report said.
Last month, a 5.6-magnitude earthquake jolted many towns of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. The epicenter of the quake was located at the depth of 200 kilometre in Hindu Kush mountain area of Afghanistan.
Image source: PTI
New Delhi: The Union Cabinet today approved an ordinance to allow courts to award death penalty to those convicted of raping children up to 12 years of age.
Official sources said that the criminal law amendment ordinance seeks to amend the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Evidence Act, the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act to introduce a new provision to sentence convicts of such crimes punishment of death.
The move comes against the backdrop of the alleged rape and murder of girls in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua and Gujarat's Surat district recently.
The rape of a minor in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh had also outraged the nation.
The ordinance would be now sent to the President for his approval.
The children of the tribal-dominated village had died last year in the absence of medical facilities. The incident had hogged the headlines causing an outrage and the state government drawing flak from all quarters.
OFC chairman Rangalal Jamuda reviewed the progress of several social welfare schemes like ration, livelihood, agriculture, horticulture, education, health and drinking water facilities being undertaken by the district administration for the village.
Jamuda was accompanied by Jajpur district Collector Ranjan Kumar Das, member secretary of the Commission, Rajashree Mohanty, member Sipra Mallik, Jajpur ADM Bikash Chandra Mohapatra, sub collector Narayan Chandra Dhal and other officials.
He stressed on availability of potable water, pucca house, provision of land patta and education of the tribal villagers.
He appreciated the initiative taken by the district administration to connect the hilltop village with a motorable road.
"Though we have laid a motorable road up to Nagada hilltop, still lot of work needs to be done. The road would be later on handed over to the Road and Bridge department as per the instruction of the government," said Jajpur collector Ranjan Kumar Das.
The district administration has started construction of three Anganwadi centres at Nagada village and "three ponds will be dug under MGNREA to store water," Das said.
He said the district administrations was thinking of multiple measures on how to change the behavioural attitude of the tribals residing in Nagada.
"We are thinking of providing some training to the villagers to achieve this objective," Das added.
These children were away from their families either working as child labourers or begging at railway stations or bus stands.
This was part of Operation Smile, a programme launched by Union Home Ministry three years ago. Over 900 missing children were rescued and rehabilitated by the state government in 2015.
This year's programme started on July 24 and would continue till August 24. While the month-long programme would continue in the state, at least ten teams would go to other states to rescue Odia missing children from August 10, said special DG (crime), B K Sharma.
Personnel from WCD and Odisha Police would be part of these teams and were sensitised at an orientation session held at the police headquarters here today, where senior officials educated the team members about the procedures to be adopted for this sensitive exercise.
The teams would leave for different destinations in States like Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telengana, Karnataka, New Delhi, Maharashtra, Haryana, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhatisgarh and West Bengal to rescue the missing Odia children.
The chief minister was speaking at an event organised for the 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao" programme here.
He said the aim of the State Nutrition Mission would be "healthy child, healthy teenager, healthy mother and healthy Haryana".
Stressing that action would be taken under the mission according to guidelines of the Unicef and the WHO, Khattar said it was sad that children were malnourished in Haryana, which is known as the land of milk and yogurt.
According to a survey, 40 percent children of Haryana were underweight, 46 percent children suffered from dwarfism and 19 percent were underweight.
According to another survey conducted in 2013-14 by the National Institute of Nutrition in Hyderabad, 27.85 percent children upto five years of age in Haryana were underweight, 34.1 percent children suffered from dwarfism and 11 percent children were underweight.
On the 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' programme, he said: "We are seeking support of all sections of society -- representatives of people, social workers, sociologists, intellectuals, distinguished personalities of the corporate sector.
"We are marching forward in a scientific manner. We are laying stress on care of the female foetus," he said.
"The school environment remains essential for shaping healthy eating and active living behaviours, and schools can play a leadership role in fostering a healthy transition from the school year to summer breaks," said one of the researchers Y. Claire Wang, associate professor at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health in the US.
"We see a need for school-based obesity prevention efforts to go beyond the school day and the school year," Wang said.
The research published online in the Journal of School Health was based on data from US children in grades one-12 in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2003-2008.
The sample consisted of 6453 children and adolescents, some surveyed during the school year and others during a school break.
The researchers selected three main dietary measures: total calories consumed per day, number of cups of vegetables consumed, and teaspoons of added sugar, to estimate consumption of calories.
They also compared student exercise patterns and screen time and any changes over the summer vacation.
They found that in the summer, youth watched an average 20 minutes more television a day and consumed an average three ounces more sugar-sweetened beverages during summer break than during the school year.
Overall, exercise was basically unchanged: students were physically active five minutes more on average than they were in school, the study found.
"Given the secrecy that surrounds domestic violence, it is important that parents, the extended family and service providers understand the protective effects that strong family bonds can have," said Catherine Naughton from the University of Limerick in Ireland.
"This way, they can encourage young people affected to maintain the inherent sense of belonging within the extended family which, ultimately, can provide positive psychological support," Naughton added.
The study involved 465 young people aged between 17 and 25 years. They completed an online survey which asked about their experiences of parental/caregivers' domestic violence, family bonds and psychological well-being.
Analysis showed that exposure to parental/caregivers' domestic violence was associated with reduced self-esteem, increased anxiety and weaker family bonds in young adults when compared to those who grew up in non-affected homes.
However, the presence of strong family bonds did have a buffering effect in that, despite growing up in a home affected by domestic violence, some young adults who described strong family bonds also showed increased self-esteem and reduced anxiety.
This buffering effect of family bonds was seen when the domestic violence between their parents/caregivers was reported as either physical or psychological violence.
The findings were presented at the British Psychological Society's annual conference in Windsor.
The study found that female mice treated with two classes of widely used childhood antibiotics gained more weight and developed larger bones than untreated mice.
However, at the same time both of the antibiotics also disrupted the gut microbiome, the trillions of microbes that inhabit the intestinal tract.
For the study, the mice were given three short courses of amoxicillin (a broad-spectrum antibiotic), tylosin or a mixture of both drugs.
"The number of courses of antibiotics matters. We get a little interruption of the maturation process after the second course of antibiotics, and then we have even more interruption after three courses," said lead co-author Laura M. Cox from the department of medicine at NYU School of Medicine.
Short, high-dose pulses of tylosin had the most pronounced and long-lasting effect on weight gain, while amoxicillin had the biggest effect on bone growth--a prerequisite for increased height.
The drugs altered not only the bacterial species, but also the relative numbers of microbial genes linked to specific metabolic functions.
Antibiotic-exposed microbiomes may be less adaptable to environmental changes, said the study.
The more pronounced effects of tylosin on weight gain and microbiome disruption are especially worrisome, given the increasing popularity of macrolide antibiotic prescriptions for children.
The accumulating evidence highlights the need for better awareness of the potential downsides of antibiotic overuse, the authors said.
The study appeared online in Nature Communications.
An over-active brain circuit involving three brain areas inherited from generation to generation may set the stage for developing anxiety and depressive disorders, said the researchers from University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“Over-activity of these three brain regions are inherited brain alterations that are directly linked to the later life risk to develop anxiety and depression,” said senior study author Ned Kalin.
The findings showed that elevated activity in the brain areas is likely involved in mediating the in-born risk for extreme anxiety and anxious temperament that can be observed in early childhood.
Monkeys, like humans, can be temperamentally anxious and pass their anxiety-related genes on to the next generation.
By studying nearly 600 young rhesus monkeys, the team found that about 35 percent of variation in anxiety-like tendencies is explained by family history.
To a certain extent, anxiety can provide an evolutionary advantage because it helps an individual recognise and avoid danger.
“But when the circuits are over-active, it becomes a problem and can result in anxiety and depressive disorders," Kalin explained.
Surprisingly, the study found that it was the function of brain structures - and not their size - that was responsible for the genetic transfer of an anxious temperament.
“Now that we know where to look, we can develop a better understanding of the molecular alterations that give rise to anxiety-related brain function,” Kalin noted.
The findings are a big step in understanding the neural underpinnings of inherited anxiety and begins to give scientists more selective targets for treatment.
The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Doctors caution against common swimming pool infections that are rampant during this time of the year.
Children with their not-fully-developed immune systems are more prone to catch infections at the swimming pools, though elders are equally at risk.
"Swimming pools, if not properly cleaned, can be the hub for many kinds of infections. Children usually get infections of ears, nose and throat during these days as they go swimming," Neeraj Kamboj, a Meerut-based senior paediatrician who has been dealing with such cases every day, told IANS on the phone.
"I almost every day get to see a few cases of children who go for swimming complaining of pain in their ears. Then there are cases of throat and nose infections too. Children also get conjunctivitis and skin diseases while swimming in the pools shared by other children," Kamboj added. But this can be prevented if a few things are kept in mind.
"Parents should go and inspect the swimming pool themselves for the hygiene and safety levels before they allow the children to join one. Also, never allow your child to go swimming if he has running nose or cough, etc," Kamboj advised.
"People should also use ear plugs during swimming," he adds.
The key to avoid infections is to look for a good swimming pool.
"A swimming pool should be properly cleaned and maintained to avoid infections. Those going into the pool must have a shower before entering the pool as well as after coming out," Manoj Mudgal, manager of swimming facilities at the YMCA here, told IANS.
There are also cases of some people urinating in the pool during swimming. Can this be avoided?
"Perhaps there is no way to check this, but the effects of urine in the pool can be neutralised through judicious use of chemicals like alum and chlorine," Mudgal added.
"The level of chlorine in the pool water should be low when people are using it," he explained.
Mudgal said that they always carry out a physical check-up of people before allowing them in the pool. "People usually have infections in the toes, between the fingers. So we keep potassium permanganate solution ready for people to wash their feet thoroughly before using the pool," Mudgal said.
However, all this should not deter parents from sending their children to a swimming pool. Swimming is not only a good exercise but also a life-saving skill.
"Every child should learn to swim. Parents should not be overtly worried and should not instruct too much to the child saying 'Don't do this or you will drown'. Just let them be and they would be fine," Mudgal suggested.
So, let your child enjoy the splash and learn an essential skill - with some precautions though.
The website called "Khoya-Paya" aims to help trace missing children by allowing citizens to post information about a child who is not to be found.
Simultaneously, anybody who has seen a child alone or with suspicious people can post information or photographs of the child on the portal.
Information about missing and sighted children can be uploaded at khoyapaya.gov.in.
The portal is also available as a mobile application.
"This website would be different from the website called 'track child' which is at present being maintained by the home ministry," Women and Child Development minister Maneka Gandhi said at the launch of the web portal here.
"The plan originated from the prime minister," she said.
Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the portal was a step towards the government's vision of bridging the digital divide.
"This website is likely to benefit the poor and under-privileged sections more," he said.
Gandhi said the website was an enabling platform, where citizens can report missing children, as well as sightings of their whereabouts without wasting much time.
Found children can also be reported on the portal.
Citizens can also provide information about abandoned, lost children and those sighted with suspicious people. Through this portal, they are also advised to inform the nearest police station.
Officials of the women and child development ministry, however, clarified that putting up information on the portal was not a replacement for filing an FIR with police.
As per information provided by the National Crime Records Bureau, the number of children who go missing every year is about 70,000.
There are 52.2 million pet dogs in Brazil, while the number of children aged 0 to 14 is 44.9 million, which indicates a margin of over 7 million numerically, reported Brazil's G1 news website.
Some 44.3 percent of Brazilian households have at least one dog, with each household having 1.8 dogs on average, Xinhua news agency reported.
Cats, though less favoured by brazilian households, are still numerous. IBGE estimated that 28.9 million households or 17.7 percent of the total own at least one cat, averaging out to 1.9 cats per household with cats.
The Federal District, where Brazil's capital Brasilia is located, appears to be the least pet-friendly city with only 32.3 percent of households reporting having a dog, and 6.9 percent, a cat.
In contrast, Parana state in southern Brazil is the most dog-friendly, where 60.1 percent of households own a dog. Also, the highest share of households in Piaui State nearly 34.2 percent have at least one cat.
Unlike their apparent affection for furry creatures, Brazilians are somewhat derelict in performing duty as a pet owner.
According to the IBGE, only 75.4 percent of owners had vaccinated their pets against rabies during the 12 months before the survey that was taken in 2013.
Yearly rabies vaccines are mandatory in Brazil, with annual awareness campaigns for shots against the disease.
Using a measuring tape to measure arm circumference is the most reliable factor in diagnosing malnutrition, said Adam Levine, emergency medicine physician at the Rhode Island Hospital in the US.
Measuring tapes are inexpensive and readily available in resource-limited environments.
The traditional measure for determining whether a child is moderately or severely malnourished is based on evaluating the child's weight directly.
"Dehydration lowers a child's weight, using weight-based assessments in children introduced with diarrhoea may be misleading," Levine said.
"When children are rehydrated and returned to a stable, pre-illness weight, they may still suffer from acute malnutrition."
About half a million children die annually from severe malnutrition and nearly 100 million children are underweight, mostly in the world's poorest countries.
Diarrhoea is common among children who visit health facilities in developing nations.
Levine and his team studied the clients of an urban hospital in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
They analysed 721 records of all children under 60 months of age who visited the hospital's rehydration unit with acute diarrhoea.
They found that 12-14 percent of children were misclassified with malnutrition using weight-based measures compared to only one-two percent who were measured by arm circumference.
The study was published in the Journal of Nutrition.
The children do not even have to be bilingual themselves; it is the exposure to more than one language that is the key for building effective social communication skills, the study noted.
"Children in multilingual environments have extensive social practice in monitoring who speaks what to whom, and observing the social patterns and allegiances that are formed based on language usage," explained Katherine Kinzler, associate professor of psychology at University of Chicago.
Effective communication requires the ability to take others' perspectives and the researchers have discovered that children from multilingual environments are better at interpreting a speaker's meaning than children who are exposed only to their native tongue.
"These early socio-linguistic experiences could hone children's skills at taking other people's perspectives and provide them tools for effective communication," Kinzler noted.
The researchers had 72 four- to six-year-old children participate in a social communication task. In a test, the researchers found that the monolingual children were not as good at understanding the adult's intended meaning. But mere exposure to another language improved children's ability to understand the adult's perspective.
The study was published online in the journal Psychological Science.