The infant health effects of starting universal child benefits in pregnancy: Evidence from England and Wales

Child benefits are typically paid from birth. This paper asks whether starting universal child benefits in pregnancy leads to improvements in infant health. Leveraging administrative birth registry and hospital microdata from England and Wales, I study the effects of the Health in Pregnancy Grant, a universal conditional cash transfer equivalent to three months of child benefit (190 GBP) as a lump sum to pregnant mothers from 2009 to 2011. I exploit quasi-experimental variation in eligibility with a regression discontinuity design in the date of birth of the baby. I find that the policy increased birth weight by 8–12 grams on average, reduced low birth weight ($<$2500 g) by 3-6 percent and decreased prematurity by 9–11 percent. Younger mothers, particularly those living in deprived areas, benefit the most. I present evidence that the mechanisms are unlikely to be antenatal care, nutrition or smoking, with reductions in stress remaining a possible explanation.     

Exploring Mothers’ Perspectives About Why Grandparents in Appalachia Give Their Grandchildren Cariogenic Foods and Beverages: A Qualitative Study

BackgroundDental caries is the most common chronic childhood disease. Past studies revealed that grandparents provide their grandchildren with cariogenic foods and beverages (eg, those with free sugars and/or modified starches). Qualitative research can help identify what drives this phenomenon.ObjectiveOur aim was to examine mothers’ explanations for why grandparents in north central and central Appalachia give their grandchildren cariogenic foods and beverages.DesignA qualitative study on children’s oral health in Pennsylvania and West Virginia from 2018 through 2020 was performed. In-person, semi-structured interviews were conducted. Qualitative data from interviews were recorded, transcribed, and then coded using NVivo. Data analysis for this study was performed using thematic analysis with iterative theme development.Participants/settingThe participants were 126 mothers of children aged 3-5 years from West Virginia (n = 66) and Pittsburgh, PA (n = 60).Main outcome measuresMothers’ perspectives about why grandparents give their grandchildren cariogenic foods and beverages were analyzed.ResultsIn the study sample, 85% of mothers (n = 107/126) named at least 1 of their children’s grandparents as a member of their social network responsible for their children’s oral health. From these interviews, 85% of mothers (n = 91/107) discussed that grandparents gave their grandchildren cariogenic foods and beverages. The mothers described the following 4 themes to explain why grandparents gave their grandchildren cariogenic foods and beverages: privilege of the grandparent role; responsibilities of the grandparent role; symbol of care and affection; and limited consideration or understanding of the detrimental impact.ConclusionsGrandparents play a role in giving their grandchildren cariogenic foods and beverages, which could potentially contribute to childhood caries. Research is needed to develop effective social interventions to help some grandparents understand the implications of a cariogenic diet on their grandchildren’s oral health and/or decrease their provision of cariogenic foods and beverages.     

Overweight and obese youth with type 1 or type 2 diabetes share similar elevation in triglycerides during middle and late adolescence

BackgroundOverweight and obesity have been observed in children with type 1 diabetes (T1D). This further increases their future risk of Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) as well as the development of other risk factors, such as dyslipidemia.AimsTo compare lipid profiles in children and adolescents with Type 1 diabetes and lean mass (T1L), Type 1 diabetes and overweight or obese (T1OW/OB), and type 2 diabetes (T2D).MethodsThis was a cross-sectional study of 669 patients with T1D or T2D aged 2–19 years using retrospective data collected from 2003 to 2014. Included patients were categorized into lean (BMI < 85th ile and overweight or Obese (BMI ≥ 85th ile). Patients were subcategorized into three age groups: < 10 years, 10–14 years, and 15–19 years.Results7.6% of patients had T2D. Of the patients with T1D, 58.9% were lean, 26.4% were overweight, and 14.7% were obese. Total Cholesterol (TC), Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and Non-HDL-C levels were similar across groups. In the 15–19 years group, Triglycerides (TG) levels were significantly higher in T1OW/OB and similar to T2D. High-density lipoprotein Cholesterol (HDL-C) was significantly lower in T2D. Weight status significantly correlated with TG and HDL-C levels in T1D and T2D groups.ConclusionsT1OW/OB constitutes a significant proportion of the T1D population. Patients with obesity and T1D, especially if in their late adolescence, have an adverse lipid profile pattern that is comparable to adolescents with T2D. Based on these findings, risk for future CVD in T1OW/OB and T2D may be equivalent.     

中国九市四至七岁儿童乳恒牙替换及其与体格生长的相关性分析

目的探讨中国9个城市(简称九市)4~7岁儿童乳恒牙替换及其与体格生长的关系,分析恒牙发育长期变化趋势。方法采用分层整群抽样的方法,以4~7岁儿童为调查对象,于2015年6—10月在北京、哈尔滨、西安(北片),上海、南京、武汉(中片),广州、福州、昆明(南片)九市进行横断面调查,共37973名儿童,其中男19035名,女18938名。6岁以下每6个月为1组,6~<7岁1岁为1组。现场检查乳牙脱落、恒牙萌出情况,测量身高、体重等,并依据2009年中国儿童生长标准计算体格指标Z分值。采用Probit概率单位回归方法计算换牙年龄。不同性别、地区、年龄分组组间比较采用χ2检验或t检验。并利用1995年中国九市儿童体格发育调查中乳恒牙替换相关数据,分析恒牙发育的长期变化趋势。结果九市37973名儿童随着年龄增长换牙率逐渐增加,从4.0~<4.5岁的0.6%(42/7568)增长至5.5~<6.0岁的30.3%(2295/7583),6.0~<7.0岁达到74.5%(5680/7627)。除4.0~4.5岁组外,无论城郊男童换牙率均低于女童(P均<0.05);城区换牙率(男5.5~<6.0岁、女4.5~<5.0岁组之后)略高于郊区,如6.0~<7.0岁组男童城郊分别为74.2%(1427/1924)、69.2%(1305/1885)(χ2=11.446,P<0.01)。九市儿童换牙年龄为6.00(95%CI:5.98~6.01)岁。换牙年龄的第3~97百分位变化范围为4.88~7.11岁。女童中位换牙年龄(5.94岁)早于男童(6.06岁);城区(5.94岁)早于郊区(6.05岁);北片(5.97岁)、中片地区(5.97岁)略早于南片地区(6.05岁)。已换牙儿童体重、身高、体质指数Z分值均高于未换牙儿童(0.35±1.17比0.03±1.13、0.32±1.00比0.03±1.02、0.23±1.16比0.04±1.13,t=20.81、21.67、12.09,P均<0.05)。与1995年相比,2015年5.0岁以后儿童换牙率明显提高,如城区男童6.0~<7.0岁组1995年为63.8%(1146/1796),2015年提高至74.2%(1427/1924)(χ2=46.748,P<0.01);中位换牙年龄2015年较1995年提前0.24岁。结论九市4~7岁儿童换牙年龄女童早于男童,城区早于郊区,北、中片早于南片地区。换牙早晚与体格生长水平有关。近20年换牙年龄存在小幅提前趋势。     

新型冠状病毒肺炎防控形势下儿童青少年慢性心力衰竭的临床管理建议

2019年12月我国湖北省武汉市爆发新型冠状病毒(2019-nCoV)感染疫情,目前已蔓延至全国各地,流行病学显示人群对该病毒普遍易感,且患有基础疾病的患者是重症、危重症的高危人群,同时儿童青少年感染病例数正日益增多。慢性心力衰竭儿童因其基础条件差,感染2019-nCoV后将给此类患儿的诊治带来严峻的挑战。结合儿童2019-nCoV感染的临床特点及儿童慢性心力衰竭的诊治要点,在此提出慢性心力衰竭儿童2019-nCoV感染的临床管理建议,以供临床参考。     

Marr and Reductionism

David Marr's three-level method for completely understanding a cognitive system and the importance he attaches to the computational level are so familiar as to scarcely need repeating. Fewer seem to recognize that Marr defends his famous method by criticizing the “reductionistic approach.” This sets up a more interesting relationship between Marr and reductionism than is usually acknowledged. I argue that Marr was correct in his criticism of the reductionists of his time—they were only describing (cellular activity), not explaining (cognitive functions). But a careful metascientific account of reductionistic neuroscience over the past two decades reveals that Marr's criticisms no longer have force. Contemporary neuroscience now explains cognition directly, although in a fashion—causal-mechanistically—quite different than Marr recommended. So while Marr was correct to reject the reductionism of his day and offer an alternative method for genuinely explaining cognition, contemporary cognitive scientists now owe us a new defense of Marr's famous method and the advantages of its explanations over the type now pursued successfully in current reductionist neuroscience. There are familiar reasons for thinking that this debt will not be paid easily.     

小儿腹股沟斜疝日间手术与专科住院手术的卫生经济学评价

目的对小儿日间手术模式和专科住院手术模式的卫生经济学进行评价,为小儿腹股沟斜疝手术的优选和决策提供参照依据。方法收集2016年6月至2017年7月间所有在重庆医科大学附属儿童医院治疗且符合纳入标准的单侧腹股沟斜疝患儿的临床资料,其中日间手术患儿324例(日间组),专科住院手术患儿65例(专科组)。比较两种手术模式下的患儿一般资料、治疗指标、容错情况、术后需要留院处理的并发症发生率、复发率、院内的感染等卫生效果指标;比较两种模式的HCAHPS优化星表满意度、住院时间、住院费用等卫生经济学指标。统计分析两种模式的成本-效果:治疗效果权重W、治疗效果指数(EI)、成本-效果比(CER)。结果日间外科组和专科组在性别、区域方面的差异无统计学意义,专科组年龄分布更广。日间组与专科组占用床位时间分别为(23.17±0.49)h和(112.06±19.75)h,差异具有统计学意义(P<0.01);两组的医疗费用分别为(3372±430)元和(6063±2104)元,差异具有统计学意义(P<0.01)。两组麻醉分级ASA比例的差异具有统计学意义,两组术后并发症发生率的差异无统计学意义(P>0.05)。日间组与专科组治疗EI分别为0.98和1.02,CER分别为3305和6184,日间组经济学效益较大。结论日间手术的成本-效果优于专科住院手术模式,患儿满意度和术后复发率与专科住院模式的差异无统计学意义,推荐符合日间手术指征的患儿采用该模式。     

Stitching the fabric back together: child fostering attitudes in the transition to a chronic HIV epidemic

There are an estimated 56 million orphans and vulnerable children across sub-Saharan Africa. Communities typically care for orphan children through informal caring arrangements – either within or outside of kinship networks. Within Kenya, an estimated 250,000 children live on the streets. There is less research related to fostering attitudes of this special population than orphans and vulnerable children generally. Important research over the past decade has illuminated multiple ways in which children are made more vulnerable because of HIV, including parental death and street-migration from HIV-affected households. As HIV transitions from a terminal illness to a chronic, manageable one, research is also required to establish how parents living with HIV can be an asset to children. In this study, we assess whether mothers living with HIV were very willing to foster biologically-related children, and street-involved children, how these fostering attitudes differed from mothers not living with HIV, and whether differences in fostering attitudes by reported HIV status were mediated by social support, family functioning and general self-rated health. Approximately 40% of mothers living with HIV were very willing to provide long-term foster care to biologically-related or street-involved children. This was less than the percentage of mothers not living with HIV, who were very willing to foster biologically-related children (61%) or street-involved children (58%). Significant portions of these differences were explained by social support, family functioning and general self-rated health. Multi-sectoral approaches are suggested by these findings in order to improve the child-fostering capacity of mothers living with HIV. Improving social support, family functioning and general self-rated health among HIV-infected mothers may not only provide protective benefits for the mothers and their children, but also expand the community’s capacity to care for orphan and vulnerable children.