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This Month in Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine
May 2012

This Month in Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine

Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2012;166(5):401-402. doi:10.1001/archpediatrics.2011.529

In a follow-up study of children aged 7 to 9 years, Murray-Kolb et alArticle found that there appeared to be no long-term beneficial effect of supplementation from 12 to 35 months of age with iron plus folic acid or zinc on intellectual, executive, and motor function.

This long-term follow-up study by Pongcharoen et alArticle found that physical growth in both weight and length in the first 4 months of life, and to a lesser extent in late infancy and at birth, was associated with IQ at 9 years of age.

Most mothers are inaccurate in assessing their toddler's body weight, according to a cross-sectional study by Hager et alArticle. This is especially true of mothers of overweight toddlers, 82% of whom were satisfied with their child's body size. This suggests that many mothers perceive heavy toddlers as normative.

Goyal et alArticle found that children born late preterm (34-36 weeks' gestation) were at increased risk for being underweight at 6 and 12 months of age compared with full-term infants. This was found to be independent of being born small for gestational age.

Compared with infants fed at the breast, infants fed only by bottle gained 89 g more per month if fed exclusively breast milk or 71 g more if fed exclusively formula. Li et alArticle found infant weight gain appears to be associated not only with type of milk consumed but also with mode of milk delivery.

This study by Crume et alArticle provides evidence that breastfeeding selectively improves the body mass index, fat deposition, and fat patterning among infants. These data support the notion that early postnatal life has long-term influences on growth and obesity-related disease risk.

Participants in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) were less likely to report household food insecurity and depressive symptoms compared with nonparticipants. Black et alArticle found participation in WIC attenuated the negative relationship between stressors and child health.

Students in California, a state with competitive food laws for schools, had a lower intake of fat, sugar, and total calories at school compared with states without such nutritional standards. Taber et alArticle also found that California students did not compensate for consuming less within school by consuming more elsewhere.

For children who consume juice, replacement of all juice servings with fresh, whole fruit would lead to a projected reduction of 56 calories per day, at a projected increase in food costs of $0.54 per day, Monsivais and RehmArticle found. This could reduce body weight by more than 2.3 kg per year.

Among grade 6 to 10 students, television viewing was inversely related to intake of fruit and vegetables as well as positively related to intake of candy and fast foods and skipping breakfast. Lipsky and IannottiArticle reported efforts to reduce television viewing or modify the nutritional content of advertised foods may lead to substantial improvements in adolescents' diets.

While much attention has been devoted to the potential role of intravenous lipid emulsions in the development of intestinal failure–associated liver disease, there is currently insufficient evidence to support the use of novel therapies as standard of care in children with no or early liver disease, Diamond et alArticle found.

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