A study in Canada suggest young children who regularly get less than the recommended amount of sleep each night may be more likely to experience problems at school. The study followed 1500 children from birth until the age of 6 years old. It found those children regularly getting less than 10 hours sleep each night, [...]

 
A study by the University of Bath found that only 1 in 40 eleven year old children actually meet the governments recommendation of 1 hour of physical exercise a day. Researchers monitored the activity levels of over 5,500 eleven year olds for one week. “It’s a worrying fact that children and young people lead an [...]

 
 
Children aged between 9 and 12 have an increased risk of being overweight if they fail to get enough sleep. These are the findings of a new study, published in the Pediatrics Journal. Dr Lumeng led the research, she said. “Many children aren’t getting enough sleep, and that lack of sleep may not only be [...]

 
Fizzy drinks and processed foods, packed full of additives, are being sold with help from Spider-Man, Doctor Who and Barbie. Food companies are using these children’s characters to make their products more appealing to young children. Campaigners have announced plans for a ‘name and shame’ website, to alert parents to the worst culprits. The website, [...]

 
 
The UK Government has announced plans to give pregnant women £190 to spend on fruit and vegetables. It is well known that mothers with healthy diets, give birth to healthier children and this scheme hopes to ensure that all mothers to be, have a diet rich in fruit and vegetables. The handouts will begin in [...]

         
 
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is condition that makes it hard for children to control their behaviour and concentration. It is estimated that around 2-3% of children have ADHD. At present the condition is more common in boys, however this may just be that it is less diagnosed in girls.
 
There are three main characteristics of [...]

 
 
UK baby charity Tommy’s has warned that the number of babies being born prematurely in the UK is on the increase. They claim that NHS figures show 8.6% of babies were born premature in 2006/7, while for the previous 15 years the figure has been around 7%. Though this may seem like only a small [...]

  
Lack of food in the womb could alter the development of a baby’s fat cells, leading to obesity later in life. These are the findings of new research at University Hospital Nottingham. The researchers believe babies that get restricted food intake in the womb tend to hold onto calories and are more prone to store [...]

 
 
A study on animals, by the Royal Veterinary College in London, has found that the offspring of rats that were fed a high fat, processed diet, had high levels of fat in their bloodstream later in life, even if their own diets were healthy.
The same research team have previously found that rats whose mothers were [...]

 
 
Researchers in Germany have found that children who experience stressful situations such as moving house or the separation of their parents, have an increased risk of developing allergies. The study looked at the blood levels of the stress related peptide VIP, and found that in a group of 234 six year old children, those that [...]