Every parent wants the best for their children and envisions a future where they thrive in all aspects of life. To make this dream come true, you need to look after their physical well-being, particularly their growth and development.
While genetics play a significant role in growth, providing the right environment and resources is equally important. This includes a balanced diet, regular exercise, ample sleep, and addressing any deficiencies. Let’s dive into a few of the most important ways to help your kids grow big and strong.
Navigating the world of sensory play can be both fun and educational for parents and children. Engaging children in simple tactile exercises not only supports their sensory experiences but also aids in their overall development. From the squishy delight of homemade slime to the soothing textures of sand art, these activities offer meaningful ways to develop the tactile system.
The importance of external support systems becomes even more crucial as the number of children with disabilities and other developmental disorders continues to surge. This trend is apparent in academic settings, where there is a rising number of students with disabilities. According to the Pew Research Center, nearly 
Dr. Li Li[/caption]
Li Li, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H
Walter M. Seward Professor
Chair of Family Medicine
Director of population health
University of Virginia School of Medicine
Editor-in-chief of The BMJ Family Medicine
Dr. Li joined the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force in January 2021
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Speech and language delays and disorders can be challenging for children and their families and can lead to difficulties with reading and writing as children grow up.
The Task Force looked at the evidence on screening for speech and language delays and, unfortunately, there is not enough evidence to tell us whether or not it is helpful to screen all children 5 years old and younger for speech and language delays and disorders.
Dr. Brousseau[/caption]
David Brousseau, MD, MS
Chair of Pediatrics
Nemours Children’s Health, Delaware and the
Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University
Dr. Davaasambuu[/caption]
Dr Ganmaa Davaasambuu MD PhD
Associate Professor
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: The crucial role of vitamin D in facilitating calcium absorption from the diet and promoting calcium deposition in bones (known as 'mineralization') has been a long-established understanding. Furthermore, some observational studies have reported an association between low vitamin D levels and a heightened risk of bone fractures in children. This raised the possibility that vitamin D supplements could potentially play a role in decreasing fracture risk in children with initially low baseline levels. However, clinical trials assessing the causal link between low vitamin D status and reduced fracture risk were necessary, and such trials had not been conducted before.
Dr. Li Li[/caption]
Li Li, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H.
The Walter M. Seward Professor and Chair of Family Medicine
University of Virginia (UVA) School of Medicine
Director of Population Health at UVA Health
Dr. Li joined the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force in January 2021.
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Oral health is an important part of everyone’s overall health and well-being. Recognizing this, the Task Force looked at whether primary care clinicians can play a role in complementing the work of dental professionals to prevent cavities and gum disease.
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings?
Response: Our review of the latest available evidence focused on the prevention of cavities for children who are 5 years old and older and do not have any signs or symptoms. After a thorough review, we found that there is not enough evidence to recommend for or against oral health screening and interventions for school-aged children in primary care settings.
Dr. Sood[/caption]
Neeraj Sood, PhD
Verna and Peter Dauterive Hall
University Park Campus
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: We conducted this study to inform school COVID-19 policies.
The main findings are that the median duration of infectivity after a positive COVID-19 test in children is 3 days. The median duration of infectivity does not vary with vaccination. 
Dr. Payne-Sturges[/caption]
Prof. Kaforou[/caption]
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Myrsini Kaforou, PhD
Dr. Nicholson[/caption]
Wanda K. Nicholson, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A.
Senior Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Professor of Prevention and Community Health
Milken Institute School of Public Health
George Washington University
Vice chair of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Neural tube defects are when a baby’s spinal cord or brain don’t develop properly during pregnancy, which can cause serious complications including disability and death. The good news is that taking folic acid supplements before and during early pregnancy is proven to help prevent this from happening.
Dr. McLoughlin Brady[/caption]
Tammy M. Brady, MD, PhD (she/her/hers)
Vice Chair for Clinical Research, Dept of Pediatrics
Associate Director, Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology, and Clinical Research
Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Nephrology
Medical Director, Pediatric Hypertension Program
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD 21287
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Accurate BP measurement is key to identification and treatment of hypertension which serves ultimately to prevent cardiovascular disease. Our study describes substantial measurement error that can occur in a common office and home BP measurement scenario: use of a regular cuff size for all individuals regardless of arm size. Many office triage measurements occur without individualized cuff selection and most home BP devices come with one cuff size – and our study shows that using a regular cuff size for people who have larger arms – those who require a large adult cuff or an extra-large adult cuff – can lead to blood pressure readings that are almost 5 and 20 mmHg greater than their actual BP, respectively. Those require a small adult cuff can have BP readings that are almost 4 mmHg lower than their actual BP.
Dr. Li Li[/caption]
Li Li, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H
Walter M. Seward Professor
Chair of Family Medicine
Director of population health
University of Virginia School of Medicine
Editor-in-chief of The BMJ Family Medicine
Dr. Li joined the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force in January 2021
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: The Task Force reviewed the latest available evidence to evaluate whether screening all children and adolescents who are 20 years old or younger for high cholesterol improves their heart health into adulthood.
At this time, there is not enough evidence to determine whether or not screening all kids is beneficial, so we are calling for additional research on the effectiveness of screening and treatment of high cholesterol in kids and teens.
Kazi Albab Hussain[/caption]
Kazi Albab Hussain
Graduate Student (PhD)
Specialization: Water Resources
Advisor: Professor Yusong Li, PhD
Associate Dean for Faculty and Inclusion
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Microplastics have been detected in various food items and beverages, including table salt, bottled water, fish, and mussels. The extensive use of plastic-based products in food preparation, storage, and handling has raised concerns about the direct release of microplastics. Interestingly, we often discuss microplastics but overlook nanoplastics in the conversation. Due to their smaller size, nanoplastics are harder to be detected.
In our study, we wanted to see the release of both microplastics and nanoplastics, as nanoplastics may be even more toxic than microplastics.
Unfortunately, infants and toddlers are particularly vulnerable to the potential health impacts of micro- and nanoplastics. Studies have shown significant ingestion of these particles from polypropylene feeding bottles and silicone-rubber baby teats. We aimed to investigate the release of of micro- and nanoplastics, estimated their exposure for infants and toddlers, and evaluated their cytotoxicity to human embryonic kidney cells.
Dr. Davis[/caption]
Prof. Jonathan Davis, MD,
Chief of Newborn Medicine
Tufts Medical Center and
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Dr. Miller[/caption]
Alex P. Miller, PhD
TranSTAR T32 Postdoctoral Fellow
Department of Psychiatry
Washington University School of Medicine
St. Louis, MO
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Adolescent cannabis use is increasing in the United States. Prior research suggests that people who start using cannabis earlier are more likely to engage in problematic use and also experience greater mental health challenges and socioeconomic disadvantages overall. For example, children who begin using cannabis early are more likely to have behavioral problems and disorders and are more less likely to complete school.
In our study, we used data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, which is following nearly 12,000 kids across the nation to track behavior and brain development as well as health from middle childhood to young adulthood. We looked at what factors are associated with the initiation of cannabis use by age 12-14.
Dr. Greenhawt[/caption]
Matthew Greenhawt, MD, MBA, MSc
Professor of Pediatrics
Section of Allergy and Immunology
Director, Food Challenge and Research Unit
Children’s Hospital Colorado
University of Colorado School of Medicine
Anschutz Medical Campus
Larissa K. Samuelson, PhD
Professor
Developmental Dynamics Lab
School of Psychology; UK 14th for Research Quality
Psychology, Psychiatry, and Neuroscience
University of East Anglia, United Kingdom
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Words direct the attention of infants, children and adults to mentioned objects in the environment. When someone says “Can you find the candy,” you look to the candy sitting on the counter. This fact is the basis of many tests of infant cognition in laboratories. To find out if a child knows the word “bike” we put a picture of a bike and a truck on a TV screen, say the word “bike” and see if they look at the correct object.
There is also evidence that words can direct attention even if you don’t know what they mean yet. For example, in studies of learning in the lab novel made up words like “modi” can direct children’s attention to specific features of objects. One particular example of this is the “shape bias”. If a two-year-old is shown a novel object and told a novel name, for example “This is my blicket,” and then asked, “Can you get your blicket” and shown one object that matches the named one in shape and another that is made from the same material, they will attend to the one that matches in shape. Researchers think the naming event “This is my…” cues children to look at things that are the same shape because they already know many names for things in sets that are similar in shape; cups are all cup-shaped, keys are all key-shaped, spoons are all spoon-shaped, etc.
Prior research suggests there may be differences in the way children who struggle with language decide what a new word means. For example, children with Developmental Language Disorder do not pay attention to the same things when learning new words as children with typical language development. These children do not look to an object that matches a named exemplar in shape when asked to “get your blicket”. But you can’t diagnose children with DLD until they are 3 or 4. We want to see if we can identify these children earlier, so they can get early support.
