Too much TV watching, video games and internet surfing makes children more likely to develop multiple health conditions such as obesity, U.S. researchers said.

Researchers compared 173 studies made since 1980 till to date to understand the reason that how electronic media cast effect on the children health.

The most studies, focused on TV but few looked for other electronic media as well. Most of the studies concluded that viewing of electronic media overall have adverse effects on health.

The studies give proves that children obsessed with media watching may get obese, start smoking and may involve in immature sexual activities than those who spend far less time in front of screen. Researcher also added, previous record also indicate the early drug and alcohol addiction and poor performance in class.

Children with cystic fibrosis (CF) usually lack vitamin D and present recommended dose of vitamin D is inadequate to overcome this deficiency, clinicians from The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions concluded.

In analysis of 262 pediatric CF patients, the investigator come to know that vitamin D deficiency has declined but is still high. The deficiency was 86% in 2003 which has declined to 46% in 2006. Patients older than 12 years were more vitamin D deficient than patients younger than 5 years.

Many vitamin D deficient children do not exhibit desired result, although receiving recommended doses of Ergocalciferol, the researchers reported.

The standard treatment dose for vitamin D deficiency is 50,000 IU Ergocalciferol, once in a week for 8 weeks for children 5 years of age or older and 12,000 IU once per week for 8 weeks for children younger than age 5 years.

A new study suggests that light drinking during pregnancy does not increase baby’s risk of behavioral problems.

Researchers from the University College London specified ‘light drinking’ as not more than two drinks a week throughout pregnancy.

The study, which included 12,500 three-year-olds, found that there was a lower risk of some problems in children of such drinkers.

However, the experts are divided over whether this study is encouraging or can calm women into a false sense of security.

According to Government advice, pregnant women should avoid drinking during pregnancy and if they do choose to drink, they shouldn’t consume more than one or two units of alcohol in a week or two.

There is a well-established relation between sustained heavy drinking in pregnancy and health problems for the babies.

In some severe cases drinking can cause miscarriage, stillbirth or permanent damage to the growing fetus.

ATLANTA – Food allergies in American children, as compare to last decade has increased exceptionally and now affecting about 3 million children, according to federal study.

According to experts the reason is, parents are quicker and have awareness. They immediately take their children to hospitals or doctor for medical check up.

About 1 in 26 children had food allergies last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. That’s up from 1 in 29 kids in 1997.

“The 18 percent increase is significant enough to be considered more than a statistical blip.” said Amy Branum of the CDC, the study’s lead author.

Nobody knows, what is the key cause of this increase? Double cases of peanut allergies noted in previous studies, is one factor, some experts said. Children also seem to be taking longer to outgrow milk and egg allergies than they did in decades past.

TUESDAY, Sept. 16 (HealthDay News) – MRI can detect soft-tissue defects that contribute to hearing loss in children, say U.S. researchers who examined the medical history of hundreds of children diagnosed with sensorineural (related to sensory nerves) hearing loss.

Radiography which includes computed tomography (CT) and X-rays is used to diagnose bone structures troubles in children with hearing loss. However, soft-tissue defects within the bones can also impair hearing.

Out of 170 children in the study, ages one month to 17 years, 101 had hearing loss in both ears and 69 in one ear, adding up to 271 ears with sensorineural hearing loss. All the children had MRIs, which explained. 108 ears had inner ear abnormalities. 87 ears with malfunction of the cochlea, a spiral structure containing vital hair cells to hearing. Of those 87 ears, 63 had mild to moderate abnormalities of the cochlea, and 24 had severe abnormalities. 49 ears had either missing or deficient cochlear nerves.

The results were published, by researchers, in the September issue of the journal Archives of Otolaryngology — Head & Neck Surgery.

According to a new study, low-income families’ children often seem to pick up the stress of their anxious mothers and develop poor eating habits that increase their risk of becoming overweight.

The study author Craig Gundersen, who is an associate professor at the University of Illinois, says that: “Most of the low-income family children in the US have access to a sufficient amount of food and when these children experience maternal stress, they feel anxious and tend to go for the so-called ‘comfort foods’ that don’t prove the healthiest for them.”

The study finds that almost 17 percent of the American children between the ages of 2 and 19 are overweight, and another 16.5 percent are about to become obese.