CDC: 1-in-5 Kids Have Mental Disorder

Millions of American children suffer from depression, anxiety, autism spectrum disorders and an array of other mental health issues, and the prevalence of such conditions is rising, a new study shows.
Roughly one in five children experience a mental disorder in a given year, according to a report released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The costs for health care, special education, juvenile justice and other services for people under age 24 with mental disorders total nearly $250 billion each year, the report shows.

Study Suggests Autism Less Likely in Poor Families

To reduce risk of autism, it may be important for mothers to give their children enough nutrients like vitamin D, thiamine and riboflavin if they excursively breastfeed their children, according to a new study in Journal of American College of Nutrition.

R.J. Shamberger at King James Medical Laboratory Cleveland, Ohio conducted the study and found mothers who participated in the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Program were less likely to have children with autism.

Children with Autism & Interrealted Health Issues

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- One in 88 children has been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A new study by a University of Missouri researcher found that many children with ASD also experience anxiety, chronic gastrointestinal (GI) problems and atypical sensory responses, which are heightened reactions to light, sound or particular textures. These problems appear to be highly related and can have significant effects on children’s daily lives, including their functioning at home and in school.

Poor Sleep Among Preschoolers Linked to Delays

New research suggests that sleep problems early in life may boost the risk of developmental disabilities by the age of 8.
Researchers found that kids who suffered from problems like sleep apnea and snoring in their infant, toddler and preschool years were more likely to need special education services for conditions such as speech and behavioral problems a few years later.

Summer Fun for Special Needs Families

Some tips and ideas to help parents of children with special needs keep their kids active this summer!

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The importance of improving fitness skills cannot be underestimated. Many special needs children with low levels of interest in physical activity are often found to have decreased self-confidence. The American Heart Association has shown that physically active children show improvements in a wide variety of measures of psychological well-being—including self-esteem.

A vicious cycle can easily be established as both physical activity and self-confidence decline. A special needs child may feel inadequate when he thinks that he is unable to keep up with his peers and may avoid play situations. The child may find ways to compensate for lower skill level by staying indoors when possible, creating fictitious injuries, offering to be the game’s referee, or walking around the perimeter of the activity.

How can parents encourage their children to be physically fit? Simply put, make physical activities and games fun! The key to successful participation is creativity and positive reinforcement as well as scheduling a regular time during the week as family playtime.

Study: Medicaid Kids Suffer Treatment Bias

CHICAGO- Children on Medicaid are much more likely than kids with private health insurance to be denied appointments with medical specialists, and they wait longer on average to be seen, according to a “secret shopper” study of clinics in Cook County.

Two-thirds of fictitious Medicaid patients were denied appointments compared to 11 percent of privately insured patients, researchers reported in Thursday’s New England Journal of Medicine.

Research assistants posing as mothers of sick children called to make appointments for specialty care at 273 clinics one month apart. In one call, they told the clinic they had public insurance. In the other, they said they were privately insured.

In 89 clinics that accepted both types of insurance, children with public insurance also waited 22 days longer on average for an appointment with a specialist.

And in more than half of the phone calls, the caller was asked what kind of insurance their child had before an appointment could be scheduled.

Study Finds Children on Medicaid Experience Longer Wait for Care

Children with Medicaid are far more likely than those with private insurance to be turned away by medical specialists or be made to wait more than a month for an appointment, even for serious medical problems, a new study finds.
The study, with findings that match anecdotal reports from other parts of the country, is one of only a few efforts to measure access to health care among people with Medicaid. Nationwide, those patients are caught between states’ threats to cut Medicaid payments and the Obama administration’s plans to use the program to cover more and more people as part of its health care law.

A Child Regresses. Is Autism to Blame?

From the Consults Blog at The New York Times, Dr. Fred Volkmar answers a reader's question on autism.

If a young child suddenly stops speaking, is autism to blame? That is among the questions recently posed by readers of the Consults blog. Here, Dr. Fred Volkmar, director of the Yale Child Study Center, explores the issue of regression in children and the diagnosis of autism.