Many kids are spending a lot of unnecessary time under observation in a hospital following a sudden allergic emergency, a new study concludes. About 17% of kids are admitted for overnight observation following a scary allergic reaction to food, medicine or insect bites, researchers reported.  But 95% of children treated for allergic reactions can be safely discharged within two hours after receiving a dose of epinephrine, according to results published in The Lancet: Child and Adolescent Health. That number rises to 98% if doctors err on the side of caution and keep kids under observation for four hours, researchers found. “For most patients, we are probably observing them too long,” said researcher Dr. Kenneth Michelson, a pediatric emergency specialist at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. “This might sound minor, but if you brought your toddler in for a scary allergic reaction, it’s the difference between going home at 11 p.m. versus going home at 1 a.m. or 3 a.m.,” he said in a news release. “Our finding gives us more confidence that after a couple of hours, if symptoms are improving in specific ways, we can probably send the child home.” Most kids who’d had an allergic reaction can be routinely treated with an epinephrine jab and sent home, researchers said in background notes. However, about 5% experience a “biphasic reaction,”…  read on >  read on >

Noshing on veggies, grains, beans and other high-fiber foods can help your heart as well as your gut health, a new study says. People with low-fiber diets are more likely to have narrowed arteries caused by the buildup of plaque, researchers reported recently in the journal Cardiovascular Research. CT scans also revealed that people’s diets influence their risk for unstable, high-risk arterial plaques that increase their risk of heart attack and stroke, researchers said. “When we matched people’s coronary artery images with their dietary patterns, we could not only see that there is an association between dietary pattern and the presence of plaque in the coronary arteries, but also that the composition of the plaques, how dangerous they can be, is related to diet,” senior researcher Isabel Gonçalves, a professor of cardiology at Lund University in Sweden, said in a news release. Cholesterol and fats contribute to the formation of these plaques, in a process called atherosclerosis, according to the American Heart Association. These plaques cause arteries to narrow, reducing blood flow. Unstable plaques can also burst, potentially blocking the artery and causing a heart attack or stroke. For the study, researchers analyzed data on more than 24,000 people 50 to 64 who took part in a Swedish heart health study. They were recruited between 2013 and 2018; at the time, all had no heart…  read on >  read on >

Noshing on veggies, grains, beans and other high-fiber foods can help your heart as well as your gut health, a new study says. People with low-fiber diets are more likely to have narrowed arteries caused by the buildup of plaque, researchers reported recently in the journal Cardiovascular Research. CT scans also revealed that people’s diets influence their risk for unstable, high-risk arterial plaques that increase their risk of heart attack and stroke, researchers said. “When we matched people’s coronary artery images with their dietary patterns, we could not only see that there is an association between dietary pattern and the presence of plaque in the coronary arteries, but also that the composition of the plaques, how dangerous they can be, is related to diet,” senior researcher Isabel Gonçalves, a professor of cardiology at Lund University in Sweden, said in a news release. Cholesterol and fats contribute to the formation of these plaques, in a process called atherosclerosis, according to the American Heart Association. These plaques cause arteries to narrow, reducing blood flow. Unstable plaques can also burst, potentially blocking the artery and causing a heart attack or stroke. For the study, researchers analyzed data on more than 24,000 people 50 to 64 who took part in a Swedish heart health study. They were recruited between 2013 and 2018; at the time, all had no heart…  read on >  read on >

Kids watching YouTube videos are being hammered with messages promoting junk food like candy, sugary drinks, fast food and sweet or salty snacks, a new study says. About 75% of 6- to 8-year-olds and 36% of 3- to 5-year-olds were fed promotions for junk food while watching YouTube or YouTube Kids videos they chose on their own mobile devices, researchers reported in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. “More than half of food brands in these videos came from companies that participate in the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, a U.S. food industry self-regulatory program,” said senior investigator Jennifer Harris, a senior research advisor at the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Health at the University of Connecticut. “Despite these companies’ pledges to only advertise healthier choices to children, child-influencers frequently promoted their brands, including candy, sugary drinks and sweet and salty snacks,” she said in a news release. For the study, researchers observed 101 kids as they watched YouTube videos in their homes for 30 minutes. About 73% of food brand appearances promoted junk food, while only 3% of food-related messages highlighted healthy options, results show. Most of this messaging occurred as part of brand appearances embedded within video content that purposely blurred food promotion with entertainment. More than 60% of food brand appearances were embedded in the video content,…  read on >  read on >

Kids watching YouTube videos are being hammered with messages promoting junk food like candy, sugary drinks, fast food and sweet or salty snacks, a new study says. About 75% of 6- to 8-year-olds and 36% of 3- to 5-year-olds were fed promotions for junk food while watching YouTube or YouTube Kids videos they chose on their own mobile devices, researchers reported in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. “More than half of food brands in these videos came from companies that participate in the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, a U.S. food industry self-regulatory program,” said senior investigator Jennifer Harris, a senior research advisor at the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Health at the University of Connecticut. “Despite these companies’ pledges to only advertise healthier choices to children, child-influencers frequently promoted their brands, including candy, sugary drinks and sweet and salty snacks,” she said in a news release. For the study, researchers observed 101 kids as they watched YouTube videos in their homes for 30 minutes. About 73% of food brand appearances promoted junk food, while only 3% of food-related messages highlighted healthy options, results show. Most of this messaging occurred as part of brand appearances embedded within video content that purposely blurred food promotion with entertainment. More than 60% of food brand appearances were embedded in the video content,…  read on >  read on >

Texas has become the first state to require warning labels on thousands of food and beverages containing common 44 dyes or additives. The new law — signed Sunday by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott — is expected to set off a nationwide scramble in the food industry, The Washington Post reported. The industry must now decide whether to add the required warnings, reformulate their products, stop selling them in Texas or go to court in a bid to block the law. “When a state as big as Texas requires a warning, that will have an impact on the entire marketplace,” said Scott Faber of the nonprofit Environmental Working Group, which supports stronger food safety policies. The move, in a deep red state, would have been unthinkable in the past. Republican lawmakers and the first Trump administration decried measures such as stricter school lunch standards as overregulation, The Post pointed out. Policy crackdowns that led food companies to make changes in their products often came from blue states, especially California. But Republican-leaning states are rushing to embrace Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda. Its aim? To address chronic disease and childhood illness. “I think that is almost entirely a function of the MAHA movement,” lawyer Stuart Pape, who worked at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the…  read on >  read on >