The COVID-19 pandemic set kindergarteners’ development back in several ways, a new study says. Post-pandemic kindergarten students on average scored significantly lower in language and thinking skills, social competence, and communication and general knowledge, when compared to pre-pandemic kids, researchers reported March 10 in JAMA Pediatrics. “The domains of language and cognitive development and communication…  read on >  read on >

A brain drain is underway in states that banned or severely restricted abortion after the fall of Roe v Wade, a new study suggests. A significant decline in the number of practicing obstetricians/gynecologists has occurred in the 12 most restrictive states, according to findings published March 10 in JAMA Network Open. “Health care providers are…  read on >  read on >

Kids are more likely to maintain a healthy weight if their parents adopt a responsive style while they’re babies and toddlers, a new study suggests. Children had a significantly lower average body mass index (BMI) through middle childhood if they were raised using responsive parenting, researchers report in JAMA Pediatrics. BMI is an estimate of…  read on >  read on >

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is preparing to study whether vaccines are linked to autism — despite overwhelming scientific evidence showing no connection. The study request came from Trump administration officials, according to sources familiar with the plan. Both President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary (HHS) Robert F.…  read on >  read on >

A mother’s diet during pregnancy can influence her child’s risk of ADHD and autism, a new study says. In particular, the unhealthy hallmarks of a typical Western diet appeared to increase a child’s risk of developmental disorders, researchers reported in the journal Nature Metabolism. “The greater a woman’s adherence to a Western diet in pregnancy…  read on >  read on >

Hormone replacement therapy during menopause appears to be linked to a toxic brain protein that’s a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. Women over 70 had a faster accumulation of tau in their brains if they’d taken hormone therapy for menopause symptoms more than a decade before, according to a new report in Science Advances. Tau tangles…  read on >  read on >

Women in the U.S. South are three times more likely to lose a baby in late pregnancy than mothers in other regions, a new study reports. The study, exclusively reported March 6 by NBC News, attributes the high rates of pregnancy loss in part to lack of Medicaid expansion in the South.  “We are losing…  read on >  read on >