by Angelo DePalma, Ph.D., Childrens Health Defense:
The Defender’s Weekly Science Digest delivers a roundup of the latest research on children’s health, including studies on vaccines, drugs, chemicals, pesticides and lead exposure.
Autism, eating disorders go hand in hand
Clinical Correlates and Prevalence of Food Selectivity in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder; The Journal of Pediatrics, March 3, 2024.
U.S. researchers examined the association between disruptive behavior at mealtime and food selectivity — or “picky eating” — a common issue among children with autism spectrum disorder.
An assessment team made up of a pediatric nurse practitioner, a psychologist and a dietitian evaluated dietary habits plus medical and psychosocial histories of 103 children with autism, whose average age was 5.8 years. Of those, 47 (45.6%) were classified as food-sensitive.
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An assessment team made up of a pediatric nurse practitioner, a psychologist and a dietitian evaluated dietary habits plus medical and psychosocial histories of 103 children with autism, whose average age was 5.8 years. Of those, 47 (45.6%) were classified as food-sensitive.
Parents rated their child’s mealtime behavior through the Brief Autism Mealtime Behavior Inventory, and disruptive behavior through the Aberrant Behavior Checklist.
The Aberrant Behavior Checklist consists of 58 questions related to a child’s irritability, hyperactivity, lethargy, speech and stereotypic behavior.
The Brief Autism Mealtime Behavior Inventory consists of 18 questions focused on disruptive behaviors, such as screaming and spitting out food, during meals.
Investigators found a strong association between Aberrant Behavior Checklist score and food sensitivity, and an even stronger relationship between Brief Autism Mealtime Behavior Inventory scores and picky eating. These associations existed despite differences in the children’s size, weight or nutritional intake.
BPA drives childhood obesity
Bisphenol A exposure affects specific gut taxa and drives microbiota dynamics in childhood obesity; mSystems, March 1, 2024.
A Spanish study found that a child’s body mass index (BMI) determines how they process bisphenol A (BPA), which in turn affects their gut microbiome composition in ways that drive further weight gain. In other words, it’s a vicious cycle.
BPA is a component of food packaging plastics that leaches into foods and drinks, so diet is the principal source of human exposure,
Researchers cultured stool samples from 106 children to determine their bacterial microbiome composition. Cultured bacteria were then exposed to various concentrations of BPA for 3 days.
The median age of the children was 7.7. Sixty of the children were normal weight and the remainder were overweight or obese. Fifty-five were boys.
The researchers found several correlations between BPA exposure and bacterial composition. For example, normal-weight children had greater microbiome species diversity and more inter-species interactions.
These “more enriched, structured, and connected” bacterial networks represented microbiomes that were “more resilient” to BPA and were more capable of breaking down the harmful chemical.
BPA is an endocrine disruptor that promotes obesity through several mechanisms, including interfering with hormones that affect appetite and satiety.
The vaccine worked — but the kids died
Long-term efficacy and safety of a tetravalent dengue vaccine (TAK-003): 4·5-year results from a phase 3, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial; The Lancet Global Health, February 2024.
The good news: South American children now have a “safe, effective” vaccine for dengue, according to an international study group. The bad news? Nearly twice as many vaccinated as unvaccinated children died during their clinical study.
Investigators enrolled 20,099 children, ages 4-16, 50.5% males, from 26 medical or research centers in “dengue territory” — Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Panama, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
Sick or highly allergic children were excluded.
The researchers administered two doses, three months apart, of an experimental, live-attenuated dengue vaccine to 13,401 children. The vaccine, TAK-003, was developed by Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Takeda Pharmaceuticals.
Takeda reported the vaccine was 61.2% effective in preventing dengue and 84.1% effective in preventing dengue-associated hospitalization.
Slightly more unvaccinated subjects experienced side effects overall, but mild effects were more common among vaccinated subjects.
TAK-003’s slightly superior side effect profile did not translate into the most significant safety signal of all — death — as 11 vaccinated children died during follow-up versus just 6 unvaccinated children.
In July 2023, Takeda “voluntarily” withdrew its application to sell TAK-003 in the U.S. due to discrepancies in its data collection practices, according to a Takeda press release.
Childhood obesity is not just ‘in the genes’
Nutritional epigenetics education improves diet and attitude of parents of children with autism or attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder; World Journal of Psychiatry, Jan. 19, 2024.
Educating women about the heavy metal content of ultra-processed foods, or junk foods, can reduce the risks of chronic diseases across generations, according to a U.S. study.
Investigators recruited 22 parents of children with autism or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), 11 of whom participated in a six-week online tutorial on nutritional epigenetics. The remaining participants, who received no instruction, served as controls.
Women were surveyed before and after the instruction for the types and quantities of the foods they ate.
By the end of the study period, mothers who underwent training reduced their ultra-processed food consumption while increasing their intake of whole and/or organic foods. Both results met statistical significance.
Epigenetics is a relatively new discipline that studies how environmental or food exposures turn genes on and off. Its implication here is that eating healthy foods can reduce the impact of “bad” genes, while unhealthy foods can negate the positive effects of “good” genes.
Symptoms of autism or ADHD worsen as mercury and lead accumulate in an affected person’s blood. The effect is believed to arise, at least in part, from problems with a gene, paraoxonase-1, which is responsible for sensitivity to mercury.
Maryland legislators respond to applesauce contamination
Baby Food – Toxic Heavy Metals – Testing and Labeling; Maryland House Bill 97, Jan. 10, 2024.
Contaminated applesauce baby food recently caused 468 potentially toxic infant exposures to chromium and lead, two heavy metals associated with a host of developmental issues.
The story got a lot of attention from the press (see here, here, and here), including three Defender stories (here, here and here).
The negative press prompted Maryland legislators to introduce “Rudy’s Law” based on the experience of Rudy Callahan, now 17 months old. Rudy, like hundreds and possibly thousands of babies across 44 states, was exposed to lead levels six times the “acceptable” limit. There is no safe limit for these substances for babies.
Rudy’s case was discovered through routine lead testing, but doctors had also noticed delays in speech development and Rudy’s mother reported behavioral problems, according to DC News Now.
The proposed Maryland law will require baby food manufacturers to test their products for lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury monthly and, beginning in 2026, to make their results available online.
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