HEALTH NOTES
CEREAL TO CUT COELIAC IN BABIES?
GIVING babies Weetabix from four months of age may prevent them developing allergies to wheat, research suggests.
A study led by King’s College London found that introducing high doses of gluten from early on could offer protection against coeliac disease.
However, experts warned that more studies were needed before changes are made to national advice on weaning.
For the study, researchers examined data from 1,004 youngsters randomly split into two groups
The 516 children in one group were exclusively breastfed until they were around six months old, while the 488 children in the other group ate allergenic foods (peanut, sesame, wheat, eggs, cod fish and cow’s milk) as well as breastmilk from around four months of age.
The results showed at age three, seven of the children in the breastmilk-only group had developed coeliac disease, compared with none in the group that had been given wheat.
The research, called the Enquiring About Tolerance (EAT) Study, was published in the journal JAMA Paediatrics.
CONTACT BOOST FOR KIDS’ VISION
WEARING a certain type of contact lens can prevent children’s eyesight from worsening.
In a study, multifocal contact lenses usually worn by adults were found to prevent short-sightedness from progressing in children by 43% over three years, compared to ordinary contact lenses.
The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
CHILDREN AT LOWER COVID RISK
CHILDREN have 44% lower odds of catching COVID-19 than adults, according to an analysis led by Russell Viner, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.
“In this systematic review and meta-analysis including 32 studies, children and adolescents younger than 20 years had 44% lower odds of secondary infection with SARS-COV-2 compared with adults 20 years and older,” the analysis said.
“There is preliminary evidence that those younger than 10 to 14 years have lower susceptibility to SARS-COV-2 infection than adults, with adolescents appearing to have similar susceptibility to adults.”