Children living in poverty before the first anniversary at increased risk of asthma and other chronic diseases later in life, according to a comparative study of children in the United Kingdom (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) and Quebec Canada. Published in the journal Pediatrics, the study was conducted by researchers at the University of Montreal in Canada and the University of Warwick in the UK.

“We found that chronic poverty, compared with transient poverty is more harmful to the health of children. In fact, chronically poor children are more prone to asthma attacks,” said lead author Beatrice Nikiema, a researcher at the Department of the University of Montreal Preventive and Social Medicine.

The survey also found a link between poverty and the risk of experiencing one of the following chronic diseases: allergies, heart disease, bronchitis, kidney disease, mental retardation, epilepsy, cerebral palsy or any other health problem that has lasted six months or more. Data were collected through interviews with parents of 14,556 children who participated in the British Cohort Study Millennium (at least nine months and 36 months) and 1950 children who participated in the Longitudinal Study of Child Development (five months and 41 months).

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The exercise in the first three months after delivery may reduce the risk of postnatal depression (PND), and increased well-being, a study by the University of Melbourne led to the Angliss Hospital has revealed.

In a world first study, 161 women without symptoms of depression after delivery before were divided into two groups to test the effect of an exercise conducted by a physiotherapist and the welfare of education.

The experimental group received eight weeks, “Mother and Child” program, and specialized exercises women’s health physiotherapist, combined with parental education.

In the second group, “education only” participants received written materials.

Participants in both groups were evaluated for psychological well-being (with positive affect Balance Scale), depressive symptoms (with Postnatal Depression Scale Edinburgh) and physical activity at baseline, after eight weeks to complete the program and four weeks after the final.

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New research shows having children increases the chances of a woman with type 2 diabetes, but breastfeeding can reduce the risk to the same level as women who never had children.

The study, published in the American Diabetes Association’s journal Diabetes Care, compared with women with similar weight and examined the effect on type 2 diabetes have had children and had breastfed. Data were drawn from Australia’s largest study of healthy aging – 45 years – and the study was co-written by Professor Emily Banks, the National Center for Epidemiology and Population Health at the National University of Australia.

Study author Dr. Bette Liu said, women who are not breastfed were 50% more likely to develop diabetes later in life compared with women who had no children.

“But women who had children, and within each child at least three months had no increased risk of developing diabetes,” says Dr. Liu.

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