U.S. Birth Rate Hits New Low + More
U.S. Birth Rate Hits New Low
The U.S. birth rate has dropped to an all-time low.
Recent insights from the National Center for Health Statistics at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reveal there were only 54.5 births for every 1,000 females aged 15 to 44 in 2023, the lowest figure on record and 3 percent down from the 2022 birth rate.
Since the most recent birth rate high in 2007, the number of births per year has steadily declined. The supposed COVID-19 “baby bump” raised theories that the birth rate would increase but this has been disproved by the latest data.
In fact, since 2007 the birth rate has dwindled by 17 percent with fertility rates also falling by 21 percent.
How Persistent Organic Pollutants Affect Gut Health: Findings on Metabolic Disruptions and Microbiota Changes
A recent Environmental Health Perspectives study determined the impact of early life exposure to potent aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) agonists on gut microbiota and its potential effects on metabolic health later in life.
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs), such as 3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzofuran (TCDF), are widely prevalent and bioaccumulate in the environment, posing serious health risks.
Exposure to POPs can lead to reproductive disorders, cancer, immune suppression, neurological issues, and metabolic diseases like obesity and diabetes. People are exposed to these pollutants mainly through high-fat foods like meat, certain fish, and dairy products.
Three-week-old male mice were used to investigate the short- and long-duration effects of TCDF. These mice were trained to eat bacon-flavored dough pills for five days, after which they were fed pills containing TCDF or acetone alone.
In mice, early life exposure to TCDF causes a gut microbial disruption, particularly composition and function.
Toxin Free USA and Beyond Pesticides Sue Saatva on PFAS Tainted Crib Mattresses
Nonprofits Toxin Free USA and Beyond Pesticides filed a lawsuit against Saatva, Inc., a bedding manufacturer, alleging deceptive marketing of its crib mattresses.
Saatva represents its products as “nontoxic,” “safe,” “natural,” and “eco-friendly.” The product description also says that “it gives you peace of mind as your baby is cradled in soothing comfort.”
Toxin Free USA facilitated lab testing of the crib mattress and detected eight per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) chemicals.
PFAS are a class of toxic chemicals that studies have linked to many diseases, decreased fertility, birth defects, and developmental effects. PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals”, do not break down naturally in the environment, bioaccumulate in humans, and can be harmful at levels in the parts per trillion. A study published May 2024 confirmed that PFAS can be absorbed through human skin.
Schools in the U.S. Are Taking Meditation Breaks, and Teachers Say It Helps Students’ Mental Health
Schools in various states have started to integrate meditation breaks into the daily routine, recognizing the significant mental health benefits for students.
At Roberta T. Smith Elementary School in Georgia, for example, students regularly engage in mindfulness exercises like the “shark fin” meditation, which involves tracing their thumbs from their foreheads to their hearts while focusing on their breath.
This simple yet powerful practice helps students transition from high-energy activities to a state of calm and readiness for learning.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has endorsed the use of mindfulness practices in schools, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has exacerbated mental health issues among students.
The CDC reports that over a third of students experience persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness, highlighting the urgent need for mental health interventions in schools.
‘I Would Call This the Silent Eating Disorder’: What Experts Want You to Know About ARFID
When Hannah was seven years old, she told her parents she didn’t want to be afraid of food anymore.
As she got older, Hannah had a list of about five foods she would eat, and they were specific. Like the green sour cream and onion Pringles, but only the small packs, not the big container, Michelle said.
Now eight years old, Hannah is being treated for Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder, or ARFID.
Unlike eating disorders like anorexia or bulimia nervosa, this diagnosis isn’t concerned with body shape or size, said Kate Dansie, clinical director of the Eating Disorder Center in Rockville, Maryland.
Instead, people with ARFID are very limited in the foods they feel safe and comfortable eating, Dansie said. Unlike just being “picky,” this disorder can be debilitating and cause long-term health problems.
Yemen Was Already a Hard Place to Raise an Autistic Daughter. Then War Started
Being a woman with autism, Emtenan belongs to two marginalized groups in a country that has long ranked among the lowest globally for gender equality.
Women with autism face even greater challenges, due to the stigma and lack of awareness that persist around the condition. “By virtue of women facing more hardships than men in the various aspects of life, the plights of autistic women are multiple that of a man,” Nasser told CNN.
But in Yemen, spotting the signs of autism in a child is the family’s responsibility, Dr. Tameem Al-Basha, professor of special education at the Ibb University, told CNN, because the health sector has been destroyed by a civil war, which is entering its tenth year. The devastation has caused one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises and stripped many people with autism of the opportunity for diagnosis or treatment.
Multiple studies show that families often suffer from negative societal responses to children with autism, especially when they exhibit socially inappropriate behaviors in public.
For girls, this would include speaking loudly, yelling or screaming, aggressiveness, defiance and stubbornness, especially toward cultural norms like modest clothing or being quiet among men they are not familiar with.
“Some kids might face abuse, especially these days,” with the war and living conditions at their worst, said Fayad al-Derwish. The architect, who was born in 1990, grew up with autism in Yemen and faced bullying as a child.
Heart Defects in Kids Linked to Dads’ Hepatitis B History Too
A child’s risk of congenital heart disease (CHD) may be related to a past hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in either parent, according to a retrospective cohort study.
Paternal preconception HBV infection was linked to significantly greater odds of CHD in offspring (adjusted relative risk 1.40, 95% CI 1.11-1.76) among Chinese couples who had undergone prepregnancy testing, reported Yihua He, MD, of Beijing Anzhen Hospital at Capital Medical University in Beijing, and colleagues.
These results mirror those from a separate analysis from the same research group that showed that maternal HBV infection opens in a new tab or window during prepregnancy or pregnancy was associated with CHD in offspring.
“The findings suggest that personalized reproductive guidance regarding HBV screening and staying free of HBV infection should be provided for both wives and husbands,” He’s group wrote in JAMA Pediatrics.
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Tom
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Demographics depicts the long term future of population growth and anything below 2.0 is meaningful. US population continues to grow but it can only be from outsiders entering the country…legally or not.
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VOWG
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Like the U S the U K people are being replaced with “others”.
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Charles Higley
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The article on a little girl’s “eating disorder” is bogus. Kids go through phases. For several months when I was young, all I would eat is white bread with mayonnaise. Then, it was cereal for every meal for a time. Animals do the same thing. Give a rat several food sources, none of them a complete diet and they will binge on each one for a time. Over time their bodies tell them how they are doing and they ALWAYS end up eating a combination of the food sources. It’s simple biology and nutrition.
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Terry Shipman
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Yes. When I was young I hated salad and green peas (but loved green beans-go figure). Now, as an adult, I love all of it. My mother would turn over in her grave if she knew I love salad with French dressing now. I thought all kids go through that. My parents were raised in the early part of the 20th century in large families. They didn’t get a choice. They either ate what was placed in front of them or they went hungry. They both came from farming families so garden fresh food was not a problem.
My mother did things a bit differently. She didn’t make me eat salad or green peas. I was an only child so my mother just had to prepare meals for the three of us.
I was a strange child since I loved liver and onions. How many kids like liver and onions?
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Frank S.
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My GF just got her regular cycle back since being vaxxed. Dr. Eads’ tests and protocols were the cure. Given the uncertainty of the vax’ effect on male & female reproductive health (and its consequences) its little wonder many are foregoing having children.
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