Children's Health:Bullying exposure associated with adult psychiatric disorders ♦ Poorer children nearly three times as likely to be obese ♦ Behavioral problems in youths are associated with differences in the brain

Bullying exposure associated with adult psychiatric disorders requiring treatment Exposure to bullying as a child was associated with psychiatric disorders in adulthood that required treatment in a study of Finnish children, according to an article published online by JAMA Psychiatry

Behavioral problems in youths are associated with differences in the brain Young people with behavioral problems, such as antisocial and aggressive behavior, show reduced grey matter volume in a number of areas of the brain, according to a new study.

Poorer children nearly three times as likely to be obese A new study has questioned why poorer children are at higher risk of obesity compared to their better-off peers. The link between relative poverty and childhood obesity turned out to be quite stark. At age 5, poor children were almost twice as likely to be obese compared with their better off peers. 6.6% of children from families in the poorest fifth of the sample were obese while the figure for the richest fifth is just 3.5%. By the age of 11 the gap has widened, nearly tripling.

Early childhood exposure to farm animals, pets modifies immunological responses Exposure to farm animals in early childhood modifies the key allergy-related immunological mechanisms, shows a recent study, which provides new insight into the role of dendritic cells and cytokine production in particular.