THURSDAY, June 19 (HealthDay News) -- A child's risk of developing allergies increases by up to 50 percent from pollution caused by traffic, a rate that increases the closer the child grows up next to major roads, a new study says.

The findings, published in the June issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, revealed significant links between the distance to the nearest road and asthmatic bronchitis, hay fever, eczema and allergic sensitizations.

"[Children] living very close to a major road are likely to be exposed not only to a higher amount of traffic-derived particles and gases but also to more freshly emitted aerosols which may be more toxic," wrote lead author Joachim Heinrich, of the German Research Center for Environment and Health at the Institute of Epidemiology in Munich.

The researchers examined the level of exposure to traffic pollutants for almost 6,000 children, ages 4 and 6, based in part on how far their homes were from major roads at different times during their lives. The children were tested for asthma, wheezing, sneezing, eczema and food allergies, while their parents answered questionnaires about their child's respiratory diagnoses and symptoms. Testing for particulate matter (commonly called soot) and nitrogen dioxide was also conducted near 40 high-traffic areas during each season between March 1999 and July 2000.

Pollution and allergies have been linked in previous studies, but the association was often attributed to socioeconomic factors, not the distance from major roads.

"We consistently found strong associations between the distance to the nearest main road and the allergic disease outcomes," Heinrich wrote. "Children living closer than 50 meters to a busy street had the highest probability of getting allergic symptoms, compared to children living further away."

More information

The American Academy of Family Physicians has more about possible health effects of air pollution  .

MONDAY, June 9 (HealthDay News) -- Teens who become addicted to their cell phones may be placing their health at risk by compromising their ability to sleep well, a new Swedish study suggests.

The finding was presented Monday at the Associated Professional Sleep Societies annual meeting, in Baltimore.

"The message is that adolescents who use their cell phones excessively are much more stressed, much more restless, much more fatigued, and have a greater tendency to develop sleep deprivation as a result of their calling habits," said study author Dr. Gaby Bader, an associate professor in the department of clinical neuroscience at Sahlgren's Academy in Goteburg.

Bader said he was "quite surprised" by the strength of the correlation between teen cell phone use and sleep problems. And, he pointed out, the current study is only one part of a broader ongoing effort to assess the impact of numerous forms of technology on adolescent sleep, including computers and handheld e-mail devices.

With respect to cell phones, he and his team focused on the experiences of 21 healthy Swedish boys and girls between the ages of 14 and 20. The teens kept what the authors described as "regular working/studying hours" and were not previously diagnosed with any particular sleep irregularity.

Based on self-reports, participants were divided into two groups: those sending or receiving five calls and/or short text messages (excluding e-mails) a day, and those using their cell phones 15 times or more on a daily basis.

Bader pointed out that while the average number of calls/texts per day hovered between 35 and 40, some of the above-15 call users used their cells with a frequency far more excessively -- approaching, at times, more than 200 calls and/or texts a day. Among all participants, only one reported turning off their cell phone at night, he noted.

All participants were asked to complete lifestyle questionnaires, describing sleep quality as well as self-perceptions regarding depression, anger, and self-esteem. In addition, each kept a sleep diary for one week.

The authors also conducted overnight at-home sleep inspections, as well as two-day cardiac activity assessments.

The researchers observed that the above-15 call group kept more irregular sleeping hours than the lower-use group, had more difficulty falling asleep, more difficulty waking up, and experienced more sleep disruptions.

Heavy cell phone users also consumed more beverages containing stimulants than the minimal phone-user group. This perhaps contributed to the finding that heavy callers also displayed more restlessness, stress, and fatigue than minimal users.

Bader said that among young people, a relatively recent technological innovation like the cell phone has quickly become nearly ubiquitous, giving rise to considerable pressure to keep in touch 24/7. And he suggested that this pressure can develop into an addiction, with serious negative ramifications for adolescent health.

"We see more and more people -- especially the young generation -- who grew up with these kinds of items and gadgets in their hands," Bader said. "And they become dependent on the technology. So, we have to teach young people to be structured. To know when to have the cell phone on, and when to switch it off. To avoid becoming the slave of technology, instead of the master."

Dr. Mary Carskadon, director of sleep and chronobiology research at E.P. Bradley Hospital in Providence, R.I., expressed little surprise with the finding.

"Interpersonal contact is one of the things that's best at keeping us awake," she observed. "And so, a young person receiving cell phone texts or phone calls, when their brain is saying, 'Let me sleep,' is going to have more sleep disturbances. And they are going to be tired and restless, and probably, as a result, going to use more stimulants. And judgment is not always the best in our teenage years. So, that's where I think parental attention to this issue may be useful."

More information

For more on teens and sleep, visit the Kidshealth.org  .

MONDAY, June 2 (HealthDay News) -- Children and teens are gulping down more sugary beverages and fruit juices than ever before, a new study has found.

Children aged 2 to 19 now take in up to 15 percent of their total daily calories from drinks that contain sugar, a finding that confirms previous research and suggests consumption is rising.

It's known from previous studies that children and teens in the United States drink a lot of sugary beverages, said study author Dr. Y. Claire Wang, an assistant professor of health policy and management at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, in New York City.

"We show that the consumption trend continues to increase," she said, and that it's occurring mostly at home.

Experts recommend restricting both sugary beverages such as soft drinks and 100 percent fruit juices, to avoid excess "empty" calories.

Wang's team analyzed 24-hour dietary recall records from children or their parents, trying to determine how many calories a day came from sugary beverages and 100 percent fruit juices.

They used data from two national surveys, conducted from 1988 to 1994 and from 1999 to 2004. The first survey had almost 10,000 participants, the second, almost 11,000.

Overall, daily calories from sugary beverages or 100 percent fruit juices rose from 242 calories a day to 270 during the two study periods.

"We see the largest increases happening among kids 6 to 11," Wang said. The increase in sugary beverage intake was statistically significant in boys but not in girls. Boys' averages went from 228 to 259 calories; girls' went from 177 to 186.

Wang's team also looked at where the kids drink the beverage. Most consumption -- up to 70 percent -- took place at home, suggesting that schools' efforts to restrict sales of sugary beverages are having limited impact on consumption.

The Juice Products Association took exception to the findings.

"We take very strong issue with statements in this paper which suggest 100 percent fruit juices are without nutritional value and contribute to weight gain," the industry group said in a statement. "In fact, a recently published scientific literature review has concluded that 100 percent juices do not contribute to children being overweight, even when consumed in amounts that exceed American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines. That review paper concludes, 'Overall, the data support the consumption of 100 percent fruit juice in moderate amounts, and this may be an important strategy to help children meet the current recommendations for fruit.' "

In another study published in the same issue of the journal, researchers from the University of Minnesota found that even parents who recognized their child was overweight did not take "healthy" actions at home -- such as providing plentiful supplies of fruits and vegetables -- to help their child.

Dr. Dianne Neumark-Sztainer and her team evaluated the behaviors of parents whose teens participated in Project EAT, analyzing data from 314 parent-teen pairs.

"Basically, we compared parents of overweight children who recognized their children were overweight with parents of overweight children who did not recognize their children were overweight to see if knowing your child is overweight is associated with better behavior," Neumark-Sztainer said.

They asked parents about several behaviors, such as providing more fruits and vegetables and fewer soft drinks, salty snacks and candy; having more meals as a family; watching less television during dinner and encouraging children to make healthy food choices and be active. They also asked the parents if they encouraged their children to diet.

The only difference? Those who recognized their child was overweight were more apt to encourage their child to diet. "And that turns out to be bad," Neumark-Sztainer said. "Those kids actually weighed more five years later."

Both studies are concerning, said Connie Diekman, director of university nutrition at Washington University in St. Louis and immediate past president of the American Dietetic Association.

"The fact that parents who know their children are overweight don't provide positive guidance, healthier food options and encouragement to get physical activity in is a big concern in that parents' behaviors eventually become their children's behaviors," she said. "It would seem that parents need more education on how to encourage healthy living."

What should parents do? Wang doesn't advocate eliminating sugary drinks but being educated about their role. "Be aware there are a lot of calories [in the beverages], and kids need to exercise a lot to burn it off," she said.

Sweetened beverages and naturally sweetened fruit drinks should be limited to four to six ounces a day for kids aged 1 to 6 and eight to 12 ounces for those aged 7 to 18, Wang said. In her study, the daily average consumption from 1999 to 2004 was 25 ounces.

"Make health eating and activity habits a priority for the family," Diekman stressed.

More information

To learn more about healthy eating habits, visit the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

THURSDAY, May 29 (HealthDay News) -- Could common bacterial infections cause some cases of sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS?

According to the British authors of a study in this week's issue of The Lancet, the answer is a qualified yes. The researchers found high levels of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria in children who had died of SIDS.

But in no way does this mean that parents should be demanding antibiotics for their newborns, cautioned Dr. Jim Greenberg, director of the division of neonatology at Cincinnati Children's Hospital. "This still falls under the category of preliminary research and doesn't have any direct application to how we think about patient care," he said.

"As yet, we do not understand the true significance of the findings," added Dr. Nigel Klein, co-author of the study and professor of infectious disease and immunology and head of the department of infection at the University of London and Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in the United Kingdom. "At present, a causal link has not been established. As such, there are no direct clinical implications."

According to the American SIDS Institute, the rate of SIDS has dropped dramatically since 1983, thanks to concerted prevention efforts on the part of a number of organizations. However, about 2,500 infants still die of SIDS every year in the United States.

The causes largely remain a mystery, although putting a baby to sleep on his or her back and avoiding smoking near the child are known to be protective.

Klein and his colleagues conducted autopsies on 546 infants who had died suddenly between the ages of 7 and 365 days. Samples of bacteria were taken from 470 of the infants.

Many more potentially harmful organisms were isolated from children whose sudden death could not be explained than from infants whose deaths were explained by non-infectious causes. In particular, S. aureus ("staph") and E. coli had a greater presence in unexplained deaths than in those explained by non-infectious causes.

As an accompanying editorial pointed out, the number of SIDS cases peaks at 8 weeks to 10 weeks of age. That's a time-frame coinciding with blood concentrations of immunoglobulin that protect newborns against bacterial infections.

"This is just at the point that antibodies that go across the placenta -- from mom to baby -- to protect them are starting to disappear, and babies haven't made a lot of their own antibodies yet," noted Dr. Cheryl Cipriani, an associate professor of pediatrics at Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine and a neonatologist with Scott & White. "This is a particular point in time where babies seem to be vulnerable," she said.

Also, both S. aureus and E. coli are bacteria that make toxins, Cipriani explained, "and a toxin might not necessarily cause all the histological changes that you see with infections."

"This is another building block in our knowledge about these kinds of deaths, but association doesn't mean cause," Cipriani cautioned. "But it's a large enough group of babies where you think the findings need to be paid attention to."

There was other news on the underlying causes of SIDS. Reporting in the June 1 issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Canadian researchers say that over-wrapping baby, or keeping the room temperature too high, might lead to overheating, which in turn appears to raise SIDS risk.

The team, led by pediatrician Dr. Shabih Hassan of the University of Calgary, Alberta, also found that mothers who smoke while pregnant also boost their baby's odds for SIDS.

Until precise causes for SIDS are uncovered, parents should be aware that putting infants to sleep on their back ("Back to Sleep") reduces the risk of SIDS by 40 percent to 60 percent, Greenberg noted. Avoiding your child's exposure to cigarette smoke also reduces this risk.

Using a pacifier might also lower risk, but this is controversial, Greenberg added.

More information

There's more on SIDS at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.