WEDNESDAY, March 26 (HealthDay News) -- Vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy may be linked to a softening of bones in a baby's skull, Japanese researchers report.

They also found that breast-feeding without vitamin D supplementation could prolong the deficiency, which might lead to a risk of serious health problems later in life, including decreased bone density and type 1 diabetes.

"Craniotabes, the softening of skull bones, in otherwise normal newborns has largely been regarded as a physiological condition without the need for treatment. Our findings, however, show that this untreated condition may be the result of a potentially dangerous vitamin D deficiency," Dr. Tohru Yorifuji, of Kyoto University Hospital, said in a prepared statement.

The researchers evaluated 1,120 newborns and found that, at five to seven days of age, 246 (22 percent) of the babies had craniotabes. The researchers also found strong seasonal variations in the incidence of craniotabes. This suggests that the condition is associated with prenatal vitamin D deficiency, and is likely influenced by the amount of sunlight exposure a woman gets during pregnancy. The body produces vitamin D when the skin is exposed to sunlight.

This vitamin D deficiency in newborns may persist into later life, especially in breast-fed infants who don't receive a formula with vitamin D supplementation, the researchers said. More than half the breast-fed infants with craniotabes showed statistically significant low levels of serum 25-OH vitamin D, the storage form of the vitamin. Some of these infants had symptoms of an overactive parathyroid gland, which is also consistent with vitamin D deficiency.

The study appears in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

"Until more research is done on the effects of perinatal vitamin D deficiency, we suggest treating breast-fed infants with craniotabes with vitamin D, or preferably, treating all pregnant women with vitamin D," Yorifuji said.

Several recent studies have reported a resurgence of vitamin D deficiency, even in developed countries, according to background information in a news release about the study. Skeletal problems, such as rickets in childhood or softening of bones in adults, are common consequences of vitamin D deficiency, which can also increase the risk of multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes and colorectal cancer in adults.

More information

The MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia has more about craniotabes.

WEDNESDAY, March 26 (HealthDay News) -- New research suggests that a child's problems forming relationships and being accepted by friends are more likely to contribute to anxiety and depression than vice versa, particularly during the transition from adolescence into young adulthood.

The study, conducted by researchers at the universities of Vermont and Minnesota, found that young people who initially had more "internalizing" problems such as anxiety and depression were more likely to have those problems in adolescence and young adulthood. Those who were socially competent at the start, though, were socially competent as they grew up.

In addition, the study -- published in the March/April issue of Child Development -- found evidence of spillover effects, where social problems contributed to increasing internalizing symptoms over time.

"Overall, our research suggests that social competence, such as acceptance by peers and developing healthy relationships, is a key influence in the development of future internalizing problems such as anxiety and depressed mood, especially over the transition years from adolescence into young adulthood," study lead author Keith Burt, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Vermont, said in a prepared statement. "These results suggest that although internalizing problems have some stability across time, there is also room for intervention and change. More specifically, youth at risk for internalizing problems might benefit from interventions focused on building healthy relationships with peers."

The study followed 205 individuals from middle childhood (ages 8 to 12) into young adulthood over 20 years. The researchers used detailed interviews with participants and reports from their parents, teachers and classmates to create measures of so-called internalizing problems (anxiety, depressed mood, being withdrawn) and social competence (how well one functions in relation to other people, particularly with respect to getting along with others and forming close relationships). They then examined how these measures related to each other over time.

Children who were less socially competent in childhood were more likely to have symptoms of anxious or depressed mood in adolescence, according to the findings. Similarly, young people who were less socially competent in adolescence were at greater risk for symptoms of anxiety and depression in young adulthood. The results were generally the same for males and females.

The findings remained the same when the researchers accounted for some other possible explanations, such as intellectual functioning, the quality of parenting, social class, and such problems as fighting, lying and stealing.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Mental Health has more about child and adolescent mental health.

SATURDAY, March 22 (HealthDay News) -- To mark National Poison Prevention Week, which concludes Saturday, the Soap and Detergent Association offers a home safety checklist for parents with young children.

Parents and caregivers should:

• Install child-safety locks on cabinets that house cleaning supplies, medicines, cosmetics, chemicals and other poisons. Never assume a cabinet is too high for a child.
• Keep all household products in their original packaging, which includes useful first-aid information in the event of accidental exposure or ingestion. If you purchase household products in bulk, buy a smaller size of the same product and use this container for refills.
• Use child-resistant packaging properly by closing the container securely after each use. Keep in mind that this type of packaging is child-resistant, but not child-proof, and products must still be stored out of reach of children.
• Read and follow the directions on the product label. Pay particular attention to labels that include the words "Caution," "Warning," "Danger," or "Poison."
• When using cleaning products, take out only what's needed for the job at hand. Store the rest in a secure location.
• Don't mix household cleaning products. Doing so could release harmful vapors or cause other dangerous chemical reactions.
• Don't leave cleaning buckets unattended. If a child falls into the bucket, it may not tip over and the child could drown. If the bucket is tipped, the contents could spill and come into contact with a child's sensitive skin. Immediately clean up any spills and quickly and safely dispose of rags, paper towels and related items that you used to clean up a spill.
• Schedule house cleaning when children are having a nap, on a play date, or at school.
• If children are present while you're cleaning, avoid any distractions. If you need to answer the door, take the child with you. If the phone rings, let the answering machine get it.
• Know where to call for help. Post the Poison Control Center phone number (1-800-222-1222), along with other emergency numbers, by every land phone in your home, and enter the numbers into your cell phone's address book.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers more tips to prevent poisonings.

THURSDAY, March 13 (HealthDay News) -- Secondhand smoke causes signs of cardiovascular damage in children, especially the very youngest, new research contends.

The findings, which focused on children from 2 to 14 years old, showed that environmental tobacco exposure (second-hand smoke) caused increased markers of inflammation and signs of vascular injury, suggesting an increased risk of heart disease. The youngest children appeared to be more affected than teens.

"Toddlers are smokers by default," said one of the study's authors, John Bauer, director of the Center for Cardiovascular Medicine at Nationwide Children's Hospital and Research Institute in Columbus, Ohio. "Forty percent of toddlers in our study had nicotine content that in adults would suggest that they were active smokers. But, an active smoker has a filter on cigarettes. The toxicity from smoke that is inhaled in the atmosphere is worse because there's no filter."

Results of the study were to be presented Thursday at the American Heart Association's Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention meeting, in Colorado Springs.

Bauer and his colleagues took hair and blood samples from 125 children. Fifty-seven were between the ages of 2 and 5; 68 were between 9 and 14. Hair samples were used to measure nicotine exposure, and blood samples were used to look for a type of cell called an endothelial progenitor cell (EPC). These cells replenish the endothelium (the lining of the blood vessels) and provide clues to levels of cardiovascular health.

The researchers also asked the parents how many smokers children had been exposed to in a 24-hour period.

Children in the youngest age group had almost six times the average nicotine levels than older children did. Toddlers had an average nicotine level of 12.68 nanograms per milligram of hair, while older kids had an average level of 2.57 nanograms per milligram.

"Toddlers were more exposed," Bauer said. "Toddlers are like fish in a fish bowl. They're strapped pretty closely to their parental units, which exposes them to more smoke than adolescents who live in the same set of circumstances."

"Toddlers also breathe more rapidly, so they inhale more," added one of Bauer's co-authors, Dr. Judith Groner, a pediatrician and ambulatory care physician at Nationwide.

The youngest children also had higher levels of an inflammatory marker called soluble intracellular adhesion molecules, and there was an inverse relationship between EPC levels and exposure to smoke in both age groups, though again, the effect of secondhand smoke was more pronounced in the younger children.

These findings are similar to what has been found in adult smokers, according to the study authors. EPC levels haven't yet been studied in adults exposed to secondhand smoke.

"Based on markers of vascular stress, toddlers are hit harder," said Bauer. "To what extent this is reversible if exposure is stopped isn't known. In adults, there is evidence that when active smokers quit smoking that the risk of heart disease is lower, but some research suggests that cardiovascular disease may be imprinted in early life, so we don't know if this is reversible or not."

"This study suggests that if you have a toddler, make sure they're out of harm's way," he added.

Dr. Devang Doshi, director of pediatric pulmonology, allergy and immunology at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich., said, "This study gives us more insight into the bad effects of secondhand smoke exposure from a respiratory and cardiac standpoint."

"A lot of people don't realize that when you smoke in the house, children are continuously exposed. It's always in the house; the smoke doesn't just go away," he added.

Doshi said his first advice to parents is to quit smoking. Failing that, he said he advises parents to go outside, away from the house to smoke, and to wear at least two layers of clothing. Then, when they come back in the house, he recommends removing the top layer of clothing and washing your hands to try to limit your child's exposure.

"Don't smoke," advised Groner, "and have a total ban on smoking around your child."

More information

To learn more about the effects of secondhand smoke, visit the American Lung Association  .