Girls who have serious or repeated infections in childhood are at higher risk for developing eating disorders in adolescence, a study found. The study, in JAMA Psychiatry, tracked 525,643 girls — every girl born in Denmark from 1989 through 2006. Compared with girls who had never been hospitalized for infection, those who had been hospitalized were at a 22% increased risk for anorexia, a 35% increased risk for bulimia and a 39% increased risk for other eating disorders. Filling three or more prescriptions for anti-infective drugs was associated with similar increases in the risk.

Baby suffocations mostly preventable

The most common cause of injury deaths in babies younger than 1 is unintentional suffocation, and almost all of these deaths are preventable, a report found. Researchers used a federal case registry to look at the causes of infant deaths by injury between 2011 and 2014. Of 1,812 unexpected infant deaths over the period, about 14% were caused by accidental suffocation. Of these, 69% were caused by soft bedding, 19% were overlay deaths, in which a caregiver rolled over on the baby, and 12% happened when the infant was trapped between two objects, usually the mattress and a wall. The analysis appears in Pediatrics.

Premature birth tied to kidney disease risk

Premature birth increases the risk for chronic kidney disease later in life, a study reports. Researchers used a database of 4,186,615 singleton live births in Sweden from 1973 to 2014, following the people into mid-adulthood. The analysis, in BMJ, found 4,305 cases of chronic kidney disease. Birth before 37 weeks of gestation was associated with nearly double the risk for kidney disease, and birth before 28 weeks with triple the risk.

News Services