children and stress Archives - Amazing Health Advances

Prenatal Stress Impacts Babies, Especially Girls, Later On

The AHA! Team — Fri, 30 May 2025 05:24:33 +0000

John Jeffay via Israel21c – Study finds that even before babies take their first breath, the stress their mothers experience can shape how their own bodies will manage stress. Experts believe mothers who report high stress levels during pregnancy are more likely to have babies who will suffer neurodevelopmental and psychiatric conditions in later life. A team at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem says perceived prenatal stress (PPS) actually reprograms key molecular pathways in the baby’s body – and has a far more significant effect on girls than boys. PPS alters the expression of RNA – the tiny molecules that helps make proteins — in the blood of newborn babies, especially girls. That, in turn, affects key enzymes in the brain’s stress-regulation system. “We found that even before babies take their first breath, the stress their mothers experience can shape how their bodies manage stress themselves,” said Prof. Hermona Soreq, who jointly led the study with PhD student Shani Vaknine Treidel at the university’s Edmond and Lily Safra Center of Brain Science. The research team says these changes may explain why some children are more vulnerable to developmental or psychiatric challenges – and point to new possibilities for early diagnosis and interventions targeting stress-related health risks. “This study provides a powerful glimpse into how the maternal environment can leave a lasting biological imprint on the next generation,” said Vaknine Treidel. “It also underscores the importance of recognizing and supporting mental health during pregnancy — not just for the mother, but for the lifelong health of the child.” The team used a standard questionnaire to measure perceived stress among women in their third trimester at Klinikum Rechts der Isar Hospital, part of the Technical University of Munich, Germany. They then analyzed blood from the umbilical of babies born to 120 mothers aged 28 to 45 who recorded some of the highest scores. The changes they detected in the RNA molecules were sex-specific, they said, and showed more dramatic shifts among newborn girls than boys — which could explain why children exposed to high maternal stress during pregnancy may be more vulnerable to neurodevelopmental and psychiatric conditions later in life. Using machine learning techniques, the researchers were also able to accurately determine whether or not newborn girls had been exposed to maternal stress based on profiles of small RNA molecules (or tRNA fragments) that govern a neurotransmitter essential for brain function. This opens the door to new diagnostic tools for detecting prenatal stress effects and possibly even early interventions, the team said. The research paper was published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry. To read the original article click here.

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Study Expands Link Between Childhood Stress and Chronic MS Symptoms

The AHA! Team — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 08:46:29 +0000

Duke Health – DURHAM, N.C. – Childhood stress may predict pain, fatigue, and mental illness in adults with multiple sclerosis, according to a study led by a Duke Health researcher. The findings, appeared online in the journal PLOS ONE, support efforts to integrate trauma-informed care and screenings for stressors into clinical practice. Childhood stress and adversity has been linked to numerous adult health outcomes This could help providers better conceptualize patient backgrounds and potential disease trajectories to create personalized approaches to patient care. “Since the original Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) study in the late 90’s, childhood stress and adversity has been linked to numerous adult health outcomes, including many of the leading causes of mortality in the U.S.,” said lead author Carri Polick, Ph.D., a clinical associate in the Duke University School of Nursing. “This is, in part, due to the physiological stress response and how it sets the tone for how people experience stress and cope over their lifetime.” Researchers analyzed data from 719 adults with MS who responded to an online self-report survey deployed by the National MS Society. Researchers analyzed data from 719 adults with MS Stressors were categorized into emotional stressors, physical stressors, and environmental stressors. They were then analyzed with hierarchical modeling to show accumulation while retaining insight into specific types of stressors. This study is unique in that it moves beyond stressors that are traditionally measured, such as abuse and neglect, to capture environmental factors such as housing instability, discrimination, and the impact of living in an unsafe neighborhood. This is also the first study to include nuanced stressor data like duration and severity of exposures within the context of clinical symptoms of MS. The study found childhood emotional and physical stressors were significantly associated with the presence and severity of both fatigue and pain in adulthood. Environmental, emotional, and physical stressors were significantly associated with mental health challenges including depression, anxiety, PTSD, and other psychiatric disorders. Environmental, emotional, and physical stressors were significantly associated with mental health challenges “From a preventative perspective, teasing out which stressors are potentially most impactful during childhood is important to help inform intervention and policy efforts to decrease the stress experience and promote healthy trajectories from childhood into adulthood,” Polick said. Additional authors of the study include Robert Ploutz-Snyder, Tiffany Braley, Cathleen Connell, and Sarah Stoddard. The study received funding support from the National Institutes of Health (T32NR016914). To read the original article click here.

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How To Manage Parent Guilt, Burn-Out & Fatigue

The AHA! Team — Fri, 07 Jun 2024 08:45:29 +0000

Dr. Caroline Leaf – In this podcast (episode #499) and blog, I talk to Hettie, a concerned mother, about balancing work and play time with her children, especially as a homeschooling mom. This is part of a series I am doing on questions you submitted for my new book on children’s mental health. This was Hettie’s question: “I’m part of an avid homeschooling community. Homeschooling moms like me tend to be “always on; always teaching.” It can lead to schooling burnout, and it does! How can we give ourselves and our children a better balance between working our brain, resting our brain, and letting our brain play?” First, it is important to understand that, as parents and guardians, we deserve to rest! This is especially the case if we are homeschooling our children as — in this case, we are not just parents but educators as well. Work-life balance is not just important for our children. We cannot give our best and be there for our children if we are overwhelmed, burnt out and running on empty. This is something I have spoken of on my podcast before, which I call the “oxygen mask principle”. As parents, we need to help ourselves before we can effectively help our children, which includes scheduling in periods of self-care so that our minds, brains and bodies have time to rest and recharge. We need to recognize that although the mind is infinite, the brain is finite, and it needs rest to function well. We can only give our best when we are rested, which is why it is so important that we learn how to be okay with doing nothing as parents. (This takes some practice, especially if you constantly feel the need to do something!) It is important to remember that our children pick up on our emotions and behaviors. If we are stressed out, overwhelmed or upset because we have not given ourselves enough time to rest and reboot, then this can affect our children’s mental health and performance. On the other hand, when we take the time to invest in our self-care as parents, and we explain to our children why this is important, we teach them an invaluable life-skill. This, in turn, will help them learn how to build and maintain their own resilience as both children and adults. Finding the right work-play-rest balance is not just something we should teach our children. It is something we need to model in our own lives. As mentioned, children observe us and pick up on our feelings and behaviors. This means that we do and say, or what we don’t do or say, can affect their wellbeing as well. So, taking care of ourselves and our mental health is not just a “nice” thing to do. It is imperative if we want our children to grow up understanding that life is about balance and that their health is important. For more on parenting and children’s mental health, listen to my podcast (episode #499). Podcast Highlights 3:36 The challenges of homeschooling & balancing work and rest 4:35, 6:47 The importance of self-care as a parent 7:45 How burnout affects the mind-brain-body connection 13:34 How our mood & emotions can affect our children 18:00 Tips to maintain a good work-life balance as a parent 21:30 The importance of teaching our children about mental health & self-care from youth This podcast and blog are for educational purposes only and are not intended as medical advice. We always encourage each person to make the decision that seems best for their situation with the guidance of a medical professional. To read the original article click here.

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Eating THESE Foods Improves Kids’ Mental Health, New Study Reveals

AHA Publisher — Mon, 18 Oct 2021 07:00:28 +0000

Sara Middleton via NaturalHealth365 – According to the American Psychological Association, children today experience greater levels of anxiety compared to past generations. Perhaps this isn’t surprising – especially now given the far-reaching challenges of the coronavirus pandemic. And while troubling data suggests that our children have become more stressed and even more overweight since the COVID-19 crisis began, there is plenty of hopeful news in the headlines. For example, a large study from the United Kingdom suggests that just by encouraging your kids to eat more fruits and veggies, you could have a dramatic beneficial effect on their mental health. Kids Who Eat More Fruits and Veggies Have Better Mental Health, Reveals New UK Study The study, published in September 2021 in BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health, looked at data from nearly 9,000 children in 50 schools throughout Norfolk County. Initial data gathered from the cohort was a bit grim. The researchers found that only a quarter of secondary-school kids and 28% of primary-school kids reported getting the recommended five servings per day of fruits and veg. Some children – just under 1 in 10 – reported eating no fruits and veggies at all. But this study also contains evidence that should be inspiring to parents. After the researchers accounted for confounding factors like adverse childhood experiences, they determined that there was a strong link between eating a nutritious diet full of fruits and vegetables and better mental wellbeing. In other words: kids who had better diets also reported better mental health. Eating breakfast – instead of no breakfast or having just a snack or energy drink – was also associated with better wellbeing. A major limiting factor of this study is that diets were self-reported by the children, which notoriously introduces a possibility of bias. But lead researcher Ailsa Welch found their data promising enough to identify nutrition as “an important public health target for strategies to address childhood mental wellbeing.” Do Your Kids Stonewall Fruits and Veggies? These Are Some of the Best Ways to Get Them to Eat Healthier Most parents understand how difficult it is when a child simply will not eat what is put on their plate. But it’s overwhelmingly likely that the foods they eat (or don’t eat) are impacting their mental health. So, how can you get them to gobble up the good stuff? Remember, parents control the options. Present kids with healthy choices – and even give them a couple of options to choose from to help them have a sense of control – and keep the unhealthy treats out of the house. Consider buying unhealthy treats once in a while to reduce the notion of “forbidden” foods, which can drive unhealthy eating behaviors. Make sure you’re eating what you want them to eat. Model healthy eating by maintaining a healthy diet yourself. Don’t force kids to eat, but encourage them to try a small bite or two of the food you prepare for them (ultimately, it’s up to your kids how much and whether they eat). And don’t give up on the first failed meal, either – it may take a few times or a few different preparations for your kids to come around. When in doubt, start with fruits and veggies that most kids really like – including organic fruit, potatoes, and cooked carrot or squash. Sources for this article include: UofMhealth.org ScienceDaily.com APA.org Nutrition.BMJ.org Kidshealth.org To read the original article click here.

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