According to HealthDay (10/3, Murez), “spending on mental health services for U.S. children and adolescents has risen sharply since 2020,” climbing “26% for youths aged 19 and younger between March 2020 and August 2022,” RAND researchers concluded. After examining “claims from health benefit manager Castlight Health” that “involved 1.9 million children and teens with commercial insurance from January 2019 through August 2022,” investigators also found that “use of mental health services increased by 22%” along “a large group whose families had employer-provided insurance.” The findings were published online Oct. 3 in a research letter in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Spending on Kids’ Mental Health Keeps Rising,”Cara Murez, HealthDay, October 3, 2023

HCPlive (10/2, Derman) reports, “A child diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) at 12-26 months of age may not meet the diagnostic criteria for autism years later,” investigators concluded in the findings of a 213-child “cohort study” published online in JAMA Pediatrics. The study suggested that “children with higher baseline adaptative functioning scores, as well as girls, were more likely to have nonpersistent autism spectrum disorder in later years.”

Related Links:

— “Autism Diagnosis at Toddler Age May Not Persist to Elementary School Years,”Chelsie Derman, HCPlive, October 2, 2023

CNN (10/2, Ronald) reports that research has found that “parents, teachers, coaches and other adults shouting at, denigrating or verbally threatening children can be as damaging to their development as sexual or physical abuse.” The research, “which studied the impact of shouting by adults such as parents, teachers and coaches, cited several papers that suggested the lasting effects of childhood verbal abuse can manifest as mental distress, such as depression and anger; externalizing symptoms, such as committing crimes, substance use or perpetrating abuse; and physical health outcomes, such as developing obesity or lung disease.” The findings were published in Child Abuse & Neglect.

Related Links:

— “Adults shouting at children can be as harmful to a child’s development as sexual or physical abuse, study finds,”Issy Ronald, CNN, October 2, 2023

CNN (10/2, Choi) reports, “Children and teens in the US are dying of gun-related homicides and suicides in record numbers, according to the most recent data from the” CDC. In 2021, “there were 2,279 firearm homicides in children and teens (ages one to 18),” which is “double the number of deaths recorded a decade prior, according to the CDC’s WONDER database.” Additionally, “suicides by gun were…up 11% from the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.”

Related Links:

— “Gun homicides and suicides in US children and teens are at a record high,”Annette Choi, CNN, October 2, 2023

Healio (9/29, Bascom) reported, “Increased intake of ultraprocessed foods, especially artificially sweetened beverages and artificial sweeteners, was linked to a high risk for depression,” researchers concluded in “a prospective cohort study of 31,712 women aged 42 to 62 years who were enrolled in the Nurses’ Health Study II between 2003 and 2017.” The study also revealed that “reducing consumption of ultraprocessed foods by at least three servings daily lowered that risk.” The findings were published online Sept. 20 in a research letter in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “High intake of artificially sweetened drinks associated with higher depression risk,”Emma Bascom, Healio, September 29, 2023