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MONDAY, Dec. 20, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- If your children struggle with their weight, new research suggests they may also suffer from diseases once seen only in adults.Stiffening of the arteries, which can lead to early heart attacks and strokes, and type 2 diabetes were found in many of the more than 600 obese children, adolescents and young adults studied. And the problem is only getting worse: According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, during the pandemic obesity among American children has jumped from 19% to 22%."We're all very well aware that childhood, adolescence and adulthood obesity rates are quite staggering, and the risk for related chronic diseases is quite pervasive," said senior researcher Joseph Kindler, an assistant professor in the department of...

MONDAY, Dec. 20, 2021 (American Heart Association News) -- On a steamy July afternoon in Fort Scott, Kansas, 16-year-old Lindsey Lewis, dressed in a swimsuit and shorts and driving her well-loved convertible, picked up her friend Jill Overstake. They stopped for sodas on their way to the local rock quarry. A group of friends they called "the boys" were jumping off the rocks into the water.Once there, Lindsey gave her friend a look that implied, "Shall we?""Absolutely not," Jill said. "It's not safe."Lindsey smacked Jill on the shoulder playfully, as she often did, and said, "We're doing it!"She grabbed Jill by the hand and in they went, splashing into the murky water 25 feet or so below. They laughed as they got out, their long hair dripping, the sun warm on their skin."In hindsight,...

MONDAY, Dec. 20, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Moderna Inc. announced Monday that its COVID-19 vaccine booster shot significantly increased antibodies against the Omicron variant.“The dramatic increase in COVID-19 cases from the Omicron variant is concerning to all. However, these data showing that the currently authorized Moderna COVID-19 booster can boost neutralizing antibody levels 37-fold higher than pre-boost levels are reassuring,” Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel, said in a company statement. Moderna also noted that a dose double the size of a normal booster, equivalent to that used in the main shots and in the third dose given primarily to immunocompromised people, raised antibody levels by 83 times.As well, “to respond to this highly transmissible variant, Moderna will continue...

MONDAY, Dec. 20, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Many parents want to make the holiday season magical for their kids, but for some the stress they feel trying to live up to that ideal may actually be doing the opposite.A poll from Michigan Medicine found that about one in five parents said their holiday stress level negatively affected their child's enjoyment of the season. Meanwhile, roughly one-quarter of parents also said they set overly idealistic holiday expectations."People are surrounded by images depicting the holidays as a time of peace, love and joy. Many parents want to give their children those perfect magical memories to treasure for years to come," said Sarah Clark, co-director of the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health at University of Michigan...