Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Study Says Over 50% Of US Children Have Detectable Lead Levels In Blood
Axios: More Than Half Of U.S. Children Had Detectable Lead In Blood
More than half of children under 6 years old in the U.S. had detectable lead levels in their blood, with exposures much higher from children in communities with pre-1950s housing or with public insurance or high poverty rates, a new study found. The study, published in the peer-reviewed JAMA Pediatrics on Monday, is the first known national analysis investigating the "association of lead exposure with individual- and community-level factors." (Fernandez, 9/28)
In other news about children's health —
Fox News: '5 Or More': Higher Fruit, Vegetable Servings Linked To Kids' Improved Mental Well-Being
Higher fruit and vegetable intake was linked with greater mental well-being scores among secondary schoolchildren, according to a new study based out of the U.K. "The relationship of diet and nutrition with mental health and well-being in either children or adults is not fully understood, although the relevance of diet quality to physical health in relation to non-communicable disease morbidity and mortality is well established," authors affiliated with Norwich Medical School wrote in the study published in BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health. (Rivas, 9/28)
The New York Times: Transgender Youth Face Multiple Barriers To Health Care, Study Finds
Piper, a 17-year-old transgender girl, says she knows she is fortunate. She lives just outside Atlanta, with a supportive family and two rescued leopard geckos, Saturn and Juno. Queer Med, a private gender clinic, is a short drive away; two years ago, she started a regimen of gender-affirming hormones there, after five months of asking — a comparatively short wait. The treatments have precipitated a monumental shift in Piper’s perception of herself. “I’m just more confident in my body,” she said. (Piper’s family members asked that she be identified by only her first name to protect their privacy.)Things are not perfect. Piper still sees a regular pediatrician for her other health needs, but staff members there still occasionally use the wrong pronouns or her former name. Her family’s new insurance plan is not accepted at Queer Med, so they must pay out of pocket for every visit — about $150 not including lab fees. (Imbler, 9/28)
In other public health news —
Axios: The Chicago Beaches Most Likely To Trigger Fecal Bacteria Warnings
Fecal bacteria in Chicago beach water got bad enough to trigger safety warnings 16% of the time this summer. Beaches with the best and worst records stayed pretty steady compared to previous years, according to city data analyzed by Axios. (Eng, 9/28)
KCRW Features: As California Burns, America Breathes Toxic Smoke
Western wildfires pose a much broader threat to human health than to just those forced to evacuate the path of the blazes. Smoke from these fires, which have burned millions of acres in California alone, is choking vast swaths of the country, an analysis of federal satellite imagery by NPR’s California Newsroom and Stanford University’s Environmental Change and Human Outcomes Lab found. (Saldanha, Romero, Wells and Glantz, 9/28)
CNN: A Man Died From Rabies After Waking Up To A Bat In His Room. It's Illinois' First Human Case Of The Virus In Nearly 70 Years
A man in northeastern Illinois died from rabies about a month after apparently being infected by a bat he found in his room, marking the first human case of the virus in the state since 1954, health officials said Tuesday. The man, who was in his 80s, woke up last month and found a bat on his neck in his Lake County, Illinois, home. After the bat tested positive for rabies, the man declined postexposure treatment, the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) said in a news release. (Elamroussi, 9/29)
