Experts are sounding alarms about two issues concerning children in this week’s health news.
The American Academy of Pediatrics is warning parents not to use weighted sleep products for babies while they’re sleeping. While weighted blankets or sleep sacks can provide gentle, soothing pressure for a baby, used in a sleeping situation they potentially could create risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) or other sleep-related problems, the organization says.
“Many parents resort to using a weighted blanket or sleep sack as a last resort to help their children sleep through the night,” said Dr. Nilong Vyas, a pediatrician and sleep expert at Sleepless in NOLA and SleepFoundation.org.
The weighted items are “contraindicated due to the indeterminate nature of when infants begin to roll over and their need to have unrestricted freedom of movement when physiologically ready,” she said in a press release. “Additionally, a lack of evidence exists to support the safety of weighted sleep sacks for infants and thus do not advocate the application of weighted sleep sacks for children of any age.”
Vyas said that weighted products can be helpful in reducing anxiety and providing “a sense of calm,” but while a weighted blanket could be used while cuddling a child who’s at least 2 years old before bedtime or while reading a book together, using it for sleep has potential risks. The same is true for a weighted stuffed animal that could be used to comfort a child but should not be used in the child’s bed.
Weighted items are not the only risks. Vyas said a stuffed animal or blanket should not be placed in a crib or bassinet of a child younger than a year. And weighted products should not be used for children under 3.
Vaping is down, but millions of kids do it
The 2023 National Youth Tobacco Survey released Thursday shows e-cigarette use in the past 30 days by U.S. high school students declined significantly this year to 10% from 14.1% in 2022. Meanwhile, cigarette smoking by high school students remained at a record-low 1.9%. Cigar use and any combustible tobacco product dropped 1.8% and 3.9%, respectively.
But use of tobacco products went up for middle school students, from 4.5% to 6.6%, including a “possible uptick” in e-cigarette use (from 3.3% to 4.6%), according to officials.
That means that 2.1 million middle and high school students use e-cigarettes and nearly 9 in 10 of those use flavored products.
“It is terrific news for our nation’s health that e-cigarette use among high school students fell sharply this year, while use of cigarettes, cigars and other smoked tobacco products are at record lows. These results are powerful evidence that, with the right policies and public education campaigns, we can drive down and even eliminate youth use of all tobacco products. They show that we can reduce youth e-cigarette use without a resurgence in cigarette smoking,” Yolonda C. Richardson, president and CEO of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said in a written statement.
But she noted that, despite progress, youth e-cigarette use is still a “serious public health problem in the United States.” She said that the availability of flavored products drives the use.
“Over 2 million kids still use e-cigarettes and over a third of them use e-cigarettes daily or most days, a strong indication they are addicted to the high-nicotine products now on the market. The possible uptick in e-cigarette use among middle school students is also cause for concern and underscores the urgent need to eliminate flavored e-cigarettes,” she said.
In the survey, nearly 90% of e-cigarette users report using flavored products, which is higher than last year’s 85%.