If a child aged 12-60 months passes the Ages and Stages Questionnaire in all domains there is a moderate probability that there is no severe developmental delay, a systematic review and meta-analysis has found.

Infants with bronchiolitis characterised by a history of breathing problems, eczema and rhinovirus infection are at increased risk of developing asthma by age 6-7 years, an analysis of three prospective cohort studies has found.

Using adrenaline auto-injectors, difficulties in choosing allergen-free foods, lack of understanding in peers and others, and fear of stigmatisation were among the main concerns voiced by adolescents with food allergies, a systematic review has found.

Smoking, obesity, and psychological disorders during adolescence are associated with older biological age at 45, a large cohort study has found.

Asthma education reduces the frequency of hospitalisation and visits to emergency departments and clinics in children, a meta-analysis has found. Education involving both children and parents/guardians was more effective than that involving only children.

Use of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) in young children was associated with a slightly reduced height at the age of six but only in those who continued treatment into their sixth year, in a prospective study from Denmark.

High FeNO levels were independently associated with an increased risk of future asthma attacks in children, in a prospective observational cohort study from the UK. Other risk factors identified included a recent history of asthma attacks, and a reduction in the asthma medication ratio.

Amoxicillin for uncomplicated chest infections in children is unlikely to be clinically effective, a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial in primary care has found. The study authors recommend that unless pneumonia is suspected, clinicians should provide safety-netting advice but not prescribe antibiotics for most children presenting with chest infections.

A history of maternal asthma was significantly associated with the development of atopic dermatitis, as well as asthma and wheeze, in children, a cohort study from the USA has found.

Parents of children facing terminal or life-threatening illnesses require timely information about their child’s prognosis from healthcare professionals and an opportunity to provide input into the discussion, a qualitative study from the Netherlands has found.

Rates of cerebral palsy and moderate and severe neurodevelopmental problems in five year olds were higher in children born prematurely compared with those born at full term, a large study from France has found.

Oral prednisolone had little effect on respiratory parameters at 24 hours in young children attending an emergency department with acute wheeze, in a study from New Zealand. However, admission rates, and the need for additional oral prednisolone and intravenous medication were lower in children in the prednisolone group.

Individuals born even slightly prematurely have an increased risk of early death in adult life, a Nordic population-based study has found.

Children born preterm, even at 38 and 39 weeks’ gestation, have increased hospital admission rates in the first ten years of life, a large population-based study has found.

An observational study using clinical case records has found a ten-fold increased risk of sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI) in siblings of SUDI cases.

Daily emollient use for the first 12 months of life did not protect against the development of eczema in high-risk children, a UK study has found. Infants born at full term were recruited to a randomised controlled trial carried out at 12 hospitals and four primary care sites across the UK between 2014 and 2016. All the infants were deemed at high risk of developing eczema because of a family history of atopic disease i.e. at least one first-degree relative with parent reported eczema, allergic rhinitis, or asthma diagnosed by a doctor.

The vast majority of children who were obese at three years of age were overweight or obese in adolescence, a study from Germany has found.

A multicentre pragmatic randomised trial of the clinical effects of emollient bath additives (EBAs) in children with eczema has concluded that their benefits are at best limited.

A diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease in childhood more than doubles the relative risk of developing cancer but the absolute risk remains low, according to the findings of a Swedish nationwide cohort study.

A meta-analysis has revealed significant levels of resistance to commonly prescribed antibiotics for urinary tract infections (UTI) in children. Resistance rates were highest for ampicillin and lowest for nitrofurantoin. The researchers set out to determine the prevalence of antibiotic resistant E. coli UTIs in children in a primary care setting and to quantify the relationship between prior exposure to antibiotics and subsequent bacterial resistance.

A Scandinavian study of survivors of childhood cancer has found a significantly higher incidence of a range of autoimmune disorders compared with matched controls. Using Denmark, Iceland and Sweden’s comprehensive national cancer and hospital episode recording registries 20,361 survivors of cancer diagnosed before the age of 20 were identified. These individuals were matched with 125,794 controls selected from national population registers. The median follow-up was 15 years for survivors and 19 years for controls (range 0-42 years for both).

A large retrospective population-based cohort study from Taiwan has added weight to the association between enterovirus infection and onset of type 1 diabetes in childhood.

A large and very well organised study from Denmark has shown that there is a significantly increased risk of infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis (IHPS) in infants exposed to macrolide antibiotics. Data were collected over 16 years on nearly one million (999,378) singleton liveborn babies. Overall, 30,091 women (3%) took macrolides during pregnancy and 21,557 (2.2%) after birth. A total of 6,591 infants (0.6%) were given macrolide treatment directly.

Undergoing CT scans during childhood is associated with a small but significant risk of developing cancer, a large data linkage study from Australia has found. The absolute excess incidence rate for all cancers combined was 9.38 per 100,000 person-years at risk after nearly ten years’ follow-up.

Boys with isolated cryptorchidism have a three-fold increased risk of developing testicular cancer later in life, a meta-analysis published in Archives of Disease in Childhood has found.

Older maternal age is associated with better health and development in young children, a large observational study from the UK has found.