Sodas tied to aggressive kids' behaviour

Children, who drink soda, tend to score higher on scales that measure aggressive behaviour than kids who don't drink the carbonated beverages, says a new study. The study authors, however, cautioned that the increase may not be noticeable for individual children and the researchers can't prove soda caused the bad behaviours.

Asthma common, severe among fat kids

Overweight and obese children are more likely to be diagnosed with asthma, according to a new study - and when they do have the condition, it tends to be more severe than in normal weight youth. Researchers found that heavier kids and teenagers with asthma had more emergency room visits for the condition and used more "rescue" medications.

'Pull-out method' causes chance pregnancies

Many young women use the "pull-out method" for birth control and they tend to have more unintended pregnancies than other women, a new study suggests. Researchers compiling surveys from more than 2,000 women ages 15 to 24 found 31 per cent had used the pull-out method, also known as withdrawal or coitus interruptus, over the last two years.

Exercise checks endometrial cancer risk

Overweight and obese women who get plenty of exercise may have a lower risk of endometrial cancer than if they were sedentary, according to new research. Strenuous and moderate physical activity were linked to lowered risk for heavy women, but there was no association between activity level and endometrial cancer risk for thinner women, Christina M. Dieli-Conwright of the Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, Duarte, California, and her colleagues found.

Anxiety can cause chronic stomach pain in kids

Children with chronic or recurring stomach pain without a clear medical explanation were also more likely to have an anxiety disorder than those without stomach problems, in a new study. By the time kids with stomach pain reached age 20, just over half had had symptoms of an anxiety disorder at some point, most often social anxiety, researchers found. 

Metformin linked to longer prostate cancer survival

In older men with diabetes and prostate cancer, taking the diabetes drug metformin was linked to a lower risk of death, according to a new study. Researchers found metformin's apparent benefits accumulated over time. Among men with diabetes in Ontario, Canada, who were over age 66, the study found a 24 per cent reduction in prostate-cancer mortality for every six months of metformin use and a similarly lower risk of death from any cause for the first six months.

Inducing labour may cause autism

Children of women who had labour induced or sped up with drugs were more likely to go on to develop an autism spectrum disorder, says a new study. The study's lead researcher, however, said the findings don't prove inducing or speeding up, also known as augmenting, labour causes autism, and they shouldn't affect decisions to use the techniques.

Fresh, baby foods cause less allergy

Babies who ate more fruits and vegetables and fewer packaged foods were less likely to develop food allergies, says a new study that looked at overall diet patterns instead of just specific foods. "We have been aware that certain diets seem to reduce the risk of allergy in infants," said Dr Magnus Wickman, a professor at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, who was not involved in the study.

— Agencies