We often hear the older generation claim that youngsters these days, compared to the previous generation, are much weaker. Claims like ‘teenagers from the older generations were much healthier and physically capable’ can be seen on social media, however, does this hold any truth? Have the recent generations grown unhealthier or more fragile? There are two sides to every coin, and this question is the same. A new study by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) has found that children's health in the United States is getting worse.

On the flip side of this coin, we see how and why has the health of children declined in the recent past, is it because kids have grown lazier or does the declining health allude to other factors?

How Has Health Declined In Children?

This decline is seen in several key areas: kids are facing more long-term illnesses, higher rates of both physical and mental health problems, and sadly, even increased death rates compared to children in other wealthy countries. The study also highlights that these are broad, systemic issues, meaning we need new ways to think about supporting and prioritizing children's health. These important findings were published in a medical journal called JAMA.

How Do We Know Health Among Children Has Declined?

Christopher B. Forrest, one of the main authors of the study, said that no single piece of information in their research was shocking on its own. Instead, they gathered a huge amount of data over several years, involving millions of children. All this data consistently pointed to the same worrying trend: an overall decline in the health of children and young people.

To conduct this study, the researchers used information from five national surveys, government records on deaths, and a large database of children's medical records. They looked at how children's health changed from 2007 to 2023. They examined over 170 different health indicators, including long-term physical, developmental, and mental health conditions, death rates, obesity, difficulties with daily activities, and various physical and emotional symptoms.

Worrying Numbers

The study revealed some concerning statistics, from 2007 to 2022, the death rate for babies younger than 1 year old was about 1.78 times higher in the U.S. compared to 18 other rich countries. In children between the age of 1 and 19, the death rate was about 1.80 times higher. The biggest differences for babies were due to being born too early and sudden unexpected infant deaths. For older children, the largest gaps were linked to gun violence and car accidents.

Additionally, from 2011 to 2023, the number of children aged 3 to 17 with a long-term health condition also increased. In one group of 10 children's hospitals, it went from about 40% to 46%. For the general population, it rose from about 26% to 31%.

Interestingly, during the study period, researchers also saw increases in rates of obesity, girls starting puberty earlier, trouble sleeping, limits on daily activities, various physical symptoms, feelings of sadness, and loneliness.

What Does A High Mortality Rate Among Children Signify?

The researchers emphasize that healthy children are the foundation for a healthy country, as healthy kids are more likely to become healthy adults. They note that recent scientific reviews suggest the U.S. is facing a serious crisis with children's health getting poorer. This has sparked a lot of interest in understanding the main causes of these problems.

UNICEF notes that we have made significant progress in reducing child mortality rates, which has fallen by 52 per cent. With the help of lifesaving intervention, more and more children are being granted the gift of healthy living, however, the fight hasn’t ended yet. The 2024 United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation report that children are still dying from preventable causes. An estimated 4.8 million children died in 2023 before reaching the age of five, this includes children who died within the first 28 days of their life and 2.5 million children within the age of 1-59 months. Beyond this, we saw the death of 2.1 million children, adolescents as well as youngsters aged 5-24. Here are some things that these numbers show

Unequal Access

High child mortality directly reflects unfair access to healthcare, nutrition, and protection, especially in vulnerable areas. Deaths result from these critical inequalities.

Preventable Deaths

Many child deaths are avoidable, highlighting failures in public health, vaccine access, clean water, and basic medical care. These are not inevitable tragedies.

Weak Health Systems

High rates show weak national commitments, insufficient health investments, and fragile systems. Sustained success needs strong national effort and robust health data.

Socio-economic Gaps

Child mortality reveals deep inequality. Children from poorer families, rural areas, or less educated mothers face higher death risks, especially in certain regions.

Crises & Conflict Impact

Living in unstable or war-torn regions drastically raises a child's death risk. These areas bear a disproportionate burden, showing violence's devastating toll.

Newborn Vulnerability

Nearly half of all under-five deaths are newborns, emphasizing their extreme fragility. This demands more targeted interventions and investment during early life.

Progress at Risk

Persistent high mortality signals that global child survival gains are threatened. Crises, economic instability, and weak health systems could reverse hard-won progress.

Urgent Action Needed

High child mortality demands immediate action, strong political will, and financial commitment. Every child deserves an equal chance at survival, which must be ensured.

Building a Better Future for Our Kids

While the authors strongly believe we need to identify and address the direct causes of these problems, they also strongly argue for broader solutions. This means we should focus on making a better "home environment" for children. This involves building stronger connections between people, improving the places where kids live, and creating community systems that truly help them.

We need to spend money on excellent early education for young children, better support for families, safer neighborhoods, and healthcare that understands and respects different cultures.

Kids are naturally strong and can bounce back. If we make their surroundings better and fix the problems found in this study, we can build a solid base for a healthier future for all young people in our country.

First impressions can be deceiving, but they can also set the tone for your future interactions. A person who you perceive to be difficult will remain so in your eyes, until they actively prove otherwise. If that person keeps behaving as he is, even if their actions are not always unjustifiable, one finds ways to back their beliefs. Did you know this could also apply to babies, even before they are born?

A recent study done by researchers at University of Notre Dame suggests that the way medical staff talk during an ultrasound can really influence how new parents feel about their baby. For many people, the ultrasound is the very first time they get a glimpse of their child. If a technician blames a poor image on the baby being "uncooperative," this small comment can set a negative tone.

This kind of language can stick with parents, affecting how they see their child even before birth and possibly leading to less involved parenting later on. The study, published in Communications Psychology, highlights how these seemingly small word choices can have a lasting impact.

How Early Perceptions Affect Parenting?

The research found a clear connection between how mothers felt about their baby during pregnancy and how they viewed their toddler later on. Women who had a more positive view of their unborn child during the study reported fewer emotional or behavioral issues in their children at 18 months old.

On the other hand, mothers who had a more negative view of their unborn baby were more likely to report that their toddlers had trouble with things like attention, managing their emotions, and sleeping. This link was shown in an experiment where mothers who were told their baby was "uncooperative" were more likely to have a negative view of their child later.

Does A Child’s Behavior Affect Parents’ Bond?

Previous research has shown that a baby’s behavior can affect how the parents see them. According to the Frontiers in Public Health connection between how parents perceive their baby's behavior and the parents' own mental health and bonding with the baby. Researchers surveyed 73 mothers of infants between 3.5 weeks and 6 months old. The study found that when mothers reported their infants had frequent stomach or crying issues, they were also more likely to have:

• Bonding issues with their baby
• Higher levels of anxiety
• Higher levels of depression

The researchers believe that asking parents about their baby's behavior could be a simple way for healthcare professionals to identify mothers who need extra support and babies who may need additional help.

This study highlighted a new way for doctors and nurses to help new parents. Instead of only looking at risk factors like a parent's age, they could use simple questionnaires to ask about a parent's perception of their baby's behavior. This approach could make it easier to find families who need support, ensuring they get targeted help more quickly and efficiently.

This could lead to better relationships between parents and their babies and improve a child's long-term outcomes. The study also emphasizes the need for more research, particularly with larger, more diverse groups of people, to better understand these connections.

Importance of Mindful Communication

The findings of this study show just how important it is for healthcare providers to be careful with their words. Simple comments made during a critical moment like an ultrasound can have a lasting impact on parents.

The gap between patients and their healthcare professionals widen when communication lacks. This was shown in a 2020 survey published in the JAMA Open Network. The study found that more than 41% of women reported holding back from asking their clinicians questions during prenatal appointments. They reported several reasons for their reluctance like the clinician seemed rushed, they didn’t want to seem difficult, as well as preference to a different plan than what the clinicians wanted.

This careful communication could even play a role in a mother's risk for postpartum depression. Since the bond between a parent and child begins to form so early, a negative experience during an ultrasound could potentially affect this crucial relationship, influencing the well-being of both the parent and the child over time.

Although we have come a long way in medicine, the mysteries of the human body are still being discovered. Every day comes with a new discovery and better understanding of diseases, illnesses and conditions. However, have you heard about an illness that does not have a clear cause, way to diagnose or even cure?

Although this was a common issue in the past, hearing about a disease like this in today’s day and age is concerning. One such issue many people are battling, many without even knowingly, is chronic fatigue syndrome. However, new research shows that we may be able to diagnose it, through our gut, and with the help of AI. A new study done at Jackson Laboratories found that with the help of AI we may be able to help millions of people who go undiagnosed every year.

What Is Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?

The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention explains that Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome affects us in may different ways, this complex illness is severe, long-lasting and something that doesn’t get better with rest. People who have ME also report issues like poor sleep, dizziness, pain, and difficulty thinking.

A key symptom is post-exertional malaise (PEM), where even small amounts of physical or mental activity can make a person’s symptoms much worse. Because of this, many people with ME/CFS can't do their normal daily activities, and about one in four may be confined to bed for a period of time.

What makes this illness complex is the diagnosing it. Diagnosing ME/CFS is very difficult because there is no specific test for it. Its symptoms are similar to many other illnesses and can change over time, making it hard for doctors to recognize. This is one reason why many people go undiagnosed. In the U.S., it's estimated that as many as 3.3 million people have ME/CFS, but more than 9 out of 10 of them have not been officially diagnosed.

There is currently no cure for ME/CFS, but some symptoms can be managed. Patients, their families, and healthcare providers need to work together to create a plan that focuses on the most troubling symptoms.

Can AI Help Diagnose CFS?

The research shows that artificial intelligence (AI) could provide a much-needed breakthrough in diagnosing chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), also known as ME. For many years, doctors have struggled to diagnose this condition because there are no clear lab tests for it. This study discovered that CFS disrupts the important connections between a person's gut bacteria, immune system, and metabolism.

By using AI to analyze these systems, doctors may soon have a reliable way to confirm a diagnosis, giving hope to the millions of people who suffer from this illness. The researchers also hope that by better understanding these connections, they can develop more effective, personalized treatments.

Gut-Immune Connection

The researchers used advanced AI to examine the complex relationships within the body. They looked at gut bacteria and the immune system and then matched their findings with the common symptoms of CFS, such as fatigue, chronic pain, and sleep problems. The AI was so effective that it was able to tell the difference between people with CFS and healthy individuals with 90% accuracy.

The study found that problems with the immune system could show how severe a person's CFS is, while the gut bacteria could help predict issues with sleep, emotions, and digestion. This is a huge step forward because it gives doctors real biological signs—or "biomarkers"—to look for. The study also suggests that the disease's effects get stronger over time, making an early diagnosis even more critical.

How Does This Affect CFS Treatment

The findings from this research open up exciting possibilities for new treatments. Since the gut bacteria and metabolism are always changing, the researchers believe it might be possible to treat the illness by making changes to a person's diet, lifestyle, or through specific medicines.

The study found clear patterns in the biological systems of people with CFS, which proves that the illness is not random but a real physical problem in the body. Researchers also believe these discoveries might be helpful for understanding and treating long COVID, as both conditions can happen after an infection and have similar symptoms. This new knowledge could eventually lead to more effective ways to manage and treat these complex and often misunderstood illnesses.

For decades, China’s one-child policy stood as one of the most infamous social experiments in modern demographic engineering. Today, in a dramatic reversal, the country is offering cash subsidies to parents in a bid to revive its dwindling birth rate. Starting this year, Chinese families with children under the age of three can receive up to 10,800 yuan (around $1,500) per child—a landmark nationwide effort aimed at confronting a growing population crisis.

This isn't just a policy shift, it’s a full pivot from state-imposed limits on reproduction to government-backed encouragement to procreate. And the urgency is mounting.

China recorded 9.54 million births in 2024—a slight uptick from the previous year, but still far below the replacement level needed to sustain population growth. The overall population declined for the third consecutive year. Worse, the population is aging rapidly. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, a shrinking labor force and growing elderly population could threaten the country’s economic stability and healthcare infrastructure in the years to come.

The decline is especially concerning for a country that, until recently, was bracing for overpopulation. China’s 1.4 billion people may still top the global charts, but trends suggest a tipping point, fewer births, longer lifespans, and mounting pressure on young workers to support older generations.

From Coercion to Compensation: Why The Chinese Policy Took a U-Turn?

The one-child policy, introduced in 1980 to curb population growth, was discarded in 2016 and replaced by a two-child policy, which was then relaxed in 2021 to three children per couple. However, none of these adjustments succeeded. The cultural, social, and economic shift during the one-child era has been hard to undo.

So, what's the new strategy? As of July 2025, the Chinese government has launched its first-ever nationwide subsidy for parents bringing up little ones. Eligible families will be given 3,600 yuan (approximately $500) per kid a year for the first three years of life—totaling 10,800 yuan (~$1,500) per kid.

The program is retroactive, so families whose children were born between 2022 and 2024 also qualify for part-time benefits. Overall, this support will benefit approximately 20 million families.

Local Governments Were Already Sounding the Alarm

While the new subsidy is the first national-level policy, several Chinese cities had already taken action. In Hohhot, a city in northern China, authorities began offering 100,000 yuan (over $13,000) per baby for couples with three or more children. In Shenyang, northeast of Beijing, local families with a third child under age three are eligible for monthly payments of 500 yuan (~$70). Other cities have introduced measures such as housing benefits, parental leave extensions, and even employment incentives for larger families.

The central government’s latest move appears to unify these disparate efforts and scale them across the country, signaling a more serious and coordinated response.

What is The Price of Parenthood in China?

One of the key drivers behind falling fertility in China is the steep cost of raising children. A study by the YuWa Population Research Institute pegged the average cost of raising one child to age 17 at $75,700—one of the highest in the world relative to income.

That figure includes education, healthcare, housing, extracurriculars, and caregiving expenses, especially in urban centers like Shanghai and Beijing. For many couples, particularly millennials facing job insecurity and long work hours, the math just doesn’t add up.

Even with relaxed policies, the birth rate won’t rise if parenthood continues to feel like an unaffordable luxury.

Cultural Shifts and the Aftermath of One-Child Thinking

Aside from finances, decades of aggressive family planning have forged a psychological and cultural heritage. Urban couples, particularly women, typically value education, career, and autonomy over convention. In most families, the "4-2-1" configuration (four grandparents, two parents, one child) makes it disproportionately heavy on the single child to take care of elderly relatives, contributing to the reluctance.

Now, it is also becoming increasingly common for young women to resist efforts by the state to conscript them into a marriage and motherhood role.

Stories of "lying flat," a philosophy of opting out of those high-pressure life scripts, fill social media. So too do doubts about government promises.

This will not be corrected with merely increased cash. It will require rebuilding trust, creating systemic support for working families, and changing national narratives about gender and family roles.

Can Push for Free Preschool Lead to Long-Term Reforms?

Beijing seems to realize that subsidies alone won’t solve the problem. In recent weeks, it urged local governments to develop plans for implementing free preschool education. Education is a major cost barrier for many families, and offering state-sponsored early childhood programs could be a significant relief.

Health experts also suggest expanding maternity leave policies, improving childcare infrastructure, and strengthening work-life balance laws. Without these long-term investments, short-term payments risk being seen as symbolic rather than transformational.

Demographic challenges are sweeping across many parts of the world, from Japan and South Korea to Italy and Spain. How China addresses its population decline could set the tone for similar policy responses globally.

Moreover, China's vast labor force has been central to the global supply chain and economic dynamics for decades. A shrinking, aging workforce could have ripple effects from manufacturing slowdowns to shifts in healthcare and retirement trends worldwide.

China’s first national subsidy to boost birth rates marks a major policy shift—but whether it’s enough remains to be seen. The government is racing against time to reverse demographic decline, but fertility decisions are complex, deeply personal, and rooted in more than economics.

Still, this latest initiative opens a door. If followed by thoughtful, inclusive, and sustained reforms—across education, employment, healthcare, and housing—China might yet write a new chapter in how societies adapt to falling birth rates but it won’t be quick, and it won’t be easy.