By Kathryn Doyle (Reuters Health) – Six-year-olds whose mothers were severely obese before pregnancy are more likely to have developmental or emotional problems than kids of healthy-weight moms, according to a new study. The researchers had found evidence of this link in two previous studies, said lead author Heejoo Jo of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia. Jo and her coauthors studied data on 1,311 mother-child pairs collected between 2005 and 2012, including the mothers’ body mass index (BMI, a height-to-weight ratio) before pregnancy and their reports of the children’s psychosocial difficulties at age six.

By Andrew M. Seaman (Reuters Health) – Health food stores may sell dietary supplements to adolescents that are meant only for adults, a new study found. In fact, the stores may actually recommend the supplements to youngsters, the researchers discovered. “I think there needs to be more talk about what these supplements could potentially do to the body,” said Dr. Ruth Milanaik, director of the neonatal neurodevelopment follow-up program at the North Shore-LIJ Cohen Children’s Medical Center in Lake Success, New York. Milanaik, who is the lead author on the three pieces of research presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies meeting in San Diego, said some of the supplements are potentially dangerous for growing bodies.

By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) – Black Americans who switched to a high-fiber African diet for just two weeks saw a dramatic drop in risk factors for colon cancer, a study published on Tuesday found. A group of Africans who went the other way and started eating American food rich in animal proteins and fats saw their risks rise over the same short period, according to the paper in the journal Nature Communications. Researchers said they were not surprised that eating more fiber appeared to lower colon cancer risk, but were struck by how quickly and dramatically the effects showed. The findings raised concerns about Western diet and about how the increasing “Westernization” of diets in Africa could turn colon cancer into a major health issue there, said Jeremy Nicholson from Imperial College London who co-led the study.

Believed to be more than 400 years old and nearly 200 times the size of a chicken egg, an extremely rare elephant bird egg will be auctioned in London this week, with an estimated price tag of up to $76,000. The egg, over 30 centimeters (11.81 inches) high, was laid by the now extinct elephant bird, a giant flightless bird indigenous to Madagascar, according to auction house Sotheby’s. The bird, believed to be the largest ever on earth at about three meters high and half a ton in weight, became extinct between the 13th and 17th centuries due to hunting. “It’s the largest egg from the largest bird that ever existed,” David Goldthorpe, senior director of Sotheby’s books and manuscripts department, told Reuters.

Results highlight potential for alginate-enriched products to be used for therapeutic weight and metabolic management therapyA study revealed at The International Liver Congress™ 2015 has…