Forum Views ()
Forum Replies ()
Read more with google mobile :
Study links cellphones to child misbehavior
Yahoo!
My Yahoo!
Mail
More Yahoo! Services
Account Options
New User? Sign Up
Sign In
Help
Yahoo! Search
web search
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Weekend Edition
Study links cellphones to child misbehavior
Reuters - Tuesday, December 7
Send
IM Story
Print
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor
WASHINGTON - Researchers studying the health effects of cellphones say they have found evidence that when pregnant women use them regularly, their children are more likely to have behavioral problems.
The study, sure to renew controversy over the safety of mobile telephones, does not demonstrate that cellphone use causes the behavioral problems and does not suggest a possible way that they could.
But the researchers say their findings are worth checking out.
"It is hard to understand how such low exposures could be influential," Dr. Leeka Kheifets, an epidemiologist at the University of California Los Angeles who led the study, said in a telephone interview.
"It is just something that needs to be pursued."
Kheifets and her team looked at data from 28,000 7-year-olds and their mothers who took part in a large Danish study that has been tracking 100,000 women who were pregnant between 1996 and 2002.
The mothers of about 3 percent of the children said they had borderline behavioral problems, and 3 percent showed abnormal behavior, such as obedience or emotional issues.
The children whose mothers used cellphones while pregnant and who also used the phones themselves were 50 percent more likely to have behavioral problems, the researchers reported in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
Children whose mothers used the phones but who did not themselves use mobile phones were 40 percent more likely to have behavioral problems, they found. They found the children were no more likely to have epilepsy or delays in development.
About 5 billion mobile phones are in use worldwide. The World Health Organization, the American Cancer Society and the National Institutes of Health have found no evidence that cellphone use can damage health.
INCONCLUSIVE STUDIES
Last May, experts who studied 13,000 cellphone users over 10 years hoping to find out whether they cause brain tumors found no clear answer.
International researchers launched the biggest study to date into mobile phones and health in April. [nLDE63L1UO]
Kheifets tried to account for other possible causes, such as whether women who used cellphones were different from women who did not, especially during the time of their pregnancies when cellphone use was less common than it is now.
"We looked at social status, we looked at the sex of the child, we looked at the mother's history of behavioral problems, we looked at the mother's age and stress during pregnancy and whether the child was breastfed or not," she said.
"One thought was that it was it not cellphone use but mothers' inattention that led to behavior problems. While it was important, it didn't explain the association that we found."
Nonetheless, some experts questioned the findings.
"I am skeptical of these results, even though they will get a lot of publicity," said David Spiegelhalter, a professor of Biostatistics at Britain's University of Cambridge.
"The authors suggest that precautionary measures may be warranted because they have 'virtually no cost', but they ignore the cost of giving intrusive health advice based on inadequate science."
Experts at the U.S. National Institutes of Health had no immediate comment.
John Walls of the mobile telephone industry group CTIA noted that other studies have failed to show a health risk from cellphones. "We just don't comment on any specific studies because we don't have any expertise, frankly," Walls said in a telephone interview.
Recommend
Send
IM Story
Print
Related Articles
WikiLeaks founder to meet British police AFP - 16 minutes ago
Tumblr blogging service back on feet after crash AFP - Tuesday, December 7
US-TECH Summary Reuters - Tuesday, December 7
Study links cellphones to child misbehavior Reuters - Tuesday, December 7
Video games get kids to eat more veg, fruit: study AFP - Tuesday, December 7
News Search
Top Stories
Crisis-hit Ireland awaits crucial 2011 budget
Weakened Obama unveils tax compromise
Aspirin sharply reduces cancer risk: study
WikiLeaks adds twist to climate hopes
Prince William and Kate use TV interview for charity: palace
More Top Stories »
ADVERTISEMENT
Most Popular
Most Viewed
Most Recommended
British scientists find key to repairing MS damage
Russian satellites crash into Pacific: space official
Continental guilty over 2000 Concorde crash
Hermes family sets up holding company
WikiLeaks adds twist to climate hopes
More Most Viewed »
NASA finds new form of life... on Earth
World leaders scramble for funds to save the tiger
US, S.Korea plan war games after N.Korean attack
Obama gets 12 stitches after 'elbow in the lip'
More Most Recommended »
Elsewhere on Yahoo!
Financial news on Yahoo! Finance
Stars and latest movies
Best travel destinations
More on Yahoo! News
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Weekend Edition
Subscribe to our news feeds
Top StoriesMy Yahoo!RSS
» More news feeds | What are news feeds?
Also on Yahoo!
Answers
Groups
Mail
Messenger
Mobile
Travel
Finance
Movies
Sports
Games
» All Yahoo! Services
Site Highlights
Singapore
Full Coverage
Most Popular
Entertainment
Photos
Yahoo! News Network
Copyright © 2010 Yahoo! Southeast Asia Pte. Ltd. (Co. Reg. No. 199700735D). All Rights Reserved.
Terms of Service |
Privacy Policy |
Community |
Intellectual Property Rights Policy |
Help
Other News on Tuesday, 7 December 2010 Prince William and Kate use TV interview for charity: palace
Israel fire quelled, senior policewoman dies of burns
Egypt's ruling party crushes opposition in vote
Russia's Medvedev on key Poland visit amid thaw
Europe divided over bonds, bailout fund boost
L'Oreal heiress reconciled with daughter
WikiLeaks adds twist to climate hopes
Nigeria militants say hit oil pipeline in delta
|
Monitors cry fraud as ruling party eyes Egypt poll sweep
ECB buys nearly two billion euros in government debt
British scientists find key to repairing MS damage
Three injured as Greek police clash with protesters
|
NATO declares no winter let-up against Taliban
Medvedev does not exclude second presidential term
Google unveils new smartphone, the Nexus S
Karzai shelves plan to ban private security firms
Egypt puzzled after string of Red Sea shark attacks
Best Buy, Carphone to sell Google Nexus S phone
Venezuela moves flood-hit families into resort hotels
|
U.N. doubted case for Hariri inquiry arrests-report
Sprint in deal with Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson
Egypt's ruling party crushes opposition in vote
|
LG Display, Chi Mei, others face EU fines: source
US airline Continental guilty over Concorde crash
ICC to study possible North Korea war crimes in South Korea
Gays press US court to uphold same-sex marriage
Berlin film fest invites Iranian ex-detainee to join jury
Bollywood goes retro to boost box office sales
French oyster-lovers brace for Christmas shell-shock
Hermes 'united' in drawbridge defence against LVMH
German TV show 'will go on' despite live crash
Obama hosts Kennedy Center honorees
Cisco, Juniper step up in cloud with deals
|
Best Buy, Carphone to sell Google Nexus S phone
|
BBC presenter apologizes for four-letter gaffe
Crash hurts Russia satellite challenge to U.S. GPS
|
Johnny Cash jumpsuit fetches $50,000 at auction
Liverpool plan Indonesian football academy
Depp, Jolie bring old Hollywood glamour to The Tourist
|
Fergie returns to 'New Year's Rockin' Eve'
|
Exclusive: AOL mulls breakup, then merger with Yahoo
Google opens e-book store in Kindle challenge
Clearwire eyes selling up to $2 billion spectrum
Google takes on Amazon, Apple in e-books market
LG Display, Chi Mei, others face EU fines: source
Sprint in deal with Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson
Cameron on visit to Afghanistan
Diplomatic impasse over Korea peninsula crisis
|
US commander inherits tough fight for Taliban state
UK PM eyes 2011 Afghan pullback, dismisses troop
|
World powers, Iran move nuclear talks forward
Crisis-hit Ireland awaits crucial 2011 budget
WikiLeaks founder to meet British police
Tense Haiti awaits results of turbulent elections
|
Weakened Obama unveils tax compromise
British PM in unannounced visit to Afghanistan
China buoys climate talks with binding target
|
Afghan minister urges caution in diplomacy after leaks
U.S. blocked Iran candidate election on climate body: WikiLeaks
|
Aspirin sharply reduces cancer risk: study
Mbeki ends Ivory Coast poll row talks without deal
|
Tumblr blogging service back on feet after crash
Indonesia the new frontier
US-TECH Summary
NATO has secret plan to defend Baltics: leak
|
England's cricketers have series momentum
Report: N.Korea deploys torpedo-carrying midget subs
Venezuela moves flood-hit families into resort hotels
|
Study links cellphones to child misbehavior
Peru's Humala calls Garcia a threat to democracy
|
Death toll in Pakistan suicide attack climbs to 43
Video games get kids to eat more veg, fruit: study
One dead, 7 missing in Hong Kong after boat collision
Internet body meets on domain names, IP addresses
Gold prices expected to go on increasing for next one year
Diplomatic impasse over Korea peninsula crisis
US-ENTERTAINMENT Summary
Oprah fans touch down for Aussie adventure
East Asian economies to grow 8.8pct in 2010: ADB
Myanmar people get Q and A with Suu Kyi
Study links cellphones to child misbehavior
|
Depp, Jolie bring old Hollywood glamour to "The Tourist"
OnLive to offer streaming movies, challenge Netflix
OnLive to offer streaming movies, challenge Netflix
|
Washington Post watching online pay experiments
Nvidia wins more notebook designs for 2011
Nvidia wins more notebook designs for 2011
|
Sprint eyes $11 billion savings, to shut Nextel network
US-ENTERTAINMENT Summary
Microsoft offers Salesforce users money to switch
|
Google unveils new smartphone, the Nexus S
Depp, Jolie bring old Hollywood glamour to "The Tourist"
Medvedev honours Polish master director Wajda
China interest rate hike may be imminent: state media
S.Korea Dec inflation conditions seen improving -vice fin min
Seoul shares gain 0.5 pct led by techs
Madoff trustee sues HSBC, seeks 9 billion dollars
AIDS charity raises $1 million, reviving dead celebs
|
Pakistan
Seoul shares advance 0.5 pct led by techs
Katy Perry Gets Raunchy on The Simpsons
|
S.Korea parliament panel approves bond tax bill
Justin Bieber trading cards hit stores
|
NZ 98-day T-bills yield 3.06 pct at tender
Howard Stern may have to take a paycut
|
S.Korea won at 2-wk high on exporter demand, euro
Taylor Swift sells out first tour dates in minutes
|
NZ house prices stabilise in November
Canada to preview Oprah Winfrey's OWN before debut
|
Iran will not discuss atom enrichment at next talks
Cameron, in Afghanistan, eyes British pullout in 2011
WikiLeaks founder Assange refused bail by UK court
|
US defence secretary arrives in Afghanistan
UK PM eyes 2011 Afghan pullback, U.S. reviews war
|
U.S. blocked Iran candidate election on U.N climate body -cables
Israeli rabbis tell Jews not to sell homes to Arabs
|
German industrial orders gain 1.6% in month: ministry
Temple blast in northern India injures 20 people
|
Cameron looks to 2011 to start Afghan withdrawal
Samsung sees 2011 handset shipments up 18 percent: report
China, Nobel committee at odds over award boycott
|
Gates in Afghanistan to view progress, meet troops
EU formally adopts Irish bailout plan
British PM in unannounced visit to Afghanistan
Uganda goverment denies opposition election accusations
|
S.Korea live-fire drill enters second day
Japan man gets death sentence for killing family
United Nations prepares Ivory Coast staff pullout
|
Thailand eyes fugitive ex-PM's extradition
China and Nobel committee at odds over award boycott
Analysis: Talks fail to bridge gap with Iran
|
China labels Nobel committee 'clowns'
N. Korean defectors want to join reserve forces
S. Korean president calls for fortification of islands
Polaroid cameras carve niche among young Indonesians
China finally allows lawyers to attend interrogations
Pakistani stocks, o/n rates flat; rupee firms
Smartphones pose big threat to text messages in Indonesia
Best Buy to sell Google Nexus S phone
|
Pakistan plans to seek IMF loan extension
Foxconn to ship iPad 2 as early as end February: report
|
Inflation, currency weakness threaten Vietnam: donors
Katy Perry Gets Raunchy on "The Simpsons"
Johnny Cash jumpsuit sells for 50,000 dollars
Buoyant India eyes 9% growth in new forecasts
Justin Bieber trading cards hit stores
Salesforce.com takes on Oracle in database market
|
Asian shares mostly up but Tokyo hit by surging yen
Howard Stern may have to take a paycut
Sprint eyes $11 billion savings, to shut Nextel network
|
AIDS charity raises $1 million, reviving "dead" celebs
East Asia heading for economic slowdown, warns ADB
Samsung sees 2011 handset shipments up 18 percent: report
|
Canada to preview Oprah Winfrey's OWN before debut
Top Chinese official says some economic data 'man-made'
Taylor Swift sells out first tour dates in minutes
Scottish artist's sound installation wins Turner Prize
A global goodbye for Japan pop star Hikaru Utada
Plot needed big changes, new Narnia filmmakers say
|
Samsung sees 2011 handset shipments up 18 percent: report
Alliance heralds era of smartphone wallets
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights