rise

The trend of women giving birth early, without a medical reason, poses various health risks to both the mother and child.

"For every day and every week before 39 weeks, it's an increasing risk to the baby," said Dr. Bryan Oshiro, vice chairman of obstetrics and gynecology at Loma Linda University. "The vast majority of early-term babies do fine, but it's like playing Russian roulette."

Shortening a pregnancy deliberately can curb the baby's lung development, his vision, weight and tuning of the brain.

Experts believe that heavy alcohol intake by the respective caretakers is the apparent reason behind the increase.

"We know that when people are under the influence of alcohol their judgments are impaired and they are not as good at performing tasks. This would include caretaking," said David Phillips of the University of California.

Also, a similar increase was observed in the number of SIDS cases after April 20, celebrated as the Weeds Day, and after July 4, also recognized as an inebriated time.

The study details

Disorders like anorexia nervosa and bulimia are becoming increasingly common in adolescents, especially in boys and minority youths.

"We are seeing a lot more eating disorders than we used to and we are seeing it in people we didn't associate with eating disorders in the past -- a lot of boys, little kids, people of color and those with lower socioeconomic backgrounds," said report author Dr. David Rosen, a professor of pediatrics, internal medicine and psychiatry at University of Michigan.