A United Nations report revealed on Thursday that it achieve progress in treating children with AIDS and preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV.

The report examines progress and challenges in four key areas - preventing HIV transmission from mothers to children (PMTCT), providing paediatric treatment, preventing infection among adolescents and young people, and protecting and supporting children affected by AIDS

A team of researchers from the University of Turku in Finland say a mix of bacteria in a baby's gut may predict whether that infant will become overweight or obese later in life. The babies with high numbers of bifidobacteria and low numbers of Staphylococcus aureus may not become obese when they grow up, new study shows.

Since bifidobacteria are prevalent in the guts of breast-fed babies, the findings also explain why breast-fed babies are at lower risk for later obesity. The study was published in the March issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Babies can acquire HIV by eating pre-chewed food prepared by their infected parent or caretakers, researchers revealed. According to scientists, the virus is transmitted through the blood and not the saliva of the infected person who has bleeding gums or even mouth sores.

Pre-chewing baby food before giving it to the babies is a practice among poor or even developing countries where people can't afford to buy baby food or the equipment to grind up food for babies who can't chew because they have no teeth

A recent study vouched for the argument that breastfeeding can provide protection from asthma after examining a group of lactating mice.

The conclusion was announced by experts from the National Institute for Health and Medical Research, after exposing the mice to known asthma allergens derived from egg whites. The allergens were then transferred to the baby mice who were fed with milk from the exposed mothers, with the scientists believing that the exposure resulted in the immunization of the babies

The American Academy of Pediatrics updated earlier suggestions, which made parents feel like they were not doing their best to prevent their children from food allergies, asthma and allergic rashes. The AAP says breast-feeding helps prevent babies' allergies, but there's no factual evidence to show that taking certain foods during pregnancy stage, either using soy formula or delaying introduction of solid foods beyond six months could also be helpful.

The doctors group advised mothers of infants in August 2000 that mothers with family history of allergies should avoid taking cow's milk, fish, eggs, peanuts and tree nuts while breast-feeding