Study reveals erasing inequality could prevent hundreds of adverse births annually in major UK city

High percentages of adverse birth outcomes in vulnerable communities could be alleviated by reducing odds to the same levels less vulnerable women experience

Frontiers

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In Birmingham, 43% of the population live in the most deprived 10% of neighborhoods in England. It is well known that deprivation can lead to adverse pregnancy outcomes, including low birth weight, premature birth, stillbirths, and neonatal mortality.

Now, researchers there examined the association between demographic, socioeconomic, and lifestyle factors and the risk of adverse birth outcomes in Birmingham and neighboring Solihull, an area much less affected by deprivation.

“Within the study population, there were significant differences in the odds of adverse birth outcomes and the risk factors of adverse birth outcomes by ethnicity and socioeconomic deprivation,” said Dr David Ellis, a statistician at Birmingham City Council and first author of the article published in Frontiers in Public Health. “We estimated that 48% of low-weight births and 15% of premature births would not have occurred if all women had the same level of risk as White women living in less deprived areas.”

Deprivation and adverse birth outcomes

The researchers included more than 40,000 births in Birmingham and Solihull between October 2020 and April 2023 in their dataset. In their analysis, they included demographic data, information on housing and finances as well as the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD). On a scale to five, the national IMD ranks neighborhoods from most (one) to least (five) deprived. It combines data on employment, education, health, disability, crime, housing barriers, and lived environment. The outcomes for each examined group were compared to the outcomes for White British women, aged 20-29, living in an area with an IMD of 3 or more without known risk factors (reference group), and controlled for other factors, including smoking.

“Each local area has a unique population demography and health challenges,” Ellis explained. “The diverse population included in our study provides high enough numbers to meaningfully investigate inequalities by ethnicity and how this relates to deprivation.”

Ethnicity was found to be a significant risk factor for all examined adverse birth outcomes. Mothers for whom no ethnicity was recorded faced the greatest odds of premature birth, stillbirth, and neonatal death. Almost all ethnic groups experienced a higher rate of premature and low-weight births than the reference group.  Living in a more deprived area or experiencing housing issues or financial strain also increased the odds of negative outcomes. Delayed first antenatal appointments also resulted in increased odds.

No easy fix

While the study did not set out to be representative beyond Birmingham and Solihull and direct transferability of the results is not given, the size and diversity of the study population could provide beneficial insights into similar metropolitan regions with large diverse communities, the researchers said.

Not all births from Birmingham and Solihull hospitals were included in the data, and while the study included births spanning 2.5 years, data from a longer time period could reveal additional health inequalities. “The majority of mothers in Birmingham and Solihull live in deprived areas, and it is difficult to really understand the impact of socioeconomic deprivation,” Ellis said. “Therefore, despite being strongly associated with adverse outcomes in our study, these associations are likely underestimated.”

The researchers hope that sharing these results will support the region in making improvements and looking at how this might be undertaken on a larger footprint. “Different levels of interventions could address the identified inequalities, but there is no easy fix,” Ellis concluded.

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Journal

Frontiers in Public Health

DOI

10.3389/fpubh.2025.1544903 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Wider Determinants of Adverse Birth Outcomes in Birmingham & Solihull

Article Publication Date

15-Apr-2025

 

No “uncanny valley” effect in science-telling AI avatars

For science communication, realistic avatars may foster more trustworthiness than cartoon-like ones, says a new paper in JCOM

Sissa Medialab

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A composite image of the avatars used in the experiments. 

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Credit: Jasmin Baake at al

If you’re among the 1.5 billion people worldwide using TikTok, you may have come across exceptional “testimonials” like Nikola Tesla or Marie Curie delivering short science-related messages that have garnered millions of views. This is just one of many examples where AI-generated avatars are used to communicate science — a strategy that might also have its drawbacks.

The generation of images and animations through artificial intelligence is a rapidly growing field, constantly improving in quality. Yet many avatars, though realistic, still present minor flaws — glitches, delays, inconsistent facial expressions or lip-syncing — sometimes barely noticeable, but still easily picked up by a human observer.

Jasmin Baake, researcher at the Center for Advanced Internet Studies (CAIS), Bochum, Germany, and the other authors of the study realized that these avatars could trigger a phenomenon known in cognitive science as the “uncanny valley.” The uncanny valley describes a human reaction to humanoid avatars (digital or robotic): when they look hyper-realistic but not quite perfect, they may evoke strong discomfort, while more stylized or cartoonish humanoid figures tend not to. The uncanny valley can provoke outright rejection in viewers, and Baake and colleagues wondered to what extent the humanlike characteristics of AI-avatars representing science communicators influence the trustworthiness attributed to them by the viewer. “We wanted to do research on the perception of these avatars and especially on how their degree of realism and their gender might impact the trustworthiness perception of the recipient,” explains Baake. 

The study (conducted in Germany, in German) involved a series of videos featuring AI-generated avatars portraying science communicators — both male and female. The experimental conditions were four, varying by avatar realism (very high vs. cartoonish style) and gender (male or female). The nearly 500 participants were recruited through a representative online sample in Germany, selected to reflect the population in terms of age, gender, and education.

“For the degree of realism, we assumed that with the uncanny valley hypothesis in mind, the more stylistic avatars, so the ones that looked a bit more cartoonish, would be perceived as more trustworthy”, says Baake, “and, based on existing literature on gendered perceptions of science communicators — which show that male scientists are often associated with greater competence — combined with concerns that AI-generated avatars may reflect and reinforce such stereotypes due to biased training data, we hypothesized that male avatars would be perceived as more competent, and therefore more trustworthy overall, than female avatars.”

However, Baake and colleagues were surprised: in their experiments, the realistic avatars were rated more positively than the cartoon-style ones. In particular, the questionnaires given to participants after viewing the videos assessed perceived competence, integrity, and benevolence of the avatars, which together reflect perceived trustworthiness. The more realistic avatars scored slightly higher across all three dimensions. As for gender, the effect was partial: male avatars were perceived as more competent, but no significant differences were found in terms of integrity or benevolence.

“With our findings, we could not find a descent into the uncanny valley with a higher degree of realism, at least in our conditions,” comments Baake. Additionally, individual factors — such as viewers’ prior AI knowledge and trust in science — were found to moderate trustworthiness perceptions. According to the study’s findings, more realistic, human-like avatars appear to be suitable for communicating scientific content. However, Baake emphasizes that while no uncanny valley effect was found here, future studies should test a broader range of realism levels to investigate whether an intermediate uncanny valley effect might emerge between the two conditions tested so far, and whether people perceive the realism of avatars differently depending on the observer.

Realistic male avatar used in the experiments

Realistic female avatar used in the experiments

Cartoonish female avatar used in the experiments

Cartoonish male avatar used in the experiments

Credit

Jasmin Baake et al

 Male cartoonish (video) [VIDEO] 

Female realistic (video) [VIDEO] 

Journal

Journal of Science Communication

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Balancing realism and Trustworthiness: Avatars in Science communication

Article Publication Date

15-Apr-2025

 

New UNCG research shows southern shrews shrink in winter

University of North Carolina at Greensboro

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Dr. Bryan McLean and undergraduate Leo Ivey in the biology department use UNCG's Micro-CT scanner to image masked shrews, a small insectivorous mammal from western North Carolina and widespread in northern North America.

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Credit: Sean Norona, UNCG Photographer

Newly published research from UNC Greensboro biology professor Dr. Bryan McLean and colleagues shows that the masked shrew, a small, mole-like mammal found in the Appalachian Mountains, shrinks its body and braincase to conserve energy during winter months.     The study, published in the May 2025 issue of The American Naturalist, found that the masked shrew (Sorex cinereus) reduces its body mass by 13 percent in the colder months; the creature then grows larger in spring when conditions improve. In addition to a shrinking body, the team also found seasonal changes in the height of the creature’s braincase (the portion of the skull that houses and protects the brain) and the length of the femur.   “Shrinking the body and its parts is in fact a clever survival strategy,” says McLean. “And it’s one that’s important for us to understand as mammals face a constantly changing planet.”   Known as Dehnel’s phenomenon, this seasonal shrinking has been observed in other mammals but most often in shrews, which are small, insect-eating animals unrelated to rodents. Dehnel’s phenomenon is an extreme example of “phenotypic plasticity” – the ability of an organism to alter its physical form in response to environmental changes.   “We don’t know how common Dehnel’s phenomenon is among mammals, but we know it is rarer in nature than other energy-saving strategies mammals use, like hibernation,” said McLean.    McLean and his team of graduate and undergraduate students analyzed 125 masked shews that were trapped in North Carolina’s Pisgah National Forest from 2021 to 2023. The team used “pitfall traps” buried in leaf litter to capture the shrews. The animals were weighed in the field, then brought to UNCG’s Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology for microCT scans to examine various skeletal dimensions. Specimens and associated data are archived in the UNCG Mammal Collection. Researchers from Georgia Southern University were also involved in the research.   “Our population of masked shrews is the southern-most yet studied for these multiple different traits,” said McLean, “and the femur measurements we made are the first to show the magnitude of seasonal change in the long bones of the skeleton. This shows that shrews rapidly remodel much of their skeleton.”    Most prior studies of the phenomenon come from Europe. To place their new results in context, the researchers also conducted a meta-analysis of 74 other studies from across the Northern Hemisphere, combining that research with their own findings to understand what factors drive Dehnel’s phenomenon. McLean and his team developed statistical models that accurately predicted the amount of body shrinkage they observed based solely on the climate at the North Carolina site.    “This analysis reveals the generality of Dehnel’s phenomenon in Sorex shrews,” explains McLean. “Across many populations of shrews on three continents, the degree of body mass and braincase height shrinkage is greatest in areas with the lowest cool-season temperatures. So, fall and winter temperatures predict Dehnel’s phenomenon in these animals.”   “Phenotypic plasticity is a key way that shrews and many other species respond to changes in temperature,” McLean notes. “By learning more about this process, we can start to understand how mammals buffer against rapidly changing climates.”
 

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Journal

The American Naturalist

DOI

10.1086/735018 

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

Animals

Article Title

Seasonal Body Size Plasticity and the Generality of Dehnel's Phenomenon in Sorex Shrews

 

Children exposed to brain-harming chemicals while sleeping

Scientists urge mattress manufacturers and governments to act

Green Science Policy Institute

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Research suggests children may breathe and absorb plasticizers called phthalates, flame retardants, and other harmful chemicals from their mattresses while they sleep. 

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Credit: University of Toronto

Babies and young children may breathe and absorb plasticizers called phthalates, flame retardants, and other harmful chemicals from their mattresses while they sleep, according to a pair of peer-reviewed studies published today from the University of Toronto in Environmental Science & Technology and Environmental Science & Technology Letters. These chemicals are linked to neurological and reproductive problems, asthma, hormone disruption, and cancer.    

"Sleep is vital for brain development, particularly for infants and toddlers. However, our research suggests that many mattresses contain chemicals that can harm kids’ brains,” says senior author Miriam Diamond, professor at the University of Toronto. “This is a wake-up call for manufacturers and policymakers to ensure our children’s beds are safe and support healthy brain development.”

In the first study, researchers measured chemical concentrations in 25 bedrooms of children aged 6 months to 4 years. They detected concerning levels of more than two dozen phthalates, flame retardants, and UV-filters in bedroom air, with the highest levels lurking around the beds. In a companion study, researchers tested 16 newly purchased children's mattresses and confirmed that they are likely the major source of these chemicals in children’s sleeping environments. When the researchers simulated a child's body temperature and weight on the mattresses, chemical emissions increased substantially, as much as by several times. The mattresses were purchased in Canada, but most contained materials originating from other countries including the U.S. and Mexico. Because of integrated mattress markets and supply chains, the results are likely to apply to mattresses purchased throughout North America.

The phthalates and organophosphate ester flame retardants measured in this study are hormone disruptors and linked to neurological harms, including learning disorders, reduced IQ scores, behavioral problems, and impaired memory. Some are also linked to childhood asthma and cancer. Several UV-filters are hormone disruptors. Children are uniquely vulnerable to exposure, given that they are still developing, have hand-to-mouth behaviors, and have breathing rates ten times higher than adults. They also have more permeable skin and three times the skin surface area relative to their body weight than adults.

The high levels of flame retardants in most of the mattresses tested were puzzling, given these chemicals are not necessary to pass neither Canadian nor U.S. mattress flammability standards. Flame retardants are linked to neurological, reproductive, and hormonal harm as well as cancer, and also have no proven fire-safety benefit as used in mattresses.

"Parents should be able to lay their children down for sleep knowing they are safe and snug,” said co-author Arlene Blum, Executive Director of the Green Science Policy Institute. “Flame retardants have a long history of harming our children’s cognitive function and ability to learn. It’s concerning that these chemicals are still being found in children’s mattresses even though we know they have no proven fire-safety benefit, and aren’t needed to comply with flammability standards.”

The researchers call for manufacturers to be more vigilant about the chemicals in children’s mattresses through testing. Further, stronger regulations on the use of flame retardants and phthalate plasticizers in children’s mattresses are needed. In Canada, the authors recommend extending restrictions on certain plasticizers from toys and objects to be mouthed to include mattresses and other bedding items and passing long-proposed restrictions on two flame retardants. Several mattresses had chemicals that are banned or restricted in Canada, suggesting that manufacturers need to test children’s mattresses for these chemicals and other unnecessary chemicals before putting them on the market.  

In the meantime, there are actions parents can take to reduce their children’s exposure. The authors recommend decluttering your child’s sleeping area by reducing the number of pillows, blankets, and toys. They also recommend washing and refreshing your child’s bedding and bed clothing frequently since these act as a protective barrier to reduce exposure. Finally, they say that undyed or neutral color fabrics are likely safer since keeping strong colors requires the addition of UV-filters and other additives that may be harmful.

Both studies were conducted as part of lead author Sara Vaezafshar’s PhD dissertation at the University of Toronto and funded by the University of Toronto Fellowship, Ontario Graduate Scholarship, and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

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Journal

Environmental Science & Technology

DOI

10.1021/acs.est.5c03560 

Article Title

Are Sleeping Children Exposed to Plasticizers, Flame Retardants, and UV-Filters from Their Mattresses?

Article Publication Date

15-Apr-2025

 PROCEESSED FOOD

Study estimates proportion of adolescents living with overweight and obesity in England has increased by 50% between 2008 and 2023

European Association for the Study of Obesity

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New research to be presented at this year’s European Congress on Obesity (ECO 2025, Malaga, Spain, 11-14 May) shows that the proportion of adolescents living with overweight or obesity in England has increased by 50% from 2008-2010 (22%) to 2021-2023 (33%). The research, presented in two studies, is by Dr Dinesh Giri, Consultant Paediatric Endocrinologist, Bristol Royal Hospital for Children and Honorary Senior Lecturer, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK, and Dr Senthil Senniappan, Consultant Paediatric Endocrinologist, Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, Liverpool, UK, and colleagues.

Previous research has shown overweight and obesity during adolescence are associated with increased morbidity. In this study, the authors aimed to estimate the prevalence of overweight and obesity among adolescents in England using routinely collected healthcare data. They also investigated the association between adolescent body mass index (BMI) and the onset of comorbid conditions during adolescence.

The authors used linked primary (Clinical Practice Research Datalink [CPRD]) and secondary (Hospital Episode Statistics) care data for their analysis. Among adolescents aged 12-17 years registered at a CPRD contributing practice (around 20% of practices nationwide contribute) from 2008-2023 with BMI readings and using the UK 1990 growth reference centiles (a widely used reference for studies of this type). Overweight was defined as at or above the 91st centile and obesity as at or above the 98th centile [1].

Three-year rolling prevalences for overweight and obesity were calculated, since these provide more stable estimates, and a clearer picture of the longer-term trends rather than focusing on small year-to-year changes. The authors explain this helps to smooth out any random ups and downs that might happen in a single year.

Adolescents with a healthy weight BMI, at or above the 2nd and below the 91st centile, were included as a comparator. The sociodemographic and clinical characteristics for adolescents were described at first BMI recording. The incidence of new comorbidities (see figure 1 full abstract) during adolescence was compared between adolescents living with overweight or obesity and those with healthy weight using statistical modelling.

The period prevalence of overweight and obesity increased from 22% in 2008-2010 to 33% in 2021-2023. There was evidence of a steeper increase during / following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Among 139,258 adolescents living with overweight, 140,990 with obesity and 560,789 with healthy weight, higher proportions with overweight (26%) or obesity (31%) than healthy weight (22%) resided in the most deprived geographies (calculated by decile, or groups of 10%).

Higher proportions of those living with overweight (8%) and obesity (27%) had lived with obesity during childhood than those with healthy weight (1%). New onset of mental health (obesity: 8.6% vs overweight: 7.8% vs healthy weight: 7.1%), physical (11.6% vs 10.7% vs 9.3%) and cardiometabolic (3.1% vs 1.2% vs 0.5%) comorbidities during adolescence was higher in adolescents living with obesity than overweight and lowest in those with healthy weight

The second study investigated other comorbidities in more detail. Out of the 15 comorbidities investigated, the risks of 14 were significantly higher in adolescents living with overweight or obesity compared to those with healthy weight.

Over a mean follow-up of 6 years, the risk (Figure 1 of second abstract) of many comorbidities was higher in adolescents living with overweight (n=139,258) or obesity (n=140,990) than those with healthy weight (n=560,789), specifically; obstructive sleep apnoea (3 times higher [overweight] and 8 times higher [obesity]), type 2 diabetes (3 and 11 times higher) and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (3 and 12 times higher), prediabetes (2 and 4 times higher)and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) (2 and 4 times higher).

The authors conclude: “The burden of overweight and obesity among adolescents in England is substantial and increased between 2008-2023. There is a significantly higher risk of early onset of many, particularly cardiometabolic, comorbidities among adolescents living with overweight or obesity, with risk increasing as BMI increases.”

They add: “Over the past 15 years, obesity in adolescents has risen significantly due to a combination of increased consumption of ultra-processed foods, sedentary lifestyles driven by excessive screen time, inadequate sleep, and rising mental health challenges. Additionally, reduced opportunities for physical activity and socioeconomic disparities have further contributed to an environment that promotes unhealthy lifestyles.”

On comorbidities, they say: “For many weight-related comorbidities, overweight and obesity in adolescence are associated with a higher risk during both adolescence and adulthood. Change of BMI in adolescence may have long-term impact on the risk of developing comorbidities. Increased focus on weight-management in adolescence could lead to long-term improvement in overall health.”

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Article Publication Date

12-Apr-2025

COI Statement

The authors (Dr Giri and Dr Senniappan) have not received any payments from Novo Nordisk or other sources for authorship of the abstracts. Two co-authors of the abstracts are employees of Novo Nordisk. The study was funded by Novo Nordisk.