HEADS UP

edited by Craig Mellis (craig.mellis@sydney.edu.au)

Dyslexia improved by increasing spacebetween letters

Children with dyslexia have trouble reading. Training pro-grammes tend to concentrate on phonological problems. Astudy of 34 Italian and 40 French dyslexic children aged 8–14years (mean 10.4) with reading performance at least 2 standarddeviations below age-appropriate norms compared how theyread 24 short sentences in normal or widely spaced print(Fig. 1).1 The two languages were used because Italian haswhat the authors call a transparent (phonetic) writing system,whereas French has a relatively opaque writing system likeEnglish. Wider spacing between letters improved reading speed20% and doubled accuracy. The reading of control childrenwithout dyslexia matched for reading age did not improve withwider spacing between letters showing the benefit of widerletter spacing is specific for children with dyslexia.

Reference

1 Zorzi M et al. PNAS 2012; 109: 11455–9.

Reviewer: David Isaacs, david.isaacs@health.nsw.gov.au

Plate size and children’s servings

A study of American primary schoolchildren examined theeffect of varying the size of bowls and plates on the portionschildren served themselves.1 Interestingly, the children wereallowed to serve themselves school meals. They were mainlyAfrican American children. While the authors seemed gratifiedthat when children used adult-sized dishware they servedthemselves more energy, those concerned about the obesityepidemic might see the lesson being that smaller plates equate

with smaller portions. Finally the children should be congratu-lated on eating the unappetising sounding ‘entrées of amor-phous and unit form’.

Reference

1 DiSantis KI et al. Pediatrics 2013; 131: e1451–8.

Reviewer: David Isaacs, david.isaacs@health.nsw.gov.au

Risks and benefits of rotavirus vaccines

The first human rotavirus vaccine was withdrawn from use inthe USA because it was associated with an increased risk ofintussusception. Two new rotavirus vaccines (Rotarix andRotateq) were initially thought not to be associated with intus-susception and were introduced into the routine infant schedulein Australia in 2007. Recent reports from Mexico and Australiahave raised the possibility that the new rotavirus vaccinesincrease the risk of intussusception by about fivefold, but only inthe week following the first dose. A paper from the Centers forDisease Control in Atlanta models data on morbidity and mor-tality of rotavirus gastroenteritis before vaccination, estimatedvaccine uptake and intussusception rates to assess the risks andbenefits of rotavirus vaccine.1 The authors estimate that routineinfant rotavirus vaccination would cause 0.2 deaths per yearfrom intussusception but prevent 14 from gastroenteritis(benefit–risk ratio 71 : 1), would cause 45 but prevent 53 444hospitalisations (ratio 1093 : 1) and would cause 13 emergencydepartment visits but prevent 169 949 (ratio 12 115 : 1). TheseUS figures are potentially extremely useful to clinicians coun-selling parents on the relative risks and benefits of rotavirusvaccine.

Fig. 1 Normal text (A) and spaced text (B).

doi:10.1111/jpc.12308

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Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health 49 (2013) 695–696© 2013 The AuthorsJournal of Paediatrics and Child Health © 2013 Paediatrics and Child Health Division (Royal Australasian College of Physicians)

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Reference

1 Desai R et al. Pedatr. Infect. Dis. J. 2013; 32: 1–7.

Reviewer: Prof David Isaacs, Children’s Hospital at Westmead,david.isaacs@health.nsw.gov.au

Twins and sleep: Environment moreimportant than genes

Twins are an invaluable resource for comparing the relativeeffects of environment and genes on behaviour, because identicaltwins have virtually identical genes, whereas dizygotic twins areno different genetically from other siblings. A large twin studycompared the reported sleep and wake patterns of 1190 monozy-gotic and 2540 dizygotic twins at age 15 months.1 The fourparameters examined were wake time, night-time sleep dura-tion, day-time nap duration and sleep disturbance. The shared

environment was more important than the genetic effect fornight-time sleep duration (66% vs. 26%), daytime nap duration(57% vs. 37%) and sleep disturbance (55% vs. 40%). Therewas no difference in sleep patterns between boys and girls.

Reference

1 Fisher A et al. Pediatrics 2012; 129: 1091–6. Link: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/129/6/1091.long.

Reviewer: David Isaacs, david.isaacs@health.nsw.gov.au

Heads Up

Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health 49 (2013) 695–696© 2013 The Authors

Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health © 2013 Paediatrics and Child Health Division (Royal Australasian College of Physicians)

696