Coffee has always been a crowd favorite drink among all age groups. But we all know that caffeine has a different effect on everyone. Doctors often express how young kids and teens should be careful about caffeine but new guidelines regarding this set a firm boundary when it comes to teen health and caffeine. Health experts, working with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, have new advice on healthy drinks for kids and teens in the age group of 5-18. The guidelines say that water and milk are the best drinks for them. They want kids to get into good drinking habits early so they can stay healthy. They're also worried about kids drinking too many sugary and caffeinated drinks. This new guide helps parents know what's good for their kids to drink.

How Did Caffeine Become So Popular Among Teens?

The new guidelines are especially relevant because caffeinated drinks have become increasingly popular among teenagers. Coffee shops, like Starbucks, are popular hangouts for teens, and energy drinks, often packed with caffeine and promoted by social media influencers, are widely available. And a very popular theme on social media is coffee, people enjoy having different varieties of it, making to a very affordable and trendy thing to enjoy! There are accounts dedicated to coffee consumption and often kids and teens partake in these trends.

A recent poll by the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital found that nearly a quarter of parents say their teens consume caffeine almost every day. The most common sources are sodas, followed by coffee and tea, and then energy drinks. Even chocolate contributes to caffeine intake. The amount of kids who consume coffee raises concerns about the potential health effects of caffeine on young people, whose bodies and brains are still developing. The easy access to these beverages and the marketing strategies targeting young audiences contribute to the problem.

Could The Lack Of Guidelines Be A Reason?

Right now, there aren't any official rules about how much caffeine kids can have. This makes it hard for parents and doctors to know what to tell kids about caffeine. The new report tries to fix this by giving some advice based on research. Experts are worried about how caffeine affects kids' sleep, mood, and health. Kids are more sensitive to caffeine than adults. Caffeine can keep them awake, make them anxious, and might even affect their hearts. Because there aren't any rules, it's important to have experts telling us what's safe.

How Caffeine Affects Kids

Caffeine is something that makes your body speed up. Adults can usually handle some caffeine, but it's different for kids and teens. Their bodies are smaller, and their brains are still growing, so caffeine can affect them more. It can make it hard for them to sleep, make them nervous, and even give them headaches or stomachaches. It can also raise their blood pressure and heart rate. Caffeine can also change their mood, making them cranky or unable to focus. We don't know all the ways caffeine affects kids in the long run, and that's another reason to be careful.

The report says that plain water and plain milk are the healthiest drinks for kids and teens. They say it's okay to have a little bit of 100% juice, plant-based milk, or flavored milk, but not too much. They also say kids should stay away from sugary drinks like soda, sports drinks, and lemonade. And, very importantly, they shouldn't drink caffeinated drinks or other things that give you a jolt. This advice is based on what we know about how these drinks affect kids' health. Sugary drinks can cause weight gain and other problems, and caffeine can mess with sleep and other things.

The concept of giving birth in water has evolved from a marginal practice to gain more traction across India.

Fundamentally, water birth is defined as having the mother immersed in warm water for at least a part of labor and sometimes during the actual birthing process using a special tub.

In terms of a clinical approach, the basic objective of this technique is to make sure that the entire process of labor becomes less stressful through the application of the inherent principles of hydrotherapy.

What Are The Benefits Of Water Birth

The most obvious benefits offered by the process of water birthing include the ability to relieve oneself from the pain, thanks to the floating capacity of the water. When entering a hot tub, a woman experiences reduced gravity due to the buoyancy of the water. The process of reducing weight decreases the strain on a laboring woman's muscles and makes moving around easier.

Due to that effect, the body of a woman in labor produces fewer levels of adrenaline and more endorphins, which are responsible for alleviating the pain experienced by a person. As a result, it becomes unnecessary for a woman to apply epidural anesthesia and artificial oxytocin. In addition, the hot water helps to soften the perineum, making tears less likely.

Besides the benefits the woman's body enjoys during the process, it is believed that the process is smoother for the baby as well. The baby experiences a gradual change in his surroundings from the uterus to the pool with water of the same temperature. For the mother, the privacy offered by the use of a tub and the creation of a physical barrier gives a feeling of a protected place where she can fully concentrate on her delivery.

Water Birth: What Are The Risks?

On the other hand, water delivery is a specialized process that thrives on high standards of clinical care. Through adherence to safety practices, the risks of infections, aspirations, or other possible complications during delivery are effectively addressed. This points to the significance of selecting a medically supervised environment where water is at an optimal level while hygienic.

While it is essential to prepare for any possible complications regardless of the setting, it is more convenient to deliver at a medical facility since the medical team is better positioned to move the mother out of the tub when necessary.

The decision to undergo water birth should always be made together with a medical doctor. This is because water birth is normally suggested by doctors only when there is evidence that the pregnancy poses minimal risk to the mother; that is, complications are absent such as hypertension, premature labor, or multiples.

The successful process depends on proper screening, continuous monitoring of the fetal heartbeat, and the ability to get out of the water if need arises.

In a significant step forward in the fight against malaria, the World Health Organization (WHO) has prequalified the first treatment for newborns and young infants weighing between two and five kilograms.

The newly prequalified treatment—artemether-lumefantrine — is the first antimalarial formulation designed specifically for the youngest malaria patients.

So far, infants with malaria have been treated with formulations intended for older children. This increased the risk of dosing errors, side effects, as well as toxicity.

"For centuries, malaria has stolen children from their parents, and health, wealth, and hope from communities," said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.

"But today, the story is changing. New vaccines, diagnostic tests, next-generation mosquito nets, and effective medicines, including those adapted for the youngest, are helping to turn the tide," he added.

Malaria is a life-threatening disease spread to humans through the bites of some infected anopheles mosquitoes. However, they are preventable and curable.

While the initial symptoms may be mild, similar to many febrile illnesses, and difficult to recognize as malaria. Left untreated, malaria can progress to severe illness and death within 24 hours.

What Does WHO Prequalification mean?

The WHO defines prequalified medicine as that which meets international standards of quality, safety, and efficacy, and will help to expand access to quality-assured treatment for one of the most underserved patient groups.

WHO prequalification will enable public sector procurement, contributing to closing a long-standing treatment gap for some 30 million babies born each year in malaria-endemic areas of Africa.

Malaria: New Prequalified Tests

Earlier this month, on April 14, the WHO also prequalified three new rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) designed to address emerging diagnostic challenges for malaria.

The most common malaria RDTs for the P. falciparum parasite work by detecting the protein, known as HRP2. But some strains of the malaria parasite have lost the gene that makes this protein – so they become "invisible" to HRP2-based RDTs, leading to false-negative results.

The new tests address this issue by targeting a different parasite protein (pf-LDH) that the malaria parasite cannot easily shed. They provide a reliable, quality-assured alternative where HRP2-based tests are failing.

WHO now recommends that countries switch to these alternative RDTs when more than 5 per cent of cases are missed due to pf-hrp2 deletions. This ensures accurate diagnosis, appropriate treatment, and protects hard-won malaria control gains – especially for the most vulnerable communities.

World Malaria Day 2026

The theme this year is "Driven to End Malaria: Now We Can. Now We Must". It underlines that ending malaria is a real possibility with science advancing faster than ever, with new vaccines, treatments, malaria control tools, and pioneering technologies.

According to the World Malaria Report 2025, there were an estimated 282 million cases and 610,000 deaths in 2024 – an increase from 2023. While 47 countries have been certified malaria-free and 37 countries reported fewer than 1000 cases in 2024, progress at the global level is stalling.

Read: World Malaria Day 2026: Theme, History, And Significance

Twenty-five countries are now rolling out malaria vaccines, protecting millions of children, and next-generation mosquito nets make up 84 per cent of all new nets distributed. These advances demonstrate what is possible when all partners work together to innovate and deliver on the promises towards ending malaria for all.

The most common malaria symptoms include:

• fever
• chills
• weakness
• other flu-like symptoms

Even as the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) continues to predict rising temperatures and heatwaves in most parts of India, especially in Delhi, doctors flag a quiet but terrible effect that can alter the demographics of the country.

Heatwave conditions are likely to persist in Delhi-NCR from April 23 to 25, with maximum temperatures expected to climb by 1-2°C and remain above normal for at least five days, according to the latest weather bulletin by the India Meteorological Department. The mercury has already been hovering between 40°C and 42°C.

Some parts of the national capital on Friday recorded the season’s first heat wave, even as the India Meteorological Department issued a yellow alert, warning that similar conditions may continue on Saturday.

Beyond Delhi, heatwave conditions are likely to continue over the plains of northwest and central India, including parts of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh.

India is already seeing a drop in fertility rates, reaching the replacement level of 2.0 as per the National Family Health Survey

-5 (2019-21) and continuing to decline to 1.9 by 2023 in the Sample Registration System report.

But with rising heat, both male and female reproductive health could be at risk.

Emerging research suggests that extreme heat can disrupt hormonal balance, reduce fertility in both men and women, and even affect pregnancy outcomes. From lowering sperm quality to interfering with ovulation, scorching temperatures may have deeper biological consequences than many realize.

Heatwave And Women’s Reproductive Health

Dr Archana Dhawan Bajaj, a gynaecologist and IVF expert at Nurture IVF Clinic, noted that heat stress can directly affect hormonal balance.

“During extreme heat conditions, we see women coming in with complaints of irregular menstrual cycles, delayed periods, and worsening symptoms of conditions like PCOS."

"The body’s hormonal system is extremely sensitive to environmental stress, and prolonged heat exposure can disrupt normal functioning in ways that are often overlooked,” she said.

Working in extreme heat can double the risk of stillbirth and miscarriage for pregnant women, according to 2024 research from India published in the BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

A 2025 study led by researchers from the Arizona State University in the US showed that thermal stress reduces sperm quality and increases miscarriage risk.

Heat stress could disproportionately impact vulnerable populations, especially in low-income countries. Heat and air pollution could synergistically worsen reproductive health outcomes.

Heatwave: The Impact On IVF Outcomes

Dr. Hrishikesh Pai, Consultant Gynaecologist & IVF Specialist, Lilavati Hospital, Mumbai, highlighted that the rising temperatures are not only hurting natural pregnancy but also affecting outcomes of fertility treatments like IVF.

"We are seeing extreme heat during the summer months for the last couple of years. This is making pregnancy more challenging for some women due to poor egg quality and implantation difficulties," he said.

Dr Pai noted that as a result, women with reduced chances of natural conception are moving to "assisted reproductive techniques like IVF, but environmental and lifestyle factors are increasingly playing a role in treatment outcomes."

Heatwave: Impact on Sperm

Further, men’s health is also being impacted, particularly when it comes to fertility.

A 2024 study by Argentine researchers, published in the journal Science of the Total Environment, showed that semen from men exposed to heat waves had lower sperm number and abnormal morphology.

The differences were 4–5 times higher in peak heatwave years (2013, 2023). Heat wave length was negatively associated with semen quality.

“Rising temperatures are a serious but often overlooked risk factor for male infertility. The testicles need a cooler environment compared to the body to function properly in producing sperm. Any slight increase can affect their numbers and quality," said Dr Vineet Malhotra, Head of Urology and Director, VNA Hospital.

"When exposed to hot temperatures over an extended period of time, especially in urban areas, there is an increase in low-quality sperm, genetic mutations, and infertility in men,” he added.

How To Prevent?

The experts urged both men and women planning pregnancy to

• Avoid prolonged periods in the heat.
• Take regular shade breaks if working outdoors on hot days.
• Avoid exercising or sunbathing for long periods in the hottest part of the day.
• Wearing light clothing,
• Maintain proper hydration.