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Health

Adult drug use rose during pandemic, but dropped dramatically in youth, study says

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CNN
 — 

Use of marijuana and other substances dropped in teenagers during the first year of the pandemic, according to a new study.

But adults’ use of cannabis, illegal drugs and alcohol, including binge drinking, either stayed the same or increased compared to the two years before Covid-19.

“Substance use decreased between 2019 and 2020 among those aged 13 to 20 years,” wrote first author Dr. Wilson Compton, deputy director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

However, “consistent declines were not seen in older persons other than tobacco use reductions, and cannabis use increased among adults ages 25 years and older,” he and his coauthors wrote.

The study analyzed data from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study, which follows tobacco and other substance use over time among 49,000 US youths and adults.

“A particular strength of this study was the longitudinal design,” said Joseph Palamar, an associate professor of population health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, who was not involved in the study.

“This design allows us to look at changes among the same people over time as opposed to other national studies which compare different groups of people across time,” he said.

Substance abuse dropped in teenagers between ages 13 and 17, according to the study published Tuesday in the journal JAMA Network Open.

Cannabis use among teenagers ages 13 and 15 dropped by 3.4 percentage points in 2020 compared to 2018 and 2019, while tobacco use declined by about 4 points, the study found. The use of other illegal or misused prescription drugs also fell 2.5 percentage points in this age group.

Use of marijuana in teens ages 16 and 17 dropped 7.3 percentage points in 2020 compared to 2018 and 2019. Tobacco use fell by over 10 points and misuse of drugs sank by nearly 3 percentage points. Binge drinking dipped by 1.6 percentage points across the age group.

“I think availability plays a big part,” Palamar said. “If high schoolers are separated from their friends for a long time and stuck inside, they’ll likely have decreased access to drugs.

“Even if a teen successfully obtained weed, this doesn’t mean he or she had somewhere away from parents to smoke it if the whole family was on lockdown,” he added.

The use of alcohol increased by over five percentage points (from 60.2% to 65.2%) among adults ages 21 to 24 years old in 2020 compared to the previous two years. Binge drinking, however, fell by 2.2 points.

Tobacco use fell by about 8 percentage points, but use of marijuana and other illegal or prescription drugs did not change significantly in this age group, according to the study.

Use of marijuana increased slightly in adults 25 and up, by 1.2 percentage points. Declines in other substance abuse in this age group were not significant, the study authors said.

Tobacco use fell for all adults, the study found. The number of young adults ages 18 to 20 smoking tobacco dropped by just over 15 percentage points in 2020 compared to 2018 and 2019. Smoking also declined by about 8 points in adults ages 21 and up over the same period.

However, a drop in drug use during the early days of Covid did not mean the reduction continued as the pandemic wore on, said Palamar, who has been studying drug availability during that period.

“Decreases in use during the early months of Covid are meaningful, but we need to keep in mind that use of some drugs rebounded,” Palamar said. “For example, we found that seizures of marijuana and methamphetamine decreased after the start of Covid, and then rebounded to a much higher rate later in the year.”

A separate survey of people ages 19 to 30 found they were using marijuana and hallucinogens at high rates in 2021. The Monitoring the Future Study, published in 2022, found 11% of people in this age group used marijuana on a daily basis in 2021, while 43% said they had used it in the past year.

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Health

Infant screen time could impact academic success, study says

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CNN
 — 

Letting infants watch tablets and TV may be impairing their academic achievement and emotional well-being later on, according to a new study.

Researchers found that increased use of screen time during infancy was associated with poorer executive functioning once the child was 9 years old, according to the study published Monday in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.

Executive functioning skills are mental processes that “enable us to plan, focus attention, remember instructions, and juggle multiple tasks successfully,” according to the Harvard University Center on the Developing Child.

Those executive functioning skills are important for higher-level cognition, such as emotional regulation, learning, academic achievement and mental health, according to the study. They influence our success socially, academically, professionally and in how we care for ourselves, said Dr. Erika Chiappini, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore.

“Though these cognitive processes naturally develop from infancy through adulthood, they are also impacted by the experiences that we have and when we have them in our development,” said Chiappini, who was not involved in the study, in an email.

The results support recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics, which discourages all screen time before 18 months old, with the exception of video chatting, said Dr. Joyce Harrison, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Harrison was not involved in the research.

The study looked at data from Growing Up in Singapore Towards healthy Outcomes, or GUSTO, which surveyed women from all socioeconomic backgrounds during their first trimester of pregnancy. The sample was made up of 437 children who underwent electroencephalography (EEG) scans, which are used to look at the neural pathways of cognitive functions in the brain, at age 1, 18 months and 9 years old.

The parents reported each child’s screen time, and researchers found there was an association between screen time in infancy and attention and executive function at 9 years old, according to the study.

Further research needs to be done, however, to determine if the screen time caused the impairments in executive function or if there are other factors in the child’s environment that predispose them to both more screen time and poorer executive functioning, the study noted.

In a learning-packed time like infancy, one of the big problems with screen use is that young children aren’t learning much from them, according to AAP.

“There is no substitute for adult interaction, modeling and teaching,” Harrison said.

Babies have a hard time interpreting information presented in two dimensions, such as on screens, and have trouble distinguishing fantasy from reality, Chiappini said.

“Babies and kids are also social learners and very much benefit from the back-and-forth interaction with others (adults and kids) which is hard to achieve with screens,” Chiappini said via email.

When it comes to emotional regulation, infants and toddlers can learn from their caregivers when they model self-control or help to label emotions and appropriate expressions, she added.

For example, you can give a young child options for what they can do when they are mad, like taking a break or breathing deeply instead of inappropriate behaviors like hitting, Harrison said.

Talking about emotions can be too abstract for preschool-age kids, and in those cases using color zones to talk about emotions can be helpful, said Dr. Jenny Radesky, a developmental behavioral pediatrician and associate professor of pediatrics at Michigan Medicine C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital. Radesky was not involved in the research.

Calm and content can be green; worried or agitated can be yellow; and upset or angry can be red, using graphics or images of faces to help kids match what they’re feeling with their color zone. To reinforce it, adults can talk about their own emotions in terms of colors in front of their kids, Radesky said in a CNN previous article.

Parents and children can go through the colors together and come up with calming tools for the different zones, she added.

To strengthen those executive function skills, Harrison says it’s important to provide structured engagement where a child can work through solving problems to the extent that they can at their developmental level — instead of having problems solved for them.

And yet, sometimes parents just need to get the laundry done or attend a work meeting, and screens can feel like an effective distraction.

For very young children, it’s probably still best to avoid screen time, Harrison emphasized.

Instead, try to involve the child in house chores, she said.

“Give your toddler some clothes to fold alongside you while you are trying to get laundry done or keep your infant safely in a position where you can make frequent eye contact while you are engaged your chore,” Harrison said via email.

For older preschoolers, save up your screen time to use strategically, she said.

“For example, their one hour of screen time can be reserved for a time when you have an important video meeting to attend,” Harrison said.

And there is some content that can help teach emotional regulation when your tank is empty. Finding media that is aimed at speaking to children directly about emotions — like Daniel Tiger or Elmo Belly Breathing — can be like a meditation instead of distraction, Radesky previously told CNN.

And you can make screen time works better by engaging your child while they watch, Chiappini said. Ask questions like “what is that character feeling?” and “what could they do to help their friend?” she added.

Raising children is a complex and sometimes overwhelming task, and no caregiver can give their child everything they want to all the time, Radesky said.

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Health

Surgeon General says 13 is ‘too early’ to join social media

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CNN
 — 

US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy says he believes 13 is too young for children to be on social media platforms, because although sites allow children of that age to join, kids are still “developing their identity.”

Meta, Twitter, and a host of other social media giants currently allow 13-year-olds to join their platforms.

“I, personally, based on the data I’ve seen, believe that 13 is too early … It’s a time where it’s really important for us to be thoughtful about what’s going into how they think about their own self-worth and their relationships and the skewed and often distorted environment of social media often does a disservice to many of those children,” Murthy said on “CNN Newsroom.”

The number of teenagers on social media has sparked alarm among medical professionals, who point to a growing body of research about the harm such platforms can cause adolescents.

Murthy acknowledged the difficulties of keeping children off these platforms given their popularity, but suggested parents can find success by presenting a united front.

“If parents can band together and say you know, as a group, we’re not going to allow our kids to use social media until 16 or 17 or 18 or whatever age they choose, that’s a much more effective strategy in making sure your kids don’t get exposed to harm early,” he told CNN.

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New research suggests habitually checking social media can alter the brain chemistry of adolescents.

According to a study published this month in JAMA Pediatrics, students who checked social media more regularly displayed greater neural sensitivity in certain parts of their brains, making their brains more sensitive to social consequences over time.

Psychiatrists like Dr. Adriana Stacey have pointed to this phenomenon for years. Stacey, who works primarily with teenagers and college students, previously told CNN using social media releases a “dopamine dump” in the brain.

“When we do things that are addictive like use cocaine or use smartphones, our brains release a lot of dopamine at once. It tells our brains to keep using that,” she said. “For teenagers in particular, this part of their brain is actually hyperactive compared to adults. They can’t get motivated to do anything else.”

Recent studies demonstrate other ways excessive screen time can impact brain development. In young children, for example, excessive screen time was significantly associated with poorer emerging literacy skills and ability to use expressive language.

Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy, who recently published an op-ed in the Bulwark about loneliness and mental health, echoed the surgeon general’s concerns about social media. “We have lost something as a society, as so much of our life has turned into screen-to-screen communication, it just doesn’t give you the same sense of value and the same sense of satisfaction as talking to somebody or seeing someone,” Murphy told CNN in an interview alongside Murthy.

For both Murphy and Murthy, the issue of social media addiction is personal. Both men are fathers – Murphy to teenagers and Murthy to young children. “It’s not coincidental that Dr. Murthy and I are probably talking more about this issue of loneliness more than others in public life,” Murphy told CNN. “I look at this through the prism of my 14-year-old and my 11-year-old.”

As a country, Murphy explained, the U.S. is not powerless in the face of Big Tech. Lawmakers could make different decisions about limiting young kids from social media and incentivizing companies to make algorithms less addictive.

The surgeon general similarly addressed addictive algorithms, explaining pitting adolescents against Big Tech is “just not a fair fight.” He told CNN, “You have some of the best designers and product developers in the world who have designed these products to make sure people are maximizing the amount of time they spend on these platforms. And if we tell a child, use the force of your willpower to control how much time you’re spending, you’re pitting a child against the world’s greatest product designers.”

Despite the hurdles facing parents and kids, Murphy struck a note of optimism about the future of social media.

“None of this is out of our control. When we had dangerous vehicles on the road, we passed laws to make those vehicles less dangerous,” he told CNN. “We should make decisions to make [social media] a healthier experience that would make kids feel better about themselves and less alone.”

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Entertainment

Paris Hilton announces arrival of her first baby

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CNN
 — 

Paris Hilton has announced the birth of her first child with husband Carter Reum.

Sharing a picture of a baby’s hand clutching a woman’s thumb, the media personality and heiress wrote on Instagram Tuesday: “You are already loved beyond words,” alongside a blue heart emoji.

Hilton’s representatives confirmed the announcement to CNN.

In an interview with People, published Tuesday, Hilton said: “It’s always been my dream to be a mother and I’m so happy that Carter and I found each other. We are so excited to start our family together and our hearts are exploding with love for our baby boy.”

She married venture capitalist Reum in a lavish ceremony in November 2021 and has since spoken openly about using IVF to conceive a child, telling People that they began the process during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We knew we wanted to start a family,” she said. “And I was like, ‘This is perfect timing. Usually I’m on a plane 250 days out of the year, and let’s just get all of the eggs stocked and ready,’ and we have tons of them just waiting.”

Hilton hasn’t publicly shared any other details or confirmed whether her child was born via a surrogate.

Meanwhile, other celebrities flocked to the comments section of her post to offer their congratulations.

“So happy for you guys!!!” Kim Kardashian said, alongside a white heart emoji, while Chrissy Teigen wrote: “a BABY!!!!! congratulations so happy for you both!!” and Heidi Klum said: “I am Sooooooo happy for you . Sending lots and lots of love.”



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Business

Fisher-Price reminds consumers of 2019 recall of Rock ‘n Play Sleepers after more deaths

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New York
CNN
 — 

Fisher-Price for a second time recalled its Rock ‘n Play Sleepers on Monday after at least eight infant deaths occurred after the initial 2019 recall, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

“On April 12, 2019, at the time the original recall was announced, over 30 fatalities were reported to have occurred in the Rock ‘n Play Sleepers after the infants rolled from their back to their stomach or side while unrestrained, or under other circumstances,” the commission said in a statement. “Since the recall, approximately 70 additional fatalities have been reported, which includes at least 8 fatalities that were reported to have occurred after the initial recall announcement.”

“Approximately 100 deaths have reportedly occurred while infants were in the products,” the CPSC indicated. “Fisher-Price notes that in some of the reports, it has been unable to confirm the circumstances of the incidents or that the product was a Rock ‘n Play Sleeper.”

The CPSC indicated that “consumers should stop using the Rock ‘n Play immediately and contact Fisher-Price for a refund or voucher. It is illegal to sell or distribute the recalled sleepers.”

The initial 2019 recall affected about 4.7 million sleepers. The sleepers were sold at stores such as Walmart, Target and Amazon from September 2009 to April 2019.

At the time of the initial recall, Chuck Scothon, general manager at Fisher-Price, said the company considered the recall the “best course of action” and would continue to stand by the safety of all its products.

“With these actions, we want parents around the world to know that safety will always be a cornerstone of our mission, that we are committed to these values, and will continue to prioritize the health, safety and well-being of the infants and preschoolers who utilize our products,” Scothon said during the initial recall.

– CNN’s Nicole Chavez contributed to this report

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Health

Updated childhood obesity treatment guidelines include medications, surgery for some young people

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CNN
 — 

Updated American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines for treatment of obesity urge prompt use of behavior therapy and lifestyle changes, and say surgery and medications should be used for some young people.

The guidelines, published Monday in the journal Pediatrics, are the first comprehensive update to the academy’s obesity treatment guidelines in 15 years. They provide guidance for treatment of children as young as 2 and through the teen years.

The guidelines acknowledge that obesity is complex, and tied to access to nutritious foods and health care, among other factors.

Treatment for younger children should focus on behavior and lifestyle treatment for the entire family, including nutrition support and increased physical activity. For children 12 and older, use of weight loss medications is appropriate, in addition to health behavior therapy and lifestyle treatment, AAP says. Teens 13 and older with severe obesity should be evaluated for surgery, according to the guidelines.

“There is no evidence that ‘watchful waiting’ or delayed treatment is appropriate for children with obesity,” Dr. Sandra Hassink, an author of the guideline and vice chair of AAP’s Clinical Practice Guideline Subcommittee on Obesity, said in a statement. “The goal is to help patients make changes in lifestyle, behaviors or environment in a way that is sustainable and involves families in decision-making at every step of the way.”

For children and teens, overweight is defined as a body mass index at or above the 85th percentile and below the 95th percentile; obesity is defined as a BMI at or above the 95th percentile.

Myles Faith, a psychologist at the State University of New York at Buffalo who studies childhood eating behaviors and obesity, praised the new report both for acknowledging that the causes of childhood obesity are complex and that its treatments must be a team effort.

“It’s not one cause for all kids,” he says. “There’s not been this kind of report to say that there are more options and that we shouldn’t automatically discount the possibility of medication, that we shouldn’t discount the role of surgery. For some families, it might be something to consider,” said Faith, who was not involved in the creation of the guidelines.

The new guidelines do not discuss obesity prevention; it will be addressed in another AAP policy statement to come, it says.

“These are the most comprehensive, patient-centered guidelines we have had that address overweight and obesity within childhood,” Dr. Rebecca Carter, pediatrician at the University of Maryland Children’s Hospital and assistant professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, said in an email Monday.

“New to these recommendations are several new medication management strategies that have proven very successful in the treatment of obesity as a chronic disease for adults, and are now being recommended for use in children and adolescents,” Carter said. “This is a major step in allowing overweight and obesity to be considered as the chronic diseases that they are.”

She added that the recommendations also are a “major step forward” in helping both parents and medical teams “take ownership” over a child’s long-term health risks related to overweight and obesity.

“They give a variety of tools to help families feel empowered that there are ways to treat these medical conditions, and that there are nuanced causes for these conditions that go beyond easy solutions and certainly take our focus away from outdated or unhealthy dieting strategies,” Carter said.

The new guidelines are designed for health care providers, but Carter said parents should talk with their children’s doctor if there are concerns about weight, and discuss strategies to optimize health and monitor changes.

“It is also appropriate to do this in a child-focused manner, taking care not to stigmatize them or make them feel bad about their body, while empowering the child to feel they have the tools needed to keep their body healthy over time.”

The new guidelines are a “much-needed advancement” to align holistic care with current science, Dr. Jennifer Woo Baidal, assistant professor of pediatrics and director of the Pediatric Obesity Initiative at Columbia University in New York City, said in a separate email Monday.

“Uptake of the new guidelines will help reverse the epidemic of childhood obesity,” she said. “More work at policy levels will be needed to mitigate policies and practices that propagate racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities in obesity starting in early life. Although the guidelines support advocacy efforts of pediatricians, we as a society need to voice our support for healthful environments for the nation’s children.”

AAP says more than 14.4 million children and teens live with obesity. Children with overweight or obesity are at higher risk for asthma, sleep apnea, bone and joint problems, type 2 diabetes and heart disease, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Separate research, published last month in the American Diabetes Association journal Diabetes Care, suggests that the number of young people under age 20 with type 2 diabetes in the United States may increase nearly 675% by 2060 if current trends continue.

Last month, the CDC released updated growth charts that can be used to track children and teens with severe obesity.

Growth charts are standardized tools used by health care providers to track growth from infancy through adolescence. But as obesity and severe obesity became more prevalent in the last 40 years – more than 4.5 million children and teens had severe obesity in 2017-2018, the agency says – the charts hadn’t kept up.

The growth chart in use since 2000 is based on data from 1963 to 1980 and did not extend beyond the 97th percentile, the agency said. The newly extended percentiles incorporate more recent data and provide a way to monitor and visualize very high body mass index values.

The existing growth charts for children and adolescents without obesity will not change, the CDC said, while the extended growth chart will be useful for health care providers treating patients with severe childhood obesity.

“Prior to today’s release, the growth charts did not extend high enough to plot BMI for the increasing number of children with severe obesity. The new growth charts coupled with high-quality treatment can help optimize care for children with severe obesity,” Dr. Karen Hacker, director CDC’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, said in a statement. “Providers can work with families on a comprehensive care plan to address childhood obesity.

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Technology

A $3,300 self-driving stroller is at this year’s CES. Are parents ready?

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New York
CNN
 — 

Hang onto your baby bonnets: Self-driving technology is coming to strollers.

Canadian-based baby gear startup Gluxkind was showing off its Ella AI Powered Smart Stroller at this year’s CES, the consumer electronics show in Las Vegas that offers some of the most cutting edge – and out-there – new technologies.

The smart stroller offers much of the same tech seen in autonomous cars and delivery robots, including a dual-motor system for uphill walks and automatic downhill brake assist. Like a Tesla with “Autopilot,” the Gluxkind’s stroller’s onboard technolgy has sensors that detect objects around it – but it’s meant to serve as an “extra pairs of eyes and an extra set of hands,” according to the company’s website – not a replacement for a caregiver.

The Ella stroller is able to drive itself for hands-free strolling – but only when a child is not inside. It uses cameras to monitor surroundings and navigate the sidewalks.

For parents who are probably and understandably nervous about putting their baby in a stroller with a mind of its own, Gluxkind provided a YouTube video with some use cases. A parent walking a stroller down hill rushes to save a child’s dropped toy that is rolling away. The stroller brakes on its own.

In another demo, a child is tired of sitting in the stroller and wants to be carried. The Ella strolls itself while the parent carries the child.

Still self-driving technology isn’t totally proven and certainly not ready for prime time. Although companies that have implemented the technology in cars say they add an element of safety when used properly and the driver is paying attention, putting children in the care of AI may not be for everyone.

Gluxkind, founded in 2020, also put additional stroller-specific features into the Ella including “Automatic Rock-My-Baby” and a built-in white noise machine to soothe sleeping toddlers. The entire system is outfitted with a car seat, infant bassinet and toddler seat.

“The development has been driven by our own experience as new parents.,” Anne Hunger, Gluxkind CPO and co-founder, wrote in a November press release. “We’ve put a lot of hard work into this product and are excited to get it into more customers’ hands in 2023.”

For $3,300, parents can join the pre-order list for the 30-pound Ella, one of the consumer tech products named as an Innovation Awards Honoree at the 2023 CES show. Deliveries of the stroller are expected to begin in April 2023, according to the company website.

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World

Japan: Tokyo is so crowded the government is paying families to leave

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Tokyo
CNN
 — 

Japan is offering to pay families to move out of its overcrowded capital, in an effort to revitalize countryside towns and boost the falling birth rate.

Starting in April, families in the Tokyo metropolitan area, including those headed by single parents, will be eligible to receive 1 million yen ($7,700) per child if they move to less-populated areas across the country, according to a spokesperson from the central government.

The incentives apply to children aged under 18, or dependents 18 and over if they’re still attending high school.

It’s not the first time the government has tried to use financial incentives to encourage people to leave, but this plan is more generous at three times the amount currently offered.

For decades, people across Japan have migrated to its urban centers seeking job opportunities. Tokyo is the country’s most populous city, with roughly 37 million residents.

Before the Covid pandemic, the number of people moving into Tokyo outnumbered those leaving the city by up to 80,000 each year, according to government statistics released in 2021.

But this migration pattern, combined with Japan’s rapidly aging population, has left rural towns with fewer and fewer residents, as well as millions of unoccupied homes. More than half of the country’s municipalities, excluding Tokyo’s 23 wards, are expected to be designated as underpopulated areas in 2022, according to a national census.

Meanwhile, in major cities, space has rapidly run out and prices have skyrocketed. Tokyo is consistently one of the world’s most expensive cities to live in, ranking fifth globally in 2022.

This problem, the migration of young people from the countryside to crowded cities, is a key factor in Japan’s larger demographic crisis, according to experts. The country has long struggled with low birth rates and long life expectancy, and has seen the number of deaths outnumber births in recent years.

Experts point to several factors: the high cost of living, limited space and lack of childcare support in cities make it difficult to raise children, meaning fewer couples are having kids. Urban couples are also often far from extended family who could help provide support.

For example, Tokyo has the lowest fertility rate of all 47 prefectures in Japan.

Current migration patterns are resulting in deserted hometowns with few children. In the riverside village of Nagoro in southern Japan, there were fewer than 30 residents in 2019, with the youngest resident over the age of 50. The village’s only school shut down a few years ago after its last students graduated.

To combat these issues, authorities launched an initiative in 2019 to attract people to regional areas.

Under this plan, individuals who have lived and worked in the Tokyo metropolitan area for at least five years could receive 600,000 yen ($4,500) if they moved to rural areas. That incentive is higher for couples, at 1 million yen ($7,700).

Last year, the government allowed single parents or couples with children to receive 300,000 yen ($2,300) per child if they relocated.

Those who relocate could work in that area, set up their own business or keep working remotely at their Tokyo-based jobs, said the government spokesperson.

“Tokyo has a very high concentration of people, and the government wants to increase the flow of people to the regional areas to revitalize areas with declining populations,” he added.

There is some evidence the program is gaining traction, though numbers are still low. In the first year of launch, only 71 households participated, compared to 1,184 households in 2021.

Japan’s government has also made other efforts to address the population decline, including introducing policies in the past few decades to enhance child care services and improve housing facilities for families with children. Some rural towns have even begun paying couples who live there to have children.

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Entertainment

Jamie Lee Curtis says the ‘nepo baby’ conversation is ‘designed to try to diminish and denigrate’

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CNN
 — 

Jamie Lee Curtis is opening up about her experiences in Hollywood as the child of movie stars, prompted by the current conversation around ‘nepo babies’ – the term for children of notable figures whose familial ties are thought to have helped them find exposure and fame themselves.

The actress, who is the daughter of “Psycho” star Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis of “Some Like It Hot” fame, posted to Instagram on Friday and immediately identified herself as an “OG Nepo Baby,” saying she’s been a working actress since she was 19 years old.

“There’s not a day in my professional life that goes by without my being reminded that I am the daughter of movie stars,” she wrote, adding that “the current conversation about nepo babies is just designed to try to diminish and denigrate and hurt.”

Curtis reflected on her 44-year career and said she’s navigated show business “with the advantages my associated and reflected fame brought me,” adding that she doesn’t “pretend there aren’t any.”

“It’s curious how we immediately make assumptions and snide remarks that someone related to someone else who is famous in their field for their art, would somehow have no talent whatsoever,” she wrote. “I have come to learn that is simply not true.”

Over the course of her career, the “Everything Everywhere All at Once” star said she’s shown up to work with “thousands of thousands of people and every day I’ve tried to bring integrity and professionalism and love and community and art to my work.”

“I am not alone. There are many of us,” she added. “Dedicated to our craft. Proud of our lineage. Strong in our belief in our right to exist.”

Curtis is not the only famous offspring to speak up about the nepo baby conversation.

O’Shea Jackson Jr., son of Ice Cube who portrayed his father in the film “Straight Outta Compton,” tweeted that he was already in college for screenwriting at The University of Southern California when his father floated out the possibility of him acting in the film.

“I accepted the challenge. And auditioned for two years before getting the role,” he wrote on Twitter. “After that it was up to me, he couldn’t hold my hand through my career.”

While Curtis and Jackson chose to respond to the ‘nepo baby’ brouhaha – which gained momentum this week after a Vulture cover article on the topic showed various famous children of stars in diapers in a maternity ward – by underscoring their commitment to their profession, others were more cheeky.

“Omg please can all the Nepo babies unite and dress up as giant babies for Halloween,” Eve Hewson, daughter of U2’s Bono and star of Apple TV+’s “Bad Sisters” tweeted, among several other funny comments.



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US

Missing 5-month-old baby found alive after woman suspected of kidnapping him and his twin arrested in Indianapolis

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CNN
 — 

Kason Thomass, the 5-month-old baby who was kidnapped with his twin while inside a car that was stolen Monday, was found safe and alive in Indianapolis Thursday, just hours after the suspect was taken into custody, according to a statement from the Columbus Division of Police.

“The 5-month-old boy is in good health and being transported to a hospital to be checked out,” police said in a tweet. “We are grateful to the public for their help throughout this investigation, and for the tireless work of our officers and our many partner agencies.”

On Monday night, twins Kason and Kyair were inside a black 2010 Honda Accord that was left running outside a pizzeria on High Street in Columbus while their mother, Wilhelmina Thomass, was picking up a restaurant order while working as a DoorDash driver, CNN previously reported.

When she came out, the car was gone. Kyair was later found abandoned near the Dayton International Airport around 4:15 a.m. Tuesday, but Kason remained missing.

Suspect Nalah Jackson was arrested at approximately 2 p.m. Thursday by officers with the Indianapolis Metro Police Department (IMPD) after officials received several tips that she was in the area, said Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant during a news conference.

At the time of Jackson’s arrest, Kason was not found with her, Bryant said.

Later Thursday, Kason was found in the stolen Honda Accord and was wearing the same clothes he was described to be wearing on Monday, police said.

Jackson, 24, was charged with two felony counts of kidnapping.

Since Jackson crossed state lines, she will be facing federal charges, Bryant said.

“It will absolutely be a federal investigation,” she said.

A warrant for Jackson’s arrest was filed through the Franklin County Court, according to an online docket.

An Amber Alert went out for the twins at 1:37 a.m. Tuesday, officials said. Restaurant employees told police that a homeless woman exited the restaurant after the twins’ mother entered the restaurant. The individual was later caught on camera at a gas station where she asked an employee for money.

Officials do not believe there’s a connection between the twins’ family and the suspect.

Columbus Police Deputy Chief Smith Weir said during the Thursday news conference that officers have received “over three dozen tips” since Wednesday from throughout the state.

Late Thursday morning, the department’s hotline received several calls from people in Indiana who believed they spotted Jackson in Indianapolis and officers “implored” the witnesses to call 911. IMPD informed Columbus police around 2 p.m. that they had stopped an individual who they believed to be Jackson and both departments worked together to identify her before taking her into custody, Weir said.

“If you have any information regarding this crime or the whereabouts of this baby, please contact us as soon as possible,” Weir said, adding that three detectives from the Columbus Division of Police are traveling to Indianapolis to coordinate with IMPD and the FBI to further the investigation.

The FBI had offered a $10,000 award for the safe return of Kason, according to Bryant.

On Wednesday, family members and community leaders gathered to pray for the safe return of the child.

During the vigil, the twins’ grandmother, LaFonda Thomass, begged for the return of Kason.

“If you look at him and you see anything, see a precious child who’s longing for his mother,” she said. “We beg you, please, please, please do the right thing and just bring my baby home.”

First Assistant Chief of Police LaShanna Potts said during the vigil, “We are committed to finding baby Kason. We want Nalah to do the right thing. … We know she’s capable of doing it because she did release one baby.”

Barnett and other family members searched for Kason throughout the Dayton area on Tuesday, including at the gas station, she told CNN affiliate WSYX.

“I just miss my babies. I miss them being together and their smile,” she told WSYX.

She said she’s worried about her son’s safety and if he’s being fed.

“Kason, he loves eating and that’s why I’m so so worried. I know he’s flipping out. He eats so fast. He eats in 3-5 minutes,” Barnett said.

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