parents

Mental health burdens

Ramirez is among the advocates who say children are suffering under the uncertainty and widespread detentions taking place in El Salvador.

In 2025, El Salvador had the highest incarceration rate in the world, with approximately 1.7 percent of its population in prison — roughly twice the rate of the next highest country, Cuba.

According to human rights organisations such as MOVIR, El Salvador’s youth are among the most seriously impacted by the downstream effects of mass incarceration, especially when their caregivers are imprisoned.

“There is a very grave situation with children,” said Ramirez. “There are many children who have been left without their parents, so those who used to provide for their basic needs are not there any more.”

As a result, experts say the affected children are experiencing psychological issues.

“Anxiety issues in these children have increased,” said a psychologist with Azul Originario, a nonprofit youth organisation based in San Salvador.

The psychologist often works with children whose parents have been abducted. She asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals, as NGO workers and critical voices have been intimidated, surveilled and, in some cases, arrested under El Salvador’s state of exception.

“Sometimes they don’t want to do any physical activity or any studying,” she said.

“They don’t want to spend time with other children or go outside. They’re afraid of authorities, because some of them experienced the authorities taking their parents away.”

At a recent demonstration near San Salvador’s Cuscatlan Park, several families echoed those observations.

Among them was Fatima Gomez, 47, whose adult son was arrested in 2022. He left behind two daughters, ages 10 and three.

With their mother working full-time, Gomez has been taking care of the children. But she has noticed the eldest daughter seems traumatised.

“When she sees soldiers and police, she starts crying and runs inside,” Gomez said of the 10-year-old. “She says they are going to take all of us, too.”

Gomez had gathered with a crowd of men and women to demand the release of their loved ones.

Clutched in Gomez’s hands is a blue printed poster, emblazoned with her son’s face and a single word: “innocent”.

It flutters in a rush of wind from the passing traffic.

One day at an Idaho hospital, half the newborns Dr. Tom Patterson saw didn’t get the vitamin K shots that have been given to babies for decades to prevent potentially deadly bleeding. On another recent day, more than a quarter didn’t get the shot. Their parents wouldn’t allow it.

“When you look at a child who’s innocent and vulnerable — and a simple intervention that’s been done since 1961 is refused — knowing that baby’s going out into the world is super worrisome to me,” said Patterson, who’s been a pediatrician for nearly three decades.

Doctors across the nation are alarmed that skepticism fueled by rising anti-science sentiment and medical mistrust is increasingly reaching beyond vaccines to other proven, routine preventive care for babies.

A recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Assn., which analyzed more than 5 million births nationwide, found that refusals of vitamin K shots nearly doubled between 2017 and 2024, from 2.9% to 5.2%. Other research suggests that parents who decline vitamin K shots are much more likely to refuse getting their newborns the hepatitis B vaccine and an eye ointment to prevent potentially blinding infections. Rates for that vaccination at birth dropped in recent years, and doctors confirm that more parents are refusing the eye medication.

“I do think these families care deeply about their infants,” said Dr. Kelly Wade, a Philadelphia neonatologist. “But I hear from families that it’s hard to make decisions right now because they’re hearing conflicting information.”

Innumerable social media posts question doctors’ advice on safe and effective measures like vitamin K and eye ointment. And the Trump administration has repeatedly undermined established science. A federal advisory committee whose members were appointed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — a leading anti-vaccine activist before joining the administration — voted to end the long-standing recommendation to immunize all babies against hepatitis B right after birth. On Monday a federal judge temporarily blocked all decisions made by the reconfigured committee.

One common thread that ties together anti-vaccine views and growing sentiments against other protective measures for newborns is the fallacy that natural is always better than artificial, said Dr. David Hill, a Seattle pediatrician and researcher.

“Nature will allow 1 in 5 human infants to die in the first year of life,” Hill said, “which is why generations of scientists and doctors have worked to bring that number way, way down.”

Vitamin K’s importance

Babies are born with low levels of vitamin K, leaving them vulnerable because their intestines can’t produce enough until they start eating solid foods at around 6 months old.

“Vitamin K is important for helping the blood clot and preventing dangerous bleeding in babies, like bleeding into the brain,” said Dr. Kristan Scott of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, lead author of the JAMA study.

Before injections became routine, up to about 1 in 60 babies suffered vitamin K deficiency bleeding, which can also affect the gastrointestinal tract. Today the condition is rare, but research shows that newborns who don’t get a vitamin K shot are 81 times more likely to develop severe bleeding than those who do.

Hill has seen what can happen.

“I cared for a toddler whose parents had chosen that risk,” the Seattle doctor said. The child essentially had a stroke as a newborn and wound up with severe developmental delays and ongoing seizures.

At a February meeting of the Idaho chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, doctors said they knew of eight deaths from vitamin K deficiency bleeding in the state over the preceding 13 months, said Patterson, who is president of the chapter.

Infections prevented by other newborn measures can also have grave consequences. Erythromycin eye ointment protects against gonorrhea that can be contracted during birth and potentially cause blindness if untreated. The hepatitis B vaccine prevents a disease that can lead to liver failure, liver cancer or cirrhosis.

Even if a pregnant woman is tested for gonorrhea and hepatitis B, no test is perfect, and she may get infected after testing, said Dr. Susan Sirota, a pediatrician in Highland Park, Ill. Either way, she risks passing the infection to her child.

Why are parents refusing routine care?

Parents give many reasons for turning down preventive measures, including fear that they might cause problems and not wanting newborns to feel pain.

“Some will just say they want more of a natural birth philosophy,” said Dr. Steven Abelowitz, founder of Ocean Pediatrics, which has three clinics in Orange County. “Then there’s a ton of misinformation. … There are outside influences, friends, celebrities, nonprofessionals and political agendas.”

Abelowitz practices in an area of the county with about an equal mix of Republicans and Democrats.

“There’s more mistrust from the conservative side, but there’s plenty on the more liberal side as well,” he said, “It’s across-the-board mistrust.”

Social media provides ample fuel, spreading myths and pushing unregulated vitamin K drops that doctors warn babies can’t absorb well.

Doctors in numerous states say parents refusing vitamin K shots often also decline other measures. Sirota, in Illinois, encountered a family that refused a heel stick to monitor glucose for a baby at high risk for having potentially life-threatening low blood sugar.

Care refusals aren’t a new phenomenon. Wade, in Philadelphia, said she’s seen them for 20 years. But until recently, they were rare.

Twelve years ago, Dana Morrison, now a Minnesota doula, declined the vitamin K shot for her newborn son, giving him oral drops instead.

“It came from a space of really wanting to protect the bonding time with my baby,” she said. “I was trying to eliminate more pokes.”

Her daughter’s birth a couple of years later was less straightforward, leaving the infant with a bruised leg. Morrison got the vitamin K shot for her.

Knowing what she does now, Morrison said, she would have gotten it for her son, too.

Efforts to persuade

Doctors hope to change minds, one parent at a time. And that begins with respect.

“If I walk into the room with judgment, we are going to have a really useless conversation,” Hill said. “Every parent I serve wants the best for their children.”

When parents question the need for the vitamin K shot, Dr. Heather Felton tries to address their specific concerns. She explains why it’s given and the risks of not getting it. Most families decide to get it, said Felton, who has seen no uptick in refusals.

“It really helps that you can take that time and really listen and be able to provide some education,” said Felton, a pediatrician at Norton Children’s in Louisville, Ky.

In Idaho, Patterson sometimes finds himself clearing up misconceptions. Some parents will agree to a vitamin K shot when they find out it’s not a vaccine, for example.

These conversations can take time, especially since the parents doctors see in hospitals usually aren’t people they know through their practices.

But doctors are happy to invest that time if it might save babies.

“I end every discussion with parents with this: ‘Please understand at the end of the day, I’m passionate about this because I have the best interest of children in my mind and heart,’” Patterson said. “I understand this is a hot topic, and I don’t want to disrespect anybody. But at the same time, I’m desperately saddened that we’re losing babies for no reason.”

Ungar writes for the Associated Press.

ABSOLUTE Radio DJ Andy Bush has revealed heartless scammers have stolen his elderly parents’ life savings.

In total, the devastated couple, both 78, were swindled out of £16,000 in an elaborate scheme that used Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis‘s trusted name to entice them.

A ‘broker’ going by the name of ‘John’ gained Andy’s dad’s trust after he clicked into an online link promising to maximise his savings. In reality, Good Morning Britain star Martin had no affiliation with the advert at all.

Andy, who hosts Hometime with Bush & Richie, told The Sun: “They’re really humiliated.

“My dad’s an ex-computer programmer, systems analyst. So he feels someone like him, who’s had a job like that, shouldn’t be falling for a scam like this. So they feel very, very humiliated.

“I feel like a lot of their kind of plans and dreams have kind of gone up in smoke a little bit because that little nest egg that they had to go and do nice retirement stuff is now suddenly completely gone.”

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Andy’s dad has memory issues, which his son believes made him more susceptible to the scam. Neither Andy, nor his brother, had any idea his parents were moving around large sums of money, and he believes they were coerced by ‘John’ not to tell anyone.

Once his dad had clicked the dodgy link, a portal opened to ‘John’ who was then on the phone to them “non-stop”.

Andy likened it to a romance scam and said his parents told him they would speak to ‘John’ on the phone two or three times a day.

“Even when it all came to light that it was a scam, my mum still wouldn’t believe that John, lovely John, would do this to them. So, they really bought into him as a person,” said Andy.

‘John’ set up a Revolut account on Andy’s parents behalf and began transferring large chunks of money from their TSB savings account.

He coached them on what to say to TSB agents when they queried the transfers — though Andy is upset that the bank didn’t do more to clamp down on the out of character money movements.

“Every time they transferred a chunk of £5,000, £6,000 or whatever, TSB would phone up and go, ‘just making sure you’re not transferring this to whatever’. And they would say, ‘no, no, it’s for this, that or whatever’,” he said.

‘John’ then instructed them to put an app on each of their phones, which allowed him to have full access to all their details and to see what they were doing on their devices.

He also installed a fake crypto exchange that showed their money rising at an impressive rate when in reality it had all but disappeared.

Eventually, Andy found out something was amiss when his mum asked if she could borrow £4,000 in order to deposit it into her account to pass an ‘anti-money laundering check’.

Alarm bells immediately rang and Andy asked her to show him the email from ‘John’. Upon seeing it, he said he knew “straight away” that it was fraudulent.

In the meantime, ‘John’ had arranged a £4,000 loan with M&S Bank, which led to Andy’s parents having to cancel their cards after multiple payments began to be made on them.

Andy’s intervention didn’t immediately put an end to the scamming.

Two days later, his parents received an email from a fake cryptocurrency loss recovery company that claimed it could recover their stolen money.

The fresh scam asked for forms to be submitted and a £3,000 payment paid. Andy said he believed the original scammers were behind it.

Even though, his parents’ phones have been wiped, he said there are still concerns the scammers have access.

Andy and his parents have now instructed CEL Solicitors who specialise in recouping money lost to fraud and have contacted the police.

CEL told him that they deal with 500 such cases a month and some £500m is stolen from people each year in total.

He said: “I’ve had so many messages from people who have not just had their parents scammed like this, but a woman in her 30s was scammed out of money when her baby was seven days old because she wasn’t concentrating properly and just pressed the button. You know, young people, old people.

“My mum and dad don’t know who to trust now.

“It’s brought up some really horrible conversations. My mum and dad have always been very outgoing and doing different things, and they’ve always got plans and all that kind of stuff. Now they have to run pretty much everything past me and my brother just to double-check that they’re not being scammed again.”

Chase Infiniti has only been in the spotlight for two years but she has already brushed shoulders with Hollywood greats like Leonardo DiCaprio and Jake Gyllenhaal

Rising star Chase Infiniti has already become one of Hollywood’s most talked-about stars after just two big roles.

It’s hardly a surprise considering her unique name and stellar leading performance in One Battle After Another alongside industry giant Leonardo DiCaprio.

While Leo and other cast members managed to bag nominations at this year’s Oscars, Chase didn’t receive a nod.

However, she is set to present an award during the ceremony, which airs on ITV1 tonight (Sunday, March 15) at 10.15pm.

As viewers tune into the long-awaited award show, we’re certain many will be curious to learn more about Chase’s background.

How did Chase Infiniti get her name?

The 25-year-old actress was born Chase Infiniti Payne in Indiana, America. Her name was inspired by legendary films Batman Forever and Toy Story.

She shared in an interview with the Today Show that her parents “had watched Batman Forever and they were obsessed with Nicole Kidman as Chase Meridian”. They decided to name their child, whether it would be a boy or girl, Chase.

When the couple were searching for a middle name, they landed on Buzz Lightyear’s iconic catchphrase from the Toy Story series: “To infinity and beyond!”

Chase has reflected on her parents seemingly predicting she would have a career in movies, telling the Today Show: “It’s really crazy. I’m like ‘How did [they] predict that!'”

Are Chase Infiniti’s parents movie stars?

Chase’s parents are not movie stars. However, new fans may be confused by chatter on the internet suggesting that she is Kerry Washington and Tony Goldwyn’s daughter.

It is actually a running joke on the internet that Chase is the love child of Kerry and Tony’s characters in Scandal.

The hit political drama followed Tony as President Fitzgerald Thomas Grant III. He sparks a heated affair with former White House Communications Officer Olivia (played by Kerry), which he is determined to hide from the public.

The online joke came after viewers noticed a striking resemblance between Tony and upcoming actor Tyriq Withers, with others later bringing Chase into the conversation.

It went even more viral when leading star Kerry unexpectedly played into the social media discussion last month, sharing a playful selfie with her ‘Scandal children’.

She tagged her co-star in the caption, writing: “It’s a family reunion at the @naacpimageawards (Missing you @tonygoldwyn).”

What else has Chase Infiniti starred in?

The rising star is building an impressive career, having featured in Apple TV’s Presumed Innocence alongside Jake Gyllenhaal in 2024.

She then appeared in One Battle After Another in 2025, and has been nominated for a BAFTA, Critics Choice Award and Golden Globe for her part as Leo’s on-screen daughter, Willa.

Her recognition throughout awards season left film fans stunned when she didn’t earn an Oscar nominations, with many arguing she was ‘snubbed’.

The Gen Z star is also set to feature in The Handmaid’s Tale sequel, The Testaments, premiering on April 8.

The Oscars will air on ITV1 and ITVX tonight (March 15) at 10.15pm.

For the latest showbiz, TV, movie and streaming news, go to the new **Everything Gossip** website

I SPEND a lot of my time looking at holiday prices – comparing deals, breaking down packages, and figuring out where the strange little pricing tricks are hiding.

There’s one trend I keep seeing again and again. In some family resorts, it can actually work out cheaper to stay as an adult and a child than as one adult on their own.

That’s not because flights suddenly get cheaper, but because the hotel part of the package drops in price.

It sounds odd, but when you look at how hotels price their rooms, it starts to make sense.

Why does this strange holiday pricing trick happen? The main reason is something called a single supplement.

Most hotel rooms are priced for two people sharing, so when just one person stays, hotels often increase the price to make up for the empty bed.

Solo travellers can end up paying a hidden surcharge, but when you add a child, the pricing works differently.

Family resorts – especially in places like Turkey, Spain and Greece – are built around rooms designed for two adults and a child, and children usually cost hotels less to accommodate.

They often sleep on sofa beds, eat smaller portions and have discounted all-inclusive rates.

Because of that, hotels often price children very cheaply – and sometimes the total hotel cost actually drops compared with a solo booking.

Hotels are usually happy with this because families tend to spend more around the resort, from drinks and snacks to activities and excursions.

So, filling a room with an adult and a child can be more valuable than one guest travelling alone, which occasionally leads to the strange situation where bringing a child makes the hotel portion of the holiday cheaper.

When I looked at the data, I found several resorts where this pricing quirk shows up.

I compared the price of a 7-night stay as a solo traveller versus the cost when bringing one child at a variety of holiday resorts.

Here are some of the best examples, and the biggest savings of up to £698.

Labranda Targa Club Aquapark, Marrakech

Average saving: £30

Just outside Marrakech, Labranda Targa Club Aquapark combines Moroccan sunshine with a proper family-friendly resort setup.

Kids get water slides and splash pools, while adults can explore the markets and gardens of the city nearby.

And the pricing still shows a small advantage, with adult and child bookings averaging £30 cheaper for a 7-night stay than solo travellers.

BLUESEA Puerto Caleta, Fuerteventura

Average saving: £43

Located in Caleta de Fuste, Puerto Caleta is a relaxed apartment complex perfect for an adult and child beach holiday.

You’ve got sandy beaches, boat trips and plenty of restaurants right on your doorstep.

When I priced it up, holidays average a £43 saving for an adult and child per 7-night stay compared with travelling alone.

Sol Barbados, Majorca

Average saving: £45

Sol Barbados in Magaluf is one of the most family-friendly resorts in Majorca.

There’s a huge waterpark-style pool area, kids’ entertainment and easy access to the beach.

For an adult travelling with a child, it’s a simple sun-and-pool holiday – and the pricing shows an average saving of around £45 for a 7-night stay compared to booking solo.

Staycity Aparthotels, near Disneyland Paris

Average saving: £60

City breaks can show the same pattern too.

At Staycity Aparthotels near Disneyland Paris, you’re just minutes from the Disney parks, which makes it ideal for an adult taking a child on their first big theme park trip.

And the pricing structure means the average holiday can come out around £60 cheaper for a 7-night stay when you book as an adult and child instead of travelling alone.

Oludeniz Beach Resort by Z Hotels, Dalaman

Average saving: £81

Oludeniz Beach Resort sits right by one of Turkey’s most famous beaches – the stunning Blue Lagoon at Ölüdeniz.

It’s an easygoing, all-inclusive resort where an adult and child can spend the day swimming, exploring the beach or watching the paragliders drift down from the mountains.

And package bookings for this hotel show an average saving of £81 for a 7-night stay when adding a child versus travelling solo.

Gran Castillo Tagoro, Lanzarote

Average saving: £212

This five-star resort in Lanzarote is practically designed for family holidays.

Gran Castillo Tagoro has dedicated kids zones, family pools and incredible views over the volcanic coastline near Playa Blanca.

For an adult and child travelling together, it’s the perfect mix of relaxation and activities.

Bookings here show an average saving of around £212 when bringing a child for a 7-night stay compared with a solo holiday.

Golden Port Salou & Spa, Costa Dorada

Average saving: £251

In Spain, Golden Port Salou & Spa is a brilliant base for an adult and child holiday.

It’s close to the beaches of Salou and just minutes from PortAventura theme park, which makes it perfect for a trip packed with rides, waterparks and ice cream stops.

Thanks to family-friendly pricing, the average holiday price drops by about £251 per 7-night stay when a child is added to the booking.

Rixos Radamis Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

Average saving: £279

If you’re looking for something more luxury, Rixos Radamis in Sharm El Sheikh is one of the most impressive resorts in Egypt.

Huge pools, beach access on the Red Sea, kids clubs and endless all-inclusive food options make it a dream for families.

And the pricing structure here means an adult travelling with a child can save around £279 for a 7-night break on average compared with booking the same trip alone.

Auramar Beach Resort, Algarve

Average saving: £349

Over in Portugal, Auramar Beach Resort sits right above the cliffs near Albufeira with incredible sea views.

It’s a laid-back all-inclusive hotel where an adult and child can spend the day between the beach, the pools and the buffet before watching the sunset over the Atlantic.

Because it’s built for families, adding a child actually brings the average holiday price down by around £349 for a 7-night break compared with travelling solo.

Eftalia Blue, Antalya

Average saving: £698

One of the biggest differences I found was at Eftalia Blue on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast.

This is a classic big Turkish all-inclusive resort with huge pools, slides, and easy access to the famous Eftalia Island beach complex.

For an adult and child travelling together, it’s ideal – kids get waterparks and entertainment all day while parents can relax by the pool or head down to the beach.

And the pricing quirk here is huge, with holidays averaging almost £700 cheaper for an adult and child for a 7-night stay compared to travelling alone.

Here’s my key takeaways for travellers.

I should make it clear: holidays aren’t always cheaper with kids.

Flights are still one of your biggest spends, and plenty of hotels price things normally.

But when you start digging through package holiday deals, you occasionally find this strange pricing quirk.

Because of single supplements and heavily discounted child rates, this is one of those travel industry secrets you only really notice when you spend your days digging through holiday data.

Parents believe everyone in the family can get something out of a holiday when their children reach eight years old.

Family holidays can be stressful but new research has shown that they are considered to be most fun when children reach eight years old. A poll of 2,000 parents found eight is the age when everyone in the family gets the most out of holidays. At this stage, more than half (55%) of parents believe their children start to form lasting holiday memories, while 64% believe their children can start to get genuinely excited about new places.

What’s more, at eight years old 22% of parents say their children can contribute to the planning. This means parents are better able to relax themselves and can enjoy more shared hobbies and activities together with their kids.

Commissioned by Jet2holidays ahead of Mother’s Day, the research found 76% of mums who go on one or more getaways a year consider family holidays to be their highlight.

A spokesperson for the tour operator said: “Family holidays are special at all ages. However, there appears to be something especially great once kids reach eight years old – with the findings suggesting many kids are more curious, more engaged and better able to take in new experiences at this age.”

The study also identified what parents look for in a family getaway – with value for money (29%), a place which suits the whole family (28%) and good weather (28%) coming top.

Activities everyone can enjoy together are also considered key (17%), along with a destination which is easy to get around (15%) and genuinely family friendly accommodation (14%).

To ensure the kids in particular are happy, 30% ‘often’ or ‘always’ get them involved in the planning of a family break. They do so because it makes their little ones feel included and valued (46%), creates shared excitement (37%) and ensures activities suit their interests (34%).

The holiday milestones considered to be the most significant were going abroad as a family for the first time (35%), flying together for the first time (24%), as well visiting a theme park or major attraction for the first time (15%). Staying away from home overnight for the first time as a unit (14%) was also significant.

A spokesperson for Jet2holidays added: “It’s clear involving children in the planning process plays a big part in making a holiday memorable.

“And this is just one of a host of memorable holiday milestones they’ll be part of – whether that’s flying together for the first time or going abroad as a family stay with parents for years.

“This is why considerations like the right destination and accommodation are so important.

“We’re proud to help families make those memories by offering great value, family friendly holidays which cater to everyone, whatever stage of family life they’re in.”