Back to school: Vaccinations, nutrition and other parental connundrums
Get ready for vaccinations, healthful lunches, hand sanitizer, teenage bullying, how sleeping habits, children's long-term health tips and how social status affects children. These are just the beginning tips for a healthy school year.
7:26 PM CDT, August 29, 2011
BOOSTER SHOTS: Oddities, musings and news from the health world
Boxing KO'd by doctors as too risky for kids' and teens' brains
Youth boxing is getting pummeled by pediatricians in a new policy statement opposing such pugilism as too dangerous of an athletic activity for children.
4:17 PM CDT, August 26, 2011
BOOSTER SHOTS: Oddities, musings and news from the health world
CDC: More teens getting HPV vaccines, but not enough
A report released Thursday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted with some alarm that many parents still shun another recommended vaccine: the three-shot series that protects against human papilloma virus (HPV), a widespread sexually transmitted virus, some types of which can cause cervical cancer.
August 26, 2011
New focus on concussions is altering prep athletics
The scowl that creased Troy Piccinini's face on a recent afternoon was not the game face of a football player, at least not this fall. For the first time this season, a state law in Illinois requires any high school athlete who shows signs of concussion to be cleared by a medical professional before returning to the field.
August 24, 2011
Teens make DVD about mental illness
Some mentally ill teens have a message for their depressed peers: It's time to come out.
4:55 PM CDT, August 22, 2011
Donation targets helping girls avoid ACL sports injury
Because of the way they're built, girls are up to eight times more likely than boys to suffer an ACL injury to the knee. The SportsMetrics program at Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children is working to lower those odds, and recently got some funding to do so.
6:10 PM CDT, August 22, 2011
Focusing on their abilities
C.F. Martin & Co. gives young people with disabilities a chance to work and be part of the music.
10:08 AM CDT, August 25, 2011
Vaccines largely safe, U.S. expert panel finds
After a close review of more than 1,000 research studies, a federal panel of experts has concluded that vaccines cause very few side effects, and found no evidence that vaccines cause autism or type 1 diabetes.
August 25, 2011
Back-to-school checkup
Going back to school, particularly if it's a new school, can be a daunting time for kids and their parents. There's a lot to consider, from sleep schedules to proper nutrition and immunizations. Much can be accomplished by establishing good habits, says Dr. Julie Yeh, a pediatrician at Greater Baltimore Medical Center, who answered questions about handling the coming school year.
August 24, 2011
Teen users of Facebook, Myspace more likely to drink, use drugs
The eternal struggle to keep young people away from bad influences has moved to a new frontier: A research organization said teens who regularly log on to Facebook and other social networks are considerably more likely to smoke, drink or use marijuana than teens who don't visit the sites.
7:21 AM CDT, August 23, 2011
New rules could all but suspend starches from public schools
Potatoes, corn, peas and other veggies could nearly disappear from cafeterias under proposed federal nutritional guidelines.
4:16 PM CDT, August 22, 2011
Writing problems common in kids with ADHD
Kids with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder are more likely to have writing problems such as poor spelling and grammar than their peers, suggests a new study. And the difference may be especially conspicuous in girls with ADHD.
11:23 AM CDT, August 22, 2011
Calories, sugar reduced in flavored milk for kids
Good news for milk-pushing moms this September: kid-favorite flavored milks will have less calories and sugar, according to the Milk Processor Education Program.
Preventing pink eye
Your children may have been healthy all summer, running around, wanting to play and travel, going to slumber parties with friends or playing video games. Then, here comes back-to-school time and your child has pink eye. How'd it happen? How do you prevent it from happening again? Find out steps to take for children and adults, too.
12:00 PM CDT, August 18, 2011
BOOSTER SHOTS: Oddities, musings and news from the health world
ADHD diagnoses on the rise
ADHD diagnoses rose significantly in the last decade, according to surprising new data released Thursday, August 18.
5:23 PM CDT, August 17, 2011
BOOSTER SHOTS: Oddities, musings and news from the health world
Getting students to tattle on peers could thwart school shootings
Police in Tampa, Fla., are crediting an unidentified tipster for alerting them to an alleged plan by 17-year-old Jared Cano to detonate an explosive device on the first day of school at Freedom High School, from which he had been expelled. Along with explosive materials, law enforcement officials said they found a detailed plan to attack the school and kill approximately 32 people on campus.
1:19 PM CDT, August 17, 2011
Booster Shots: Oddities, musings and news from the health world
Student drug testing may have only small effect in reducing use
Student drug testing has been a hot-button issue in high schools for the past decade. But a new study joins a growing pile of research papers that describe student drug testing as failed policy.
August 13, 2011
Split views on ADHD's effect in adulthood
People with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder sometimes outgrow the condition. But more often than not, the symptoms linger into adulthood.
11:19 AM CDT, August 12, 2011
Ankle braces may help teen basketball players
The ankle braces many basketball players strap on to prevent injuries may actually work, a study of high school players suggests.
3:23 PM CDT, August 11, 2011
Superbug more common in kids who've used antibiotics
Kids who get lots of antibiotics from their doctors are more likely to harbor the MRSA superbug, although it's still rare, a new study of British youngsters has found.
6:03 PM CDT, August 8, 2011
BOOSTER SHOTS: Oddities, musings and news from the health world
Toilet training: Does anyone really know the best approach?
In our house, toilet training wasn't easy. Faced with our son's complete lack of interest in getting started with the process -- and unwavering refusal to cooperate once we did prod him toward the WC -- we, like many parents, ignored relatives' well-intentioned urgings to hide the child's diapers, make him run around naked until he got with the program, ply him with rewards or otherwise ask/wheedle/humiliate/trick/force him to use the potty.
1:03 PM CDT, August 8, 2011
Booster Shots: Oddities, musings and news from the health world
Exercise in hot weather, with precautions, is OK for kids
Exercising in hot weather used be considered somewhat dangerous for kids. Doctors believed that children's bodies couldn't handle heat stress as well as adults' bodies.
August 8, 2011
Dear Parents: Why vaccines are vital
Dear Parents, Mississippi had the best performance with fewer than 1% of kids unvaccinated. That's right, Mississippi. Maybe we could learn a thing or two from the parents down there.
4:33 AM CDT, August 8, 2011
Kids' packed lunches too warm to be safe
If you're packing lunch for your kid, chances are it will end up at unsafe temperatures before it's eaten.
1:22 PM CDT, August 5, 2011
Scientists warn of heat risk to high-school football
Most high school football players who die from heat-related illness are overweight, in the first weeks of practice and on the field in the morning, when the humidity is high and coaches take cooler temperatures for granted, researchers said.
5:16 PM CDT, August 4, 2011
Casual smoking rises among U.S. students: study
U.S. high school students are unlikely to be heavy smokers, but casual and occasional smoking is on the rise, according to a new study that warns even light smoking poses health risks.
4:23 PM CDT, August 3, 2011
Childhood hardship tied to adulthood disease risks
Children who are abused, lose a parent or suffer other hardships may have increased risks of chronic health conditions later in life, a new study suggests.
August 1, 2011
Hazards of the blackboard jungle
No doubt, summer has its dangers for kids: its Code Red air-quality days, its risk of sunburn, heatstroke, drowning and food poisoning, its poison ivy and whatnot. As conscientious parents reapply sunscreen to their young ones for the 4,000th time, they might well savor the prospect of a return to the safe, secure routines of school.
August 1, 2011
On the question of when to start kindergarten, there's no easy A
Leslie Walden's daughter Kennedy will turn 5 in October, which makes her eligible to start kindergarten. But the school year will begin without her.
3:21 PM CDT, July 20, 2011
BOOSTER SHOTS: Oddities, musings and news from the health world
FDA gives OK to flu vaccine, same as last season's
The flu vaccine for the upcoming season should trigger some déjà vu: The formulation will be identical to last year’s, the Food and Drug Administration has announced.
4:01 PM CDT, July 18, 2011
BOOSTER SHOTS: Oddities, musings and news from the health world
Secondhand smoke linked to hearing loss in teens
Secondhand smoke is a menace to everyone exposed to it. Besides respiratory infections and lung cancer, it may lead to hearing loss in adolescents.
3:37 PM CDT, July 14, 2011
BOOSTER SHOTS: Oddities, musing and news from the health world
Campbell's to add salt back into Select Harvest soups: Good health doesn't sell
Reducing salt may be healthy for consumers, but it doesn't seem to be going down well for business.
11:04 PM CST, February 7, 2011
Study links teenage bullying to social status
Scientists have confirmed an axiom of teenage life: Kids intent on climbing the social ladder at school are more likely to pick on their fellow students.
2:01 AM CDT, July 13, 2011
Restaurants to offer more-healthful fare for kids
French fries, slathered with ketchup and washed down with a pint of soda, are a favorite part of fast-food lunches and dinners for millions of American youngsters.
July 1, 2011
How to keep kids' teeth healthy
Dr. Rhea Haugseth has been a pediatric dentist for 30 years and is the newly elected president of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry. In this edited interview conducted June 3, Haugseth, who practices in Marietta, Ga., discusses the importance of oral health in infants and young children and some of the common factors that can lead to serious dental problems.
June 14, 2011
Memory training improves intelligence in some children, report says
Training a child to hold a whole cluster of items in his or her memory for even a short time may feel like trying to hold a wave on the sand. But a study published Monday says it's a drill that can yield lasting benefits.
April 11, 2011
The M.D.
A teen's friends are a powerful influence
My parents had it pretty easy with me when I was a teenager. I was a bit of a nerd. I earned straight A's in school, ran for student government and spent much of my free time watching reruns of "Little House on the Prairie." And they had little to complain about when it came to my friends — most of them were as straight as I was. My mom and dad considered them a positive influence.
1:25 PM CST, February 14, 2011
In-Your-Face Fitness
Weightlifting can be helpful for obese kids
It goes without saying that children who are obese would benefit from aerobic exercise. However, they're likely to find the idea of going for a jog or spending half an hour on a treadmill about as appealing as watching Congress debate the fine points of tax policy on C-SPAN.
10:02 PM CST, February 26, 2011
Bilingualism good for the brain, researchers say
Does being bilingual give young children a mental edge, or does it delay their learning?
11:28 PM CST, January 21, 2011
Parenting experts weigh in on 'Tiger Mother'
In "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother" (Penguin Press, 2011), Yale Law School Professor Amy Chua describes child-rearing techniques that, as she puts it, "would seem unimaginable — even legally actionable — to Westerners."
January 9, 2011
Expert sees growing problem of youngsters with eating disorders
With so much attention focused on rising rates of obesity among children and teens, it can be easy to overlook kids who eat too little or purge after they binge. But government data suggest that eating disorders are actually on the rise among children, for reasons researchers are still working to understand.
12:00 PM CST, January 18, 2010
Live health chat
Chat: Youth sports injuries
Join us at noon CT/1 p.m. EST on Tuesday, Jan. 18, to chat about youth sports injuries. (Note: This chat has been rescheduled from the original Dec. 14 date.)
August 23, 2010
Later school start times and Zzzs to A's
As summer winds down, another new school year brings fresh notebooks, sharp pencils and — for many kids — a new cycle of sleep deprivation.
June 11, 2010
When is it OK to let kids be quitters?
When I signed up my 8-year-old son to play flag football recently, I encountered a startling statistic: 70% of kids quit youth sports by the time they are 14. When the Citizenship Through Sports Alliance came to this conclusion in 2005, it cited coaching and parents as the reasons. What it doesn't mention is how agonizing it can be for parents when a child says, "I don't want to do this anymore."
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