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27 Feb
Environmental Health Expert Gives FDA an ‘F’ for Its Handling of Chemicals in Our Food. His Advice on How to Lower Your Exposure
Dr. Leo Trasande, an internationally recognized expert in children’s environmental health, talks to HealthDay about the dangers of PFAS in our food supply.
28 Oct
More Evidence Marijuana Use During Pregnancy Can Harm Kids’ Thinking Skills
A new study finds children exposed to cannabis in the womb have more problems with thinking, paying attention and impulse control.
Health News Results - 328
Most low-birth-weight toddlers are not on track to be ready to attend school, a new study says.
Only one-third of babies born weighing less than 5.5 pounds are ready to attend school by ages 3 to 5, researchers reported in the journal Academic Pediatrics.
They tend to lag in early learning skills, self-regulation an...
- Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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- March 14, 2025
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Some women turn to weed during pregnancy to help deal with common issues like nausea, sleep problem and stress.
Unfortunately, they could be endangering their unborn child’s future behavior, a new study says.
Women who use cannabis either during pregnancy or aft...
- Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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- March 13, 2025
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The COVID-19 pandemic set kindergarteners’ development back in several ways, a new study says.
Post-pandemic kindergarten students on average scored significantly lower in language and thinking skills, social competence, and communication and general knowledge, when compared to pre-pandemic kid...
- Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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- March 13, 2025
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A mother’s diet during pregnancy can influence her child’s risk of ADHD and autism, a new study says.
In particular, the unhealthy hallmarks of a typical Western diet appeared to increase a child’s risk of developmental disorders, researchers reported in the journal Nature Metabolism.
“The gr...
- Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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- March 10, 2025
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A parent’s mental health appears to influence their kids’ chances of developing anxiety, ADHD and other behavioral disorders, a new study says.
Children were more than four times as likely to develop severe ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder) if their caregiver had poor or fair ment...
- Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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- February 24, 2025
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FRIDAY, Feb. 21, 2025 (HealthDay news) -- Superhero slugfests and TV tough-guy shootouts might have long-term effects on a preschool boy’s behavior, a new study says.
Boys exposed to violent media between ages 3 and 5 are more likely to develop aggressive and antisoc...
- Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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- February 21, 2025
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Trauma experienced by the oldest child in a family does not bode well for their younger siblings, new British data suggest.
A child's odds for developing mental health issues rose significantly if their oldest sibling experienced maltreatment, homelessness, injury or other forms of adversity in their first 1,000 days of life, the study found. It was published Feb. 3 in
Want your kid to do well in school?
Get them involved in an organized sport, a new study urges.
Boys and girls are both more likely to earn a high school diploma if they take part in team sports like soccer or artistic sports like dance or gymnastics, researchers reported in a study published recently in the journal Children...
- Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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- January 22, 2025
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Simple neglect can be as damaging to a child’s social development as physical, sexual or emotional abuse.
Children whose basic needs aren’t met can have lifelong damage done to their ability to form friendships and romantic relationships, researchers reported in ...
- Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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- January 13, 2025
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A baby’s gentle murmurs and coos can melt even the stoniest heart.
But those giggles and babbles are more than just music to a doting parent’s ears.
These vocalizations actually are signs that a baby’s heart is working rhythmically in concert with their developing speech, researchers report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
A baby’...
- Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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- December 20, 2024
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There may be something special about team sports in childhood that helps sharpen a kids' brain, new research shows.
Children who were on soccer or volleyball teams scored higher on tests of "executive function" -- thinking skills needed to organize, remember details, make decisions and stay focused -- compared to kids who didn't play sports or played individual sports only, the new study ...
- Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
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- December 17, 2024
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Too much screen time can sabotage preschoolers' sleep, potentially turning them into terrors around the house, a new study warns.
Bad sleep can exacerbate children's struggles with poor attention, hyperactivity and moodiness, researchers reported Dec. 12 in the journal
For decades, it's been known that certain older medications women use to control epilepsy seizures can pose risks to a fetus.
However, data now suggests that no such risk exists for newer-generation anti-seizure meds.
“We need to balance making sure there is enough medicine on board to protect the mother and her developing fetus from seizures, but not too much where we'...
- Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
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- December 2, 2024
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Fostering good relationships with teachers in the early grades may have long-lasting benefits, new research suggests.
"These early connections significantly influence not only academic achievement, but also social and emotional development and executive functioning skills, which are critical for educational success," said researcher
Most kids with attention issues won't go on to develop serious psychiatric conditions like psychosis or schizophrenia.
However, a new study finds poor attention spans in childhood, plus certain genes, could play a role in raising the risk for these conditions.
Of course, much more research is needed to pinpoint precursors to psychotic symptoms in a person's teens or 20s, said a t...
- Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
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- October 29, 2024
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Smoking marijuana during pregnancy may quell your morning sickness, but it could also harm your child’s development, a new study warns.
Cannabis exposure in the womb is associated in early childhood with poorer thinking skills, researchers reported Oct. 28 in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.
These kids also have behavioral problems like impulse control, poor attention an...
In a move that further toughens safety standards for lead paint dust, the Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday announced the finalization of a rule that declares any detectable amount of the toxin in a home or child care center to be hazardous.
“Too often our children, the most vulnerable residents of already overburdened communities, are the most profoundly impacted by the t...
- Robin Foster HealthDay Reporter
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- October 24, 2024
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Friendships forged during a person’s turbulent teenage years lay the essential foundation for their happiness later in life, a new study suggests.
Being broadly accepted by peers in early adolescence and forming close connections as an older teen both predict how ...
- Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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- October 11, 2024
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WEDNESDAY, Oct. 9, 2024 (HealthDay news) -- About 3% of U.S. high school students identify as transgender, according to the first federal attempt to gather national data on trans teens.
Another 2% question their gender identity, results from the 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey showed.
The survey also found that trans and gender-questioning teens face much higher rates of bullying, p...
- Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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- October 8, 2024
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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday finalized a rule that will require the removal of all lead pipes from the country's water systems.
“We’ve known for decades that lead exposure has serious long-term impacts for children’s health. And yet, millions of lead service lines are still delivering drinking water to homes,” EPA Administrator
Sharing a book with your baby will build her vocabulary fast, but time with screens likely won't, Norwegian researchers report.
Their new study on shared reading and vocabulary size dovetails with a new policy statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics
Even air pollution levels considered safe by U.S. standards appear to cause differences in the brains of growing children, a new review suggests.
"We're seeing differences in brain outcomes between children with higher levels of pollution exposure versus lower levels of pollution exposure," said corresponding author Camelia ...
Read to your little ones.
That's the American Academy of Pediatrics' (AAP) prescription for fostering loving, nurturing relationships during early infancy and early childhood -- a time of critical brain development.
"Reading together with you...
- Carole Tanzer Miller HealthDay Reporter
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- September 30, 2024
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Meddling moms who try to prohibit their kids’ friendships with troublemakers will only make things worse, a new study says.
Limiting contact with a friend who appears to be a bad influence tends to exacerbate the behavior problems parents were hoping to head off, researchers reported recently in the Jour...
Classroom cellphone bans should help improve learning environments in schools, a child development expert says.
Keeping the devices out of classrooms would help focus attention, improve problem-solving and -- by allowing kids to occasionally lapse into boredom -- spur creativity, says Jon Piacentini, a child and adolescent...
- Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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- August 29, 2024
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When you have a young child, you can wind up spending most of your time changing diapers and feeding them, but one expert suggests that socialization is also important for your child's future well-being.
From an early age, socialization can help hone their communication skills and foster companionship and empathy. Relationships teach young children about perspective, taking turns and mean...
- Robin Foster HealthDay Reporter
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- August 25, 2024
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High levels of fluoride in drinking water may dim the intelligence of children, a new U.S. government report shows.
Based on an analysis of published research, the potentially controversial report marks the first time a federal agency has determined there is a link between drinking twice the reco...
- Robin Foster HealthDay Reporter
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- August 22, 2024
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A child at the dinner table talks about trouble at school or an argument with a friend, but parents aren't listening: They're checking their smartphones instead.
It's a scenario that plays out millions of times per day across America, and it could be harming the mental health of children, a new study suggests.
Kids ages 9 to 11 who said their parents spent way too much on their smar...
- Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
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- August 16, 2024
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Parents are worried that social media and technology will get in the way of schoolkids building meaningful connections with classmates and teachers during the upcoming school year, a new poll finds.
Half of parents (50%) say too much time spent with technology will be their kids’ top challenge in forming positive connections with those around them, say national poll results from the...
- Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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- August 16, 2024
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Not all babies born prematurely will suffer long-term developmental problems, a new study finds.
Preemies tend to fall into three risk categories, with about one in five (20%) scoring above average on standard cognitive tests, researchers reported Aug. 13 in the journal Child Development...
A girl's genetics can indirectly influence the age when she has her first period, by accelerating her weight gain in childhood, a new study finds.
A number of other genes also can directly affect the age of puberty, some with profound effects, researchers added.
More than 1,000 genetic variants are tied to the age of a girl's first menstrual period, researchers discovered by analyzi...
- Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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- July 2, 2024
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When your preschooler pitches a fit, handing them a smartphone or tablet is probably the fastest -- and the worst -- way to stop it, a new study suggests.
"If parents regularly offer a digital device to their child to calm them or to stop a tantrum, the child won't learn to regulate their emotions," said first author Veronika Konok...
- Carole Tanzer Miller HealthDay Reporter
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- July 2, 2024
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Mothers tend to speak less to infants when they're on their smartphones, a new study finds.
Moms talked 16% less to their babies when they were fiddling with their phone, researchers found.
Shorter 1- to 2-minute intervals of phone use interfered with mom-baby interaction even more, decreasing a mother's baby talk by 26%.
"Our advice to new parents is to be cognizant of the im...
- Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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- June 26, 2024
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If your child is among the youngest in their school grade, it's more likely they'll be mistakenly identified by teachers as having ADHD or autism, a new study confirms.
"Adults involved in identifying or raising concerns over a child's behavior -- such as parents and teachers -- may be inadverte...
- Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
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- June 7, 2024
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Severe forms of autism could be linked to overgrowth of the brain's outer layer that starts while a baby is in the womb, a new study finds.
Toddlers with autism have cerebral cortexes -- often referred to as "gray matter"-- that are roughly 40% larger than those of children without the developmental disorder, researchers reported recently in the journal
Newer epilepsy drugs taken while pregnant won't affect the creative thinking of children, an effect that had been observed in older medications, a new study reports.
Researchers found no difference in creativity scores at age 4 between kids of mothers with epilepsy and those of...
- Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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- May 30, 2024
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About 1 in 9 American children have ever received an ADHD diagnosis, slightly more than the number of kids currently being treated for the disorder, a new study shows.
About 7.1 million kids (11.4%) have ever been diagnosed with ADHD, according to findings published May 23 in the Journal of Clinical C...
- Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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- May 23, 2024
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Parents striving to be "perfect"will never attain that goal, and the aim isn't even healthy for their families, a new study says.
The risks of striving for perfection are such that researchers have now created a scale to help parents track their burnout and, if necessary, counter it.
No one knows what caused the liver and kidney disease that led to Ludwig van Beethoven's untimely death.
But one popular theory"that high lead levels killed the great composer"should be ruled out, researchers argue in the journal Clinical Chemistry.
Analysis of samples taken from preserved locks of Beethoven's hair reve...
- Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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- May 8, 2024
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Kids are very likely to make the acquaintance of a child diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder at some point, whether they know it or not.
An estimated 95% of children with disabilities enroll in regular schools, experts say.
"Given the rates of autism diagnosis and our ability to identify it, most kids will meet an autistic child at some point during their school-aged years,...
- Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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- May 8, 2024
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Nearly 100,000 U.S. children lost a parent in 2020 to gun violence or drug overdose, a three-fold rise since 1999, according to a new study.
Overall, these two causes made up nearly a quarter (23%) of parental losses in 2020, almost double the level cited in 1999, according to a team who reported its findings May 4 in the
Prescription opioids taken during pregnancy are not associated with a substantial increase in risk of developmental disorders like ADHD in children, a new study has found.
"A slightly increased risk of neuropsychiatric disorders was found, but this should not be considered clinically meaningful"because it ...
- Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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- April 25, 2024
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The pandemic caused only "modest"delays in developmental milestones for infants and toddlers, a new study has found.
Previous research has reported that pandemic-related lockdowns disrupted the lives of many people, including families with young children.
Day-to-day life was upended as schools and child care centers closed, many people worked from home and the number of play dates a...
- Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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- April 22, 2024
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More than two-thirds of Chicago kids younger than 6 live in homes with tap water tainted by lead, a new analysis says.
There are detectable levels of lead in the drinking water supplied to 68% of young children in the Windy City, say researchers with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Pub...
- Dennis Thompson and Carole Tanzer Miller HealthDay Reporters
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- March 20, 2024
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Certain drugs used to treat multiple sclerosis appear to be safe for babies if taken by breastfeeding moms, a new study finds.
Breastfed babies whose moms received monoclonal antibody treatments for MS did not develop any more developmental delays than babies not exposed to the drugs through breast milk. The findings will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's upcoming annual...
- Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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- March 5, 2024
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Using TVs and tablets as "e-babysitters" really cuts down on the time toddlers spend interacting with parents or other caregivers, new research shows.
The Australian team of investigators are calling the phenomenon "technoference" -- a scenario where "young children's exposure to screen time is interfering with opportunities to talk and interact in their home environment."
The resea...
- Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
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- March 4, 2024
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Children exposed to anesthesia in the womb when their pregnant mom has surgery are more likely to suffer from behavioral issues later, a new study finds.
Exposure to general anesthesia before birth was associated with a 31% increased risk of diagnosis with a behavioral disorder as a child, researchers reported Feb. 29 in the
The eyes may have it when it comes to the early diagnosis of autism in children, a new study finds.
Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), have pinpointed a gene that affects how kids' eyes react when they turn their heads.
Typically, people use what's called the vestibulo-ocular reflex to help their sight coordinate with their head movement.
Howeve...
- Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
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- February 29, 2024
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According to the advocacy group Autism Speaks, one in every 36 U.S. children has an autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Early diagnosis is crucial to helping to treat the condition, but how is a diagnosis done?
Toddlers who are really into their food might have a higher risk of developing an eating disorder once they enter adolescence, a new study shows.
Kids ages 4 and 5 with a strong urge to eat when teased with tasty food appear more likely to report a range of eating disorder symptoms by ages 12 to 14, researchers report Feb. 20 in