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Kinship care: A family commitment

When children in care are placed with relatives or friends, do they do better or worse than children placed with unrelated foster carers - or do kinship carers look after less troubled children in the first place?

6 Aug 2008

Despite warnings one in ten children still use cough and cold medications

According to U.S. researchers, during a given week, one in ten children uses one or more cough and cold medications.

5 Aug 2008

Brits take tough action on childhood obesity

The British Government is taking tough action on childhood obesity. Under a government initiative to tackle the issue parents will be sent official letters from a child's school informing them of the status of their children's weight.

5 Aug 2008

Consumer group says finding healthy food for children in fast food restaurants is tough

A consumer watchdog group in the United States says when it comes to fast food restaurants, it is a struggle to find anything remotely healthy for a child to eat.

5 Aug 2008

Calls for flu shots for children to protect the rest of the population

Researchers in the UK say an effective way of protecting the rest of the population from flu outbreaks, might be to vaccinate children against it.

5 Aug 2008

Children who are fearful more at risk of anxiety issues

Research from Queensland University of Technology (QUT) has revealed that while many young children love to be scared by a ride on a roller coaster, the horror of a scary book or movie, and delight in the frights of a ghost train, those who demonstrate a strong dislike for such activities could be more likely to have anxiety issues.

4 Aug 2008

Overuse of cough and cold medications among young children in U.S.

Researchers from Boston University's Slone Epidemiology Center have found that approximately one in ten U.S. children uses one or more cough and cold medications during a given week. These findings appear in the August issue of the journal Pediatrics.

4 Aug 2008

British parents will informed if their children are overweight

From September this year, parents of children who have been weighed and measured at school could automatically receive their child's results in a bid to get parents to be more aware about healthy lifestyles, and help their children achieve a healthy weight, Health Minister Ivan Lewis announced today.

4 Aug 2008

Advocates say expanding Utah's health care subsidy program could push children out of SCHIP

Utah advocates for children and low-income residents on Tuesday said that a federal waiver sought by the state that would allow more low-income families into the state's premium subsidy plan will, in effect, push out children now covered by SCHIP, the Salt Lake City Deseret News reports.

3 Aug 2008

Desmopressin for bed-wetting linked to convulsions in children

Australian authorities have issued a warning regarding a drug sometimes used to treat primary nocturnal enuresis (bed-wetting) in children.

3 Aug 2008

Smoking among child cancer survivors highest in most at risk group

Childhood cancer survivors who are most at risk of developing a second cancer are more likely to smoke than other childhood cancer survivors - reveals a Cancer Research UK study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

3 Aug 2008

Men who marry a child's mother parent just as well, if not better than biological fathers

A large number of U.S. children live or will live with a "social father," a man who is married to or cohabiting with the child's mother, but is not the biological father. A new study in the Journal of Marriage and Family examined differences in the parenting practices of four groups of fathers according to whether they were biologically related to a child and whether they were married to the child's mother.

31 Jul 2008

Mother support maximizes life-saving benefits of breastfeeding in all countries of the Americas and the World

Exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of a child's life is the best and most cost-effective intervention to provide newborns with the nutrients they need, and to improve infant and children survival rates.

31 Jul 2008

Study compares student performance against environmental pollution

University of Michigan researchers are studying connections between air toxins and K-12 student performance in Michigan - and possibly whether air quality should be a factor when deciding where to build public schools.

30 Jul 2008

Zinc supplementation benefits children suffering from diarrhea in developing countries

An estimated 2 million children in developing countries die each year from diarrhea, but simple zinc treatment could reduce the risk of such deaths.

29 Jul 2008

Healthy children of Alzheimer's patients show early brain changes

Medical College of Wisconsin researchers in Milwaukee have reported that children of Alzheimer's patients who are carriers of a genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease have neurological changes that are detectable long before clinical symptoms may appear.

29 Jul 2008

Premature babies at risk of lung problems later on

According to Australian researchers some premature babies may have a higher risk of developing emphysema and other lung problems later on.

29 Jul 2008

Drop in child deaths in NSW - but aboriginal children still six times more likely to die

Recently released figures on child deaths in New South Wales have revealed that the number has dropped overall - down almost 40 per cent in the past decade - this equates to 8.6 lives per 100,000 children and young people saved, however this does not appear to apply to indigenous children.

29 Jul 2008

Lawmakers agree to ban use of phthalates in toys

Lawmakers charged with finalizing the Consumer Product Safety Commission Reform Act agreed yesterday to include a provision that will ban phthalates from children's toys and childcare articles. The legislative action validates the concerns of scientists and parents who have been urging a ban, and will bring federal regulation in line with several states and leading retailers that have already taken action to remove phthalates from toys.

29 Jul 2008

Preterm birth contributes to growing number of infant deaths

Babies born too soon and too small accounted for a growing proportion of infant deaths, according to new statistics released today from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS).

29 Jul 2008