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Worried your kid isn't brushing his or her teeth properly? You might want to try the Oreo test.

"If the child eats an Oreo and brushes their teeth and the parent can still see the Oreos, they need to be checking and helping them brush," said Elise Sarvas, a clinical associate professor of pediatric dentistry with the University of Minnesota.

Sarvas offers up the Oreo test and other ...

Most parents have dealt with having to hurry a sleepy child out the door on a school morning, but experts say taking the time to establish good sleep routines for your kids is worth the effort.

Amid the pandemic, there can be a great deal of uncertainty around school, but a set sleep regimen can help ease youngsters'

Living through the pandemic has not been easy for kids, but it has really thrown off children who have attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), new research warns.

Though they were not more likely to catch COVID-19, they were more likely to experience symptoms if they were infected. But the damage did not stop there: These children were also more likely to have trouble sleeping, f...

Support from family and friends, along with exercise and sufficient sleep, have helped protect teens' mental health during the pandemic, new research shows.

The study also found that teen girls have been more likely than boys to suffer mental distress during the pandemic.

For the study, researchers analyzed data gathered from more than 3,000 participants, aged 11 to 14, in the

MONDAY, Jan. 24, 2022 (HealthDay Now) -- Alaina Stanisci has grappled with an eating disorder since she was 10, and the disruptions of the pandemic only made things worse for the high school senior.

"I actually experienced a relapse at the beginning of the pandemic because of this lack of structure," Stanisci, 18, of Mountain Lakes, N.J., said during a HealthDay Now interview. "D...

Some kids might be able to get over their peanut allergy if they start immunotherapy while they're still toddlers, a major new clinical trial reports.

In the trial, a group of 1- to 3-year-olds with severe peanut allergies were safely fed gradually increasing daily doses...

Sharing food and smooching are two ways babies can suss out whom they can depend on to take care for them, a new study suggests.

The tell-tale clue common to both is a surprising one: saliva.

"Babies don't know in advance which relationships are the close and morally obligating ones, so they have to have s...

If the sound of a dental drill sends shivers up your spine, you're likely in good company: Finnish researchers say that one of every two adults fear the dentist at least a little, while one in 10 are very afraid.

But the researchers added that a local dentistry program has found a novel way to turn screams into smiles, by exposing patients as young as 2 to a series of desensitizing exams ...

Parents struggling with infant feeding issues may have another reason to persevere: New research ties feeding problems with an increased risk of developmental delays.

For the study, the mothers of nearly 3,600 children were surveyed about feeding problems at 18, 24 and 30 months of age, such as gagging, crying during meals or pushing food away. The children were also screened for developm...

Hands-on learning can be fun, and new research suggests that it works as well as more traditional teaching methods.

Known as "guided play," the technique involves educational activities that are gently steered by an adult but give kids the freedom to explore while learning. They include games that require children to read, write or use math.

"The argument is sometimes made that play...

That sing-song speech parents use when talking to their babies is universal, and infants tend to prefer it.

So, when a baby doesn't seem to engage with this melodic "motherese," or baby talk, it can be an early sign of autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Researchers at the University of California, S...

Babies born at the height of the pandemic appear to suffer small but significant delays in their motor and social development, a new study reports.

Babies were particularly at risk if their mothers were in the first trimester of their pregnancy during spring 2020, when the United States entered lockdowns.

"It's important to recognize these are very slight differences. There weren't ...

New U.S. data based on nearly 9 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine delivered to kids ages 5 to 11 shows no major safety issues, according to researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The vaccine was first authorized for use in th...

Parents, think you have a good handle on how much time your teens are spending on social media?

Don't bet on it. New research suggests your best guesstimate is likely way off.

Parents significantly underestimated their teens' social media use -- especially girls' -- during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the study showed.

"Although most parents and their teens spent ...

A new program to boost the supply of cancer medicines for children in low- and middle-income countries has been announced by the World Health Organization (WHO) and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

The hospital is making a six-year, $200 million investment to launch the Global Platform for Access to Childhood C...

Moms who had COVID-19 in pregnancy can breathe easier thanks to a small, new study that found no growth or development problems in 6-month-old babies whose mothers had the virus while expecting.

"Our results should be reassuring to pregnant women with COVID-19 who are worried about how the virus might affect the baby," said study co-author Dr. Malika Shah, a neonatologist at the Children'...

There is no increased risk of mental health problems in teens and young adults who were conceived through in-vitro fertilization (IVF), Swedish researchers report.

Although those born after assisted reproductive techniques did have a slightly higher risk of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), it owed to parental background factors, they said.

Since 1978, more than 9 million childre...

If your children struggle with their weight, new research suggests they may also suffer from diseases once seen only in adults.

Stiffening of the arteries, which can lead to early heart attacks and strokes, and type 2 diabetes were found in many of the more than 600 obese children, adolescents and young adults studied. And the problem is only getting worse: According to the U.S. Centers f...

A growing number of pregnant women are using marijuana or other cannabis products, and a new study suggests that relief of symptoms such as morning sickness may be a primary reason.

In recent years, studies have documented a rise in cannabis use during pregnanc...

In an effort to further lower lead levels in drinking water, the Biden administration on Thursday announced $2.9 billion in infrastructure bill funds for lead pipe removal and tighter lead limits.

The new, tougher limits to be imposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are expected to be finalized by 2024 and would require the replacement of remaining lead drinking water pipes a...

The sound of mom's voice can soothe a fussy baby like nothing else, but now new research suggests that an infant is also calmed by the scent of its mother.

Prior animal studies had already shown that olfaction -- smell -- "is very important, that mother's smell is very critical for attachment," noted study author Ruth Feldman. "Young recognize mother by her smell, and mother and habitat a...

You may feel silly doing it, but baby talk helps your infant learn the basics of human language, a new study suggests.

By mimicking the sound of a smaller vocal tract, baby talk guides babies on how words should sound coming out of their own mouths, the researchers explained.

"It seems t...

Kids can be cruel, and bullies often zero in on kids they view as weak or different, including those with asthma.

One in 10 children with asthma say they have been bullied or teased as a result of their condition, but tight asthma control seems to keep bullying at bay, a new study suggests....

Genetic testing can help guide management and treatment of unexplained epilepsy in children, new research suggests.

"A genetic diagnosis impacted medical management for nearly three out of four children in our study," said study author Dr. Isabel Haviland. She's a postdoctoral research fellow in neurology/neurobiology at Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

In the ...

Autism may be more prevalent among American children than believed, a new U.S. government study shows.

One in 44 children at age 8 in the United States have been diagnosed with the developmental disorder, a jump from the previous estimate of 1 in 54 children, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report found.

But a second study offered more heartening news: After look...

Quitting smoking is especially important during pregnancy, and now a new study suggests that when it comes to kicking the habit, cash may be just the incentive some women need.

The study results suggest progressive financial rewards for smoking abstinence "could be implemented in the routine health care of pregnant smokers," the French researchers said. Dr. Ivan Berlin of Hôpital Pitié-...

Parents who want to read to their toddlers and give them a developmental boost ought to pick up a traditional paper book rather than an e-book on a tablet, a new study reports.

Toddlers are more likely to interact with their parents when they're sharing a paper children's book rather than a tablet, University of Michigan researchers found.

Parents also tended to talk more to their c...

The misconception that girls are less interested than boys in computer science and engineering begins at a young age in the United States.

And it's one reason for the gender gap in those career fields, according to a new study.

In surveys of more than 2,200 U.S. children and teens in grades 1 through 12, researchers found that half -- 51% -- believed girls are less...

As American families sit down to celebrate Thanksgiving, a majority of parents say they want to raise grateful kids but they don't think they're succeeding.

Four out of five respondents to a new nationwide poll said children aren't as thankful as they should be, and half worry that they overindulge their own kids. Two in five also said they're sometimes embarrassed by how selfish their ch...

It's probably fair to say that most people know of the so-called "Freshman 15" -- the weight that college students are often said to gain when they're away from home for the first time.

But in recent decades, matters have gotten much worse in the United States. A new study using national data for people aged 18 to 25 found that while the prevalence of obesity was just over 6% in 1976 to 1...

Gene therapy might soon offer a new option for children with a rare genetic disorder that damages tissues throughout the body, researchers are reporting.

In a study of eight children with the condition, called Hurler syndrome, researchers found that the gene therapy was safe over two years. It also showed potential for beating the current standard treatment, stem cell transplantation.

Grandmothers can have a strong bond with the little children in their families -- and the connection even shows up on brain scans, researchers say.

The investigators embarked on a unique study, looking at the brains of older women -- not for signs of dysfunction, as with dementia, but to study their connections with their grandchildren.

"What really jumps out in the data is the acti...

Marijuana use in pregnancy may increase your child's risk for stress and anxiety, a new study suggests.

Although some moms-to-be use pot hoping to relieve morning sickness and anxiety, they should know it may cause genetic changes in the uterus that result in children becoming anxious, aggressive and hyperactive, researchers say.

"People are saying that cannabis is benign, and take ...

As many parents know, children can be notoriously picky eaters. In some cases, their chronically fearful approach towards food amounts to what is considered a serious psychiatric condition.

But a new survey of adults who were, and continue to be, finicky eaters suggests that rather than forcing a child to eat foods they don't like, parents will probably make more headway by embracing a no...

Sorry, parents, but giving your babies enriched formula won't improve their chances of doing well in school when they're in their teens, a new study shows.

The research was prompted by claims that enriched formula promotes brain development.

To learn more, researchers analyzed data from seven randomized trials of nutritionally modified infant formula conducted at five British hospit...

Feeding eggs to infants could reduce their risk of egg allergy later on, new research suggests.

For the study, researchers at the University at Buffalo in New York, analyzed U.S. government data from more than 2,200 parents who were surveyed about their children's eating habits and food allergies from birth to 6 years of age.

"We found that children who hadn't had egg introduced by ...