Get Healthy!

Telehealth is increasing in popularity in the United States, partly due to the pandemic. But some children with autism have difficulty sitting through these virtual appointments.

Yet those visits can be a helpful part of a child's ongoing medical care, and their convenience may help limit time away from work and school, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics' Healthy Children web...

Introducing bedtime routines very early in life can improve sleep habits in the toddler years, according to a new study.

Almost 500 new mothers were first surveyed when their infants were 3 months old. They were questioned again when the children were 12 months, 18 months and 24 months.

The mothers were asked about their child's sleep habits, including bedtime and wake time...

The notion of parents picking out genetically perfect babies may seem like science fiction, but bioethicists warn in a new report that some companies have already started to offer couples going through in vitro fertilization (IVF) the means to pick better embryos through polygenic scoring.

Polygenic scores are a "weighted average of the contributions of all of the genes we have informatio...

Want to hold a preschooler's interest in learning something new? Give them just enough information to make them want to know more, a new study suggests.

This creates the perfect mix of uncertainty and curiosity in children, said researchers from Rutgers University, in New Jersey.

"There is an infinite amount of information in the real world," said lead study author Jenny Wang, an as...

Is spanking good for parents? Is spanking good for kids? Is spanking good for anyone? No, no and no, according to a big new review of prior research.

"Zero studies found that physical punishment predicted better child behavior over time," said study co-author Elizabeth Gershoff, a professor of human development and family sciences at the University of Texas at Austin.

She and her t...

Good news for couples considering fertility treatments: Children born through assisted reproductive technology (ART) don't have an increased risk of cancer, researchers say.

In the new study, kids born through high-tech fertility treatments -- such as in vitro fertilization (IVF) and frozen embryo transfer (FET) -- were followed for 18 years on average.

The results should be "quite ...

Using a bit of sleight of hand, researchers were able to demonstrate that babies who were the most intrigued with magic tricks became the most curious toddlers.

The children's early delight in the unexpected could be a sign of their future thinking skills, the researchers said.

"Something about a baby's curiosity about magic tricks is predicting how curious they become as preschoole...

As babies and toddlers grow, parents may feel excited about their little one learning to crawl, walk or talk.

But these same milestones can also raise concerns when parents fear their child may not be developing normally. Nearly a quarter of parents -- 23% -- who participated in a new nationwide poll said they had worried that their child had developmental delays.

Most reached out t...

Being in a Spanish-speaking home doesn't hamper American kids' ability to learn English, new research shows.

The first-of-its-kind study included 126 U.S.-born 5-year-olds who were exposed to Spanish at home from birth, along with varying amounts of English.

Researchers found that the kids not only learn English reliably, their total language knowledge is greater to the degree that...

When a baby is born, the mother's body provides a pathway into the world, but the journey also exposes them to beneficial bacteria that live in and on their mom. But that critical exchange doesn't happen during a cesarean section delivery.

Now, researchers report that swabbing babies delivered via C-section with gauze that has been seeded with their mother's vaginal fluids delivers the sa...

The good news: Levels of lead in the air that Londoners breathe are far lower today than they were in the 1980s, when leaded gas was an automotive staple.

The bad news: Decades-old lead particles still pollute the city's air, a stubborn and potentially hazardous leftover of a now banned product. The findings might have implications for the health of city dwellers globally.

In the ...

Your earliest memories may stretch back to a younger age than previously thought, new research suggests.

The study found that people can recall back to an average age of 2½ years old, which is a year earlier than suggested by previous studies.

The findings from the 21-year study were recently published online in the journal Memory.

"When one's earliest memory occurs,...

Whether to share your bed with your infant at night has been the subject of heated debate: The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) advises against it, recommending room-sharing but not bed-sharing, while others promote the practice as part of an idea called attachment parenting.

Now, a new study finds bed-sharing did nothing to boost mother-infant bonding.

"I wanted to study this i...

Postpartum depression strikes fathers of premature babies more often than previously thought, and it can linger longer in fathers than in mothers, a new study finds.

The researchers screened for depression in 431 parents of premature infants in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and identified depression symptoms in 33% of mothers and 17% of fathers.

After the babies were brough...

When depression strikes teachers, they can suffer mightily, but a new study suggests their students' ability to learn might also be harmed.

Researchers found a correlation between teachers' depressive symptoms and math skills in early learners enrolled in Head Start programs. Head Start is a U.S. government program providing early education, nutrition, health and parent support for low-in...

In a finding that confirms what many suspect, a new study shows that teens who are overweight or obese may be more likely to develop type 2 diabetes or have a heart attack in their 30s and 40s.

These teens are also more likely to have other health issues down the road, regardless of whether they shed any excess weight during adulthood.

"Adolescence is an important time period to pr...

More teens in the United States are reporting their sexual identity as gay, lesbian or bisexual, nationwide surveys show.

Between 2015 and 2019, the percentage of 15- to 17-year-olds who said they identified as "non-heterosexual" rose from 8.3% to 11.7%, according to nationwide surveys by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"Although our analyses demonstrated that t...

Children may have an increased risk of obesity if their mothers were exposed to high levels of air pollution during pregnancy, researchers say.

In a new study, 123 Hispanic mother-infant pairs were enrolled in an ongoing trial in the Los Angeles region. Before pregnancy, about one-third of the mothers were normal weight, one-third were overweight and one-third were obese.

The resear...

The suicide attempt rate has leapt by as much as half among teenage girls during the coronavirus pandemic, a new government study shows.

Emergency room visits for suspected suicide attempts among girls between the ages of 12 and 17 increased by 26% during summer 2020 and by 50% during winter 2021, compared with the same periods in 2019, researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Contro...

ADHD medications might help lessen the risk of suicide in children with serious behavioral issues, a new study suggests.

Researchers found that medications like Ritalin and Adderall, commonly prescribed for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), were linked to a lower risk of suicidal behavior among 9- and 10-year-olds with substantial "externalizing" symptoms.

That includ...

Your teens' route to a healthy or unhealthy weight may be in their hands -- literally.

New research out of South Korea shows that teens who spend too much time on their smartphones are also more prone to eating habits that increase their odds for obesity.

One nutritionist who helps treat obesity in the young wasn't surprised by the findings.

"Spending hours on end on your phon...

Expectant mothers' high blood pressure heightens kids' risk of stroke later in life, a Swedish study finds.

"Our findings indicate that hypertensive disorders during pregnancy are associated with increased risks of stroke and potentially heart disease in offspring up to the age of 41 years," said study author Fen Yang, a doctoral student at Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.

The stu...

People aren't born understanding social norms, but kids do have a desire to fit in with the crowd from an early age, according to a new study.

Researchers from Duke University in Durham, N.C. found that when 3-year-olds were asked to behave in a certain way and did so, they weren't conforming just to obey an adult, but were going along with the group.

Kids begin to pick up on societ...

Is too much screen time turning kids off of books?

New research suggests that's so: Toddlers who regularly spent time on electronic devices -- including tablets, smartphones and TVs -- were less likely to read print books with their parents at age 3. That, in turn, translated to even more screen use by age 5.

The findings do not prove definitively that early exposure to electronic d...

New insight into why you don't remember your earliest years of life is provided in a new study.

"A fundamental mystery about human nature is that we remember almost nothing from birth through early childhood, yet we learn so much critical information during that time -- our first language, how to walk, objects and foods, and social bonds," said senior author Nick Turk-Browne, a professor ...

Virtual doctor visits for children grew this past year during the pandemic, but a new poll shows U.S. parents are divided on whether they will continue using this option in the future.

The C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health at the University of Michigan found that about one in five children had a virtual visit with their doctor for check-ups, minor illnesses...

Early screening for autism can speed up diagnosis and treatment, and now new research shows that pediatricians are more likely to act when parents express concerns.

According to pediatricians surveyed in the study, only 39% of toddlers who had failed a screening looking for autism signs were then referred to additional expert evaluation.

"The lack of referral follow-through was beca...

Contrary to misleading reports spread on social media, a new study finds the COVID-19 vaccine does no damage to the placenta in pregnancy.

In a study of placentas from patients who were vaccinated for COVID-19 during pregnancy, researchers found no evidence of any harm.

"The placenta is like the black box in an airplane. If something goes wrong with a pregnancy, we usually see chan...

Could there be a way to tell years in advance which girls are more likely to develop eating disorders?

New research from Denmark suggests that childhood body mass index (BMI) may offer important clues. BMI is an estimate of body fat based on height and weight.

The new research linked lower BMI as early as age 7 with a higher risk of anorexia, an eating disorder in which people sever...

Heart defects are often - but not always - detected at birth, so it's important to pay attention when a child gets dizzy, passes out or says her heart is "beeping."

These and other warning signs, such as an apparent change in fitness, shouldn't be overlooked, an expert says.

Evaluating a child who has these symptoms is important to ensure nothing is missed that could become li...

Air pollution isn't hard on the hearts of adults only, suggests a new analysis that found it can raise blood pressure in kids as young as 5.

Children experienced increases in blood pressure if they had short-term exposure to air polluted with coarser particles or long-term exposure to finer airborne particles, and that also happened with long-term exposure to nitrogen dioxide, an air poll...

Adults with autism report a broad range of sexuality -- being much more likely to identify as asexual, bisexual or homosexual than people without autism, a new study finds.

In a survey of nearly 2,400 adults, researchers found that those with autism were three to nine times more likely to identify as homosexual, asexual or "other."

Among men, those with autism were over three times ...

When the coronavirus pandemic hit, a number of services that people count on were put on hold -- unfortunately, this included therapeutic and educational services for those with autism, according to a new study.

To determine this impact, UCLA's Center for Autism Research and Treatment distributed a national survey between April 15 and May 1, 2020.

"Our first significant finding was...

Kids exposed to air pollution may be at risk for mental illness in early adulthood, a new study suggests.

Researchers found that young adults in Britain who were exposed to higher levels of traffic-related air pollutants during their childhood and teen years were prone to develop symptoms of mental illness later. Nitrogen oxides were a particular problem, the study authors reported.

Being born even slightly premature might still raise a child's risk of developmental problems, a new study finds.

Preemies often have developmental issues, but previous research has tended to focus on those born extremely preterm (22-26 weeks' gestation), so less is known about children born moderately and very preterm (27-34 weeks' gestation). Average full-term gestation time is 39-40 we...

The risk of mother-to-newborn transmission of COVID-19 is low, but the illness in pregnant women can trigger preterm birth, researchers say.

The new study looked at 255 babies born in Massachusetts last year to mothers with a recent positive test for COVID-19.

Only about 2% of the 88% of babies who were tested for COVID-19 had a positive result.

But worsening COVID-19 illness ...

Autism appears to develop differently in girls and boys, so the findings of research conducted mainly with boys might not apply to girls, a new study suggests.

Autism spectrum disorder is four times more common in boys, which may help explain why there's far less research about autism in girls.

"This new study provides us with a roadmap for understanding how to better match current ...

In news that should reassure many pregnant women, having an epidural during childbirth won't increase the child's risk of autism, researchers report.

The new findings refute a widely criticized 2020 study that said epidurals were associated with a 37% higher risk of autism.

Experts said that study didn't account for numerous socioeconomic, genetic and medical risk factors for autism...

A long-banned pesticide may be having health effects that ripple across generations, a new study suggests.

At issue is DDT, a once widely used pesticide that was banned in the United States in 1972. That ban, however, was not the end of the story.

DDT is a persistent organic pollutant, a group of chemicals that are slow to break down and linger in the environment for years. So ...

Are you the type to linger over a meal, or do you tend to eat quickly without giving it much thought?

New research confirms that you're better off going the slow route, because fast eaters tend to consume more and be more vulnerable to gaining weight and becoming obese. And it uncovers a new wrinkle: If you grew up with siblings, where you probably had to compete for whatever was on the t...

Show your baby your love, and you'll get a kinder, gentler adult child as your reward, a new study suggests.

More than 20 years ago, researchers in Israel began studying the impact on newborns of time spent in physical contact with their mothers.

The investigators followed these infants, born in the mid- to late-1990s, for two decades.

Now, their latest results -- based on n...

School-age children with autism may be faring better than commonly thought, with most "doing well" in at least some aspects of development, a new study suggests.

The study, of 272 children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), found that nearly 80% were doing well in at least one of five developmental areas by age 10. Nearly one-quarter were doing well in four of those areas.

The res...

Infants born by cesarean section initially have less diverse gut bacteria than those delivered vaginally, but they catch up within a few years, new research reveals.

The researchers also found that it takes a long time for these bacteria colonies -- known as the gut microbiome -- to mature.

"Our findings show that the gut microbiota is a dynamic organ, and future studies will have t...

Splashing in a pool. Hiking through fresh green forests. Making macaroni art. Stitching together a leather wallet. Knocking a kickball around.

It's nearly time for summer camp, and the experience is expected to be especially important for America's children because of the pandemic.

"We really feel like summer camps are a huge opportunity for kids to disconnect from screens that they...

Here's yet another reason to keep your teenager from spending countless hours online and on popular social media: New research suggests it increases cyberbullying, particularly among teen boys.

"There are some people who engage in cyberbullying online because of the anonymity and the fact that there's no retaliation," said lead investigator Amanda Giordano. She is an associate professor i...

It's critical for parents to maintain their children's vision checkups during the COVID-19 pandemic, an expert says.

"All children should have their eyes checked by their pediatrician at regular intervals, even if they don't have any symptoms," said Dr. Samantha Feldman, a pediatric ophthalmologist at the Krieger Eye Institute in Baltimore.

"Part of the reason that vision screening ...

Over half of high-risk children in the United States are not receiving behavioral health services critical to their mental, emotional and physical well-being, new research warns.

"It's a pretty simple and kind of widely agreed upon finding that there are a lot of at-risk kids, when you look at it in terms of adversities or symptoms, who aren't getting mental health services, behavioral he...

As little as half a cup of coffee each day might be enough to stunt the growth and birth weight of a baby in the womb, a new study claims.

Women who consumed an average 50 milligrams of caffeine per day -- equivalent to half a cup of coffee -- had infants that were 2.3 ounces lighter than babies born to women who didn't drink any caffeine, researchers report.

That amount is a fracti...

A new medication may offer hope to children with achondroplasia, a rare bone growth disorder that causes very short stature coupled with disproportionate limb and trunk size.

The experimental drug is called vosoritide. By tamping down overactive growth plate signaling that impedes bone growth, the drug seeks to offer affected children the possibility of greater height and improved proport...

There's a reason you may choose to talk in singsong tones and with exaggerated sounds when you're talking to babies -- they're more likely to listen.

New research shows that babies pay more attention to baby talk than to regular speech. The finding held in many languages, and even when the baby was bilingual.

"Crucially for parents, we found that development of learning and attenti...