Health, Parenting | featured news

When 3-year-old Shepherd Strauss got sick, his parents turned to doctors and drugs. But they couldn’t anticipate that what would help him feel better didn’t come with a prescription.

A quick-thinking mother saved her son’s life when she Googled his ailments, the Shropshire Star reported. Kian Jones, 12, of Shrewsbury, U.K., had persistent headaches, poor vision and vomiting, which his mother, Sabina, typed into Google after the child was initially misdiagnosed.

Kids who have TVs in their bedrooms are twice as likely to be fat and nearly three times as likely to be at risk for heart disease and diabetes as those who don’t, according to a new study that renews concerns about health and screen time.

As more states legalize marijuana for medical use, one of the lesser-known repercussions is that sick children now often have access to it too, and the responsibility for deciding when it’s appropriate, the dosage and the monitoring is usually left solely with a parent.

Pediatricians treating teenaged girls should consider writing just-in-case prescriptions for the morning-after pill, the the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) said on Monday. It’s the second recommendation in a week from a major doctor’s group that would make contraception more widely available to women. Last week, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommended making all birth control pills available over the counter.

Babies born after in vitro fertilization have an increased risk of birth defects, the latest study shows.

Kids with higher levels of the widely used substance BPA in their bodies are more likely to be obese, according to the first large-scale, nationally representative study to link an environmental chemical with obesity in children and teens.

Finally, there’s good news on the child obesity front. A new study published online today suggests that inexpensive, community-based obesity intervention programs can work very well for kids who struggle with weight issues.

American children eat as much salt as adults - about 1,000 milligrams too much, or the same amount as in just one Big Mac. Extra salt is linked with higher blood pressure, even in kids, but government research says those who are overweight and obese may be most vulnerable to its effects....

Colton and Abbygail are among three children successfully treated for their immune deficiency during an experiment detailed in Tuesday’s issue of the journal Blood. Ainslie says she never doubted her decision to have Abbygail, despite the risks.