News and Features Related to Health & Parenting

Nick Cassavetes' Very Personal Link to His New Movie

Nick Cassavetes knows a thing or two about parenting a sick child. His daughter Sasha was born with congenital heart disease. Now 21 and healthy, she endured multiple surgeries and hospital stays to treat her condition. So when Warner Bros. came to the director, writer, and former actor with a draft
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Is Your Boy a Bully? Why He Needs Help -- and Fast

Conventional wisdom holds that boy bullies are cruel, friendless boys, lacking in social skills. But often the opposite is true. Take the case of "Johnny," a seventh grader who lived in a small town just outside Chicago. His father was a doctor; his mother was involved in local politics. Johnny hims
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Teen Fatalism Linked to Risky Behavior

June 29, 2009 -- New research challenges the widely held belief that teens underestimate the dangers associated with risky behaviors because they think they are invincible. The study found that adolescents who engaged in risky behaviors such as drug use, fighting, and unsafe sex were more likely to
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5 Adoption Dos

In the fall of 2007, award-winning actress and the star of the hit TV series Weeds Mary-Louise Parker adopted her daughter, Aberash, who’s now 3, from Ethiopia. “Ash” joined big brother William, now 5, who is Parker’s son with actor Billy Crudup. If you are thinking about adopting a child, Parker’s
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Look Out! Computers Have Unseen Risks

June 10, 2009 -- Gazing at the computer screen may hurt your eyes, but it's what people don't see when they're near the machines that cause the most injuries, new research indicates. Apparently, people don't see monitors, wires, and related gadgets, because there's been more than a sevenfold increas
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Teen Peer Pressure: Raising a Peer Pressure-Proof Child

Remember when your teenager took her first steps as a toddler? You hovered behind her -- back bent, arms spread -- prepared to catch her should she fall. Much as you might like, you can't shadow your adolescent as you did back then, being there to break her fall when she missteps. But, say experts,
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5 Teen Behavior Problems: A Troubleshooting Guide

To be fair, no one has ever pretended that parenting a teenager was going to be easy. Still, until your own kids reach that stage, it's tempting to believe your family will be immune to teen behavior problems. No, you tell yourself, your teenager will never talk back, stay out too late or pierce her
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Sound the Alarm: It’s Potty Time

June 10, 2009 -- Finally, a ring tone aimed at the toddler set. A new potty training device, which rings when a child wets his diaper, significantly improved training results during a study conducted at Flemish day cares. A total of 39 children in day-care facilities participated in the study, which
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Bad Marriages Take a Toll on Kids

June 5, 2009 -- Kids earn better grades in school when they live with both biological parents -- unless mom and dad spend their days squabbling. The children of tense, bickering parents are more likely to binge drink than teenagers from calmer homes, and also tend to smoke more and are more likely t
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TV Reduces Young Kids' Language Skills

June 3, 2009 -- Having a television on within earshot of an infant or young child may interfere with their language development by stifling parent-child interaction and conversation. A new study shows that for every hour spent within earshot of a television, fewer words are spoken by parents to thei
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