Children's Health News & Features

Half of 2- to 5-year-olds are afraid of going to the doctor, according to a new survey. And some kids get so upset that 1 in 5 parents say they find it hard to concentrate on what the doctor or nurse is saying.

Decongestants should not be given to children younger than 6 because there's no evidence that they do any good, according to a new review published online Oct. 10 in the BMJ.

The condition, acute flaccid myelitis (AFM), was first identified in 2014, when there were 120 cases, NBC News reported.

A new survey has found that 74 percent of kids still receive unhealthy drinks or side items with their kids' meals when they eat fast food, despite many restaurants’ promises of more nutritious options for youngsters.

Short bursts of in-classroom activity can trim childhood obesity rates while helping elementary schools provide 30 minutes of daily exercise for students, researchers have found.

Babies whose parents used "eco-friendly" cleaning products had lower odds of excess weight by age 3, the findings showed.

A new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds that water accounts for almost half of kids' total beverage consumption.

The study found that the more "conversational turns" that occurred in a toddler's day, the better children performed on tests that measure IQ, language skills and thinking skills in middle school.

The study, of 54 teens conceived through assisted reproduction, found that eight -- or 15 percent -- had high blood pressure. That compared with just one case among 43 teenagers who were conceived naturally.

Boys born with undescended testes had 2.4 times the risk of adult testicular cancer compared to other boys, the University of Sydney researchers reported.

The previous advice from the American Academy of Pediatrics was to stop using a rear-facing seat when a child was 2 years old.

Pfizer Consumer Healthcare is recalling Children’s Advil Suspension in bubble gum flavor because of a potential for overdose.

It is the second time in as many months that the company has issued a recall over potential contamination. In July, it recalled four lots of teething liquids, lymph detox, and candida products after an FDA inspection found them to be contaminated with bacteria.

Recent years have brought a shift in focus for children's athletic participation from improving fitness, school performance and self-esteem, to maximizing playing time and scholarship potential, the study authors noted.

Play is such a crucial way for kids to develop social and mental skills, head off stress and build a healthy bond with parents, doctors should write a prescription for it, says the author of a new study from the nation’s largest pediatricians group.

As recently as 2016, a majority of doctors were not routinely discussing a newer bacterial meningitis vaccine with teenaged patients and their parents, a new study has found.

Researchers who analyzed survey data from teen drivers aged 14 and older in 35 states recently found that more than a third said they'd texted while driving at least once in the month before the survey. In 34 of the 35 states, text messaging by drivers under the age of 21 is illegal.

In a new study followed children from 4th grade through 5th grade, children with weak grips were over three times more likely to remain in poor health or to have declines in health than those with strong grips.

Three-year-old Byron Baxter has bones that break easily, sometimes with just a wave of his hand, his parents say. But he’s inspiring social media fans with his fighting spirit and cheerfulness in videos and pics his family posts online.

Moms who learned healthy nutrition strategies during their child’s first year had kids who were less likely to be overweight or obese, compared with children of mothers who were trained when the kids were between 3 and 5 years old, two new studies indicate.

Teenagers who exceed two hours daily of recreational screen time are nearly twice as likely to be overweight or obese, the review showed. Excess weight increases the risk of heart disease, diabetes and other health problems.

In 2013, an unvaccinated teen visited London and carried the measles virus home to New York City, according to a report the journal Pediatrics that traces the outbreak, the largest in the city since 1992. Fifty-eight people came down with the measles, out of more than 3,300 exposed contacts identified by public health officials.

Almost 9 out of 10 gluten-free foods aimed at children could be classified as having a poor nutritional value, a new study found.

A growing mound of scientific evidence has linked changes in children's hormone systems to chemicals used to preserve, package and enhance food. The changes can alter their normal development and increase their risk of childhood obesity, the new American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) policy statement argues.

Opioids Given Too Easily to Children, Study Finds By Dennis ThompsonHealthDay Reporter MONDAY, July 16, 2018 (HealthDay News) -- Many children are prescribed powerful opioid painkillers they don't really need, putting them and those around them at risk, a new study shows.More than one in 10 kids enrolled in Tennessee's Medicaid program received an opioid prescription each year between 1999 and 2014, even though they did not have a severe condition requiring powerful painkillers, the researchers found."Opioids are commonly prescribed," said lead researcher Dr. Cecilia Chung, an assistant professor with the Vanderbilt University Medical Center. "In a