Parenting/Kids News Headlines

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — When the time came to vaccinate her 4-year-old daughter, Yelena Hlushko hesitated, spooked by widespread fears in Ukraine about vaccines and by a boil her older child developed after an immunization shot. Eventually she decided to follow the government's recommendation — only to find her local health …

Something as Old as Mankind Itself Is Helping to Keep Preemies Alive

By Genevra Pittman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - There is no clear evidence that osteopathic manipulation helps treat kids and teenagers with a range of ailments from asthma to ear infections, according to a new review of the literature. Researchers found 17 studies that compared children who did and didn't receive osteopathic …

A Boston hospital is starting the world's first hand transplant program for children, and doctors say it won't be long until face transplants and other radical operations to improve appearance and quality of life are offered to kids, too.

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's Congress will discuss legislation next week that would prohibit bottle feeding of infants to try to encourage breast feeding and reduce the use of baby formula, said a lawmaker of the ruling Socialist Party. Legislator Odalis Monzon said the proposal would "prohibit all types of baby bottles" …

By Belinda Goldsmith LONDON (Reuters) - Speculation about baby names, hair colour and hypnosis swirled around the Duchess of Cambridge on Thursday during her last solo public appearance before she gives birth to a royal heir. British glossy magazine Grazia reported the duchess has considered using hypno-birth for a delivery …

By Belinda Goldsmith LONDON (Reuters) - Speculation about baby names, hair color and hypnosis swirled around Britain's Duchess of Cambridge on Thursday during her last solo public appearance before she gives birth to a royal heir. British glossy magazine Grazia reported the duchess has considered using hypno-birth for a …

By Kathryn Doyle NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Programs designed to prevent childhood obesity in the home don't affect kids' weight a year or more down the line, according to a review of the evidence. But that conclusion comes from only a small number of available studies on the programs, and doesn't prove that such studies …

By Genevra Pittman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A one-hour educational session followed by personalized feedback helped pediatricians more closely align their antibiotic prescribing habits with national guidelines, in a new study. Researchers found fewer doctors in the program prescribed a drug that could increase the risk …

By Genevra Pittman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - After years on the rise, the number of CT scans performed on kids every year seems to have started falling, according to a new study. However, researchers found that U.S. children still have about 4 million head, chest, stomach or spine CT tests every year - which they believe …

By Julie Steenhuysen CHICAGO (Reuters) - A U.S. group that sets policy for organ transplants voted on Monday to give some children access to adult organs after the parents of two children successfully sued to add them to the adult list for lung transplants. The cases, both in Pennsylvania, have touched off a debate in the …

By Genevra Pittman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Young people may take longer to recover after their second or third concussion, a new study suggests. Researchers typically believe the average athlete needs up to two weeks to stop having symptoms - such as headaches and memory problems - after a concussion. But in the new …

By Emily Le Coz JACKSON, Mississippi (Reuters) - Mississippi will require doctors to collect umbilical cord blood from babies born to some young mothers, under a new law intended to identify statutory rapists and reduce the state's rate of teenage pregnancy, the highest in the country. The measure, which takes effect on …

By Genevra Pittman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Despite some evidence it might be beneficial for adults, eating flaxseed every day didn't help children with high cholesterol get their numbers down, in a small new study. Researchers asked kids to eat muffins and bread with extra flaxseed and found there was no change in their …

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Islamic extremist rebels are fighting a campaign in Somalia to administer a polio vaccine, charging that it contains the virus that causes AIDS or could make children sterile, a battle of words that is frustrating health workers.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — They come in brightly colored, shiny packages in fun flavors like chocolate, blueberry, gummy bear, wine and pink berry. But the American Cancer Society says the little cigars and packages of loose tobacco are aimed at kids and are just as deadly as cigarettes.

By Genevra Pittman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Kids who are short for their age but otherwise healthy probably don't need extensive blood tests to determine if a disease is stunting their growth, researchers said in a new study. Of 235 short kids without symptoms who were referred for specialty testing, just three had a …

By Kerry Grens NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Offering a dip alongside vegetables encourages kids to eat veggies they might normally push aside, according to a new study. "It is a good idea to try to pair less preferred foods, like vegetables, particularly those that your child doesn't like so much, with something to give …

By Kathryn Doyle NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - More evidence that Americans are heeding calls to cut back on sugary drinks appears in a report from researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In 2010, U.S. children got an average of 68 fewer calories per day from sugary drinks than in 2000, according …

By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) - Chinese scientists have developed the first vaccine to protect children against a virus called enterovirus 71, or EV71, that causes the common and sometimes deadly hand, foot and mouth disease. The new inactivated EV71 vaccine, made by Beijing Vigoo Biological, was developed for use in …

By Genevra Pittman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Fourteen kids were treated at one Colorado emergency room for accidentally ingesting marijuana after the drug became legal for medical use there in late 2009, according to a new study. In comparison, no children seen for a possible accidental poisoning had pot in their system …

CHICAGO (AP) — Increased use of medical marijuana may lead to more young children getting sick from accidentally eating food made with the drug, a Colorado study suggests.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Obese mothers tend to have kids who become obese. Now provocative research suggests weight-loss surgery may help break that unhealthy cycle in an unexpected way — by affecting how their children's genes behave.