College athletes who suffer a concussion may take as long as a month to recover, not the two weeks considered normal, new research finds. “Normal return-to-play time was previously set at 14 days — meaning 50% of people recovered in that time,” said lead researcher Steve Broglio. He is director of the University of Michigan…  read on >  read on >

Most parents want their children to live carefree lives, so a diagnosis of childhood cancer is devastating. Fortunately, pediatric cancers are rare. Yet it doesn’t hurt to be watchful for the warning signs, suggest experts in childhood cancer from Penn State Health. The best screening most parents can do is to stay on track with…  read on >  read on >

Parents of a child with autism might wonder if a pet cat would be a good fit for the family. Now, research suggests both children with autism and cats benefit when a feline joins the household. Gretchen Carlisle, a research scientist at the Missouri University Research Center for Human-Animal Interaction, in Columbia, Mo., and her…  read on >  read on >

Parents: You may think temporary tattoos are harmless for children. But kids who decorate themselves with these transfer tattoos may be disrupting the skin’s protective barrier, Spanish researchers report. They looked at the effects on skin of permanent tattoos and temporary transfers. The surprising takeaway: Temporary transfer tattoos do more damage. More moisture was lost…  read on >  read on >

New glasses are helping kids in Baltimore see more success in school. A three-year clinical study found that students who got new eyeglasses through a school-based program had higher reading and math test scores. “The glasses offered the biggest benefit to the very kids who needed it the most – the ones who were really…  read on >  read on >

President Joe Biden is slated to announce an ambitious six-point plan to double down on a resurgent COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, including more pressure on government, business and schools to implement vaccine mandates, news sources report. A speech outlining the new plan is scheduled for 5 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, The New York…  read on >  read on >