Children should be at least 12 years old before they’re left home alone for four hours or more, a majority of U.S. social workers surveyed say. Also, social workers are more likely to consider it neglect if a child is injured while home alone. The email survey asked 485 members of the National Association of… read on >
Could America’s roads become safer in the future? Maybe. A new online survey involving just over 1,400 participants showed that a growing number of American teens are getting their driver’s license before age 18, which means more of them are learning to drive under supervised conditions. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety study released Oct.… read on >
While fewer straight teens suffer depression than did two decades ago, the same cannot be said for lesbian, gay and bisexual teens. For those teens, depression risk remains much higher than among their straight peers, new research shows, and it is not following a similar downward trend. Each year between 1999 and 2017, Massachusetts-based teens… read on >
Many U.S. parents are selective about their children’s play dates, with nearly one-quarter refusing invitations because they’re not comfortable leaving their child in the other parent’s care, a new survey finds. Their main concerns about play dates include children being unwatched, hearing inappropriate language, getting into medications and harmful substances, and getting injured, according to… read on >
There’s no trick to keeping kids safe this Halloween — it just takes some planning, the American Academy of Pediatrics says. Costumes should be bright, reflective and short enough to prevent tripping, entanglement or contact with flame. It’s a good idea to add reflective tape or striping to costumes and trick-or-treat bags for greater visibility.… read on >
For most babies, the two front teeth appear first, says the American Academy of Pediatrics. Though babies won’t develop teeth for months, it’s important for parents to know how to care for them. The academy mentions these additional facts: Most babies develop teeth between 6 and 12 months. Fluoride should be in your child’s toothpaste… read on >
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 16, 2019 Weight-loss surgery before pregnancy may lower obese women’s odds of having a baby with major birth defects, new research suggests. For the study, the researchers examined data on more than 33,000 births in Sweden between 2007 and 2014. Of these, nearly 3,000 children were born to mothers who had a type… read on >
Drinks marketed to children often contain loads of unhealthy sugars and sweeteners, and they come in packages that deliver too-large servings, a new report finds. None of 34 sweetened drinks aimed at the youth market meet nutrition recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), according to University of Connecticut researchers. “Sweetened drinks are about… read on >
Certain risk factors in childhood can identify those who are more likely to suffer severe obesity in adulthood, a new study finds. The research included more than 12,000 participants from different countries who were followed from childhood in the 1970s and 1980s into adulthood. In childhood, 82% of the participants had normal weight, 11% were… read on >
Men who use marijuana at least once a week are twice as likely to see their partner’s pregnancy end in miscarriage, compared to those who use no pot, new research suggests. Miscarriages related to frequent male pot use tended to occur within eight weeks of conception, which bolsters suspicions that marijuana use damages sperm in… read on >
