Is your family struggling with overweight or obesity? To lose weight, take a team approach. Studies show that when overweight parents shed pounds, so do their overweight kids. Parents hold the keys to positive behaviors that encourage a healthy weight, from doing the food shopping and cooking to getting kids involved in sports and other… read on >
All Mommy:
If Your Mom Was Big on Dieting, Your Kids May Pay the Price
If your parents pushed you to diet as a teen, chances are you will do the same to your own children. New research suggests that when parents focus on a teen’s diet, it creates an unhealthy cycle that can harm generations to come. “Adolescents who received encouragement to diet from their parents were more likely… read on >
Affection Trumps Aggression in Kids
Is your toddler always kicking and screaming? There’s a reason for much of it. Physical aggression, like pushing and hitting, is part of the learning process. This typically lasts from about one-and-a-half to three-and-a-half years of age, until children learn how to ask for a toy, for instance, rather than just grab it from another… read on >
Kids Who Vape Face Toxin Dangers, Study Finds
Teenagers who use e-cigarettes expose themselves to cancer-causing toxins, particularly if they choose fruit-flavored products, a new study reports. Urine tests revealed elevated levels of five different toxins in the bodies of teens who use e-cigarettes (often called vaping). And all of the toxins are known or suspected carcinogens, said lead researcher Dr. Mark Rubenstein,… read on >
More U.S. Kids Landing in ICU From Opioids
A growing number of U.S. kids are ending up in the intensive care unit after overdosing on prescription painkillers or other opioids, a new study finds. Researchers found that between 2004 and 2015, the number of children and teens admitted to a pediatric intensive care unit for an opioid overdose nearly doubled. That included teenagers… read on >
Social Media Friends Can Bruise Your Body Image
Seeing too many social media posts from friends about their fitness activity can harm your body image, a new study contends. “When people received more posts about exercise, it made them more concerned about their weight — more self-conscious — and that’s not a good thing,” said study co-author Stephen Rains. He’s a professor of… read on >
What Younger Women Need to Know About Heart Disease
Heart disease used to be thought of as a man’s issue, but women are unfortunately catching up. And though it’s still also thought of as an older person’s disease, lifestyle factors in your younger years can make you more susceptible. So it’s never too soon to protect heart health. Young women in particular aren’t always… read on >
Boosting Steroid Dose May Not Reduce Kids’ Asthma Flare-Ups
Temporarily boosting the dose of inhaled steroids may not do much to reduce the frequency of severe asthma flare-ups in children, according to two new studies. Short-term increases in inhaled steroids might even be tied to slightly slowed growth in kids, one of the studies suggested. Asthma flare-ups in children are common and many doctors… read on >
Nasty Flu Season Shows More Signs of Slowing
The brutal flu season continues to ease its grip on the United States, with the latest government data showing that doctor visits are still dropping and less severe strains of the flu are starting to account for more infections. But hospitalizations for flu are still rising, as are pediatric deaths. For the third week in… read on >
For Female Soldiers, Deployment May Up Risk for Premature Birth
American soldiers who have babies after a recent deployment are at increased risk of preterm birth, a new study suggests. The finding comes from the analysis of data on nearly 12,900 births to U.S. soldiers from 2011 to 2014. Overall, just over 6 percent of the births were premature — three or more weeks early.… read on >