For many children with asthma, coughing is an early warning sign of a flare-up, an expert says. Understanding asthma and knowing what to expect can help parents prevent or lessen the severity of asthma attacks, said Dr. Ronald Ferdman, a pediatric allergist-immunologist at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. He provided the following tips to help parents…  read on >

By fourth grade, girls in the United States read and write better than boys, a new study reveals. Australian researchers found this gender achievement gap appears in standardized tests and worsens over time. “The common thinking is that boys and girls in grade school start with the same cognitive ability, but this research suggests otherwise,”…  read on >

It’s every parent’s nightmare — diaper rash that causes itchy bumps, scaly skin and lots of discomfort for your baby. The Nemours Foundation says you can help prevent diaper rash by keeping the infant’s skin dry and clean. If your child develops diaper rash, Nemours suggests: Keep the skin dry as the rash heals. Increase…  read on >

More American women than ever are having twins, triplets, quadruplets and even quintuplets, and it’s not just because some are using fertility treatments, new research shows. Since the 1980s, the number of multiple births has jumped from roughly 20 sets per 1,000 live births to almost 35 sets per 1,000 live births, the study found.…  read on >

Many American teens are sleep-deprived, and parents blame their attachment to electronics, new survey results show. Researchers at the University of Michigan conducted a national poll of more than 1,000 parents with at least one child between 13 and 18 years old. “This poll suggests that sleep problems are common among teens and parents believe…  read on >

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) makes it difficult for a person — most often a child — to pay attention and stay focused. A child with ADHD can be a more impulsive, which can lead to issues with learning and maintaining friendships. If your child is diagnosed with ADHD, he or she may have difficulty organizing…  read on >

Schools are chock-full of loud and potentially destructive sounds, including crowded hallways, buses, band practices and sporting events. Over time, repeated exposure to these noisy environments can harm your child’s hearing, the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders says. To help protect your child’s hearing, the agency suggests: Send your child to school…  read on >

Despite decades of warnings about the hazards of baby walkers, thousands of toddlers still end up in hospital emergency rooms with walker-related injuries, new research shows. The study reported that more than 230,000 children younger than 15 months old were treated in emergency rooms between 1990 and 2014. More than 10,000 of those youngsters ended…  read on >

New research suggests there is no perfume a man loves more than the scent of a fertile woman. Researchers in Switzerland determined that women who are the “fittest” for reproduction have a distinctive scent that makes them particularly appealing to men. “Women with high estrogen and low progesterone levels are most attractive to men in…  read on >