Peanuts, as with any food that’s at high risk of triggering a dangerous allergy — should be introduced slowly and methodically to rule out a possible reaction. Mild symptoms of an allergy include coughing, sneezing, rash or hives. More serious warning signs include lip swelling, vomiting, widespread hives, face or tongue swelling, difficulty breathing, wheezing…  read on >

Tiny e-cigarette devices that look like USB drives are making it tough for parents and educators to keep their kids from vaping. And these devices are producing a new generation of nicotine-addicted Americans, experts say. “The way these products are able to be used without any sort of detection from adults is very much consistent…  read on >

TUESDAY, April, 10, 2018The youngest victims of America’s addiction crisis are not the teenagers tempted by tobacco, pot and pills. Rather, they are tens of thousands of toddlers and preschoolers who are accidentally poisoned when they get into the drug stash of a parent or older sibling, claims a new report from the National Center…  read on >

Parents who read to their infants and toddlers may help them develop skills that pay big dividends when they start school, a new study suggests. Specifically, reading aloud and pretend play may offset disruptive behaviors — such as hyperactivity and aggression — and improve attention, researchers found. “When you read with your child, it’s really…  read on >

Memo to Mom and Dad: Rein in your screen time. That’s one of the things that kids say they’d like to tell their parents, according to a survey on families’ technology rules and expectations. To better understand the tug of war between parents and children over their electronic gadgets, researchers from the University of Michigan…  read on >

Young baseball pitchers are at risk for overuse injuries, but there are ways to reduce that risk, a sports medicine expert says. “Pitching year-round, inadequate rest between seasons and pitching in multiple leagues all have been linked to an increase in elbow and arm injuries,” said Dr. Eric Makhni. He’s a physician and surgeon at…  read on >

Growing up in a disadvantaged neighborhood may mean more visits to the emergency room, a new study suggests. When children came from areas of “low opportunity,” they were about one-third more likely to have been treated at an urgent care center or an emergency room than kids from areas with more opportunity. They were also…  read on >

A mismatch between a college student’s class schedule and natural body clock can cause a type of “jet lag” and worse grades, a new study reports. Night owls with morning classes suffer the most, researchers concluded after comparing class times and grades of nearly 15,000 students. “We found that the majority of students were being…  read on >

Cradle cap, medically called infantile seborrheic dermatitis, is a relatively harmless condition that leads to rough and scaly skin patches on a newborn’s scalp. The condition isn’t contagious and typically goes away without treatment. The website kidsHealth.org suggests visiting a doctor if: You are treating cradle cap for the first time. Your child has the…  read on >

Obesity can lead to liver disease in kids as young as 8 years old, a new study warns. The long-term study of 635 children in Massachusetts found that a bigger waist size at age 3 increases the odds that a child will have a marker for liver damage and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease by age…  read on >