Online Child Safety Laws Could Help or Hurt – 2 Pediatricians Explain What’s Likely to Work and What Isn’t
Image: Kids need to be protected online. The trick is figuring out how. Justin Lambert Creative/DigitalVision via Getty Images Society has a complicated relationship with adolescents. We want to protect them as children and yet launch them into adulthood. Adolescents face risks from testing out independence, navigating peer relationships, developing an identity and making mistakes […]
Owning Disability
By talking about their differences, children can self-advocate and build confidence Tommy O’Leary appreciates a good joke. Occasionally, when a curious kid asks about his prosthetic leg, he says a shark attacked him. To Tommy, the made-up version is more exciting than the real story. MaryKay O’Leary, Tommy’s mom, feels differently. She reminds him that […]
Drifting Away
If your child dislikes reading, vision convergence insufficiency could be to blame When a child dislikes reading, parents may brush it off, or they may think their child has attention issues or a learning disorder. But a vision problem called convergence insufficiency may be to blame. The condition, which can cause reading problems, eye strain, or headaches, […]
How to Respond to Toddler’s Tantrums
As Murphy’s Law would have it, children’s tantrums seem to happen at the most inconvenient times. Your toddler or independent-minded 3-year-old turns red, screams, stomps, and appears possessed when you’ve finally gotten everyone geared up for a family walk, or wrangled that video call you spent days coordinating with relatives to get everyone live at […]
Mayo Clinic Q&A: Check Daughter Regularly Because of Family History of Scoliosis
DEAR MAYO CLINIC: What causes scoliosis? Do genetics play a role? I was diagnosed with it as a teenager, and several of my cousins had it, too. Now I’m worried that my daughter, who’s 8, may be affected when she gets older. Should she be checked for scoliosis soon? ANSWER: The exact cause of scoliosis […]
New Treatment for Pediatric Patients with Type 2 Diabetes
Pediatric patients with type 2 diabetes have a new treatment option this year. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Victoza (liraglutide) injection for treatment of pediatric patients 10 years or older with type 2 diabetes. Victoza is the first non-insulin drug approved to treat type 2 diabetes in pediatric patients since metformin was […]
Does Your Child Really Need Supplements?
About a third of children and adolescents take dietary supplements. Parents should be cautious though, some physicians warn, because some supplements may cause adverse drug reactions or have cardiovascular effects, including heart arrhythmia. Although supplement usage has hovered around 30 percent in U.S. children ages 0 to 19, use of alternative medicines nearly doubled over […]
Managing the Highs and Lows
Families ride the roller-coaster of type 1 diabetes Managing type 1 diabetes is not easy — especially for kids. With the daily highs and lows of blood sugar and insulin dosing, kids and their parents can feel like they’re riding a roller-coaster. Throw teen diets, growing bodies, hormones, sports and school into the mix and […]
Going Higher
Blood pressure problems among kids are rising High blood pressure is common in adults, and it’s also an increasing concern in children, in part due to rising obesity rates. An estimated 3.5 percent of kids and teens in the U.S. have chronic high blood pressure, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). High blood pressure, […]
Peanut Free Nation
The rise of food allergies and what researchers are doing to prevent them When I was in grade school, there was no “peanut-free” table. Peanut butter sandwiches were traded freely for chocolate milk and potato chips. Birthdays meant cupcakes in the classroom, with little thought as to whether they were made in a peanut-free facility. […]
Mind the Gap
Innovative programs provide bridge between pediatric and adult care The teen years can be strewn with anxiety as kids ride the rocky road into adulthood. But teen angst takes on a new meaning when a major health issue is thrown into the mix. As kids grow into adolescents and young adults, their health needs change—especially […]
ABCs of Learning Disorders
Students’ issues can be hard to detect Cheri Easterwood first noticed one of her twin daughters struggling in kindergarten. Both girls received speech therapy through their Northwest Side Chicago Public School, but it became increasingly obvious to Easterwood that one was having a harder time than the other. “At first I blew it off as different kids […]
Almost Home Kids
Facility bridges the gap between hospital and home Mary*, 9 months old, with skeletal dysplasia and chronic respiratory failure, was getting ready to be discharged from Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, yet her family wasn’t quite prepared with the services and caregiver training they would need to take their daughter home. That’s where Almost Home Kids stepped in. The […]
Children Exposed to Pesticides Have Increased Risk of Blood Cancers, Study Says
Pesticides seem necessary to keep the home free from ants, cockroaches and other insects, but the toxic chemicals may do more harm than good. A recent study published in the journal Pediatrics reports that youngsters exposed to a chronic, low level of residential insecticides may have an increased risk of developing childhood blood cancers. Researchers […]
When Eating Isn’t Easy
Picky eating in kids may be associated with behavioral issues Many parents are familiar with children who are picky eaters. Their kids will only eat chicken nuggets day in and day out. Apples may be acceptable or an anathema, and green foods and mushy ones might be on their yucky list. Pediatricians often advise frustrated […]
Looking For Autism
By Claire McCarthy, M.D. Autism isn’t exactly something parents want to find in their child, so it’s understandable that parents might feel uneasy about looking for it. But looking for autism is important — and something that has become part of routine pediatric care. Currently, one out of every 68 children has been diagnosed with […]
The Kid’s Doctor: Teens and headaches seem to go together
By Sue Hubbard, M.D., www.kidsdr.com A recent study revealed that about 1 percent to 2 percent of adolescents have chronic daily headaches, defined as more than 15 headache days per month for greater than three months. When school begins, teens’ stress levels increase with each week of classes, and with that come more complaints of […]
Car Safety for Road-Warrior Parents
By Morgan Lord Whether you’re off on a road trip or running errands on crowded city streets, keep your child safe by having the correct car seat in your vehicle, buying safe car seat accessories and keeping your attention focused on the road. Having a car seat is the law—all 50 states require child safety […]
The Kid’s Doctor: New study finds striking link between infant weight gain and childhood obesity
By Sue Hubbard, M.D., www.kidsdr.com A new study out of Harvard University, published recently in Pediatrics, looks at infant weight gain and links to childhood obesity. This is an interesting study, as previous research had typically looked at weight alone as a predicator for future problems with obesity. In this study, the authors looked at […]
The Kid’s Doctor: Generic medication may not be best for all ADHD patients
By Sue Hubbard, M.D., www.kidsdr.com If your child takes medications for ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), you may be noticing that your insurance company is now denying coverage for these prescriptions, or is wanting to use a generic version of the medication your child is taking. It seems this is becoming more and more prevalent […]
The Kid’s Doctor: Remember that fever is your child’s friend
By Sue Hubbard, M.D., www.kidsdr.com Every year, during the fall and winter “sick season,” I see 20-30 patients a day with a fever, and every parent anguishes over why this has happened. Fever is one of the most common symptoms among children. Younger children run fevers quite frequently when they’re sick. As I’ve discussed before, […]
Restless Children
Many kids find sleep elusive, due in part to an ADHD misdiagnosis By Nancy Maes Youngsters of all ages need a good night’s sleep, but for some, that good night is elusive. In fact, it is estimated that more than two million children today have some type of sleep disorder. It takes some detective work […]
Being Cared For
Above photo: Daniel Johnson, MD, Comer Children’s Hospital at The University of Chicago Medicine Chicago boasts several nationally leading pediatric hospitals thanks to a holistic approach to healing By Rhonda Alexander Everyone needs healthcare, and for children—especially those with acute or chronic illnesses—reliable, quality holistic healthcare can mean the difference between simply managing […]
Injuries of the Overused
By specializing in a single sport year-round, young athletes are at risk for injuryBy Eve Becker The three-sport athlete—someone who played soccer in fall, basketball in winter and baseball in spring—used to be the star of youth sports. But with the proliferation of club sports and the push for sports specialization at an early age, […]
Doctor’s Orders
Vaccinations don’t cause autism, they save lives By Dr. Gena Vennikandam For a lot of kids, a trip to the doctor is a dreaded experience that quickly turns mom or dad into a reviled villain. Only the meanest of parents would subject their child to the evil doctors wielding their torturous needles. At least, that’s […]
