After New York City made the streets near some of its schools safer, the number of children struck by cars each year dropped substantially, a new study shows.

Researchers found that the rate of child pedestrian injuries during «school travel» hours fell by 44 percent around schools where the city made traffic changes. The changes included installing more traffic lights and speed bumps, putting islands in the center of wide streets, and setting up digital signs that tell drivers how fast they are going.

Experts say the findings point to the success of the National Safe Routes to School program,...

Children with chronic health conditions are regularly treated with alternative therapies, according to a new Canadian study that suggests the use of so-called «complementary and alternative medicine» in pediatrics is on the rise. Many children in the study took multivitamins or minerals, while others tried treatments like massage, aromatherapy and chiropractic manipulation.

«The use of [alternative medicine] is always going to be much higher in those kids who have a specific condition, particularly one not well-treated with conventional medicine, because parents are always asking, ‘What can I ...

Parents of teen girls got alarming news from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week in a new report that showed that 1 in 3 high school girls reports drinking alcohol, 1 in 5 reports binge drinking, and 27 percent of high school senior girls say they’ve indulged in bingeing behavior.

However, amid all the somber statistics there’s some good news, especially for parents who want to protect their teens from the hazards of excessive alcohol consumption...

SCOFFING junk food three times a week may lead to asthma and eczema in kids, a study has revealed.

Scientists fear the high saturated fat levels lower children’s immune systems.

A research project involving more than 50 countries found that teenagers who ate food such as burgers three times a week or more were 39 per cent more likely to get severe asthma. Younger kids were 27 per cent more at risk.

Both were also more prone to the eye condition rhinoconjunctivitis. But three weekly portions of fruit and veg cut the risk by 14 per cent in the younger group and 11 per cent among the teens.

Res...

Children age 12 to 35 months who receive DTaP vaccine in their thigh muscle rather than their arm are around half as likely to be brought in for medical attention for an injection-site reaction. So says a new study of 1.4 million children at Group Health and seven other Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD) centers across the country, e-published on January 14 in Pediatrics.

«These local reactions are the most common side effect of vaccinations,» said study leader Lisa A. Jackson, MD, MPH, a senior investigator at Group Health Research Institute...

Could it be «Low T”?

By now, you’ve probably heard this line or seen a multitude of TV or newspaper ads for testosterone gel products. Drug makers have been tapping into this billion dollar market aimed at men over 40, which is when men may start to feel the signs of aging and decreased desire for sexual relations. The gel is easy to use. It’s applied once daily to the shoulders or upper arms. AndroGel can also be applied to the abdomen.

Testosterone is the body’s male hormone. It is primarily responsible for the normal growth and development of male sexual and reproductive organs...

A smartphone application that has potential to help children with autism communicate more effectively is now available for download.

Developed by Keith Allen, Ph.D., professor of pediatrics at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and a child psychologist at UNMC’s Munroe-Meyer Institute, the app uses evidence-based naturalistic teaching procedures to foster communication.

«We wanted to help parents do more to help their children learn basic communication skills...

Should one discipline one’s children by smacking them? This question has long been debated without reaching agreement. We could settle it by a controlled manipulative experiment: we’d assign England’s 47 counties at random to either of two sets: one set of 24 counties where parents are strictly forbidden to smack children; and another set of 23 where they are ordered to discipline kids by smacking. Thirty years later, psychologists could measure in which set of counties the resulting young adults are more creative, self-confident, law-abiding, prosperous, and happy.

Such a manipulative experim...

Washington is trying to help hundreds of American families whose dreams of adopting a child from Russia are in limbo after the passage of a controversial Russian law, a top US official said Tuesday.

Calling it “tragic” for the families and children involved, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said some 500 to 1,000 US families already had made progress in their adoption plans before the new ban came into force.

In many cases the families have met with the children they planned to offer a new home in the United States, and already bonded with them.

“We are continuing our conversat...

Hot off the presses, here’s a report from the Government Accountability Office on the state of children’s mental health care. It reveals some major problems.

«Most children whose emotions or behavior, as reported by their parent or guardian, indicated a potential need for a mental health service did not receive any services within the same year,» the GAO wrote.

The report comes after Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Rep. Rosa DeLauro (Conn.), and Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (Calif...