The great allowance debate roars on, and may have moved to a whole new level with a personal-finance scholar’s recent assertion that a “regular, unconditional allowance may be akin to cruelty to children.”

As a teaching tool, allowance isn’t just ineffective — it’s detrimental. So says Lewis Mandell, professor emeritus of finance and managerial economics at SUNY Buffalo.

Mandell is a pioneer in the field of financial education, and for a couple of years he has been questioning the educational benefits of kids receiving a regular allowance...

Being exposed to arguments between parents is associated with the way babies’ brains process emotional tone of voice, according to a new study to be published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

The study, conducted by graduate student Alice Graham with her advisors Phil Fisher and Jennifer Pfeifer of the University of Oregon, found that infants respond to angry tone of voice, even when they’re asleep.

Babies’ brains are highly plastic, allowing them to develop in response to the environments and encounters they experience...

While mood swings, anxiety and irritability are all normal emotions to have, they can be difficult to deal with. Here are five ways to help manage your moods:

Take control of an existing issue

If you’re prone to anxiousness or have a pre-existing mood disorder, your emotional lows can be even lower. Work with a psychiatrist who specializes in prenatal mental health to get treatment that is safe for you and your baby...

Two children with an aggressive form of childhood leukemia had a complete remission of their disease — showing no evidence of cancer cells in their bodies — after treatment with a novel cell therapy that reprogrammed their immune cells to rapidly multiply and destroy leukemia cells.

A research team from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania published the case report of two pediatric patients Online First today in The New England Journal of Medicine. It will appear in the April 18 print issue.

One of the patients, 7-year-old Emily Whitehead, was featured in...

Physically active children may be at lower risk for fractures when they grow older, according to a new study from Sweden. The findings add to evidence that regular daily exercise can improve children’s health now and in the future, the researchers said.

«Exercise interventions in childhood may be associated with lower fracture risks as people age, due to the increase in peak bone mass that occurs in growing children who perform regular physical activity,» the study’s lead author, Dr. Bjorn Rosengren, of Skane University Hospital in Malmo, said in a news release.

The study involved more than 2,...

Flavoured milk in a glass or cup is a good way of maximising the nutrition benefits of milk.

An Australian study has found that children who drink flavoured milk are nearly twice as likely to meet their daily calcium targets as exclusively plain milk drinkers, and that children who drink from a cup or a glass consumed twice as much milk as those who only have it with cereal or other foods.

The study, published recently by dietitians in the international peer-reviewed publicationNutrition Research, found that 31% of Australian children do not drink milk and only consume it via other foods, such...

Stress in mothers before and during pregnancy may boost the risk of congenital heart defects in their children, more new evidence suggests. But the findings aren’t conclusive, and the effect — if it exists — appears to be small.

Still, «there are several studies now that show an association,» said Dr. Edward McCabe, senior vice president and medical director of the March of Dimes, who is familiar with the results of the large new study. «It suggests there needs to be continued investigation of this.»

McCabe said he’s not aware of any other research linking stress in mothers to a specific kind ...

“Guidelines could be overstating the importance of taking vitamin D supplements during pregnancy,” The Independent has reported.

The newspaper reports on a large UK study that appears to contradict advice that vitamin D supplements in pregnancy can help strengthen babies’ bones.

Researchers assessed the link between maternal vitamin D levels and the mineral content of their child’s bones by measuring expectant mums’ vitamin D levels. They later measured the bone mineral content of the resultant children at 9-10 years of age...

Health officials say the flu season is winding down, and it has killed 105 children — about the average toll.

The flu season started earlier than usual and ended up being moderately severe.

Roughly 100 children die in an average flu season. One exception was the swine flu pandemic of 2009-2010, when 348 children died.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the latest number Friday.

The CDC said 90 percent of the children who died had not been vaccinated. This year’s vaccine didn’t work very well in older people, but was considered effective in children.

Health officials say ...

Eating a healthy, balanced diet is the best way of getting the vitamins and minerals that your body needs to stay healthy. If you are planning to conceive a child or if you are already pregnant or breast-feeding, you need higher amounts of certain nutrients for both your health and the health of your baby. Prenatal vitamin and mineral supplements will help you get all the nutrients that you need during this important time in your life.

What Are Prenatal Vitamins?

Prenatal vitamins are nutritional supplements...