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The Cries of a Newborn May Reflect Parents’ Language

We all know how exciting it is to hear our baby’s first words, but they could come a little sooner than we think. The cries of an infant, as young as three days old, already show similarity to the language their parents speak, according to the new study that compared the cries of German-born and French-born children.

Antipsychotic Drugs Can Cause Rapid Weight Gain in Kids

Obesity is still a big problem within our country, and now one of the medications prescribed for children could be a factor in their weight gain. Up to one-third of adolescents and children who took some of the common antipsychotic drugs for the first time became overweight or obese in as little as 11 weeks, which in turn raised their risk for diabetes and heart disease.

National Analysis Reveals Vitamin D Deficiency in 20% of American Children

At least one in five American children between the ages of 1 and 11 are at risk for a variety of health issues by not getting a sufficient amount of vitamin D. The findings of the first national analysis to evaluate vitamin D levels among children in this age group were recently published online in the journal Pediatrics.

Higher Mercury Levels Not Found in Children with Autism

Despite speculation that children that suffer from autism have higher mercury levels in their blood, it has recently been discovered that children with autism have mercury levels that are very similar to those of non-autistic children, suggesting that the mysterious disorder is cause by a range of factors rather than just “a single smoking gun,” said researchers.

Vaccines and Acetaminophen: Should They Be Given Together?

Over the years, immunization has saved millions of lives and prevented hundreds of millions of cases of disease. Today in the United States, children routinely get vaccines that protect them from 14 diseases, all of which, at one time or another, were a serious threat to our country’s children. For instance, diphtheria used to be one of the most dreaded of childhood diseases, killing more than 10,000 Americans each year, but today’s doctors are likely to never see a single case.

Prevalence of Autism Estimated at More Than 1% of All Children

Last week, President Obama paid a visit to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) where he announced $5 billion in grants to fund new explorations of long-time biomedical research targets from cancer to heart disease. The grants also include the largest-ever investment in an area that the President has made a focus from the first days of his presidency—autism research. Altogether, the federal government will provide nearly twice as much funding for autism research in the upcoming fiscal year as they did just three years ago.

Side Effects of Medications Can Be Dangerous to Children

Although side effects of commonly used medications are often mild and temporary, many can be harmful to children. Over the period of a decade, medication side effects alone sent over half a million American children to outpatient clinics and emergency rooms annually.

Spanking Linked to Lower IQ Scores

The issue of whether or not parents should spank their children has been widely debated and continues to provoke strong feelings on both sides. Advocates of spanking view it as an effective form of discipline and maintain that reasonable use of the practice is not harmful to children. Opponents argue that hitting children is not an effective deterrent for bad behavior, but a practice that plants the seeds for later violent behavior.

New Inventions to Keep Your Child Healthy During Flu/Cold Season

It’s that time again, school days are here and that means the cold and flu season will be following soon after. We already know how to take care of our school-aged children with oscillococcinum, the natural remedy against the flu as well as precautions against the H1N1 virus, but as a prevention tactics maybe we should be looking in the local patent office.

Underage Drinking May Lead to Alcohol Dependency

In today’s society, alcoholism is a major problem and the younger you start drinking the more problems it can lead to as you age. Many people who grew up in a place in time when you could legally purchase alcohol before the age of 21 are considered to be much more likely than others to be alcoholics or have a drug problem, even well in to their adult years.