Category: Child Health
The autistic brain is different. It comes with limitations, but it also has its strengths.
DOH launchers interactive tool to connect people to Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Nutrition Program
WIC provides monthly food benefits with an emphasis on healthy grocery items like milk, fruits, and vegetables. The program also assists with health screenings and referrals, nutritional education, and breast/chest-feeding support. WIC is for people who are pregnant, recently delivered a baby, who are breast/chest-feeding, and infants and children under 5 years old. Dads, grandparents, foster parents, or other guardians may also apply for WIC for their children.
Stay Ahead of the Class: Ways to Get Your Family Caught Up on Vaccinations Before the New School Year Starts
Now’s the perfect time to make sure your child has the vaccinations they’ll need to start the new year without a hitch. Not only are vaccines required for school and childcare, they’re also one of the best tools you’ve got to help your child stay healthy and thrive, this year and beyond.
Obesity in children is rising dramatically, and it comes with major – and sometimes lifelong – health consequences
Without intervention, many obese adolescents will remain obese as adults. Even before adulthood, some children will have serious health problems beginning in their preteen years.
Millions of Kids Could Lose Health Coverage as States Purge Medicaid Rolls
Now that the COVID-19 public health emergency is ending, states are once again free to verify that enrollees are still qualified and cancel their coverage if they’re not. Experts warn that states could sever as many as 15 million Americans, including 7 million children, from the health coverage they relied on through the pandemic.
Gun Deaths Drive Historic Spike in Child Mortality Rates
After decades of steady improvement, the death rate of America’s children and teens shot up between 2019 and 2021 — and COVID-19 wasn’t the reason.
Child Vaccination Rates, Already Down Because of COVID, Fall Again
Child vaccination rates dipped into dangerous territory during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, when schools were shuttered, and most doctors were only seeing emergency patients. But instead of recovering after schools reopened in 2021, those historically low rates worsened. Experts fear that the skepticism of science and distrust of government that flared up during the pandemic are contributing to the decrease.
US birth rates are at record lows – even though the number of kids most Americans say they want has held steady
Birth rates are falling in the U.S.and are now close to the lowest level in a century. Is this decline because, as some suggest, young people aren’t interested in having children? Or are people facing increasing barriers to becoming parents?
King County reports first child flu death of the 2022-2023 flu season
This death comes on top of a steep and unprecedented rise in illnesses and hospitalizations in King County and nationally among children for infections caused by multiple respiratory viruses.
Should autism be redefined?
The debate centres on whether this term is an appropriate way to highlight the high support needs of a subgroup of autistic people – or whether the term may be a step backwards for community understanding and acceptance.
Video gaming may be associated with better cognitive performance in children
Additional research necessary to parse potential benefits and harms of video games on the developing brain.
Most States Are Wary of Mandating COVID Shots for Kids
Many parents who have not gotten their children vaccinated say the absence of full FDA authorization is a factor, since it suggests that the vaccines have not been fully vetted.
New restrictions on abortion care will have psychological harms
Research shows most women who have an abortion feel they made the right decision. Over 95% of women in a 2020 study reported that abortion was the right decision when looking back over five years
Washington health officials issue updated back-to-school COVID guidance
While the guidance is specific to COVID-19 prevention, it can also help to reduce transmission of other common respiratory viruses such as influenza.
White children are especially likely to be overdiagnosed and overtreated for ADHD, according to a new study
Among elementary school children who had shown above-average academic achievement, 27% of white children versus 19% of nonwhite children were later diagnosed with ADHD. About 20% of white children versus 14% of nonwhite children were using ADHD medication.