The Checkup Archive: Kids' health
Ranch dressing revisited
Ranch is often offered to children along with cut-up vegetables or baby carrots. Like the spoonful of sugar that makes the medicine go down, the ranch dip makes vegetables more palatable to kids who might otherwise shun them. But full-fat ranch is high in fat and calories, and reduced-fat versions are packed with sodium. Is it really such a great idea to induce kids to eat vegetables by loading those carrot sticks with such nutrition-unfriendly glop?
By
Jennifer LaRue Huget
| March 8, 2011; 7:00 AM ET |
Permalink |
Comments (15)
Categories:
Childhood obesity, Dietary Guidelines, Family Health, Kids' health, Nutrition and Fitness, Parenting, School Nutrition, Sodium
Save & Share:
New data on crib injuries
What hasn't been tallied until this study is the number of non-fatal, but often quite serious, injuries to babies who have been placed in cribs, playpens or bassinets. An average of 26 such injuries per day occurred during the time studied, most (66 percent) involving falls, usually from cribs (83 percent) and most commonly affecting the head or neck (40 percent).
By
Jennifer LaRue Huget
| February 16, 2011; 6:43 PM ET |
Permalink |
Comments (6)
Categories:
Family Health, Infant health, Kids' health, Motherhood, Parenting, Prevention, Sleep
Save & Share:
Study warns against energy drinks for kids, teens
A study in Monday's edition of the journal Pediatrics spells out everything you need to know about energy drinks, particularly the risks they pose to the young people who are most inclined to use them. Read it, and you'll never look at those drinks as benign products again.
By
Jennifer LaRue Huget
| February 15, 2011; 7:00 AM ET |
Permalink |
Comments (4)
Categories:
Cardiovascular Health, Dietary supplements, Family Health, Kids' health, Nutrition and Fitness, Sleep, Teens, heart failure
Save & Share:
On energy drinks, a voice of caution -- and reason
The thing I most appreciate about this JAMA editorial is its clear-headed presentation of information without an accompanying demand for government regulation. Its stance seems to be that the public (and the health professionals who advise the public) needs to be aware of the potential risks of energy drinks -- not that people shouldn't be allowed to enjoy energy drinks if they so choose. And there is, thankfully, no mention of an energy-drink tax.
By
Jennifer LaRue Huget
| February 10, 2011; 7:00 AM ET |
Permalink |
Comments (6)
Categories:
Alcohol and Drugs, FDA, Family Health, Kids' health, Parenting, Pregnancy, Teens
Save & Share:
Teen birth rate hits historic low
The long decline in teen births, which had stalled for two years, seems to be back on track, federal health officials announced Wednesday.
By
Rob Stein
| February 2, 2011; 11:30 AM ET |
Permalink |
Comments (18)
Categories:
Family Health, Kids' health, Motherhood, Parenting, Pregnancy, Reproductive Health, STDs, Sex, Teens, Women's Health
Save & Share:
Got milk? What kind?
I'm pretty sure that today's "Eat, Drink and Be Healthy" column about whether it's okay to drink whole milk (as opposed to a lower-fat or nonfat variety) will attract comments from people who believe that humans have no business drinking cow's milk in the first place. But for better or worse, most of us have grown up drinking milk, and mainstream nutrition experts maintain that cow's milk is an excellent source of nutrients that we humans need.
By
Jennifer LaRue Huget
| January 25, 2011; 7:00 AM ET |
Permalink |
Comments (20)
Categories:
Dietary Guidelines, Kids' health, Nutrition and Fitness, Parenting, Women's Health
Save & Share:
