Dr. Greene’s Blog

Dr. Alan Greene

Dr. Greene is a practicing physician, author, national and international TEDx speaker, and global health advocate. He is a graduate of Princeton University and University of California San Francisco.

    January 7, 1999
    Helping Kids Eat Smart

    Encourage your children’s teachers to teach the class at least a little about good nutrition at the beginning of each year. If eating well is confirmed by this outside authority and is tied in w…

    Teen and school age siblings baking. Peer pressure nutrition
    January 7, 1999
    Healthy Eating, Part IV – Motivators for school age children and adolescents

    During school years, the phenomenon of peer pressure begins to become a very powerful force. What their peers are eating is far more important to them than healthy nutrition.…

    Two African American children eating. One school age, one preschool healthy foods.
    January 6, 1999
    Healthy Eating, Part III – The five greatest motivators for preschool children to eat healthy foods

    Are you struggling to get your preschool child to eat healthy foods? Here are Dr. Greene's five greatest motivators for getting preschool children to eat healthy foods.…

    Healthy Eating, Part II - What foods do children need?
    January 5, 1999
    Healthy Eating, Part II – What foods do children need? What foods should be avoided?

    When my son Kevin was about 3 years old, he spied a green pea. He picked it up between his fingers and rolled it over. It looked good! He then pushed the pea up his nose. Interesting. Vegetables are f…

    Good nutrition is vital to health. Image of bowls of fresh whole foods and a pot of tea.
    January 4, 1999
    Healthy Eating, Part I – How important is good nutrition?

      With all that we know about tobacco, how can people still smoke? Easy. They’re enticed by big business; they enjoy it; it’s cool; and it’s very, very habit forming. Now for th…

    Ownership and Sharing Rules
    December 21, 1998
    Ownership and Sharing Rules

    For my children, we have three sharing rules to help teach respect:…

    Guidelines for Antibiotic Use
    November 23, 1998
    Guidelines for Antibiotic Use

    Recognizing the urgent problem of antibiotic overuse, in 1998 the Centers for Disease Control and the Academy of Pediatrics have issued guidelines for when to use (and when not to use) antibiotics for…

    Cold Or Flu? How To Tell The Difference
    October 5, 1998
    Cold Or Flu? How To Tell The Difference

    Dr. Greene’s take on how to distinguish: cold or flu? The symptoms we get during a viral illness are often the body’s attempt to get rid of the virus and to minimize damage. Sneezing eject…

    Safe Bedding to Help Prevent SIDS
    August 3, 1998
    Safe Bedding to Help Prevent SIDS

    The following are the safe bedding recommendations put out by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and the National Institute of Child Health and Huma…

    Knowing When a Child Should be Picked up from Day Care
    June 16, 1998
    Knowing When a Child Should be Picked up from Day Care

    As a parent, when you get a call saying that you need to leave work to pick up a sick child, you are put in a tough spot. You don’t want to use your vacation to stay home with a miserable child …

    Colds, Allergies and Sinus Infections
    April 6, 1998
    Colds, Allergies and Sinus Infections

    Parents often ask me whether their children’s constantly runny noses are the result of allergies, sinus infections, or of one cold after another.…

    Hyperactivity and Inattention
    March 16, 1998
    Hyperactivity and Inattention

    We hear about the medical condition called Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADD or ADHD), and wonder if our children might be hyperactive. By age 4, about 40 percent of children act in a way …

    Guidelines for Easing the Transition from Crib to Bed
    February 10, 1998
    Guidelines for Easing the Transition from Crib to Bed

    She learns to pull herself to standing. Soon she is cruising ’round and ’round the crib, instead of going down for a nap. Then she begins to bounce up and down. Before long, she catapults …

    December 1, 1997
    Guidelines For Enjoying The Holidays with Kids

    Holidays with kids can be the most wonderful and the most exhausting time of the year. Here are Dr. Greene's keys to making this a magical time -- for the whole family.…

    Helping to Ease Baby Blues
    October 13, 1997
    Helping to Ease Baby Blues

    Dr. Greene’s tips for how to ease baby blues: Every new beginning is also an ending of what was before. Every ending is a beginning. Whenever a baby is born, the world will never be the same. Th…

    Guidelines for Bathing your Newborn
    September 29, 1997
    Guidelines for Bathing your Newborn

    Dr. Greene’s advice on bathing your newborn… Most of us have some sort of a picture collection from our childhood. There’s the wonderful shot of those tenuous first steps; the pictur…

    Girl falling asleep while studying. Does sleep deprivation cause ADHD like symptoms?
    February 2, 1997
    Sleep Deprivation and ADHD

    Research shows sleep deprivation causes difficulties with focused attention, irritability, and difficulty modulating impulses and emotions. The same symptoms can earn kids the diagnosis of ADHD.…

    A Parent’s Guide to Praise
    January 27, 1997
    A Parent’s Guide to Praise

    Taking pride in our own accomplishments or those of our children is a healthy thing. Requiring ourselves or our children to continually accomplish things is not healthy. As parents, we need to express…

    Its a New Year
    January 3, 1997
    It’s a New Year!

      It is always difficult for me to get used to writing a new year’s date. I get so comfortable with the old year’s date that I sometimes write it automatically. But writing a new date…

    The Children’s Immunization Schedule
    October 18, 1996
    The Children’s Immunization Schedule

    The scientifically based, well-studied, and widely accepted schedule for children's immunization has been established by The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). It is detailed in this…