Couch Potatoes & Screen Potatoes Unpeeled
    Couch Potatoes & Screen Potatoes Unpeeled

    There's good news and bad news. Dramatically good and dramatically bad. Duke University announced on May 28, 2003 the results of their 5-year randomized study on body fat. Two kinds of body fat accumu…

    Childhood Obesity and Quality of Life
    Childhood Obesity and Quality of Life

    We hear in the news that the percentage of American children who are obese has doubled in the last twenty years, and that the rate of increase continues to rise. Today about 1 in 7 children are obese …

    Organic Lunchbox Challenge
    Organic Lunchbox Challenge

    Dr. Greene on the Organic Lunchbox Challenge... Students I speak with observe that school food is often either unappetizing (overcooked cafeteria veggies) or unhealthy. Tasty junk food at school has b…

    Day Care and Colds -- Good News!
    Day Care and Colds — Good News!

    On average, kids in day care during the first three years of their lives get about twice as many colds as their peers during those years. But each time a child fights off a cold, she develops immunity…

    Deadly Fruit Gel Candies
    Deadly Fruit Gel Candies

    When we want to emphasize something in writing, we use bold, italics, underline, or end the sentence with an ! When the US Food and Drug Administration wants to emphasize something, they issue a secon…

    Dangerous Driveways

    Motor vehicle collisions kill more children in the United States than any illness. The August 2001 issue of Pediatrics reports that injuries that occur in and around driveways are a common, overlooked…

    Art: A Window to the Soul
    Art: A Window to the Soul

    Young children's drawings offer valuable clues as to what they are thinking and feeling. Often their artwork tells stories far more clearly than their words. Parents and professionals have long used l…

    Confusional Arousal
    Confusional Arousal

    A confusional arousal begins with the child moaning and moving about. It progresses quickly to the child crying out and thrashing wildly. The eyes may be open or closed, and perspiration is common. Th…

    Children with Asthma Miss Out
    Children with Asthma Miss Out

    We know what to do, but we are not doing it! Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the lungs. Inflammation can cause ongoing damage. Albuterol helps children breath better for the moment, but do…

    Does Your Child Really Have ADHD?
    Does Your Child Really Have ADHD?

    Rates of diagnosing ADHD in some school and medical settings are still 300% higher than in others, according to an article in the March 2001 electronic issue of Pediatrics. Some children are labeled a…

    Chicken Pox Vaccine
    Chicken Pox Vaccine

    No matter how much is known about a vaccine before it is licensed for routine use, after it has been used in millions of people it is possible to discover side effects that are too subtle or too rare …

    Diet Influences Asthma Risk
    Diet Influences Asthma Risk

    Kids' changing diets may be, in part, responsible for the worldwide increase in asthma. A study published in the September 2000 issue of Thorax looked at the demographics and skin test results of chil…

    Dangers of Parental Smoking
    Dangers of Parental Smoking

    Dr. Greene's take on parental smoking... (hint: don't do it!) A study in the August 2000 issue of the Archives of Disease in Childhood found that parents who smoke increase the risk of meningococcal m…

    Booster Seats
    Booster Seats: Still Needed after Age 4?

    The August 2000 electronic issue of Pediatrics contains a study that looked at how many kids age 4 to 9 years use booster seats in cars (only 27.7% -- only 10% by age 6). The authors asked the parents…

    Car Seat Safety
    Car Seat Safety

    Parents and children alike look forward to four years and forty pounds when they no longer have to hassle with car seats. Even though experts (including me) recommend not using regular seat belts unti…

    Is Your Child Unrestrained?
    Is Your Child Unrestrained?

    Most of us would now look with horror if we saw a car speeding down the highway with an unrestrained baby crawling about. Thankfully, infant car seats have become the standard. But what about 4-year-o…

    Fast Facts about Diabetes
    Fast Facts about Diabetes

    A fasting blood sugar at or above 126 mg/dL or a random blood sugar at or above 200 mg/dL is diagnostic of diabetes, according to the official American Diabetes Association definition. (more…)…

    Bruxism - Helping Children Who Grind Their Teeth At Night
    Bruxism – Helping Children Who Grind Their Teeth At Night

    Like sucking on pacifiers and thumbs, grinding the teeth (called bruxism) is a common habit that usually disappears on its own as young children grow. The two peak periods of bruxism are as the baby t…

    Children's Back Pain Is Real And Needs Proper Evaluation
    Children’s Back Pain Is Real And Needs Proper Evaluation

    Children's health issues are just the same as adult health issues -- only smaller. In adults, back pain is a common musculoskeletal problem. In children, back pain should be taken seriously. (more&hel…

    Get Out of Bed Free Card -- A fun way to keep kids in bed!
    Get Out of Bed Free Card — A fun way to keep kids in bed!

    The October 1999 issue of the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine reports success with giving preschool and school-age children a free pass to get out of bed once each night. Originator, cl…