Teen
How People Got Pepsi to Change its Mind: A Recipe
The last chapter of this story starts with one 15-year-old girl named Sarah Kavanagh, a vegetarian who had gotten into the habit of reading foods labels to be sure there weren't any hidden animal prod…
Father: Past, Present, and Future
Even before our babies are born, we are teaching them about the world around us. We communicate our choices, our values, even without thinking about it. They hear our voices, smell our aromas, and the…
Pediatricians’ Trick-or-Treat Bags
Each year thousands of pediatricians gather for a national conference to catch up on the latest science and with each other. There's also a huge exhibit hall, as in so many professional and trade conf…
Skin Damage Starts with Your Child’s First Sun Over-exposure
It's taken a long time for science to quantify what mothers have always known: the skin of babies and toddlers is very different from the skin of older children and adults. Babies' skin is softer beca…
BPA, Sperm, Masculinity, and the Average American Guy
A new study suggests that typical BPA exposure may be affecting the masculinity, semen quality, and sperm count of the average American guy. And young boys often have even more BPA exposure than adult…
F-Throat Part 2
In the video below I discuss how to treat what I call F-Throat, or a sore throat caused by Fusobacterium necrophorum. It's an important health topic that you should know about, especially if you or so…
Falling Down: Older Children
For the population as a whole, falls are the most common cause of unintentional injuries requiring medical care, the leading cause of hospital admissions for trauma, and the second leading cause (afte…
Vigorous Active Play Creates Strong Bones
Helping our children to build stronger bones is a gift we can give now that can keep protecting them long after we are gone. What, exactly, does it take to make a difference? Fragile bones are somethi…
Lead, Synthetic Turf Fields, and False Reassurance
The CDC issued an advisory on June 18, 2008, alerting consumers about the danger to children from lead on some (not all) synthetic turf fields ? especially for young children on older fields with visi…
When I Was Your Age…
How do our children's experiences compare to our own experiences at the same age? The 2008 Duke University Child Well-Being Index compared high school seniors from 1975-1977 to seniors 28 years later …
Burning Fat
What kind of exercise is most effective for burning fat in children? A new study delivers an objective answer. It's no secret that childhood obesity has become a major problem, nor that physical activ…
Bridges to Adolescence
Dr. Greene's take on adolescence... When I see twelve year olds in our clinic, I still need their parents' permission to treat them for strep throat or eczema. But parents' permission, or even their k…
Sexuality: The Big Talk
We know that parents communicating with kids about sexuality can have powerful effects: on average it delays the age of first intercourse, increases the chance of contraception if they do have interco…
When Teens Are Depressed
About 5 percent of children become clinically depressed at some point during the transition to adulthood. Depression is a burden both for the adolescents and their families and carries a number of ris…
HPV Vaccine for Boys and Girls
Yes. The HPV vaccine is safe and very effective against certain types of cancers. If started before a child?s 15th birthday, only two doses spaced 6-12 months apart are needed for protection. HPV Va…
An Important Message from Rob Reiner
Many people know me as an actor and director, but my most important role is that of a father to my three children. Raising healthy, happy children is my top priority. That is why my organization, Pare…
Acne, Antibiotics, and the Common Cold
People who use either oral OR topical antibiotics to treat their acne are more than twice as likely to catch colds, according to a study in the September 2005 Archives of Dermatology. If the results o…
Walking to School
In this study, published in the online version of the British Medical Journal, four classes of 30 students each were recruited to wear devices that measured their amounts of healthy moderate-to-vigoro…
Mental Illness Starts in Childhood
Dr. Greene's take on childhood mental illness... For most people who develop mental illnesses, the problem usually starts in childhood or adolescence, according to a study published in the June 6, 200…
Fast-Food Fallout
Does stopping by a fast food restaurant a few times a week with your kids really make a difference in their health? A major long-term study has found a strong association between eating fast food more…