Ann-Margaret Villar

TUESDAY, May 14 (HealthDay News) -- About one in every 20 U.S. teens has used "smokeless" tobacco products such as chew or snuff, and that rate hasn't budged since 2000, a new report finds.

Researchers led by Israel Agaku of the Harvard School of Public Health compared data from the 2000 ...Full Article

TUESDAY, May 14 (HealthDay News) -- Even children with low levels of lead in their blood score lower on reading-readiness tests when they begin kindergarten, a new study found.

"We now know that poorer scores on reading-readiness tests are associated with low lead levels," said researcher...Full Article

MONDAY, May 13 (HealthDay News) -- A person's math and reading abilities in early childhood influence how successful they are as adults, a new study contends.

Researchers examined data from more than 17,000 people in England, Scotland and Wales who are part of a...Full Article

MONDAY, May 13 (HealthDay News) -- Giving small amounts of infant formula to newborns who experience significant weight loss can increase the length of time that they are breast-fed, according to a new study.

New mothers do not immediately produce high volumes of milk and their babies can...Full Article

FRIDAY, May 10 (HealthDay News) -- When teens start dating, parents' worries grow -- and experts say that dating violence should be on their list of concerns.

"Dating violence happens, and it's more common than we think," said Dr. Yolanda Evans, an assistant pro...Full Article

THURSDAY, May 9 (HealthDay News) -- Infants' early growth is influenced by the types of bacteria in their digestive system, a new study says.

A variety of bacteria quickly populate the sterile digestive tract of a newborn. Norwegian researchers identified connections between specific type...Full Article

WEDNESDAY, May 8 (HealthDay News) -- Many pre-term babies suffer recurrent episodes of wheezing. Now, researchers say a common infection is a likely culprit and they may be able to prevent the breathing problems.

Wheezing episodes in late pre-term babies often are caused by infection with...Full Article

TUESDAY, May 7 (HealthDay News) -- Magnesium may be as crucial to children's bone health as calcium, according to a small, early study.

While it's known that magnesium is important for adults' bone health, few studies have examined the nutrient's role in children's bones. This study found...Full Article

TUESDAY, May 7 (HealthDay News) -- Only a handful of children have ingested gasoline or other toxic household chemicals that contain hydrocarbons on his watch. But Dr. Vincenzo Maniaci, now a pediatric emergency room physician at Miami Children's Hospital, remembers them all -- including a toddle...Full Article

MONDAY, May 6 (HealthDay News) -- Exposure to flame-retardant chemicals in the womb is associated with hyperactivity and lower intelligence in children, a new study indicates.

Researchers examined the effects of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), which were used for decades as fire ...Full Article

SUNDAY, May 5 (HealthDay News) -- Significantly more U.S. children have a neurodevelopmental or mental health disability than did a decade ago, according to new research.

Disabilities that impair a child's day-to-day living have risen 16 percent, with the greatest increase seen in richer ...Full Article

SATURDAY, May 4 (HealthDay News) -- About 90 percent of pediatric specialists who diagnose and manage attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in preschool children do not follow treatment guidelines published recently by the American Academy of Pediatrics, according to a new study.

SUNDAY, May 5 (HealthDay News) -- About 16 percent of U.S. high school students are victims of cyberbullying, according to a new study.

The study also found that many high school students spend hours a day playing video games or using a computer for something other than schoolwork.

SUNDAY, May 5 (HealthDay News) -- Playing school sports is known to have many benefits for teens, but researchers have found a new reason to encourage kids to take up a sport: It may reduce teen girls' likelihood of being involved in violence and some teen boys' risk of being bullied.

In ...Full Article

TUESDAY, April 30 (HealthDay News) -- Young children are at high risk for accidentally strangling themselves with window blind cords and parents need to be aware of this threat, doctors report.

Children aged 16 to 36 months seem particularly vulnerable to this danger, because they have re...Full Article