babygooroo » Adolescent Health

Home Alone Safety for Your Teen

July 2, 2008 by Pauline Lupercio | No questions or comments

When I was a tween, the word didn’t even exist. Neither did many of the concerns today’s parents have when it comes to leaving their 11 to 13 –year-olds home alone on summer days. It wasn’t that long ago, but times were just different, and ... (read more)

Do you know your lung age?

June 29, 2008 by Amy Spangler | No questions or comments

If you were 30 years of age and a smoker and you were told that you had the lungs of a 67-year-old, would you consider quitting smoking? A recent study published in the ... (read more)

From Bronchitis to Teen Pregnancy: New Dataset Paints a Picture of Hospital Stays for Children

June 22, 2008 by Mary Jessica Hammes | No questions or comments

No one likes to think about his or her child being in the hospital. And yet, it’s strangely fascinating to get deep in the numbers that paint a picture of healthcare for children in the U.S.—especially if you’re a layperson with access to statistics ... (read more)

Dry-drowning Death Highlights Little Known Danger

June 19, 2008 by Pauline Lupercio | 2 questions or comments

A ten-year-old boy went swimming at a nearby pool with his mother and drowned more than an hour later. It is a shocking and heart-breaking story that has brought a little-known phenomenon referred to as “dry drowning” to light. It is an occurrence, albeit ... (read more)

Sweet Beverages Linked to Overweight and Obesity?

June 18, 2008 by Amy Spangler | 4 questions or comments

Two recent studies found that drinking sweet beverages does not cause overweight or obese children. One study suggests that if the beverage is 100 percent juice, it may actually improve a child’s nutrient intake. The first ... (read more)

Summer Camps for Special Needs Kids

June 2, 2008 by Pauline Lupercio | No questions or comments

For many children, summer is synonymous with the joys of summer camps like swimming in the lake, making crafts, and meeting new friends. But opportunities like these were not always open to children with special needs. Times, however, have changed for the better ... (read more)

Preventing Child Abuse Is a Year-Long Effort

April 14, 2008 by Pauline Lupercio | No questions or comments

A report of child abuse is made every 10 seconds in the United States. In total, an estimated 3 million cases of child abuse are reported every year, but experts fear that the actual number of cases is actually three times greater. It’s ... (read more)

Another Study Debunks Myth of Abstinence-Only “Sex Education”

April 8, 2008 by Barbara Behrmann | 1 question or comment

My thirteen-year-old daughter recently completed a half-semester-long health class, a required course at the middle school she attends. Sex education was a key component of the curriculum. The teacher, an outspoken, tell-it-like-it-is woman, pulled no punches. The kids learned about contraception ... (read more)

When the Going Gets Tough …

March 17, 2008 by Heidi Green | 1 question or comment

It is a subject I’ve wondered about for some time: What causes some people to engage in their schoolwork and others to shrug it off? What motivates some to academic success and others to academic failure? Well, a recent article in Scientific American ... (read more)

Two Studies Suggest Ways to Lower Type-1 Diabetes Risk

March 15, 2008 by Amy Spangler | No questions or comments

The consensus view is that there is no substitute for a healthy diet and regular exercise, but a growing body of evidence suggests that vitamin D supplements may protect against a wide range of auto-immune diseases including type-1 diabetes. A ... (read more)

Breastfeeding May Protect Against Obesity

March 10, 2008 by Amy Spangler | No questions or comments

What do overweight adolescents have in common? According to researchers at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, perhaps more than we think. Woo and colleagues investigated the association between length of breastfeeding and body mass index (BMI). The ... (read more)

“Choking” a Deadly Game

February 21, 2008 by Heidi Green | No questions or comments

Parents, listen up. The people at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have something important they want you to know about. It’s called the "choking game," although it's also known as the “blackout game,” “pass-out game,” “scarf game,” and “space monkey." ... (read more)