Health News

This Is Your Child's Brain on Smoking
There are 101 reasons not to smoke while you're pregnant. But here is reason #102: there's some evidence it might change the way your child's brain works later on.
Secondhand Smoke and Your Unborn Baby
It's pretty well established that smoking while pregnant leads to various negative health effects for your child. But even being around cigarette smoke can affect your unborn baby.
Alcohol Slows Unborn Babies' Learning
Many studies have looked at differences in children whose mothers drank while pregnant compared to kids whose moms didn't. But what about differences before the babies are even born?
Put the Cigarette Down & No One Gets Fat
If you're thinking of lighting up while a little one kicks in your tummy, this might stop you. Do you want an overweight child?
What About the Children?
Sex! Violence! Drugs! Alcohol! Bullying! Pregnancy! Parenting can feel like a minefield at times, and a recent national poll reveals how important all these child health issues are to adults across the U.S.
Ecstasy During Pregnancy a Bad Idea
A study on how ecstasy during pregnancy might affect babies at 4 months old was published early this year. Now those babies are a year old. They're still developing slowly.
Smoking While Pregnant Linked to Asthma
Past research has already shown links between mothers who smoke and asthma in their children. But what if a mom only smokes while pregnant and quits before giving birth?
Too Much Alcohol, Too Little Growth
The risks related to drinking during pregnancy are not limited to fetal alcohol syndrome. A baby's exposure to alcohol before birth can also mean poor growth.
Teen Steroid Abuse
Steroid abuse is always bad, but for teens the damage can be more serious and last longer. Steroids can change the way an adolescent’s brain develops and vital organs function.
Babies' Brains Hindered by Alcohol
Fetal alcohol syndrome results when babies are exposed to high amounts of alcohol in the womb. It usually involves distinctive facial features - but not always. A recent study has found that children may have problems with brain development or behavioral development as a result of fetal alcohol syndrome even if their outward appearance doesn't show the symptoms of the disorder. Don't drink while pregnant. The study, led by Devon Kuehn, MD, of the Epidemiology Branch of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), was part of a long-term...