Children's Health Issues

Margaret recently showed me a super cool website that allows you to see how popular different baby names have been over the past several decades. This tool is intended for expectant parents who are racking their melons trying to come up with a name worthy of their future child's destiny. But hey, I think everyone can have fun with it.

Among parents of infants these days, there is constant debate about how to respond to a baby’s cries. On one hand, there are proponents of the “cry it out” method, where the baby is left alone to cry in the hopes that he or she will eventually stop.

According to market research company A.C. Nielson, Americans watch an average of almost four hours of television per day. What are the consequences of spending so much time in front of the television?

Most studies concerning the effects of TV watching focus on television’s impact on children. However, the ways in which television affect us in childhood stay with us as we grow into adulthood. For example, researchers at the University of Otago in New Zealand found a clear link between watching more than two hours of TV per day in childhood and smoking, being overweight, and being physically unfit in adulthood. Read more »

On the heels of last week's article on why antibiotics are not good for the common cold or acne, this week saw the publication of an important study that links antibiotic use to dental health problems. Read more »

With increasing frequency, children who show argumentative and disruptive behaviour are being labeled with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). According to Intercontinental Medical Statistics Inc., an estimated 1.57 million visits were made to Canadian physicians for ADHD in 2001, an increase of 20% from the year 1997. Drug treatment was prescribed in 64% of the cases, most commonly stimulant medication. In 2001, 856,200 prescriptions for Ritalin alone were dispensed by Canadian pharmacists, a 31% increase from 1997. Read more »