Archive: Family Health
Grownups Give Booze to Underage Drinkers
A whopping 650,000 young adults under age 21 say a grownup -- in some cases a parent -- has supplied them with alcohol, according to a report released Thursday by the U.S Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). This, despite the fact that the federal government virtually outlawed...
By Jennifer Huget | June 30, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (8)
Dry Drowning
When I read about the 10-year-old South Carolina boy who died earlier this month from something called "dry drowning" hours after swimming -- and then walking home from the pool -- alarms went off in my head. We have a pool in our yard, and while I'm always on alert...
By Jennifer Huget | June 25, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (4)
A Longer Walk to School
Spiraling fuel costs have made running school buses a budget-busting proposition. So last night the Montgomery County Public School (MCPS) board voted to give Superintendent Jerry D. Weast leeway to increase the distances from school beyond which bus service is provided -- in effect, making more kids walk to school....
By Jennifer Huget | June 24, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (6)
When Young Adults Grieve
As much as I -- like everyone else, apparently -- have been saddened by the sudden death of political commentator Tim Russert, I have been moved by the great grace and equanimity with which his only child, 22-year-old Luke Russert, has handled his enormous loss. I lost my own father...
By Jennifer Huget | June 23, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (8)
Home Alone
Would your 11-, 12-, or 13-year-old know where in the house to go to keep safe during a bad storm? Does he or she know how to use kitchen appliances safely? Would he or she know to get out of the house immediately if there were a fire? I'd like...
By Jennifer Huget | June 16, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (0)
A Bad Time for Rabies
The news that there's a temporary shortage of human rabies vaccine sends a shiver down my spine. The shortage, caused by production problems at Sanofi Pasteur and Novartis, the nation's only two licensed suppliers of rabies vaccine, means the existing stock is all we've got until July, when Novartis is...
By Jennifer Huget | June 9, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (3)
Drug Labeling with Pregnancy in Mind
When you're pregnant, or thinking about getting pregnant, there are so many things to consider: Are you ready emotionally? Financially? Physically? Once you've addressed those issues, many other important questions remain -- including this one: Are your prescription drugs safe for you to take while you're pregnant? The U.S. Food...
By Jennifer Huget | June 2, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (5)
When Teens Give Blood
If your 16- or 17-year-old asked for permission to donate blood, what would you say? In light of dwindling pools of eligible donors -- only about 38 percent of the adult population is able to give blood -- the American Red Cross is hoping more teens will donate. Many states,...
By Jennifer Huget | May 26, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (17)
Dog Food Danger
Remember being a kid and daring your brother to eat dog food? Well, don't do that any more. That timeless prank seems riskier in light of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's report last week about an outbreak of salmonella infections apparently caused by contaminated dry dog food....
By Jennifer Huget | May 20, 2008; 07:07 AM ET | Comments (7)
Fat Cells Are Forever
Well, this is kind of a bummer. Seems that the number of fat cells we develop as kids and teenagers determines how many we'll have for the rest of our lives. So says a study published in the May 4 online journal Nature. Researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden,...
By Jennifer Huget | May 19, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Email a Comment
Kids Say Specs Make Kids Look Smart
When I was shopping for new eyeglass frames recently, my 14-year-old daughter wanted a pair, too. Not that she needs glasses; her vision's perfect. But she thought the glasses looked really cool. How far we've come since I was 14, when glasses conferred instant nerd status on their wearers. (Of...
By Jennifer Huget | May 16, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (2)
Breastfeeding Boosts Brainpower
Like many of her peers in the early 1960s (okay, it was 1960), my mom didn't even consider breastfeeding; for her (meaning, for me), it was bottles all the way. And I guess I turned out okay, brainpower-wise. But just think how smart I could have been if she'd nursed...
By Jennifer Huget | May 12, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (1)
Farewell to Peanut Allergies
Imagine a world where nobody's allergic to peanuts. Where passengers on planes could snack on peanuts; where parents wouldn't have to worry about their kids' gasping for air after taking a bite of a PB&J sandwich; where allergic kids wouldn't have to carry EpiPens everywhere they go -- and wouldn't...
By Jennifer Huget | May 6, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (11)
Inside The Minds of Teen Drivers
Remember how great it felt to be, say, 17, cruising in a car with your buddies on a sunny spring day, the windows rolled down and the radio blasting? And aren't you sometimes kind of surprised that you lived to tell the tale? I know I am. And now that...
By Jennifer Huget | May 5, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (5)
Study Says ... Dogs Beat Out Cats
We love all our pets. But are dogs better for your kids' health than cats? Say it ain't so! Hate to be the one to break it to you. But a big new study is tilting the evidence toward the dog in the house. How so? Well, it looks...
By Rob Stein | May 1, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (28)
Salmonella From Your Pet?
When we hear about salmonella these days, we're more likely to think raw eggs than reptiles. But this article in the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association reminds us that your family's pet turtles (and other reptiles) can make people just as sick as an undercooked...
By Jennifer Huget | April 28, 2008; 07:10 AM ET | Comments (8)
Wearing Crocs? Watch Your Step!
My daughter and I, both big-time Crocs wearers, had just been admiring the new high-heeled versions when I read that the Japanese Trade Ministry has called on the Colorado-based manufacturer to redesign the ubiquitous rubbery shoes. Seems 65 Japanese people, mostly kids, have got their feet stuck -- and sometimes...
By Jennifer Huget | April 22, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (37)
Shaken Faith in the Flu Vaccine?
They account for some of the great victories in the history of public health, but vaccines have had a rough time of it lately. First there was the federal government's agreement in March to compensate an Atlanta family whose daughter developed autism after receiving a set of routine childhood shots....
By Jennifer Huget | April 21, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (8)
Model Behavior, Revisited
Go figure. My article in today's Health section about my kids' apparent reluctance to follow my lead as I model behaviors (eating fruits and whole grains, exercising regularly, you name it) warrants an immediate follow-up. Even as I was typing away, putting the finishing touches on my story, subtle changes...
By Jennifer Huget | April 15, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (3)
Homeschooling--And Not By Choice
Ready to keep your kids home from school--perhaps for months? To forgo family outings to the zoo or playground? And to help them with schoolwork that comes to the house by e-mail? Don't dismiss those possibilities. It's pretty much a given that sooner or later the world will face another...
By Jennifer Huget | April 14, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (7)
Vaccines: The Debate Continues
Do news reports and online chat about vaccination risks--and particularly the MMR's supposed link to autism--give you pause? Research published in the April issue of Pediatrics suggests that parents don't seem to be swayed by media reports of vaccination's potential risks. Michael Smith, a pediatric infectious disease specialist (at the...
By Jennifer Huget | April 9, 2008; 02:00 PM ET | Comments (18)
Does Your Family Defibrillate?
It's been almost exactly a year since I wrote about Rita and Richard Helgeson, whose 18-year-old son Andrew, an accomplished athlete at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, died in his home after suffering a sudden cardiac arrest in May 2005. The Helgesons channeled their grief by mounting a...
By Jennifer Huget | April 8, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (22)
