CT scans can reveal a remarkable amount of useful medical information, but more studies underscore the need to balance the benefits of that knowledge with the risks of being exposed to the scans’ small amounts of radiation. Being able to peer into the human body without making a single incision is ...

Unhealthy food environments and sedentary lifestyles certainly contribute to obesity, but they can’t entirely explain weight gain. The latest research points to four new genes that could contribute to the most extreme cases of obesity in childhood.   By comparing the genomes of 1,509 children in the UK with severe obesity ...

The effects of going hungry in childhood may be more lasting than previously thought. Researchers studying people raised on Barbados who suffered severe starvation as infants found these adults were more anxious, less sociable, less interested in new experiences and more hostile than those who were well-nourished throughout childhood, according ...

It’s not just the victims of bullying that experience long-term consequences; bullies themselves are also at risk of mental health issues later in life. In a study published in JAMA Psychiatry, researchers report that bullying can have serious consequences on childhood development, and shouldn’t be dismissed as simply a playground rite-of-passage. Starting ...

Finally, a little good news concerning the nation’s rising obesity rates: rates among children in some cities and states are starting to drop. Obesity experts and state health officials are excited by a September report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) that recorded the trend, the New York Times reported ...

Children diagnosed with attention hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are twice as likely to pick up smoking than youngsters without the disorder. A group of Canadian researchers lead by Dr. Ridha Joober of the Douglas Mental Health University Institute in Montreal looked at genetic markers among children with ADHD and found a variant ...

How important is sleep for children? Getting too little could leave them more emotional and impulsive. As a nation, we don’t get enough sleep. And we’re passing along our night-owl habits to the next generation, which could leave them with less control over their emotions and more prone to impulsivity, according ...

Impulse control may be a key predictor of later success, but for some kids delaying gratification makes little sense It’s the rare psychological experiment that is both informative and invariably hilarious to observe, but the “marshmallow test” — the one in which young children are asked to resist the sweet treat ...

Watching too much TV is linked to harmful effects in children, but the latest research says even background TV can affect development Even if we aren’t actively watching TV, most of us leave the set on in the background. But that may have detrimental effects on children in the home, according ...

A Texas school district changes its corporal-punishment policy — by expanding rather than limiting teachers' rights to paddle students. Is spanking really the best way to discipline kids? Spanking is one of the many things about which parents agree — passionately — to disagree. Most American parents swear by the old ...