by Childrens Hospital Boston staff on February 26, 2010
Media expert Michael Rich, MD, MPH, director of the Center on Media and Child Health at Children’s Hospital Boston, answers your questions about media use. Last week, he discussed if parents are legally responsible when their teens engage in sexting.
Here’s this week’s question:
Q: I took my sons to see Avatar over vacation, and while I sat there with giant 3D glasses on, I wondered if scientists know anything about whether 3D affects how children process the experience of a movie?
Thrilled by 3D in Wilmington, MA Full story »
by Childrens Hospital Boston staff on November 8, 2009
Here’s a quick look at what Thrive was up to last week.
Read why the days of jumping back into a game after a possible concussion are over. A new study shows that adult survivors of childhood cancer are much more likely to experience suicidal thoughts than their peers. Children’s expert Ellen Hanson, PhD, questions whether autism really is on the rise. An experimental heart valve saves a child with H1N1. Children’s has established and unprecedented partnership with the state’s largest health plans. The HealthMap team gives its weekly H1N1 update. Children’s Dennis Rosen, MD, questions whether sleeping late can keep your child slim and Joanne Cox, MD, answers parents’ questions about H1N1. Our resident mediatrician tackles the question of graphic violent and sexual images in the media and a teen guest blogger writes about teens and self-esteem.
by Childrens Hospital Boston staff on October 17, 2009
by Childrens Hospital Boston staff on October 5, 2009
Other stories we’ve been reading:
- Nearly one in 10 of the world’s babies is born prematurely, and about 1 million infants die each year as a result, says a startling report.
- Ear infections are especially common in children between 6 months and 3-years old. The Canadian Pediatric Society’s website, Caring for Kids, offers us some great information on how to know when your child has an ear infection and what to do when it actually happens.
- Burn injuries among children dropped by 31 percent between 1990 and 2006. Even though the numbers are down, burn injuries are still disproportionately high among younger children.
- Kitchens are a great place for families to gather. They are also a hotspot for injuries. Vicky McEvoy, M.D., an assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School tells us about common kitchen injuries that you should be aware of.
- The liquid children’s version of the anti-influenza drug Tamiflu in short supply, so pharmacists are making their own children’s version by mixing cherry syrup with the contents of the Tamiflu capsules.
by Kristin Cantu on October 5, 2009
Could your children be getting sick from the medications doctors are prescribing them? An 11-year national study conducted by Children’s Hospital Boston, published this month in Pediatrics, shows that side effects or accidental overdoses of medications are more common than you might think. These adverse drug reactions are causing more than half a million doctor’s visits per year, especially in children age 4 and younger.
The study suggests that health care workers need to be aware of the potential adverse effects and be able to provide parents with the proper guidance in case their child has a negative side effect or an accidental overdose, especially if a child is taking a medication for the first time.
“We found that there are as many as 13 outpatient visits for adverse drug events per 1,000 children, indicating that they are a common complication of pediatric care,” says Florence Bourgeois, MD, MPH, of Children’s Division of Emergency Medicine.
Antimicrobials (such as penicillin) were the most frequently implicated drugs, accounting for 27.5 percent of visits overall, and as many as 40 percent of visits among children 0 to 4 years old. They were followed by neurologic/psychotropic medications (6.5 percent) and hormones (6 percent).
by Annie Cardi on August 24, 2009
Other children’s health stories we’ve been reading:
by Annie Cardi on August 7, 2009
Other articles on kids’ health we’ve been reading this week:
- The FDA is requiring stronger warning labels for medicines with tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF) blockers, which are used to treat inflammatory diseases such as juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn’s disease. Warnings will highlight the increased risk of childhood cancer. Full story »
by Annie Cardi on July 30, 2009
A Cleveland Clinic study shows that 
Survival of extremely pre-term infants has led to more 
People who are severely ill with H1N1 may get 
Alternative medical practices, such as acupuncture and dietary supplements, have often been relegated to the fringe of established medicine. But some senators are pushing forward 
