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May 23, 2013 Over the years, McDonald's has gotten a lot of flack for marketing to kids. At a shareholders meeting Thursday morning, Hannah Robertson, age 9, took the fast-food giant's CEO to task.

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May 23, 2013 Our closest relatives, chimpanzees and gorillas, breast-feed their offspring for several years. Some baby orangutans nurse until they are 7 years old. Researchers found a way to test ancient teeth for clues about when humans cut nursing short.

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May 21, 2013 The nation's largest group of nutritionists is urging the FDA to reject the dairy industry's petition to change the definition of milk. The petition aims to allow aspartame or other alternatives to be used to sweeten milk in an effort to boost consumption in schools.

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May 21, 2013 New, young drivers are much more likely to have an accident if they're short on sleep, researchers say. And teenage drivers are far more impaired than adults when facing an equivalent lack of sleep.

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May 7, 2013 Each year more than a million babies die within the first 24 hours after birth, a study finds. But there are some simple, inexpensive things that could save these infants, like early breast-feeding and teaching moms to hold their newborns close.

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April 29, 2013 Psychologists say kids who get entangled in their parents' arguments often suffer shame and low self-esteem. So some are trying to teach parents who feel they just can't stop arguing when they get angry how to "get to calm."

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April 22, 2013 The game, if you want to call it that, involves trying to quickly swallow a spoonful of ground cinnamon without the benefit of anything to wash it down. It's practically impossible. Coughing, gagging and choking are typical reactions.

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April 10, 2013 Infants received different levels of oxygen to see which was better at preventing blindness without increasing the risk of nerve damage or death. But the federal government says doctors in the study didn't tell parents enough in advance about the "foreseeable risks" to their children.

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April 5, 2013 The number of kids with dangerous levels of lead in their blood hasn't declined much in the past decade, as the government has remained focused on managing lead-based paint. Now researchers argue that more attention to contaminated soil is needed to prevent lead poisoning.

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April 2, 2013 Even if you give kids a more healthful school lunch, you can't force them to eat it. You can, however, make small changes to layout and presentation that will make options like fruits and vegetables more appealing to kids, say behavioral economists.

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April 1, 2013 Some pediatricians are worried that babies who spit up are being misdiagnosed with gastroesophageal reflux disease, and that's causing parents to opt for unnecessary prescription medications. Researchers found that using the word "disease" to describe spitting up can have a powerful effect on parents.

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March 29, 2013 Indian mothers are more likely to get more prenatal care when they're having a boy, health economists say. These small decisions about iron supplements and tetanus shots can have a profound effect on a girl's life, the researchers argue.

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March 25, 2013 When abiding fear takes over some kids' lives, they respond with anger and aggression that's not premeditated. One psychiatrist says he's finding profound relief for a particular subgroup of these children in experimental research with the anesthesia drug ketamine.

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March 22, 2013 Packaged toddler foods have surprisingly high amounts of sodium, with some packing almost half of a child's daily limit, according to a new survey. Too much salt early on could be setting children up for a lifetime of high blood pressure.

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March 21, 2013 For the first time, the American Academy of Pediatrics says it favors civil marriage for same-gender couples. The leading group of pediatricians in the U.S. also supports parents' full rights to adopt or provide foster care regardless of their sexual orientation.

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