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December 14, 2012 Doctors say parents should limit children's exposure to media coverage of disasters, like the mass shooting in Connecticut. Kids, especially older ones, will have questions, and it's fine for parents to answer them. But keep the answers simple and make sure they come with ample reassurance.

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December 12, 2012 A roundup of the medical evidence by a group of independent researchers suggest that giving babies sugar water before injections can help comfort them. But the latest analysis is less enthusiastic about the approach than a previous review.

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December 11, 2012 Children between the ages of 9 and 15 who went on eating binges at least once a week were more likely to use marijuana or to show strong signs of depression as those who didn't. There's no proof of cause and effect, but the researchers say it's another reason parents and doctors should keep an eye on kids' eating habits.

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December 10, 2012 Stroke is usually a problem that comes with age, but a surprising number of children have strokes, too. Many kids have conditions that put them at higher risk. But surgeons have developed a technique that cuts the risk in some of these kids by giving part of the brain a new blood supply.

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December 6, 2012 Last spring, the Nigerian government pledged millions of dollars to decontaminate a region where hundreds of kids have died from severe lead poisoning. So far, none of the money has been released. The delay in the cleanup puts thousands of kids at risk of getting sick, public health advocates say.

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December 5, 2012 To raise vaccination rates, some states have made it much harder for parents to get exemptions for their children from immunizations based on personal beliefs. One doctor says restrictions could backfire.

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November 27, 2012 KHNA Florida law prohibits doctors from discussing gun ownership with patients. After some doctors fought the law in court, a federal judge blocked its enforcement. Now the state has appealed the injunction, and advocates for both sides are weighing in.

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November 26, 2012 A policy statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics urges doctors to write prescriptions in advance to let teens have fast access to emergency contraception. The pills are currently available over the counter only to those 17 and older.

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November 26, 2012 The committee says that allowing parents to anonymously abandon newborns only encourages the practice. But others say it saves lives by preventing infanticide.

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November 26, 2012 KHNA growing number of teenage girls are incarcerated each year. Many have injuries consistent with sexual assault, and up to a third are or have been pregnant. But the care provided in detention is often inadequate for girls because the assessment of their needs misses the mark.

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November 26, 2012 The wildly popular mosh pits for the school-age set have become a common source of injuries that send kids to the hospital. Doctors call for safer designs for inflatable bouncers and better guidelines for their use.

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November 21, 2012 Ultrasound often catches fetuses opening their mouths, but whether they're really yawning or not has been up for debate. Now, with some fancy ultrasound techniques, scientists have show that babies do indeed yawn in the womb.

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November 19, 2012 Girls say they are using steroids, too, although they're using the illegal drugs less often than boys, according to researchers at the University of Minnesota and Columbia University. And the researchers found that many teens using steroids or muscle-enhancing supplements are overweight or obese.

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November 12, 2012 For the most part in American culture, intellectual struggle in school children is seen as an indicator of weakness, while in Eastern cultures it is not only tolerated, it is often used to measure emotional strength.

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November 9, 2012 An experimental vaccine for malaria reduces infants' risk of the disease by about a third. That's less than researchers had hoped for, given the vaccine's effectiveness in toddlers, but doctors say it's enough to prevent many high fevers, seizures and deaths in a lot of African children.

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