Featured series 
Tag: Children
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Science & Tech
Monsters, tooth fairies and germs!
Harvard Graduate School of Education Professor Paul Harris argues that children as young as preschool age can discern whether or not they’re hearing the truth, even in a domain for which they have no previous knowledge, by accurately judging the reliability of the person who’s telling them. “Particularly among 4-year-olds, but also among 3-year-olds, they’re…
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Science & Tech
More TV means fewer veggies
Harvard researchers tracked 548 sixth and seventh graders from public schools for 19 months. The children were asked to fill out surveys to determine the time they spent per day watching television, movies or videos; time spent per day on physical activities and how many fruits and vegetables they consumed daily. The average amount of…
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Health
Dieting may actually promote weight gain in children
The prevalence of overweight and obese children has increased by 100 percent since the 1980s. Americans spend about $33 billion a year on weight loss products and services, however, only about one in five adults follow recommended diet guidelines, possibly explaining why most people fail to maintain long-term weight control. It now appears that casual…
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Health
Hospital length of stay may not affect a newborn’s health
Researcher Jeanne M. Madden and colleagues used seven-and-a-half years of data on 20,366 mother-infant pairs with normal vaginal deliveries within a large Massachusetts health maintenance organization to determine the effects of reductions by the HMO in the postpartum length of stay and a subsequent state law establishing a minimum stay. The investigators measured the effects…
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Health
Maternal history influences risk of asthma in children exposed to cats
Recent studies have gathered evidence that cat exposure during infancy can be protective against asthma. Research at Brigham and Women’s Hospital confirmed these findings in all but one situation: when the child’s mother has asthma. Researchers found that in a group of children with non-asthmatic mothers, those exposed to a cat were 40 percent less…
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Health
Imagination important for children’s cognitive development
Paul Harris, a professor at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, says there are two very different ways to define imagination. “You can either see it as disappearing or waning during childhood, or you can see it the way I do, as persisting throughout life,” Harris says. The message in his book, “The Work of the…
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Health
Researchers find better way to predict childhood brain tumor outcomes
About 2,000 children a year are diagnosed with medulloblastoma, or brain tumor. In a study, researchers examined gene expression patterns from 99 patient tumor samples of three different types of brain tumors. In addition to distinguishing tumor types from each other, the study found strong expression of a signaling protein known as “Sonic Hedgehog,” which…
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Health
HIV-1 infected children benefit greatly from combination therapy
Combination therapy including protease inhibitors has been available since 1996 for adults with HIV-1 infection. The therapy has slowed the progression of HIV-1 and drastically reduced the rate of mortality in adults. But how does the combination therapy work in children with HIV-1 infection? In the first prospective study in the United States to look…
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Science & Tech
Study examines hazardous seating of children in fatal motor vehicle crashes
A recent study by Harvard School of Public Health scientists examined how often adults placed children in the rear of vehicles, and what factors affected that placement. The study, led by Eve Wittenberg of the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis, examined more than 28,000 fatal crashes between 1990 and 1998. The proportion of vehicles carrying…
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Science & Tech
In Dayton, parents’ satisfaction increased by moving children to private schools
Parents in Dayton, Ohio, reported increased satisfaction after they moved their children to private schools. A private scholarship program sponsored by Parents Advancing Choice in Education (PACE), a non-profit organization in Dayton, helps low-income families afford private education.
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Science & Tech
Study finds parents of chronically ill children avoid switching to HMOs
The incentive to switch health plans is usually a lower cost to the patient. So if parents of chronically ill children want to retain their old health plans instead of switching to health maintenance organizations (HMOs), they have to pay a higher price. Parents who are financially burdened may feel torn between getting the best…
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Science & Tech
Some video games contain more violence than parents expect
If a video game is rated “E” for “suitable for everyone,” that is supposed to be a signal to parents that the game is acceptable for their children. But a study by Harvard School of Public Health researchers found that of 55 E-rated games that they surveyed, 64 percent contained intentional violence. The average amount…
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Science & Tech
Children from working-class families twice as likely to be depressed adults
Children from low socioeconomic backgrounds have an elevated risk of depression throughout their lifetimes, even if they become more professionally successful than their parents. That’s the conclusion of a study conducted by Harvard School of Public Health researcher Stephen Gilman and colleagues. The study also suggests that girls raised in working-class households are more likely…
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Science & Tech
Study defines clear roles for parents of teenagers
A new study by the Center for Health Communication at the Harvard School of Public Health cuts through the confusion that parents of teenagers experience because of conflicting advice. The study lidentified key messages about raising teenagers on which experts agree. The results focus on practical guidelines and strategies that can contribute to healthy adolescent…
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Health
Increased consumption of soda promotes childhood obesity
Soft drinks are currently the leading source of added sugars in the daily diet of young Americans. Now, researchers have conducted the first long-term study to examine soda consumption and its precise impact on children’s body weight. Their findings show that for each additional daily serving of a sugar-sweetened soft drink, the incidence of obesity…
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Science & Tech
Drivers place children in rear seat because of new law
A Rhode Island law that requires that children sit in the back and wear proper restraints imposes fines of $30 for violation of the rear seating requirement and $150 for violation of the restraint requirement. The law was passed after research by Harvard Center for Risk Analysis Director John Graham and others showed that, nationwide,…
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Science & Tech
Before- and after-school hours key to the nurturing of children
How to keep children occupied and engaged in worthwhile after-school pursuits is becoming a major focus of study at the Harvard Family Research Project at the Graduate School of Education. The project is analyzing existing research while constructing a database that will be useful for policy-makers, public and private funders, and those who run after-school…
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Science & Tech
Immigration experts focus on attitudes of children
Too many immigrants in the United States are staring into what Marcelo and Carola Suarez-Orozco call “a toxic mirror” that seriously compromises the self-image of children who will grow up to be part of American society. The husband-and-wife team, who co-direct the Harvard Immigration Project, believe it’s time for society to remake the image in…
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Science & Tech
Study says children with cancer often suffer needlessly
“Since caregivers are very committed to curing their patients, it may be difficult for them to recognize when to incorporate palliative care into treatments, even when there’s little hope of cure,” notes Joanne Wolfe, an instructor at Harvard Medical School and lead author of a report, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, that…