Helping an obese child lose weight can do more than reduce playground teasing. It could also reduce a child's likelihood of having sleep apnea or metabolic syndrome.

One of the most important parts of medical science in pregnancy has been showing the effects of the maternal environment on the developing child. 

A soaring increase in the number of teenagers suffering from diabetes means that more than a third of presumably healthy normal-weight adolescents are at risk of heart disease.

It's 3 a.m. "Mommy, can I sleep with you?" What you respond with in your sleepy stupor may have an impact on your child's risk of becoming overweight.

Nobody wants to be yelled at on the playing field.  Supportive and fun sports environments can have a real impact on the stability of a child. Learning emotional management skills and lower rates of depression are just part of the benefits. Having fun while exercising has more than just physical perks. Research points to ‘caring climates’ for sports activities to improve feelings of depression and ability to manage negative thoughts. Find your child a fun sport to join! Mary Fry PhD., Associate Professor of health, sport and exercise science at the University of Kansas,...

Shedding pounds before getting pregnant can reduce a number of health risks - but it may also add a few points to your child's reading and math scores. A recent study has found a link between a mother's weight before pregnancy and their children's cognitive skills: obese women's children score lower on math and reading tests when they were 5 to 7 years old. Get to a healthy weight before becoming pregnant. Lead author Rika Tanda , a nursing doctoral candidate at Ohio State University, and colleagues wanted to investigate potential connections between a mother's pre-pregnancy ob...

Of course you adore your adorably chubby little toddler, but you do know how much of that chubbiness is normal or whether your child might actually be overweight? Many moms don't. A recent study found that the vast majority of mothers whose toddlers were overweight had a different perception of their little ones and could not correctly identify an image representing their baby's body size. Ask your doctor if your toddler is a healthy weight. Erin Hager, PhD, of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, led the study of 281 pairs of moms and their toddlers, with an average a...

When it comes to feeding babies, it's not just what you feed your child but how you feed your child. Even breastmilk in a bottle affects weight gain differently than milk directly from the breast. A recent study has found that infants fed only by bottle gained more weight each month than if they were only breastfed, regardless of whether the bottle had breastmilk or another food. Breastfeeding is better than bottle - when possible. Lead author Ruowei Li, PhD, a researcher at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesi...

Adding folic acid to tortillas and other products can reduce the risk for birth defects, says a new petition recently filed with a federal agency.  A petition filed with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) argues that fortifying corn masa flour products with the B vitamin folic acid can help reduce serious birth defects of the brain and spine. The groups behind the petition believe that mandating folic acid fortification of the products will especially help prevent birth defects in one high-risk group: Hispanic babies. Since 1998, when the FDA started regulating folic a...