Health & Wellness
Largest Study to Date links 102 Genes With Autism
The symbol for autism spectrum disorder has long been a puzzle piece, and a global team of researchers has come a little closer to understanding the shape of this puzzel, according to research published online in January in the journal Cell. In the largest genetic autism study to date, they identified 102 genes that appear […]
Kid Patches that are ‘See Worthy’
As a mom, Paige Brattin knows one thing for certain: Pirate play aside, wearing an eye patch is no fun. She learned this about five years ago after her daughter Eddy was diagnosed with multiple vision problems, including amblyopia. Also called lazy eye, amblyopia can happen when the vision in one of a child’s eyes […]
Kids Sleep Tips for Daylight Saving Time
On March 8, we turn our clocks forward one hour to switch to Daylight Saving Time, meaning your whole family will lose an hour of sleep. Neurologist Alon Avidan, MD, director of the UCLA Sleep Disorders Center, offers tips for making the transition – and getting better sleep in general. What can we do to […]
What You Need to Know About Coronavirus
The virus now known as COVID-19, first reported in December, continues to spread, and as of mid-February had infected more than 72,000 people in China, more than 800 in other countries and around 15 in the U.S., including 10 in California. This is the latest in the coronavirus family, a large family of viruses. There […]
Must-Know Tips on Caring For Your Child’s Teeth
Smile. Now think about your kid’s smile. One of your major responsibilities as a parent is to make sure that smile stays healthy. That means being consistent with everyone’s daily brushing and flossing routine. “That’s the biggest gift you can give to your child,” says Jill Lasky, DDS, of Lasky Pediatric Dental Group in Studio […]
Building a Healthy Heart for Your Child
February is a month where paper hearts abound, but making sure our children’s actual hearts are strong and healthy is a year-round responsibility that begins during pregnancy. Congenital heart disease is the most common birth defect, and your child’s risk is connected to your family’s health history. According to Paul Kantor, chief of the Division of Cardiology […]
This Dog Gives Kids a ‘Sense’ of Safety
In 2014, Bunni and Rick Benaron founded The Hero In You Foundation as a way to honor first responders, but the project has morphed into a campaign that teaches kids to use their common sense and their senses to stay safe and be ready for emergencies. Six years ago, the Benarons were erecting 6-foot Dalmatian […]
5 Spots Where L.A. Kids can Run, Flip and Fly
Back in the day, children who enjoyed tumbling and monkey bars might take up gymnastics – and, of course, they still do. A classic never goes out of style. But in the never- ending game of “what’s next?” parkour and freerunning are the trendy new kids on the block. First created by a French physical educator in the […]
Should Kids Eat Artificially Sweetened Foods?
January is a time when many of us are trying to curb our sugar intake, but are zero-calorie or non-nutritive sweeteners a good way to do this? A November report from the American Academy of Pediatrics noted that the number of foods containing these sweeteners has quadrupled in recent years, but that their impact on […]
5 Life-Hack Mindsets for Moms
It took a hip-hop class to make Amber Trueblood realize she had lost track of herself. The L.A. mom had brought two of her four young sons to the class and filmed them through the classroom window with her phone. Later, she showed the video to her husband. “In it, you could see my reflection, […]
Youth Cycling Association: Paving a Road to Cycling for All
Royce Felten is an endurance cyclist. That makes sense for so many reasons. At age 14, he has already battled and beaten Hodgkins lymphoma. He has also faced the many challenges that go along with being a person with autism. So, what’s a 100-mile bike ride? “I just like being on the bike for long […]
Climate Change and Kids’ Health
Even as we leave fall behind, the impacts and memories of our region’s recent wildfires linger. We’re likely headed into a winter that will be shorter and a summer (and another wildfire season) that will come sooner. In fact, wildfire activity in our state has been increasing for the past 50 years. Research out this past summer […]
Ryan’s World: Making Toy Reviews and Dental Hygiene Fun
While Ryan Kaji, the kid behind Ryan ToysReview, has 2.5 million more YouTube subscribers than Beyoncé, he tries to keep a low profile. The L.A.-based Kaji family posts Ryan’s toy review videos (www.youtube.com/ryantoysreview) daily, but screen time ends by homework time, which allows the YouTube sensation to make room for music lessons, coding, soccer and tae kwon do. Still, his life […]
Make Sure They Took It
Did you take the pill yet, or do you still need to take it? From antibiotics for an infection to medications for chronic conditions such as asthma or diabetes to simple vitamin supplements, it can be tough to keep track. A Pasadena mom’s battle with breast cancer led her to a simple solution. Leeanna Gantt […]
Of Frogs and Mindfulness
If Instagram were a mindfulness exercise, most tweens and teens I know would be completely grounded and centered. If yours isn’t, convince her or him to put down the screen for 10 minutes and have the new book “Mindfulness for Teens in 10 Minutes a Day: Exercises to Feel Calm, Stay Focused & Be Your […]
LA Rockstars Baseball Club Mines Talent at Local Diamonds
Historically, a love of baseball is passed down from generation to generation. But in many communities, the generational chain to baseball has been broken, and playing the game as a primary sports option has long passed. According to an ESPN report, since 1986 the percentage of African Americans in professional baseball dropped more than half, […]
A Head’s Up About Concussion
Your young soccer star and a teammate both go up for a header and … Boom! … end up colliding head-to-head in-stead. As you rush down to the sidelines, your heart pounds as you think of all those statistics about concussion and the damage it can do: long-term memory problems, trouble concentrating, even depression. “I […]
A Cold and Flu FAQ
Cold and flu season officially starts in November, but John Rodarte, M.D., with Descanso Pediatrics/Huntington Health Physicians in La Cañada Flintridge, says kids going back to school get a jump on the season. “We already are seeing the influx,” he says. Rodarte warns families that kids starting school for the first time could catch a […]
Self-Care at Boot Camp
For moms, self-care can be tricky. It’s easier when you learn that taking care of yourself doesn’t have to happen by yourself. Working out is a great example. “When you’re at home or you’re at the gym, it’s very easy to lose motivation and stop when you start to feel tired,” says Crystal Ferris, owner […]
Good Lessons on a Bad Day
We’ve all had bad days. As parents, we’ve watched our kids have bad days, too. A new picture book from L.A.-based author-illustrator Ruby Roth, called “Bad Day,” aims to help children cope with whatever comes their way. The book’s hero is Hennie, a boy who has just arrived home at the end of a day […]
Sparking Hope: How One Project is Propelling Autism Research
Parenting a child with autism comes with a lot of questions. One chance for some answers: the SPARKforAutism Study conducted locally through UCLA. By sharing your family’s DNA with SPARK, you can help researchers understand more about autism, connect to a community of families with questions like yours, and learn valuable information about your child. […]
Is Screen Time Connected to a Mental-Health Crisis?
For decades, the Volunteer Center in Torrance has run a popular community-service program for South Bay, Long Beach and harbor-area teens. A couple of years ago, staff began noticing that teens seemed less able to focus on and complete service projects. Parents, teachers and others in the community also saw changes in teens. They wondered […]
The Right Shoes for Back to School
A new school year is a great time for new shoes. We turned to podiatrist Pedram Aslmand, DPM, at Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital Long Beach for some advice on finding the right fit. What do parents need to know about choosing a shoe? When kids are just starting to walk, you want a pair […]
Back to School: Getting Kids to Open Up
From pressure around grades to anxiety about transitions, bullying or home-related tensions such as divorce, some kids will start this new school year facing a host of issues. “One of the big, big issues is immigration,” says Suzanne Silverstein, M.A., founding director of the Cedars-Sinai Share & Care program. “Because a number of them are […]
How Much is Too Much for Young Athletes?
Eleven-year-old Gus Armstrong has been an athlete since before he was born. “[When I was pregnant] I remember distinctly sitting in a business meeting and people started laughing because my belly started running,” says his mom, Roslyn Simpson, who ran track at USC. Gus started playing basketball and baseball at age 5, and now plays […]
Sunscreen That’s Safe
Recent media coverage might have made you think twice when reaching for sunscreen to slather on your child. A study published in early May in JAMA concluded that avobenzone, oxybenzone, octocrylene and ecamsule – ingredients used to chemically filter the sun’s harmful UV rays – are absorbed into the bloodstream at significant levels. Previous research […]
Vaccine Bill Seeks to Curb Bogus Medical Exemptions
In 2015, following a measles outbreak that began in Disneyland and sickened more than 100 people, California enacted a law removing the “personal exemption” option for waiving school immunizations requirements. Since passage of SB 277, only children with medical exemptions signed by a physician can attend school without being vaccinated. Vaccination rates improved in many […]
Does My Child Really Need Psychotherapy?
In the wonder years of childhood, no parent is anticipating bringing their beautiful, perfect child to see a therapist. I sure wasn’t. You see the other children at school, happily playing. You hear the other parents talking about their children’s incredible accomplishments, and you feel so alone. You swallow hard because you know something is […]
Teens, Tweens and Vaping
Don’t be fooled by the terminology. It may be called JUULing or “vaping,” but that doesn’t mean it’s as benign as inhaling water vapor. And these devices created to help smokers quit are now popular among young adults, teens and even tweens. Michael Ong, M.D., professor of medicine at UCLA and chair of the State […]
Mom’s Health: Working Through Worry
If you’re a parent, anxiety comes with the job, but not all anxiety is healthy. And what if you pass your fears along to your kids? Don’t worry! Pasadena-based clinical psychologist and dad Scott Symington, Ph.D., author of “Freedom from Anxious Thoughts and Feelings: A Two-Step Mindfulness Approach for Moving Beyond Fear and Worry,” offers […]
Watch for Summer Asthma Warning Signs
Summer brings higher temperatures and increased pollen and pollution in the air. That can cause trouble for the thousands of SoCal kids living with asthma. Watch for these warning signs from the American Lung Association that your child’s asthma might not be under control: 1. Needing to use a quick-relief inhaler more than two times […]
The Silver Lining of the Measles Epidemic
Last week, my four daughters, along with a handful of their friends, were scheduled to travel for a short but much-anticipated trip to Mexico for my oldest daughter’s birthday. It was a great plan until measles was reported at Los Angeles International Airport. One of those daughters, Sarah – not the birthday girl, but the […]
Protecting Your Kids from Molestation
Bring up the topic of child molestation around any parent and the word “nightmare” inevitably comes up. But the problem is far too real. The National Center for Victims of Crime reports that 1 in 5 girls and 1 in 20 boys are victims of sexual abuse. Sandra Murray, M.D., medical director of the Child […]
State’s First Surgeon General Takes on Childhood Toxic Stress
Did your last checkup include discussions of stressors such as physical, emotional and sexual abuse, violence, mental illness or substance abuse in the home, divorce or the incarceration of a family member? If California’s new Surgeon General Nadine Burke Harris, M.D., has her way, your next one will. Our state’s first surgeon general, Burke Harris, […]
How Research Can Help Parents of Children with Autism Prepare for the Future
When I became a parent, my anxiety grew astronomically. Minutes after the births of my sons, I felt entirely responsible for the fate of these little human beings. I was the Earth and they were seemingly the Sun around which my every decision revolved. Parental worry is a common problem and it can take a […]
Helping Your Kids Cope with Allergies
The spring season for sniffles and sneezes has arrived. More than 40 percent of U.S. children suffer from allergies. Most common are reactions to seasonal indoor/outdoor allergens, including those caused by pollen from trees (spring), grasses (summer), weeds (fall) and mold spores. Seasonal allergies can start as early as age 1 and peak at ages […]
The Family That Works Out Together
Many of us feel some pressure to “do it all” after we have children. That might look like taking on most (if not all) of the following: providing a safe and stimulating environment for our children, earning money, cooking nutritious meals, maintaining a social calendar and, somehow, staying in shape. It’s a high bar, and […]
Curbing Influencers’ Influence on Kids’ Eating
Once upon a time, adults worried about the sugary breakfast cereals advertised to kids on Saturday-morning cartoons. The times and the frontier have changed, with children as likely to tune in to YouTube or Instagram as Nickelodeon or the Disney Channel. The problem of media swaying children’s diets toward the unhealthy, however, remains the same. […]
When Autism and Sleep Issues Collide
New parents expect to be sleep deprived – but they expect the sleepless nights to eventually end. For parents of children with autism, though, they don’t always. A study in the March issue of the journal Pediatrics found that children with autism are more than twice as likely to have sleep problems as those without […]
What You Need to Know About Measles
This is shaping up to be a banner year for a childhood disease declared eliminated from the U.S. in 2000: measles. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention received reports of 79 cases in January, compared with 372 in all of 2018. A public health emergency has been declared in Washington state, where 52 […]
Should Your Kids Pump Iron?
Health experts have long promoted the idea of kids playing sports, swimming, hiking, biking and just plain running around. But when it comes to another form of exercise, strength training, the jury has been out. Specialists once cautioned that strength training was a no-no before puberty, when the growth plates – the areas of tissue […]
The Food Chain for Picky Eaters
By Christina Elston Every mom and dad wants to have a kid who’s a good eater. “One of your major roles as a parent is to make sure your child is well nourished,” says Judy Hopkins, an occupational therapist at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles specializing in children with feeding disorders. That’s why having a child […]
Start Your Kids on a Heart-Healthy Path
February is a great time to show your kids a little extra love by helping them take good care of their hearts. A paper published in December in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology noted that heart-healthy habits in adults are rooted in childhood and could be the key to preventing future heart […]
7 Reasons to Join a Parent Support Group
Recently, a father of a 14-year-old boy called to ask for a family session. He described how he got so fed up with his son’s video gaming that he turned the WiFi off in his house. A shouting match ensued and his son got so mad that he jumped out of the ground-level window and […]
New Treatment Shows Promise for Some with Peanut Allergy
One afternoon about five years ago, Danielle Darnault was shopping at a Target store in Culver City with her 1-year-old daughter Lila. Lila got hungry, so Darnault opened a box of granola bars she was tossing into her cart and handed one to her toddler. “Just holding the granola bar, her hand got really red,” […]
Healthy Advice for Parenting Through Chronic Illness
I was a reasonably healthy person up until my mid-20s. It was around age 26 that I started to feel as though something was off. I experienced a deep fatigue more appropriate for someone four times my age, had bizarre fainting spells and strange reactions to the sun. By my late 20s, I’d had a […]
Cultivating Gratitude in 2019
Gratitude is always a good practice, even if you’re just grateful that 2018 is behind us. Sarah Salamon, M.D., is a pediatrician at Huntington Health Physicians and a mom actively cultivating gratitude within her own family. “I want to raise a nice, thankful, not-entitled child,” she says. “I think in this day and age, we’re […]
Get Started, Be Prepared
Whether or not your family’s emergency preparedness was tested by our area’s 2018 wildfires, the new year is a great time to step up your game. My Altadena neighborhood recently had a “Map Your Neighborhood” meeting so we can help each other during an emergency. Then Ken Kondo, emergency program manager at L.A. County’s Office […]
Family and Community Pull Together to Battle Rare Disease
When I worked for the Dodgers, I oversaw their community relations’ health pillar, a project designed to reach out to those in the L.A. community who are suffering from serious illnesses, to send them gift packages that included paraphernalia signed by their baseball idols and sometimes to give them a baseball experience of a lifetime. […]
Course Offers Special-Needs Moms a Mindful Return to Work
Having a baby is a transformative experience, bringing intense physical changes and engulfing emotional ones due to the pending needs of this new human. The mind races from nesting to nursing to concern over who will care for this bundle of joy once parents return to work. These concerns are heightened when a child is […]
6 Ways to Prevent Your Child from Getting Sick this Season
It’s almost inevitable: Your child starts school and soon enough they come home with sniffles, cough, and fever. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Here are some tricks to prevent your child from getting sick as often. Keep Hands Clean If there is one tip that is most important on this list, it […]
Baking Your Way to Better Health
Ten years ago, Beth Ricanati, M.D., found herself running in place in her bathroom late at night (while sorting the family mail) to get her 10,000 steps in for the day. She describes herself at the time as a “frantic, frenetic busy mom-wife-physician hyphenate” trying to do it all. It wasn’t working. Then Ricanati, who […]
Doc Talk: Understanding Acute Flaccid Myelitis
News of a mysterious illness called acute flaccid myelitis, or AFM, has been prominent in recent months. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been tracking cases since 2014, and this year had received reports of at least 252 cases and confirmed 90 by mid-November, mainly in children ages 2-8. The illness generally […]
Battling Motion Sickness During Holiday Travel
Whether your holiday travel is by plane, train or automobile, if you’re traveling with kids, you should be on the lookout for motion sickness. It’s caused when the brain, body and inner ear receive differing signals about whether or not you are moving. Symptoms include dizziness, nausea (and vomiting) and headache. If your children have […]
L.A. Found Program Helps Locate Missing Persons with Disabilities or Dementia
Almost half of children with autism will at some point engage in wandering behavior – putting their lives at risk and their families and caregivers through a terrible ordeal even if they are safely found. One-third of all people in California with autism live in L.A. County, according to the Autism Society of Los Angeles. […]
Simple Questionnaire Helps Spot GI Problems in Kids with Autism
Children on the autism spectrum are four times more likely than other children are to have a gastrointestinal (GI) disorder such as constipation, diarrhea or reflux disease. GI trouble can cause problem behaviors such as anger and aggression, but can be tough to detect in kids on the spectrum. According to a study reported Oct. […]
Riding Safely with New Car Seat Guidelines
In early September, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued new car seat guidelines on child passenger safety. The group recommends that children ride in rear-facing seats for as long as possible, that they then ride in forward-facing seats until at least age 4, and that they ride in belt-positioning boosters until at least age 8 […]
Share, Care and Give With Food
Aihui Ong knows the universal power of food to show that we care. Years ago, reeling from a divorce and burned out from a 12-year career as a financial software engineer, Ong embarked on a backpacking trip that took her to 20 countries over 12 months. One of her biggest takeaways from her adventures was […]
EasyLunchboxes: Packing Meals is now a Breeze for Families
With her company, EasyLunchboxes (easylunchboxes.com), L.A. mompreneur Kelly Lester helps take the headache out of school-lunch prep. Created out of Lester’s own need to prepare lunches quickly, these containers were designed to hold healthy, portion-controlled meals for kids on the go. “I love to eat and feed my family healthy food, but I don’t like […]
Net Generation Brings Tennis to Kids Across L.A.
The 2018 U.S. Open Tennis Championships, which launched Aug. 27, are a prime time to inspire kids to get in the swing of tennis, a classic sport that can be played nearly anywhere – even at home. Net Generation, a new youth initiative of the United States Tennis Association (USTA), makes it easy for ages […]
Stopping School Shootings
Let’s begin our look at this scary topic with two solid – possibly calming – facts: School shootings are a rare occurrence in the U.S., and there has not been a mass shooting at an L.A.-area school in recorded memory. Mass school shootings – beginning with Columbine in 1999 through Sandy Hook in 2012, up […]
Redondo Beach Schools Make Strides Against Student Obesity
While students in other districts will head back to school in cars, buses and SUVs this fall, many in the Redondo Beach Unified School District will take the “walking school bus” with parents and volunteers. When they arrive on campus, they’ll begin their day with eight minutes of exercise led by teachers and faculty. At […]
Doc Talk: If Your Child is Bitten by a Rattlesnake …
It is rattlesnake season in Southern California – and will be until at least October. In sunny SoCal, we spend lots of time hiking, biking, camping and playing in spots where snakes are active. Cyrus Rangan, M.D., a medical toxicologist at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and assistant medical director of the California Poison Control System, […]
Make Moving a Summertime Habit that Lasts all Year
People who don’t have children may think of summer as a string of carefree days that kids spend running, jumping, biking, climbing, swimming and playing outdoors. People who do have kids understand that, far too often, summer days are spent indoors, sprawled in front of one screen or another. It’s possible to persuade your kids […]
Does this Cut Need Stitches
A child’s blood is something no parent wants to see – but they’re likely to see more of it in summer, when injuries are more common. Desiree Thomas, RN, MSN, is program director of the trauma center at Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital Long Beach. She’s also an instructor for Stop the Bleed (bleedingcontrol.org), an […]
Stopping Swimmer’s Ear
Colleen Ryan, M.D., is a family medical physician at Culver City Primary Care – part of the Cedars-Sinai medical network. One common medical issue she’ll be helping young patients with this summer is swimmer’s ear, an infection of the ear canal that is also known as otitis externa. It’s most common in ages 5-9 but […]
Mindfulness for Busy Moms
When I opened the door to DEN Meditation on a recent Saturday morning, feeling victorious because I found a parking space right in front (no easy feat on busy La Brea Avenue), I was greeted by the smell of essential oils and fresh flowers. My senses were awakened, which I learned is one of the […]
Doc Talk: Steering Clear of Health Hype
As director of pediatric otolaryngology and a professor of head and neck surgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Nina Shapiro, M.D., has met plenty of misguided parents. They want the best for their families but have trouble sorting what’s healthy from what’s not. A case involving a 16-month-old baby with a […]
A Moment on the Lips, a Lifetime in the Landfill
Sheila Morovati wants you to add one more word to the environmental mantra of “reduce, reuse, recycle.” “Refuse, refuse, refuse,” says the Malibu mom of two. What she wants you to refuse is that plastic straw restaurants plunk unbidden into the glass of water they bring you with your meal. That’ll be easier for folks […]
Your Child Has What? Navigating the Challenges of a Rare Medical Diagnosis
The general public is familiar with diagnoses such as autism, Down syndrome and ADHD. But what happens when your child is diagnosed with a rare condition that family, friends and teachers have never heard of? L.A. mom of four Hillary Smiley knows this territory well. Her third child, Luke, has a congenital disorder called agenesis […]
Helping Families Take Root and Parents Take Wing
When you walk into Malibu’s new holistic wellness nonprofit, Roots & Wings, you might feel like you’ve walked into a cocoon of warmth, peace and acceptance. You’re greeted immediately with “How can I help you?” And a smile. There’s no request for a doctor’s referral or diagnosis. Roots & Wings invites you just as you […]
An Autism Awareness Month Update
April is Autism Awareness Month, so we checked in with Gary Feldman, M.D., medical director of the Stramski Children’s Developmental Center at Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital Long Beach, for an update on research, diagnosis and treatment. What’s going on in the field of autism research now that makes you feel most optimistic? Probably two […]
Three Easy Yoga Poses to Do With Your Kids
There seems to be plenty of kids yoga to go around these days – studios, classes in schools, games, books, apps, YouTube channels and podcasts. But your kids can start right here and now with these three fun and easy poses suggested by Stacey Alysson, who teaches yoga to more than 300 L.A. preschoolers each […]
3 Simple Hydration Rules: Drink more water. Mostly tap. Sometimes filtered.
Suffering from headaches? Drink more water. Feeling tired? Drink more water. Fighting the flu? Drink more water. Trying to lose weight? Drink more water. As pediatricians, we advise our patients to “drink more water” all the time – a recommendation that sounds so simple, yet is so often under-recognized. More than half of the children […]
Parents Caring for Special Kids Should Take Special Care of Themselves
You need to make the gluten-free, casein-free lunches for your kids’ nut-free campus and get your pet to the vet. You really should reply to those emails from last week and finish the paperwork to approve your son’s speech therapy before you take his sister to gymnastics class. Did you even remember to tell your […]
Calling All Sporty Moms in Los Angeles
As a child, I took to sports with enthusiasm and fortitude. While I was never the strongest member of my teams and I was usually the shortest, the one thing I had on my side was speed. My pint-size demeanor combined with a lifetime of walking twice as fast to keep up with the longer […]
Putting the Tide Pod Challenge in Perspective
You’ve certainly heard about internet “challenges” where people – especially teens – film themselves doing everything from harmless fun like pretending to be a mannequin to dangerous things like eating laundry detergent pods. These and even more frightening challenges (the “Blue Whale” purportedly challenges participants to commit suicide) easily make headlines, but Brian Prestwich, M.D., […]
For Parents of Teens With Autism, Optimism Buffers Stress
The fact that mothers of teens experience stress is no surprise to anyone who has parented – or even met – a teen. The fact that moms of teens who are on the autism spectrum or have intellectual disabilities face more stress than their peers with typically developing teens is also no great surprise. Studies […]
Children’s Radiation Exposure: Gentler Imaging for Kids
When children are injured or ill, medical imaging can give doctors important information to help make kids well. But whether that’s an X-ray of a possibly fractured limb, a chest X-ray to check for pneumonia or a more advanced CT or PET scan, these procedures expose children to radiation. Marvin Nelson, M.D., is chairman of […]
Smog Linked to Kids’ Bad Behavior
If you need to add to your list of reasons we hate the smog that hangs over every part of our SoCal home, here’s something new: juvenile delinquency. In a study published in December, USC researchers linked exposure to particulate matter in the air to an increase in behaviors such as lying, stealing, skipping school, […]
Cold and Flu Myths and Tips for Prevention
Each year, there are millions of cases of the common cold in the U.S. The CDC reports that adults average two to three colds per year, and children experience even more. Still, misconceptions about proper management of cold symptoms persist. A survey released last week from the Merck Manuals – publishers of the world’s best-selling […]
The Battle Against Bullying
One of the worst things a parent can ever witness is their child being hurt physically and emotionally. Bullying covers both in spades. Unlike schoolyard taunts, childish teasing and miscommunication, bullying causes hurt at a whole new level. It involves an imbalance of power where one person intentionally and repeatedly causes physical or psychological harm […]
A New View for Young Cedars-Sinai Patients
No one likes lying in a hospital bed, staring up at the ceiling. At Cedars-Sinai, kids now have a better view. The medical center commissioned the nonprofit RxArt (www.rxart.net) to redo the ceilings and walls of 16 pediatric rooms. L.A.-based artists Urs Fischer, Sam Falls and Laura Owens completed the work, which includes images of […]
A Mental-Health Checkup for Los Angeles Families
Now that the holidays are behind us, it is time to think of New Year’s resolutions. In January, people contemplate their physical health, making goals to exercise regularly, eat healthier, sleep more, get physicals and take better care of themselves. But how often do families consider the state of their mental health? The truism, “Prevention […]
Family Fitness: Making the First Move
Phil and Michelle Dozois of South Pasadena have been in the fitness game for decades. Michelle got hooked with her first gymnastics and dance classes at age 5, and went on to win gold medals in the National and World Aerobic Championships and create top-selling fitness DVDs. Her husband, Phil, has been a personal trainer for 25 years, and together he and […]
Doc Talk: Taking Care of Your Child’s Cough
It’s the season of colds, flu – and cough. Leila Yoonessi, M.D., a pediatric pulmonologist at Dignity Health – St. Mary Medical Center in Long Beach, reminds parents to watch out for rhinovirus (the common cold), as well as respiratory syncytial virus, which can be truly dangerous in younger children. She also has tips about […]
Claudine Cooper to Parents: ‘Focus on Living Long’
Claudine Cooper’s high-intensity fitness classes are part boot camp, part sermon and part party. Folks show up early to stake a spot in the studio before it overflows. They endure Cooper’s yells to push harder. They bob their heads along to her always-banging music, even when that third set of burpees and lunges makes their […]
Four Ways to Eat Healthier Now
Fill your family up with healthier food by using these tips from pediatric clinical dietitian Amanda Haney, MS, RD, CNSC, of MemorialCare Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital Long Beach. Get halfway there. If you’re not confident cooking at home (generally healthier than eating out), consider services such as Blue Apron that deliver pre-prepped ingredients that […]
LOOM Puts Parents’ Wellness First in Community Hub
When you think of parenting classes, is your first thought learning how to address your baby’s needs or your own? Given the child-focused way parenting is addressed in our society, the answer is rarely the latter, but LOOM, a new community hub in L.A., is aiming to change that. The company’s mission is to exist […]
Preventing Toy Chokings
Holiday time is “toy time,” which means it’s time to talk about toy safety. Alan L. Nager, M.D., M.H.A., division director of emergency and transport medicine at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, says that ingestion (swallowing) and aspiration (sucking into the airway) of toys and toy pieces is a problem year-round. “We have a child getting […]
A Toddler’s Window Fall – A Mom’s Nightmare
As many as 5,000 children in the U.S. fall from windows each year, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. L.A. Parent Assistant Editor Carolyn Richardson’s son recently fell from the window of their building. Here is her story in her own words: “You are a great mom,” said an EMT as we stood in front of our apartment building in Encino. It was a […]
Time to Collect Your Family’s Health History
With the holidays upon us, here’s a new topic for your family gatherings: your family’s health history. When multiple generations get together, Sylvia S. Estrada, DNP, who provides genetic counseling and testing at the Saul and Joyce Brandman Breast Center at Cedars-Sinai, says you have a perfect opportunity to gather information that will help your […]
Asthma Doesn’t Take a Holiday
About one in every 11 L.A. County kids has asthma, and managing it poses three major challenges for parents: getting an asthma action plan, sticking to that plan and periodically reevaluating it to keep it current. “People with any chronic condition need to get organized on a daily basis,” says Marilyn Li, M.D., co-director of […]
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Launches Postpartum Depression Screening Program for New Mothers
Every year, more than 6,500 women give birth at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Now, all new mothers are being screened for one of the most under-diagnosed and under-treated medical conditions in women: postpartum depression. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 11 percent of women who give birth each year report symptoms of postpartum […]
Setting Limits on Kids’ Smartphone Use
Much fuss has been made over the debut in early September of the latest generation of iPhones. Despite the $999 price tag for the top-of-the-line iPhone X, the news no doubt has tweens and teens asking for an upgrade. But experts are finding evidence that excess smartphone use could be connected to depression and anxiety […]
Doc Talk: Are You Ready for Flu Season?
Cold and flu season is upon us. Margaret Khoury, M.D., pediatric infectious disease specialist and the regional lead of the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Flu Vaccination Program, says we never know how long or severe the season will be, but that Australia – which has its flu season during our summer – has reported an […]
Remember the Rainbow for a Healthy Newborn
Bringing home Baby is one of the most joyful yet daunting times in one’s life. The idea that you are now actually in charge of a human life can be overwhelming, but if you just remember the colors in the rainbow, you can be well on your way to spotting any serious health problems. Before […]
Does Your Child Have Food Allergies
If your child gets a little gassy after a glass of milk, or a mild rash after eating strawberries, does she have a food allergy? Some primary-care doctors might not know how best to figure that out, according to a report published this summer by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Danica Schulte, M.D., who specializes […]
Getting a Strong Hold on Fitness and Fun
As I watch kids scramble up the bouldering walls at Stronghold Climbing Gym one recent morning, the words “no fear” come to mind. Up the sculpted gray walls they go, using the colorful hand- and footholds to stretch, push and pull their way to the top. The gym, located in Downtown L.A.’s Brewery Arts Complex […]
An Annual Checkup Checklist for Your Child at Every Age
Now that summer is over and we’re getting back to getting things done, it’s time to think about your kids’ annual checkup. Jayme Heath, M.D., is assistant clinical professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and a pediatrician at UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica, and has some great advice about making the […]