Just like adults, children need lots of fiber in their diets.

Fiber is part of what fuels a child’s normal growth and development. It helps them feel full longer, controls blood sugar levels, reduces cholesterol and promotes regular bowel movements, according to Children's Health of Orange County, Calif. ...

A mother-to-be's exposure to air pollution during pregnancy may have a lasting impact on her baby's brain development, new research indicates.

Toddlers scored lower on assessments for thinking, motor and language skills when their mothers had more exposure to pollutants during pregnancy, according to researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder.

“Our findings sug...

By the time they're teenagers, babies born prematurely may be getting poorer school grades than their non-preemie peers.

Researchers found that babies born before 34 weeks of pregnancy had lower scores on math and language tests during their teen years compared to kids born at 40 weeks.

However, the study did not find a significant difference in later brain function in babies born b...

While childhood obesity gets a lot of attention, some kids struggle with the opposite issue — they have trouble gaining weight.

So, how can parents know if their child is “too skinny?”

While the best resource is likely a child’s pediatrician, experts have also weighed in on the topic.

“Underlying health conditions can result in children and adolescents being underwei...

A Texas-based education initiative has found that enrolling children in poor communities in gardening and cooking classes may help boost their long-term health.

Called “Texas Sprouts," the program covered one full academic year and exposed elementary school children in 16 low-income schools access to outdoor gardening instruction, nutrition information and cooking lessons. Parents were ...

When teenagers feel good about themselves and their lives, it may also do their hearts good in the long run, a new study suggests.

Researchers found that teenagers who generally felt happy, optimistic and loved went on to show better cardiovascular health in their 20s and 30s, versus kids who lacked that level of mental well-being.

Overall, they were more likely to maintain a healt...

Social media's impact on young people is a hot topic, with most kids and teens wanting to do whatever their friends are doing and parents worrying about setting limits.

A new study examines whether frequent checking of social media sites (Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat) is associated with changes in functional brain development in these early adolescents, about age 12.

Using brain...

When children have autism, it's possible to recognize the symptoms as early as when they are 18 months old.

Although it takes a doctor to diagnose the condition, parents and caregivers should be aware of the signs, advises the Autism Research Institute, offering some other tips for noticing early symptoms.

Children with autism may have variety of social, communication and behaviora...

Those seemingly random kicks or wiggles a newborn baby makes have a purpose.

With each movement, the baby is developing its sensorimotor system, which it will later use to perform sequential movements. The sensorimotor system lets a person control muscles, movement and coordination.

Researchers studying these “spontaneous” newborn movements and comparing them to babies a few mon...

Preteens who spend much of their free time watching online videos or playing video games may have a heightened risk of developing obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), a new study suggests.

Researchers found that among 9,200 9- and 10-year-olds they assessed, the odds of developing OCD inched up ...

It's easy to blame the childhood obesity epidemic for growing cases of type 2 diabetes, but a new study finds nearly one-quarter of all diagnoses are not related to obesity.

“The finding was somewhat surprising,” said Dr. Constantine Samaan, an associate professor in the department of pediatri...

It's an all-too-familiar scenario for many parents: Your preschooler starts to act up just as the phone rings or you start dinner.

Maybe you hand over an iPad or smartphone to soothe the child so you can get down to business.

And this probably does the trick. But if this is your go-to strategy, your child may be at risk for developing longer-term behavioral issues — especially boy...

Children with type 1 diabetes miss more school than their peers without this condition, but the good news is these absences don't have to affect their grades or chances of going on to college, new research shows.

Kids who had the tightest control of their diabetes missed seven sessions a year, while those who had challenges managing their blood sugar levels were absent for 15 session...

A high number of preteens and teens in the United States have viewed pornography and many have also sent or received nude or seminude photos -- sexting -- over their smartphones, a new study reveals.

“The prevalence rates we found in this study suggest that school counselors must be prepared to talk about sexting and pornography use with students, and to change the narrative about the...

Researchers have discovered a link between access to welfare payments and foster care.

As many as 29,000 fewer children may have entered the foster care system during the 12-year study if U.S. states had made it easier for poor families to receive cash through the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program.

"The relatively small amount of income provided through...

Young girls tend to babble their way to bigger vocabularies earlier than boys, and researchers now think they might know why.

It has nothing to do with gender, and everything to do with parental interaction, researchers assert.

Parents tend to talk more to young children who have started talking and can respond to them, regardless of gender, according to data derived from more than ...

Children exposed to the Zika virus may need more support as they start school, even if they were not diagnosed with Zika-related birth defects and congenital Zika syndrome (CZS), a new study suggests.

Children may still have differences in brain development, including those in thinking skills, mood and mobility, though researchers said some identified in the study may have been a measure ...

Kids who are overweight or obese often struggle with school work, and now new research provides clues on how excess weight may harm the developing brain.

“The main takeaway is to raise awareness about brain health consequences of obesity besides physical health consequences, especially since obesity rates are very high and continue to rise,” said study author