childrens health

“Marshmallow Test” Redux: New Research Reveals Children Show Better Self-Control When They Depend on Each Other

Children are more likely to control their immediate impulses when they and a peer rely on each other to get a reward than when they’re left to their own willpower, new research indicates. The findings appear in Psychological Science. The researchers say their experiments are the first to show that children are…

Children’s Accidental Exposure to Buprenorphine on the Rise

Children’s accidental exposure to the opioid addiction medication buprenorphine is increasing, according to new data from U.S. poison control centers. Between 2007 and 2016, poison control centers received 11,275 calls about children’s exposure to buprenorphine, CNN reports. Eighty-six percent of exposures were in children younger than 6, and 89 percent of the…

Majority of opioid medications not safely stored in homes with children, survey finds

Nearly 70 percent of prescription opioid medications kept in homes with children are not stored safely, a new study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health finds. In a national survey of 681 adults who used opioid pain relievers in the past year and had children…

Do children inherit drug protection from parents exposed to nicotine or drugs?

A father’s nicotine use may have a significant impact on children’s risk of some diseases. In a study published in the online biomedical sciences journal eLife, Oliver J. Rando, MD, PhD, and colleagues at UMass Medical School, demonstrate that mice born of fathers who are habitually exposed to nicotine inherit…

Commentary: The Most Under-Recognized Public Health Crisis

We lose nearly 130 people a day to drug overdoses. It is the leading cause of accidental death in the United States, and the loss is felt most acutely by the families left behind. By doing a better job of helping families and their addicted children, we can most effectively…