american academy of pediatrics

We have to make a choice — allow industrial farms to continue overusing antibiotics as they have for decades or get routine antibiotic use out of our food system. The Maryland legislature has chosen, again, to preserve these drugs and protect public health. Gov. Hogan should make the same choice.

The Maryland General Assembly should have passed a ban on the toxic pesticide chlorpyrifos, which can cause neurodevelopmental disorders in children.

Behind all the negative headlines is a city full of smart and resilient children.

The American Academy of Pediatrics and American Heart Association proposal to place on excise tax on sodas could go a long way in improving the health of American children.

During a six week stretch in December and January, six infants died in their sleep in homes around Baltimore, the worst spate of such deaths since the city began a largely successful campaign in 2009 to teach new mothers how to avoid such a tragedy,

By Meredith Cohn

Mar 19, 2019

After several years of attempts, the General Assembly finally passes legislation in both chambers banning indoor tanning for anybody under age 18.

While baseball is often referred to as America's Pastime, there is little doubt that football is king. Every Friday night in the fall, towns shut down and people flock to watch their local boys take on their rivals. Saturday morning are spent tailgating by thousands, waiting to cheer on their favorite college. Millions across the country have long standing dates with their couch every Sunday. Pick your metric - TV ratings, franchise value, average fan attendance, etc… and football will come out on top. With all the attention paid to the sport, there has been growing social backlash towards football. ...

Today, one in three children in the United States lives in a home with a firearm. However, fewer than half of gun owners report safely storing all of their guns. Child access prevention laws are good policy: They do not pose an undue burden to gun owners, and they work.

Two court actions are the latest in the attack on the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

In a policy statement released last month, the American Academy of Pediatrics aims to end the debate over whether corporal punishment is an acceptable parenting tool. The verdict? It’s not.

Rip your kids away from cell phones and tablets and make them play outside. That’s the message behind two new studies that link children’s screen time to nearsightedness, and more seriously, to a dozen kinds of cancer. But doctors warn not to panic and ditch your child’s devices just yet.

Dr. Alvin A. Stampler, a retired Baltimore pediatrician who cared for generations of infants, children and adolescents during a professional career that spanned 60 years, died Sept. 27 at Gilchrist Center in Towson from complications of a fall. The longtime Lutherville resident was 9

By Frederick N. Rasmussen

Oct 11, 2018

New U.S. guidelines for concussions in children recommend against routine X-rays and blood tests for diagnosis.

Five of the most common causes of childhood injuries — drowning, motor vehicles, falls, burns, and poison — can be found in the backyard during the summer.

Congress must get involved if U.S. is to finally reunite immigrant children with their families.

The odds already are higher that these children could suffer from depression, anxiety and other issues because they are coming from violent countries and volatile situations that have likely stressed and traumatized them.

By Andrea K. McDaniels

Jun 21, 2018

After weeks of mounting pressure, the Trump administration finally reversed course on its cruel and unnecessary family separation practice. It’s important for us to keep in mind, however, just how low the bar has been set. We will still indefinitely be detaining families.

As a pediatrician and Honduran immigrant, I have a special duty to speak out against abuse of immigrant children. The U.S. policy of separating children from their parents is child abuse that will damage not just one child but an entire generation of children.

Johns Hopkins surgeon separated infant Siamese twins during a 1982 operation

By Jacques Kelly

Jun 16, 2018

As summer approaches, and youths begin to work on the farm, Safe Kids Carroll County Coalition wants to ensure safety by monitoring size, physical strength, training and cognitive ability as well as age of the youth when deciding farm chores and jobs.

Amtrak joins airports, hospitals, stadiums and other businesses around the country that have improved accommodations for women who say they want to do what is best for the health of their babies, but get discouraged by the lack of support for breastfeeding.

By Andrea K. McDaniels

Jun 1, 2018

Refusing family planning money to clinics that discuss terminating pregnancy is going to harm a lot of young women.

But, at 5 years old, should Kyle even be playing an organized sport? When is it too young to start playing team sports?

The American Academy of Pediatrics is calling for every child to be screened for depression every year, starting at age 12.

Great Mills shooting is a call to action on gun violence and school safety.

General Assembly is making a mistake in failing to ban a dangerous pesticide.

Legislation pending in Annapolis would would punish teachers or nurses who have actual knowledge of child abuse and fail to report it.

The nasal spray version of the flu vaccine popular with kids but largely unavailable during the flu season could return next year.

By Meredith Cohn

Feb 22, 2018

To study gun death prevention is not anti-gun, it is not anti-Second Amendment. It is pro-truth and pro-safety. It is time to lift the ban on gun research and halt this deadly epidemic.

If Maryland is serious about discouraging kids from smoking, lawmakers should raise the minimum age to purchase and use tobacco.

For many people who abuse opioids, their first exposure often comes from people like me — physicians. Our patients and the communities from which they come have entrusted us to regulate ourselves. To that end, there are a number of things that we can do to address the scourge of opioid abuse.

Being pro-free market is not the same thing as being pro-business, explains Jonah Goldberg.

Under EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, the agency is slowly being dismantled. He and Trump have already canceled or overridden some key environmental regulations on coal waste and vehicle emissions, and the 2018 appropriations bill cuts the EPA’s budget for the Superfund program and climate change

More moms are turning to baby beds made out of cardboard boxes as alternatives to cribs.

By Andrea K. McDaniels

Dec 25, 2017

Dr. William A. Sinton, a Towson-based pediatrician, dies

By Jacques Kelly

Nov 27, 2017

Here is a registered dietitian’s take on four common childhood nutrition myths.

The Carroll County Health Department hopes to prevent more cases of HPV and the cancer that can stem from it by providing more information about vaccines to parents of middle schoolers.

Dr. Boris L. O'Mansky, a retired Baltimore prediatrician, died Thursday from complications of Parkinson's disease at his Pikesville home. He was 84.

By Frederick N. Rasmussen

Sep 19, 2017

Technology available to prevent kids from being accidentally left in hot cars: Why not mandate it?

August is Breastfeeding Month in Maryland

As a physician, I share some of the blame for the drug abuse epidemic that is now the leading cause of death for people under 50 years old.

As summer approaches, and youths begin to work on the farm, Safe Kids Carroll County Coalition wants to ensure safety by monitoring size, physical strength,

The country's largest advocacy group for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people has dinged Johns Hopkins Medicine in its latest health index for not taking a hard stance about the views of two of its psychologists who believe there is virtually no scientific evidence that people are born gay or transgender.

By Andrea K. McDaniels

Mar 29, 2017

Thank you, Gov. Larry Hogan, for appointing thoughtful, brave medical experts to Maryland's Children's Environmental Health and Protection Advisory Council (CEHPAC). Your next challenge is to get the Maryland school superintendents to heed the council's well-founded advice: reduce and restrict children's wireless radiation (wifi). With distinguished experts in child health, neurodevelopment and pediatrics, the council draws on the well-established public health principle that stopping harm now

Oral contraceptives can safely be sold over-the-counter to all women, including teens, who want to avoid pregnancy, according to a study led by a Johns Hopkins University researcher

By Meredith Cohn

Mar 15, 2017

With the wealth of exercise options available for young children, parents must weigh these sorts of developmental factors, along with cost and time commitment, when choosing activities for their kids. Pediatricians' recommendations vary based on the family's interests and goals, but the consensus is clear: organized sports for tots should focus on the fundamentals, helping them build confidence, coordination and good feelings about exercise.

By Meredith Cohn

Mar 1, 2017

Even if you don't have a diagnosis of anaphylaxis and/or don't have a prescription for an Epipen, its drastic price increase affects us all. But there are steps you can take to help address the situation.

With the arrival of cold weather comes flu season and the need to be vaccinated. This year there are some key changes about vaccination programs in Harford County, according to local health officials, with free flu shot clinics being offered next month for school-age children only.

By Allan Vought

Nov 28, 2016

It's 3 a.m., the baby is crying, inconsolable. Her fever is back and you need to get her some Tylenol, so you stumble into the kitchen and fumble through th

Our job as parents is not to protect our children from the world, but to teach them how to navigate it successfully. Much as we might not want to face it, life can be pretty scary and upsetting. It is our responsibility to give our kids the tools they will need to cope with those inevitable difficulties.