Gone are the days of class pets; with the rise in allergies in young children, most schools have banned all furry friends from the classroom. The class pet was meant to teach children about responsibility but today animals are helping in different ways.

Therapy dogs are used in a variety of settings to bring joy and comfort to sick children. General requirements call for dogs to be at least one year of age, be in good health, respond to general obedience commands, walk on a leash without pulling, engage well with other dogs, and remain calm in the presence of novel people and settings, for example refrain from jumping, licking, or becoming overly excited. Training, registration, or certification depends on the organization with which the dog and handler are involved. Read more

Witnessing or being a victim of domestic violence, rape, or incest leaves a scar on a child's heart and mind. Each year, over 3 million children witness domestic violence against their mothers, including physical or verbal abuse or even murder. 15% of sexual assault victims are children. 93% of those victims know their attacker. Read more

Some may think the teacher's job is only to teach, yet our jobs have grown to entail so much more. Our responsibility is to monitor our students' general well-being, which includes their emotional and physical health, as well as their academic performance. We want our students to be healthy because we care and because we want them in school, ready to learn.

Talk of the flu is everywhere. On websites, in news reports, and among parents at after-school pickup, people are discussing ways to prevent the flu but unfortunately, also sharing stories of high fevers, aches and pains, and a cough that just won't quit. With 20 children dead from complications from the flu in the US, this is no laughing matter.  Read more

Music moves everyone, young and old, of all nationalities, and all abilities. Children with special needs are no exception; they, too, love creating and listening to music.

As the number of children with disabilities in the United States rises, parents and teachers look to new solutions to diminish challenging behaviors and increase expression, opportunities for social interaction, and joyful experiences in these children. Music therapy continues to gain popularity in many communities and classrooms around the country.  Read more

In the hugely popular health website http://www.mercola.com/, Dr. Joseph Mercola, MD, discusses a study published in the Journal of Clinical Nutrition (3) that emphasizes the importance of avoiding processed carbohydrates (not good fats) in order to minimize one’s risk of obesity and cardiovascular disease.   Dr. Mercola states:  “When you replace saturated fat with a higher carbohydrate intake, particularly refined carbohydrate, you exacerbate insulin resistance and obesity, increase triglycerides and small LDL particles, and reduce beneficial HDL cholesterol. The authors state that dietary efforts to improve your cardiovascular disease risk should primarily emphasize the limitation of refined carbohydrate intake, and weight reduction.”  Read more

Since I proclaim to be an advocate of eating a healthy diet to prevent and treat many chronic illnesses, you might ask “why would I devote an entire article to fat?”   Well, before you dismiss the topic or label me a nutritional heretic, hear me out:  I’m not talking about packing on the pounds or eating the wrong kinds of fats. I’m referring to my new found reverence for the good fats and the role they play in optimizing our health.  Read more

In November, the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Environmental Health published a landmark policy statement on Pesticide Exposure in Children in the AAP’s flagship journal, Pediatrics.  The statement, the first official one on the subject from the U.S’s. largest professional membership organization of pediatricians, calls for greater awareness regarding the multitude of health threats from these chemicals “intended to kill unwanted insects, plants, molds, and rodents.”  Read more

Understand, I was born and raised in New Jersey, and I have lived my entire life here with the exception of college and medical school. N.J. is not just where I live; it is a part of who I am, as much as it is for the families I care for in my pediatric practice. I am deeply embedded, consciously, within my community. And now, I am feeling its pain, and I'm struggling to find a way to help my patients. Read more

There are many academic benefits to sharing your kitchen with your child. Math skills abound when creating a recipe, incorporating everything from basic number sense and measuring to reasoning and problem solving skills. In addition to applying skills to hands-on experiences, the emotional bonding that takes place among families who cook and share a meal together is enormous. Read more

The highlight of Halloween is always the candy. From super-sweet chocolate to fruity, chewy treats, candy is not the ideal snack for a number of reasons. Most candies are made with dyes, additives, and preservatives, which we know are not good for our bodies. Short-term, the effect of a high intake of sugar usually results in hyperactivity, which sometimes fosters poor behavior in children and then extreme exhaustion once the energy has faded. As a parent and a teacher, you can encourage healthy alternatives to the typically too-sweet celebration of Halloween. Read more

Partying is in my bones….and growing up in a working class Irish-Catholic family is where it all started!  Despite their financial struggles, my parents loved to throw a party.  I have pretty vivid memories of my dad arm in arm with my uncles singing Irish songs and raising their glasses of beer as they toasted the good times the post-war 1950’s offered them.­   I’m not saying the food my mom served back then was the healthiest ( potato salad, canned baked beans, cold cuts and white rolls), but the atmosphere of fun and festiveness cultivated a love in me for gathering good friends and celebrating life! Read more

The gym class of old- complete with dodgeball, rope climbing, and square dancing- is long gone. Replaced with activities like yoga, frisbee, and bocce ball, this isn't your father's Phys. Ed.

 In the past, gym class was purely about physical fitness. Now, schools have expanded the focus to include mental and emotional components of health, including teamwork, problem solving, and healthy lifestyle choices. These are all great goals for our children, but are the parameters of today's physical education curriculum enough exercise for our children?

Diabetes and obesity are two of the most common and most costly health problems today.  12% of U.S. adults have diabetes, and if current trends continue, more than 50% will have diabetes or pre-diabetes by 2020.  Annual U.S. spending on diabetes is $194 billion (2010) and could reach $500 billion by 2020. Read more

Talk to any parent of a child with autism and she will list all the treatments, therapies, and diets she has researched and implemented in an effort to reduce maladaptive behaviors or increase communication in her child. With no known cause or definitive treatment for autism, parents are exploring all their options. Read more

The dairy product industry has been milking school lunches for profit since the National School Lunch Program was introduced more than a half century ago. The federal government spends more money on dairy products than any other food item in the school lunch program. But it’s time to get milk out of school lunches. Abundant research shows milk does not improve bone health and is the biggest source of saturated (“bad”) fat in the diet—the very fat that Dietary Guidelines push us to avoid. Read more

There’s an ugly truth behind many cosmetics: animal testing. Thousands of rabbits, guinea pigs, mice, and rats suffer in toxicology tests—like skin irritation tests—for personal care products and their ingredients each year. Read more

Let’s start by identifying exactly what gluten is:  According to Lisa Lewis, PhD, author of Special Diets for Special Kids and coauthor of The Encyclopedia of Dietary interventions for Autism and Related Disorders, gluten is a protein found in members of the grass family including wheat, spelt, barley, rye and triticale.  In their pure form oats do not contain gluten, but commercial oats are almost always contaminated with wheat.  Gluten can also be found in products derived from these grains such as malt, soy sauce, grain alcohol and some fillers found in vitamins and medications. Read more

There was a bumper sticker that became popular years back. It read "It will be a great day when our schools get all the money they need and the Air Force has to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber." The sentiment- that our country has focused time, energy, and money to causes other than obvious ones here at home- resonates this time of year as many organizations observe hunger awareness days and gear up their fundraising and donation efforts.  Read more

Click It or Ticket Week- a national safe-driving initiative- falls the last week of May, just in time for Memorial Day, proms, and high school graduations. This is the week police officers across the country crack down on drivers and passengers driving without seat belts, which greatly increases the risk of serious injury in an accident. Read more

Covance has raised the ire of doctors and animal advocates for its animal tests. And after just three years and ongoing scrutiny, it has been forced to close down its contentious facility in Chandler, Ariz. The company also scuttled plans to build a lab in Virginia and closed its Vienna, Va., facility. PCRM member physicians fought long and hard against the establishment of the Arizona laboratory. In the end, victory came from a lack of demand for its services. Read more

National Food Allergy Awareness Week takes place May 13-19 this year. Food allergies have increased over the past decade and this has quickly become a hot topic in doctor's offices and schools. An estimated 15 million Americans are currently living with food allergies; nearly 6 million of them are children. Read more

In a recent editorial for Environmental Health Perspectives, Drs. Philip Landrigan and Luca Lambertini (Children’s Environmental Health Center at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine) and Dr. Linda Birnbaum (Director of NIEHS and NTP at the National Institutes of Health) made a strong academic case for more research into environmental causes of autism.  It has become increasingly clear that environmental factors play a major role in neurodevelopment, through direct neurotoxicity and through alteration of genetic coding via epigenetic mechanisms.  Read more

There’s quite a buzz these days about probiotics and for good reason.  These ”friendly” bacteria that live in our gut do amazing things for our health.   In our intestinal tract, we house trillions of bacteria…some good, some not so good.   As long as these organisms live in harmony….meaning the good ones keep the bad ones in check, we have balance and a healthy gut. Read more

The CDC last week published an updated report on autism prevalence in the United States, “Prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorders — Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network, 14 Sites, United States, 2008” (Surveillance Summaries, March 30, 2012 / 61(SS03);1-19).  Widely reported in the media were the highlights:

Buy a chicken from any grocery store in America and you are likely to get more than you bargained for. Feces taint one in every two supermarket chickens, according to testing recently conducted by an independent laboratory at PCRM’s request. The problem seems to be widespread. We collected chicken products from 15 different grocery store chains in 10 major U.S. cities. These were chickens marketed by Perdue, Pilgrim’s, and 22 other brands. Read more

Iowa just made it a crime to film undercover videos on farms. Utah’s state legislature passed a similar bill that has gone to the governor, who must now decide whether or not to sign it. These “ag-gag” bills make it illegal for employees at farms and slaughterhouses to take videos and photos that can help blow the whistle on unsanitary and illegal activities that endanger public health. Read more