Children's Health

In a FIT zone at Bell Street Park in East Palo Alto, Calif., friends from the neighborhood now gather regularly to play volleyball.

Can Volleyball Fight Crime? East Palo Alto Says, 'Game On'

2:01pm May 11, 2015

by Jeremy Raff

A California city with a crime problem — shootings, drug dealing and gang activity — finds that getting more kids and cops playing sports together regularly in the park can make a big difference.

In Palo Alto's High-Pressure Schools, Suicides Lead To Soul-Searching

10:51am May 11, 2015

by NPR Staff

The competitive California school district has seen four students take their own lives since October. One junior talks about reactions to the deaths, pressures students face and hopes for the future.

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A nurse holds a young girl who was vaccinated at the kickoff of a national measles prevention campaign in Liberia.

As Ebola Leaves Liberia, Measles Makes A Forceful Comeback

10:38pm May 08, 2015

by Jason Beaubien

Ebola put the country's immunization program on pause. Now officials are launching a nationwide vaccination campaign to stop the largest measles outbreak the country has seen in years.

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TV marketing that pushes foods high in salt, sugar and fat to children can put their long-term health at risk, according to past research. So has Big Food changed its ways?

Promises, Promises: Is Big Food Marketing Less Junk To Kids On TV?

2:21pm May 08, 2015

by Allison Aubrey

Back in 2006, food-industry giants pledged to market only "better-for-you" foods to children. A new study concludes they kept to the letter of that pledge, but not the spirit.

Nigerian soldiers rescued these women and children from Boko Haram extremists.

Rescued From Boko Haram, How Can They Reclaim Their Lives?

1:22pm May 08, 2015

by Susan Brink

The women and children may have been beaten and raped. Some are pregnant. But a researcher who has worked with former captives says with the right support and treatment, there's hope.

Vials of Tdap vaccine sit on a table at a Solano County, Calif., health fair in August 2010.

Whooping Cough Vaccine's Protection Fades Quickly

7:11pm May 05, 2015

by Lisa Aliferis

Effectiveness of the vaccine within one year of the final booster was 73 percent. But it fell to 34 percent in two to four years, an analysis of a Washington state epidemic found.

"Although we human adults are really good at understanding other minds, we weren't always that way." - Rebecca Saxe

How Do We Know What Other People Are Thinking?

4:17pm May 05, 2015

by NPR/TED Staff

Sensing the motives and feelings of others is a natural talent for humans. But how do we do it? Neuroscientist Rebecca Saxe explains how one region in the brain focuses on other people's thoughts.

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The revamped children's menu at Silver Diner

When You Make Kids' Meals Healthier By Default, They Still Eat 'Em Up

3:09pm April 30, 2015

by Maanvi Singh

When a restaurant chain revamped its kids' menu, making items like strawberries and salad the default sides instead of fries, it improved the healthfulness of meals ordered — by a lot, a study finds.

Credit: NPR; Source: National Longitudinal Transition Study

Young Adults With Autism More Likely To Be Unemployed, Isolated

8:12am April 22, 2015

by Maanvi Singh

More than half of young people with autism have neither a job nor educational plans in the first two years after high school, a study finds.

Phyllis Omido is one of six winners of the 2015 Goldman Environmental prizes.

You Don't Want To Mess With An Angry Mother

4:42pm April 21, 2015

by Jason Beaubien

Phyllis Omido's toddler had a mysterious ailment. After doctors came up with a diagnosis, she set out to shut down a Kenyan polluter. Now she's won the Goldman Environmental Prize for her work.