Your Health

Maria Texeira-Gomes holds a photo of her 5-year-old son, Matheo, who has struggled with asthma nearly all his life.

Health & Safety

To Control Asthma, Start With The Home Instead Of The Child

10:36am March 19, 2013

by Richard Knox

Because dust, mold and pests can trigger asthma attacks, addressing these triggers in the home can keep kids from winding up in the hospital. In the past seven years, the Community Asthma Initiative in Boston has counseled more than a thousand families on how to prevent attacks.

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Improving Healthcare, One Search At A Time

1:03pm March 15, 2013

By combing through 100 million search queries on Bing, Yahoo and Google, Microsoft Research Lab co-director Eric Horvitz and his colleagues were able to discover a previously unknown interaction between two commonly prescribed drugs. Horvitz says the method might detect dangerous drug interactions earlier than the FDA's warning system.

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Samantha Grimaldo was born with a rare disorder, Perisylvian syndrome, and has never been able to speak.

New Voices For The Voiceless: Synthetic Speech Gets An Upgrade

1:23pm March 13, 2013

by Alix Spiegel

For those who rely on technology to speak, there are a limited number of voices. "Perfect Paul" sounds robotic, and "Heather" can seem too old for some. Now, a researcher is using sound samples from people who have never been able to speak to create new, personalized voices for them.

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Noah Zandan shows off his Zeo sleep-tracking headband. His other self-tracking devices are on his wrists. Noah and his father, Peter, are both part of the growing "Quantified Self" movement.

Self-Tracking Apps To Help You 'Quantify' Yourself

11:11am March 12, 2013

by Elise Hu

Technology is making it easier than ever to track everything from your sleep cycles to the food you eat — and even your amino acid levels.

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A promo image depicting a bee at a coffee flower.

If Caffeine Can Boost The Memory Of Bees, Can It Help Us, Too?

6:13pm March 07, 2013

by Allison Aubrey

Feeding on flowers with caffeinated nectars gives bees a memory boost, new research shows. Turns out, other studies have found humans can get a similar boost in short-term memory with caffeine — if they're exhausted.

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Good advice, but strict rules at mealtime may backfire.

Health & Safety

Selling Kids On Veggies When Rules Like 'Clean Your Plate' Fail

5:14pm March 06, 2013

by Patti Neighmond

Involving kids in preparing dinner may be a better way to get kids to eat their vegetables than strictures like "no dessert until you eat your vegetables." But health experts say there's nothing wrong with an occasional treat.

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A promo image depicting a parent's perception of his child's weight.

Health & Safety

Your Child's Fat, Mine's Fine: Rose-Colored Glasses And The Obesity Epidemic

8:30pm March 04, 2013

by Shankar Vedantam

Despite current trends, most parents assume their own kids won't grow up to be overweight adults. That 'optimism bias' has neurological roots, brain scientists say.

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Health & Safety

Why Processed Food Is Cheaper Than Healthier Options

6:32am March 01, 2013

Earlier in the week in our "On the Run" series, we heard a mom explain how mac and cheese was more affordable than fresh fruit. Morning Edition reached out to Barry Popkin of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, a nutritionist and economist, to explain why that would be true.

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The Brown-Spencer family gathers for dinner at their home in Mechanicsville, Va. This family of eight manages to eat together nearly every weeknight, but they've had to cut back on many after-school activities to make it work. From left: Doug Brown, Laura

Health & Safety

Family Dinner: Treasured Tradition Or Bygone Ideal?

3:06pm February 28, 2013

by Allison Aubrey

We'd all like to live the Norman Rockwell scenario, but for some families, the hectic pace of modern life means dinners are often more likely to channel The Simpsons. Studies suggest that regular family meals contribute to healthy eating habits. So what to make of this tradition in transition?

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Yvonne Condes helps her son Alec get ready for baseball practice.

In Many Families, Exercise Is By Appointment Only

1:18pm February 28, 2013

Many parents struggle to find the time to get their kids the exercise they need. But some parents are trying to make walking and biking part of their daily lives, not something they have to schedule.

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