Health & Safety

As your child goes off to camp this summer, whether it be a sports- or old-fashioned general-interest camp, health experts say parents and kids need to be on the lookout for MRSA and other skin infections.  Because kids at camp live in close quarters where they tend to share athletic equipment, towels and clothing,  camps, especially sports camps, can be MRSA hot spots.

The National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA) has issued a position statement on preventing MRSA and other skin diseases among athletes at all levels, from youth to professionals. The statement includes comprehensive recommendations for avoiding, identifying and treating fungal, viral and bacterial skin infections, some of which are life threatening.

As the nation begins the Fourth of July weekend, here's a comprehensive guide with summer safety tips on everything from sun, heat, lightning, pool and bug safety, to playground, bicycle, skateboards and scooters, lawn mowers, fireworks, boating, open-water swimming and all-terrain vehicle safety.

As the best  soccer players in the world compete in the 2010 FIFA Women's World Cup Canada 2015™, it is important to remember that they would not be playing if an overuse or traumatic injury, such as a torn ACL,  had put the brakes on their careers.  The STOP Sports Injuries Campaign and MomsTeam remind parents that many youth soccer injuries are preventable. 

New return-to-play rules for concussions rules highlight changes by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) for the 2010-2011 high school ice hockey season.

While one out of four children and teens 9 to 15 years old watch more than the recommended limit of two hours of television per day, those who play sports and those whose parents set consistent rules about television viewing are less likely to exceed  limits on screen time, according to a new study in the journal Pediatrics.

Hyponatremia occurs where sodium levels in the blood become dangerously low due to excessive water consumption.  Blood sodium levels that drop too low can lead to seizures, coma, and even death.  To prevent hyponatremia usually occurs in endurance and ultra-endurance events follow these guidelines.

A Canadian study finding that the risk of concussion  in youth ice hockey leagues that allow body-checking is triple that in leagues that do not, is likely to fuel calls to extend the ban on body-checking to 11- and 12-year-olds playing at the Pee Wee level

Updated water safety and drowning prevention advice for parents from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) drops the group's opposition to early swimming lessons for infants and toddlers and highlights the risks of inflatable pools, and body entrapment and hair entanglement in pool drains.

Reducing your child's screen time in front of televisions and computers is one of the easiest ways to improve your family's health.  Here are  eight simple ways to limit screen time to help crank up your kids' energy, re-charge their minds, and improve their health.