Children's Health

A baby receives care in the neonatal intensive care unit of the government hospital in Tripoli, Lebanon. Because of the lack of prenatal care amid the country's massive economic crisis, medical staff members say more newborns are born sick and weak. From

Health & Safety

Lebanon's hospitals are running out of medicine and staff in ongoing economic crisis

5:00am June 05, 2022

by Arezou Rezvani

Hospitals are running out of medicines. Staff members are leaving. And some parents will even leave a newborn stranded in the intensive care unit if they can't afford the fees for additional care.

Vaccinating young kids might finally be possible this month. But will it be easy?

4:27pm June 03, 2022

NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House COVID-19 response coordinator, about the latest guidance on children under 5 getting the vaccine to protect against COVID-19.

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The label for a bottle of melatonin pills. Melatonin is a hormone that helps control the body's sleep cycle.

Health & Safety

Thousands of kids are getting sick from downing melatonin pills

1:38pm June 03, 2022

by The Associated Press

Last year, U.S. poison control centers got 52,000 calls about children consuming worrisome amounts of the dietary supplement, a popular sleep aid. Two children have died in the past decade.

Shelves normally meant for baby formula sit nearly empty at a store in downtown Washington, D.C., on May 22.

As the baby formula crisis worsens, it's also magnifying disparities in the U.S.

2:27pm June 02, 2022

by Jason Breslow

Empty store shelves. Frustrated parents. The formula shortage has upended life for millions of families across the nation and magnified longtime disparities in how infants receive nutrition.

Kids with hearing loss will now learn spoken English and ASL in Los Angeles schools

4:42pm June 01, 2022

by Kyle Stokes

Los Angeles schools will now teach both American Sign Language and spoken English to younger students. The policy change is meant to correct a history of suppressing ASL. But some say it goes too far.

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The baby-formula shortage has led some to question why the U.S. doesn't provide more support for breastfeeding. Here, a woman breastfeeds her son outside New York City Hall during a 2014 rally to support breastfeeding in public.

The baby formula shortage is prompting calls to increase support for breastfeeding

7:26am May 30, 2022

by Scott Horsley

As parents scramble to find scarce baby formula and the government races to boost production and imports, some advocates say the U.S. should do more to encourage breastfeeding.

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Workers unload a FedEx cargo plane carrying 100,000 pounds of baby formula at Washington Dulles International Airport, in Chantilly, Va., on Wednesday.

More baby formula shipments arrive from overseas in an effort to ease the shortage

3:00pm May 28, 2022

by Emma Bowman

Australia is sending the equivalent of more than 27 million 8-ounce bottles of goat's milk and other baby formulas, as the U.S. government works to replenish store shelves during the shortage.

The trauma of gun violence affects all children, not just the ones who were there

5:10pm May 27, 2022

NPR's Sacha Pfeiffer talks with Washington Post reporter John Woodrow Cox, author of the book Children Under Fire, about the immediate and long-term affects of gun violence on children.

Demonstrators attend a candlelight vigil Wednesday in Fairfax, Va., for the victims of the Uvalde and Buffalo mass shootings.

Research shows policies that may help prevent mass shootings — and some that don't

4:08pm May 26, 2022

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

The amount of resources devoted to studying gun violence is paltry compared to its public health impact. Still, the evidence shows certain policies might help prevent mass shootings.

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Nineteen children and two adults were killed during the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Parents are struggling to cope with the loss and with how to explain it to their children.

What to say to kids about school shootings to ease their stress

10:22am May 26, 2022

by Allison Aubrey

The death of children, shot at school, is hard to comprehend. It can be even harder for kids. Counselors say parents should take cues from their kids, listen to their fears and answer their questions.