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Getting an adolescent with diabetes to look after a living animal, specifically a pet fish, may also encourage them to take better care of their diabetes, according to a study of youth with type 1 diabetes, funded in part by the National Institutes of Health.

In the U.S., more than 3,500 infants die each year from sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS, and from what experts describe as “other sleep-related causes of infant death.” Sparing families this incomprehensible tragedy has been a long-term goal of the National Institutes of Health.

The number of American infants born before the 37th week of pregnancy dropped slightly in 2013, as did the percentage of children with asthma under the age of 17. The percentage of teens who experienced a major depressive episode increased. These and other findings are described in America’s Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2015.

For those who dream of being parents, pregnancy problems can be tremendously frustrating and disappointing. In recent decades, scientists have developed a wide range of approaches to help struggling couples have healthy babies. And NIH-funded studies are continuing to search for even better ways to overcome the challenges of infertility.

A technique to increase the flow of blood from the umbilical cord into the infant’s circulatory system improves blood pressure and red blood cell levels in preterm infants delivered by cesarean section, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health.

It may be trendy, but a new study has concluded there are no benefits to eating the placenta. In this NICHD podcast, the study author explains the rationale behind this controversial practice and describes what the science has found.

Alan E. Guttmacher, M.D., director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), announced today that Della M. Hann, Ph.D., has been named NICHD Associate Director for Extramural Research. Dr. Hann joins NICHD from the NIH Office of Extramural Research, where she has served as deputy director since 2010.

Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have discovered how a major pathway that initiates protein synthesis does so by using an enzyme as a go-between to activate the body’s internal clock.

When animals are present, children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) have lower readings on a device that detects anxiety and other forms of social arousal when interacting with their peers.

How soon after a baby is born should the practitioner wait to cut the umbilical cord? That simple question has no easy answer.

The more time mothers spend participating in activities with their adolescent children, the less likely these kids engage in delinquent behavior, such as skipping school or shoplifting, according to a study published in the April 2015 issue of the Journal of Marriage and Family.

A large-scale, multicenter study has shown that emergency body cooling does not improve survival rates or reduce brain injury in infants and children with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest more than normal temperature control.

Growing up poor affects the brain. That’s the conclusion of researchers from nine universities across the country who’ve completed the largest study of its kind to date.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, adults who were physically abused as children were no more likely to abuse their own children than were other adults their age. That’s the conclusion of researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Lack of vitamin E may contribute to cognitive disorders by robbing brain cells of a substance important for their structure, according to a study of zebrafish funded by the National Institutes of Health.

An intervention to teach mothers of preterm infants how to interact with their babies more effectively results in better weight gain and growth for the infants, according to a study funded in part by the National Institutes of Health.

​​Most children with HIV who have low levels of a key immune cell eventually recover levels of this cell after beginning treatment, according to a study by researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health. ​

Parents who took part in a program to learn parenting skills during their first pregnancy had children who were better adjusted than parents who didn’t participate in the program. That’s what researchers concluded after evaluating the program 5 to 7 years later.

Our guest today has shown over and over again that a comparatively small investment in children can have a substantial payoff when those children reach adulthood.

A new study has found that extremely overweight or obese children are slower than healthy-weight children to recognize when they have made an error during an ongoing activity, and are slower to correct the error.