Children Health

The news that a woman has been named deputy prime minister of Afghanistan made headlines around the world Wednesday, but perhaps nowhere did it mean as much as in a small clinic here, halfway down an alley swirling with noise, donkeys and dust, miles from the Afghan border. Here, the real significance could be read in the faces of three nurses who stood behind a curtain in the narrow maternity room--broad, shy smiles, with a hint of surprised pride.

Touring a home-based school Saturday that had defied the Taliban's ban on female education, U.N. Children's Fund chief Carol Bellamy praised the dedication of women who risked punishment by working outside the home as teachers. Students sat on the floor, shoulder to shoulder, packing the tiny classrooms at the Flower School, a small mud-brick building in western Kabul with 300 boys and girls.

American holidays seem built upon a peculiar mix of happiness and high anxiety. We love to celebrate. But it's commingled with the stress of cooking elaborate dinners, shopping for gifts and attending obligatory social events. And this year, perhaps unlike any in recent memory, holiday stress could reach lofty new proportions--for adults and children. The Sept.

Children with asthma may feel that no one understands what they go through, but the truth is, they are not alone. About 5 million kids in the United States have asthma, a chronic disease that causes breathing problems. Although there is no cure, treatment has improved dramatically in recent years. "You can learn to control asthma and not have asthma control you," says Dr. Andy Liu, a pediatric asthma specialist at National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver.

The chances are pretty good that Joanna Perez and her husband, Ismael, will be awake in the middle of the night sometime soon, wondering about a sick child. After all, the couple have 15-month-old quadruplets. "Unfortunately we've had our share of ear infections, colds and fevers," said Joanna Perez, 32, of Downers Grove, Ill. "The kids pass on illnesses to each other, but the result is not necessarily the same." For example, son Gabriel recently caught one of his siblings' colds.

Teri Burley scanned the exhibitors' tables. There was a metronome-like device intended to help children improve their attention spans and coordination. There were dozens of books containing the latest research on a disorder that affects thousands of children like her two sons. "It's like a candy store here," Burley said as she surveyed the Anaheim conference devoted to people suffering from Attention Deficit/Hyperactive Disorder.

Researchers trying to account for the surge in childhood asthma have studied genetics, infections and allergies. Now they've identified another possible culprit: poor parenting skills. In following 150 children for eight years, beginning at birth, psychologists at National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver found that kids whose parents had trouble coping--especially during the child's first year--were more than twice as likely to become asthmatic by age 6 to 8.

A boy whose right arm was reattached after being bitten off by a shark is back in the hospital after a bout of vomiting, a hospital spokesman said Thursday. Eight-year-old Jessie Arbogast had been slowly improving at home until the weekend, when he was returned to Sacred Heart Children's Hospital. "He is still not able to speak. He is still not walking," said Sacred Heart spokesman Mike Burke.

There is no evidence to either prove or reject the theory that mercury in childhood vaccines has lead to autism and other developmental disorders, but the theory is "biologically plausible," a government panel said Monday. Thimerosol, a mercury compound, is no longer used in new vaccines for children although some may remain in stock in clinics and pharmacies. Until last year the compound was widely used as a preservative to prevent bacterial contamination in some vaccines.

Americans of all ages are struggling to recover from the terrible tragedies of last week's terrorist attacks. For kids, this may be a particularly difficult time. They may have the feeling that life never is going to be the same. They see fear in their parents' faces, and this increases their own anxiety. Knowing someone who was hurt or killed in the attacks can cause intense grief.