ARTICLES RELATED TO:
5-12 years: Elementary School

We don’t usually think of blood pressure as a matter of concern during childhood — and for most kids, it’s not. But blood pressure is an important vital sign and one that your child’s physician should be taking at every check-up. Babies’ blood pressure measurements are taken at birth as part of routine newborn screenings. After that, expert guidelines, including those of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), call for measurements to be taken at well-child visits and sick visits in the pediatrician’s office, starting at age 3. What’s Considered “Normal” Blood Pressure for Kids? Determining normal or optimal blood pressure for children is a bit complex because it depends on a number of factors including age, height and gender. A simplified approach is to use these thresholds: A child from 3 to 11 years should have blood pressure at or below 110/70. From age 12 upward, a measurement of […]

Every few months, some kind of infection sweeps through classrooms, camps and daycare centers — chickenpox, colds, pink eye and ear infections — each taking their turn infecting children. One occurrence, though, seems to send parents into a tailspin when there’s a slightest whisper of the dreaded word — lice. And now, with the appearance of what many are calling super lice — or lice that are resistant to most over-the-counter treatments — parents are more concerned than ever about the little creatures that nest in children’s hair. First and foremost, super lice are still treatable, but instead of the affordable over-the-counter remedies, super lice can be treated with an expensive prescription medication that only some insurance companies will cover. Prevention is the best solution for your child — and your bank account. With all of the tips, tricks and rumors about lice you may have heard, it’s difficult to tell […]