AboutKidsHealth (2024)

FAQs

Is AboutKidsHealth a reliable source? ›

AboutKidsHealth empowers families to become a partner in their own health care by equipping them with reliable, evidence-based health information.

Child health is a state of physical, mental, intellectual, social and emotional well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Healthy children live in families, environments, and communities that provide them with the opportunity to reach their fullest developmental potential.

Childhood is a critical period of growth and development — and a child's experiences, behaviors, and health problems can have long-term impacts. Healthy People 2030 focuses on ways to directly and indirectly improve children's health, safety, and well-being.

“I always encourage parents to use it and rely on it.” Babies don't come with a handbook, as the old saying goes. Neither do growing children. But KidsHealth.org gives families the next best thing — friendly, engaging advice, education and learning activities designed to help the lessons stick.

The #1 most-trusted source for physician-reviewed information on children's health.

1. Age: Children's immune systems are constantly developing from birth until they are around 7 years old. Because younger children have less developed immune systems to fight off infections, they are more likely to catch an illness that can spread from person to person.

Colds & the Seasonal Flu

Colds and influenza are caused by viruses and are the most common childhood illness. Colds usually last for a week or two, and the flu can last for several weeks. Both illnesses are contagious, so it's important to keep your child away from other children if they are sick.

The doctor follows the CDC guidelines as a standard regarding how often children need to visit the doctor. Recommendations for wellness visits are one, two, four, six, nine, 12, 15 18- months, two years, two and a half years, and three years. Visits then jump to annually until they reach 21-years.

Unsurprisingly, the better off states including those in the south and north-east have India's healthiest children, and the Gangetic belt states have among India's least healthy children.

Child physical health is more than just tracking their height and weight. It also includes making sure they have good nutrition, enough physical activity, restful sleep, timely immunizations, and strong dental health.

What are common things kids are scared of? ›

As a child learns more about the world, the list of things they fear tends to grow. Some fears are real and some are imaginary. Common fears include fear of the dark, burglary, war, death, separation or divorce of their parents, and supernatural beings (such as ghosts and monsters).

The best guide to your child's state of health is their behaviour. If they are happy and active and if they are playing and eating as they usually do, they are probably not very sick. A sick child may: be unsettled or irritable.

Try to give your child time for quiet games, stories, company and comfort. Sick children get very tired and need plenty of rest. Encourage your child to doze off when they need to, perhaps with a story read by you or on a mobile device or CD.

It is very common for toddlers and pre-school-aged children to have as many as 8 to 12 colds, respiratory infections and/or stomach bugs a year. School-age children and preteens average five or six illnesses annually; teens and adults may have two to three colds or illnesses per year.

Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. The enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition.

Pediatrics is the branch of medicine dealing with the health and medical care of infants, children, and adolescents from birth up to the age of 18. The word “paediatrics” means “healer of children”; they are derived from two Greek words: (pais = child) and (iatros = doctor or healer).

Definitions of health and wellness: Health is the state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease, or infirmity. Wellness is an active process through which people become aware of, and make choices toward, a more successful existence.