And now, there's a pill that can be taken just once a day ? and in children as young as six ? for the treatment of asthma.

Asthma is growing at epidemic proportions, particularly in urban areas like ours. An estimated half-million New Yorkers have asthma - the country's highest rate. Approximately 130,000 of these are schoolchildren; the condition is the leading cause of school absenteeism.

Persistent asthma is most effectively controlled with daily, long-term-control medication, specifically anti-inflammatory therapy. To that end, several new drugs have been introduced in the pediatric market for administering to children in the campaign against asthma. These are Accolate, Pulmicort, and Singulair.

If you were suddenly to be presented with the gift of a few more hours in your day, how would you spend them?

The popular image of a homeschooling parent is a distrustful, isolated person who longs to shield children from the "bad influences" of public - or even private - school. But talk to the parents in your New York City neighborhood and you may find some surprising opinions and practices regarding homeschooling.

Last month, school psychologist DR. KENNETH SHORE talked about ÒStaying BackÓ - giving advice to parents when the school suggests a child should be held back a year. This month, Dr. Shore discusses a situation that may require just as much consideration:

Young allergy sufferers may appreciate the Young Artists Against Allergies calendar for 1998.

Theatreworks/USA’s — New York City’s premiere company for family theater — will kick off their 2000-0001 season with “Superfudge”. This musical adaptation of the Judy Blume best-seller, introduces audiences to the irreppresibly mischievous Fudge.

We know that children exposed to tobacco smoke in the home are more likely to suffer from asthma. But a new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, reported in Chest, now finds that not only the existence but also the amount of smoke matters too.

According to a recent national survey conducted by the American Infertility Association (AIA), couples may be making way too much whoopee before they seek medical help to become pregnant.

Is it beneficial to play Mozart to your baby in the womb? A new test which measures the electrical signals in the fetal brain could eventually answer that question but, more importantly, it could also help doctors to protect babies from damage sustained in utero.

Although it may be several months until pediatricians begin to use it, a new children’s vaccine recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is poised to nix the number of injections that babies get in their first year — from 15 to 9.

Many parents already know that taking vitamins while pregnant protects children from some birth defects. A new study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, published in Epidemiology. now finds that taking prenatal multivitamins may also help protect children from one type of deadly cancer.

Any parent whose child has been treated for warts knows that the treatment can be worse than the lump.

As we mark our 18th Anniversary, we marvel (as we do every year) on how fast the years have flown by and how our kids have grown. Don’t wait till it’s too late! In celebration, we present (in no particular order) our “18 RESOLUTIONS” – the 18 great outings you should do with your kids, at least once!

If you're between 14 and 80-something years old — and if you're reading this, the chances are you just might be — then The Long Island Children's Museum would like to have you as one of its volunteers.

A startling one in four school-age children returned to school this year with a visual handicap that could prevent them from reaching their full learning and developmental potential.

Levels of air pollution inside the home can be two to five times higher — and sometimes as much as 100 times higher — than outdoor levels. Yet the results of a recent survey commissioned on behalf of the American Lung Association Health House Program and 3M found that many of those questioned are not aware of the potential dangers associated with poor indoor air.

The ordinary sleeping bag doesn't keep the cold floor from finding your kid's spine during a sleepover party. Now your kids can sleep on air — while snuggling up with their favorite characters — with the Readybed.

Young animal lovers don't need to be told to be kind to animals, but it certainly doesn't hurt to send a reminder now and then.

Television programs that teach kids how to read are terrific, but the best way for a child to learn to read and write is to receive and send their own mail. But how many kids ages 1-5 have friends who can write back?

The advent of portable audio devices has often been cited as a prime factor in the substantial increase of hearing loss in children and teens over the past decade. According to The Journal of the American Medical Association and The New England Journal of Medicine, over 5 million American children have already suffered permanent, irreversible hearing damage as the result of personal stereo usage. To counteract this trend, the Kid's Ear Saver Company of Mississippi has developed the Kid's Ear Saver adapter.