The University of Vermont Medical Center HealthSource blog is your leading source for children’s health articles and news from industry experts. Read through a collection of children’s health articles and tips on a variety of topics such as mental health, behavioral issues, nutrition, safety, development and more. The HealthSource children’s health blog features an array of regular authors and contributors from the medical world including doctors, nutritionists, nurse practitioners and healthcare experts.
Parents have been asking me a mouth full of questions about an illness called hand, foot, and mouth disease. While commonly associated with younger children, it has begun to show up in teens and young adults as well. When does this happen? Hand, foot, and mouth disease is often seen in the summer in younger […]
We sat down with David Rettew, MD, pediatric psychiatrist, and Logan Hegg, PsyD, pediatric psychologist to discuss digital addiction in youth. What we learned is that digital distraction is not unique to youth. In fact, adults play a significant role in demonstrating good behavior for children to model. What are we talking about? In an age where thumbs are our most useful tools — with […]
“When little people are overwhelmed by big emotions, it’s our job to share our calm, not to join their chaos.” – L.R. Knost The healthcare setting can be a scary and overwhelming place where stress and anxiety tend to hit a peak. Teaching children and families coping skills is one of the several roles that […]
With the fall sports season here, parents have been getting their kicks asking me questions about girls and boys playing sports together. They want to know when coed competition is and is not recommended, particularly in contact sports. Well let me see if I can touch down on this topic. When is it safe for […]
Parents have been sounding off to me with lots of questions about heart murmurs in their children. Let me get to the heart of the matter to provide some information on this topic. What is a heart murmur, exactly? A heart murmur is simply a noise heard between the beats of the heart due to […]
Do you have a child or care for someone between the ages of 11-21 years old? These tweens, teens and young adults are all adolescents, a word used by healthcare providers to describe this age group. Did you know that all adolescents should have a yearly check up with their healthcare provider? We want to […]
The temperature inside your vehicle can rise almost 20º F in just 10 minutes. Within an hour, it can be more than 40º higher than the outside temperature. Along with the vehicle temperature rising, body temperature rises and can quickly reach dangerous levels. Little bodies heat up fast, making babies and young children particularly at […]
Recently, parents have been serving up lots of questions regarding their child’s nutrition based on more fiction than facts. So, this week I thought I’d do some myth-busting of common nutritional myths. Is a multivitamin a solution or supplement? For example, parents ask me if taking a daily multivitamin gives their children all the nutrients […]
Whether they are in your backyard or at a campsite, nothing is quite like sitting around an outdoor fire. After all, who doesn’t love a freshly cooked smore with a perfectly toasted marshmallow? Unfortunately, every summer we admit trauma patients with serious or life-threatening burns from these outdoor fires. We would rather you create happy […]
Nothing takes the fun out of summer than when a child complains of an ear ache during a family vacation at the beach. Let me lend everyone an ear and a few tips on something we call swimmer’s ear. Why did my child get swimmers ear? While most ear infections during the winter are caused […]
