Kids Health

That small space between your kids’ eyebrows may save them—and you—from some high-stress freak-outs. A recent study by UC Irvine anesthesiologists with collaboration from Yale doctors found that applying pressure there (it’s called the Extra-1 acupoint) lowered presurgery anxiety enough to reduce the amount of sedative needed prior to going under the knife.

Lipstick, eyeliner, mascara, perfume—Jessica Assaf applied them all, and more, before she hit 12. And by her mid teens, she estimates she was using 15 to 20 beauty products a day. Like many girls, Assaf was indoctrinated into the beauty culture at a young age, with makeover-themed birthday parties as early as kindergarten and trips to the nail salon starting in grade school.

What if you could help your child excel in school before she’s even said her first word? In the largest study of its kind, researchers at Montreal’s McGill University followed 14,000 children over a six-year period to see if prolonged (at least three months) and exclusive (no other food or liquids) breast-feeding affected cognitive development.

Parents wishing to swim with their new baby may need to take a deep breath before plunging into the kiddie pool. Studies by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health reveal that babies who participate in infant swimming lessons are more likely to suffer from asthma and other lung-related ailments later in life.