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The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) draft assessment on the safety of Bisphenol A, also called BPA, was criticized earlier this week by a panel of experts convened by an advisory subcommittee to the agency. They said the new exposure safety level proposed by the FDA should be at least ten times lower. BPA is used to make polycarbonate plastics, including those used in plastic baby bottles and drinking water bottles and the lining of metal food packaging.

For many children, autumn events such as Halloween and Harvest Day are fun times to dress up in costumes, go trick-or-treating, attend parties and eat yummy treats. These events are also opportunities to provide nutritious snacks, get physical activity, and focus on safety.

Shire plc (LSE: SHP, NASDAQ: SHPGY), the global specialty biopharmaceutical company, today announced results from a 13-hour analog classroom study in School-aged children aged 6 to 12 years with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). In this study, researchers found that VYVANSE controlled ADHD symptoms from the first time point measured (1.5 hours) through the last time point assessed (13 hours) post-dose.

The number and rate of births and pregnancies among teenage girls in Alabama rose in the past two years, reversing a downward trend in the teen pregnancy rate that had held steady for almost a decade. According to the Center for health Statistics of the Alabama Department of Public health, there were an estimated 12,398 pregnancies in Alabama to females ages 10 to 19 for a pregnancy rate of 39.7 in 2007, a rate which is virtually unchanged from the 2006 rate of 39.6.

The Virginia Department of health (VDH) urges parents to vaccinate children between the ages of six months and 18 years against influenza. The new recommendations reflect guidance this year from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that adds children between 5 and 18 years old to last years' recommendations to vaccinate younger children, 6 months through 4 years of age. "The expanded recommendations to vaccinate children 5 years old and up include 1.

Researchers at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston say the use of aggressive phototherapy reduces the odds that tiny premature infants will develop neurodevelopmental impairment such as cerebral palsy, blindness, deafness or physical or mental challenges. The study, titled "Aggressive Versus Conservative Phototherapy for Infants with Extremely Low Birth Weight," is published in the Oct. 30, 2008 issue of the New England Journal of medicine.

Contrary to popular belief, a new study released by First 5 California found that parents don't need to sneak fruits and vegetables into their children's meals -- kids say they actually like them! Interviews with more than 100 preschoolers across California revealed that kids not only know it's important to eat fruits and vegetables, they frequently prefer them to candy.

HealthDay - THURSDAY, Oct. 30 (HealthDay News) -- Halloween and its avalanche of candy is coming, making it the worst time of year for children's teeth, right?

Barts and the London Children's hospital has launched an innovative new website to help children and young people prepare for a visit to hospital. A range of quirky characters guide children to documentary-style films and cartoons of children and teenagers talking about their real-life experiences as patients. To capture children's real thoughts, some of the children filmed their own video diary while in hospital.

AP - A popular antidepressant plus three months of psychotherapy dramatically helped children with anxiety disorders, the most common psychiatric illnesses in kids, the biggest study of its kind found.