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HealthDay - FRIDAY, Nov. 14 (HealthDay News) - Greener neighborhoods, with lots of trees, help inner city kids keep excess pounds at bay, according to a U.S. study.

"Racial Differences in Waitlist Mortality in Children Listed for Heart Transplant in the United States in the Current Era," Circulation: The study, led by Tajinder Singh of

Unlike some states, Hawaii has not found "the backbone to say 'no thanks'" to federal funding for abstinence-only education, a Honolulu Star Bulletin editorial says.

Traffic pollution, especially in cities, adversely affects respiratory health in children with asthma. A study published in BioMed Central's open access journal Respiratory Research has found that in this vulnerable group, worsening of respiratory symptoms requiring recurrent additional treatment.

Head Start, the federal program that provides comprehensive services to low-income children and their families, has had a positive effect on some aspects of School readiness, but not others. A new study shows that a program designed to make it easier to integrate research into the classroom by giving teachers enrichment manuals helped children in both academic and social-emotional areas.

A study released by researchers at the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental health (CCCEH) at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health shows that developing antibodies to cockroach and mouse proteins is associated with a greater risk for wheeze, hay fever, and eczema in preschool urban children as young as three years of age.

Diabetic Hypoglycaemia , the influential online diabetes journal published by ESP Bioscience, supports the message of World Diabetes Day in raising the global awareness of diabetes. The theme of World Diabetes Day in 2008 is 'Diabetes in children and adolescents'.

As families across the country face losses of nest eggs, homes or jobs, their young children and teens need emotional support. Child psychologist Michele C. Thorne, Ph.D., assistant professor of clinical psychology at the Indiana University School of medicine and clinical director of the Consult Liaison Service at Riley hospital for Children, says that parents should recognize that even newborn babies pick up on the emotional tones of adult stress.

New research finds that many preschoolers in full-day child care have increases in the stress hormone cortisol from morning to afternoon. Children in classrooms of approximately 10 were more likely to have decreases in cortisol from morning to afternoon. Children in classrooms with closer to 20 showed greater cortisol increases. The study looked at 191 preschoolers attending 12 centers, and included teacher descriptions of relationships with the children and measured cortisol from the children's saliva.

A new study found that children who are very distressed when their parents fight have higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Distress, hostility, and level of involvement parental arguments were measured in 208 six-year olds. Cortisol levels were measured by taking saliva samples before and after simulated telephone arguments between their parents. Children who were very distressed and very involved in response to parental fighting had especially high cortisol levels.