children's Health: Exercising early in life yields rewards in adult years ♦ Emergency visits for childhood food allergy on rise in Illinois ♦ Students' designs give prosthetics a new look

Pilot program in pediatric long-term care facility halves topical antibiotic use A pilot antibiotic stewardship program at a pediatric long-term care facility brought about a 59 percent decrease in use of a topical antibiotic and an 83 percent decrease in orders for antibiotics without proper documentation during a six-month period, according to a new study

Exercising early in life yields rewards in adult years What impact can exercise done early in life have on the propensity for exercising during the adult years? Researchers did experiments on mice in the lab to find out. They found that early-age exercise in mice has positive effects on adult levels of voluntary exercise in addition to reducing body mass

Emergency visits for childhood food allergy on rise in Illinois Emergency room visits and hospitalizations of children with severe, potentially life-threatening food allergy reactions increased nearly 30 percent in Illinois over five years, reports a new study. Hispanic children, who previously had the lowest cases of food allergies, had the biggest increase with a 44 percent rise. This study shows severe food allergies are beginning to impact children of all races and income.

Tests vs. Fests: Students in 'learning celebrations' rather than exams scored higher and enjoyed themselves A sociologist who reshaped "test day" in his class -- transforming it with balloons, streamers, treats and music -- found that students in "learning celebrations" scored higher than students who took standard-style exams in previous semesters.

These 'skins' are in: Students' designs give prosthetics a new look Students have produced "skins" or covers for prosthetic limbs.