1. The CDC reports that an estimated 1 in 88 kids have some form of autism, which is double the rate reported a decade ago. Could the trend be in part due to better diagnostic tools? Or -- as one columnist wonders -- could the rate of incidence be even higher?
2. Seeing double? A new study reports that 1 in every 30 babies born in the United States is a twin, compared with one in every 53 in 1980.
3. Preschool children, particularly girls, aren't getting enough outdoor playtime, says one study. Why?
4. Think your kids are unruly on a flight? I bet this story can top yours.
5. From the oh-so-useful files: Blogger and pediatrician Craig Canapari has put together a parental toolkit for taking a child to a specialist.
6. A Slate columnist believes that Lee Hirsh's new documentary Bully oversimplifies the connection between bullying and suicide.
7. Finally, as you likely have heard by now, a Vogue piece by Dara-Lynn Weiss, a writer who put her 7-year-old on a diet, has sparked a firestorm of debate on childhood obesity, diets for kids, writing about your kids for profit (Weiss has landed a book deal), and on and on.
8. The full article is only available in the print mag, but Healthland has both a good summary on the piece and what the experts are saying and a column by Judith Warner in support of Weiss, whom, she argues, "owns our fears and bad behaviors — and reflects them back to us with both a damning and exonerating fun-house-mirror refraction."
What do you think?
