Children & Families

A mysterious cluster of rare, fatal birth defects has devastated families in three rural counties in Washington state. JoNel Aleccia of The Seattle Times shares key lessons from how she reported her award-nominated fellowship series.

A psychiatrist who has studied migrant and refugee children around the world points to one powerful protective factor against tremendous adversity — social connections.

Earlier this week, Harvard researchers released a study that makes a downright gloomy prediction: Nearly six in 10 of today’s children will be obese by age 35, if current trends continue.

"After scouring several large surveys of teens for clues," researcher Jean Twenge writes, "I found that all of the possibilities traced back to a major change in teens’ lives: the sudden ascendance of the smartphone."

For a reporter who found signs of hopelessness in one Kern County community after another, childhood trauma turned out to be the unifying theme, handed down from one generation to the next.

Earlier this year, the EPA rejected a long-running petition to ban chlorpyrifos, which poses serious health risks to young children. But the health threats go way beyond chlorpyrifos, a leading researcher says.

In recent months, Fresno School Board President Brooke Ashjian has launched a series of attacks on Fresno Bee reporter Mackenzie Mays over her reporting on the district's failure to provide basic sex ed to students.

According to one recent report, Alabama ranks highest when in scores for American Indian children, while Maine is tops for Latinos. What’s going on here?

Why are so many young children in California not being screened for developmental issues, despite clear guidelines that they should be?

Mike Berens of The Chicago Tribune offers a master-level introduction to what can be achieved with an open mind and a deep committment to quantifying the stories he pursues.