States Move Ahead with Preschool Push

Preschool is having its moment, as a favored cause for politicians and interest groups who ordinarily have trouble agreeing on the time of day. President Obama devoted part of his State of the Union address to it, while the deeply red states of Oklahoma and Georgia are being hailed as national models of preschool access and quality, with other states and cities also forging ahead on their own.

With a growing body of research pointing to the importance of early child development and its effect on later academic and social progress, enrollment in state-funded preschool has more than doubled since 2002, to about 30 percent of all 4-year-olds nationwide. In just the past year, Alabama, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana and the city of San Antonio have enacted new or expanded programs, while in dozens of other places, mayors, governors and legislators are making a serious push for preschool.

Defying Odds, Twins Prepare for Graduation

ELK RIVER, Minn. -- It does not take much to weigh out two pounds of grapes at the grocery store. Try it. Just a couple clumps of grapes should do it.
That is how much Karla and Kayla Koppendrayer weighed when they were born.
Actually, the twins, delivered in an emergency caesarean birth at 25 weeks, six days, weighed 2 pounds, 2 ounces each. Karla was a whopping 14.5 inches long while Kayla, born a minute later, was 14 inches in length.
In 1992, babies born this early in a pregnancy normally died, and if they did manage to make it, they would suffer severe developmental disabilities.
But these super (micro) preemies, as they are called, overcame many obstacles and will graduate May 27 from Spectrum High School in Elk River, Karla with a 3.93 grade point average (GPA) and Kayla with a 3.92 GPA.

Pediatricians Urge Better Toxin Regulation

The U.S. needs to do a better job protecting children and pregnant women from toxic chemicals, says a policy statement out today from the American Academy of Pediatrics.
The group says children's developing brains and bodies are far more vulnerable than adults' to toxins. And while pediatricians typically spend more time in the clinic than on Capitol Hill, the policy's authors say they felt compelled to advocate for patients who can't defend themselves.

Cholesterol and Autism

NEW YORK -- As people around the globe recognize autism this month, researchers are launching a new study focusing on cholesterol levels of children.
It's a whole new focus of research on this mysterious syndrome. In some cases, researchers think that cholesterol levels could be too low and that could be having an effect on children's development.