Kids Health – For Every Parent

How Your Child’s Sugar Cravings Are Making Them Sick

Does your child have a sweet tooth? Do their sugar cravings create issues with mealtime? If you’re trying to instill good health habits in them by encouraging them to play sports, eat their veggies, and drink water, then don’t let their desire to eat sweets undermine those efforts. This year is already becoming a doozy […]

The Pediatric Illness that Is Packing North Carolina Hospitals: Understanding RSV

Children get sick. That is something we can expect. We also expect children to recover. For the past 2 ½ years, we’ve learned to listen to specific cues of illness, fearing it may be COVID-19. But another illness is packing pediatric hospital beds throughout North Carolina. Its name is RSV or respiratory syncytial virus, and […]

Mental Health Crisis in America: How to Help Your Kids Manage Feelings of Despair

We are facing a mental health crisis. An alarming number of children and teens are struggling with feelings of hopelessness and depression. Many are also having thoughts of suicide. During the height of the pandemic in 2020, the number of children who went to the Emergency Department for mental health issues increased by 24 percent […]

Why the Flu Vaccine Should be on Your To-Do List this Fall

It is anticipated that this year’s flu season will be worse than last year. The main reason is that last year we were social distancing and wearing masks, which protected against viruses. This year, with lifted COVID restrictions, we lack the protection that kept us relatively healthy. One of the best things you can do […]

The COVID-19 Updated Booster is Now Available for Kids 5+

The CDC recently announced that it authorized an improved COVID-19 booster by Pfizer for use in individuals ages 5 and up. Here’s what you need to know. How is the updated COVID-19 Booster Different? The primary vaccine authorized for children is monovalent, containing only the original COVID-19 vaccine. The updated booster is bivalent, which means […]

Preventing the Spread of Pink Eye – Tips for Parents and Caregivers

Back to school means gearing up for the year ahead and making obligatory trips to the store to stock up on school supplies and a new wardrobe. But back to school also means taking preventive measures to keep your kiddo healthy. Pink eye, also known as conjunctivitis, is a prevalent eye infection that can spread […]

The Rules of Sun Engagement: Keeping Your Kids Protected Against Skin Cancer

Summer is finally here, and so are long, sunny days, trips to the beach, and lots and lots of time outside. And this is any parent’s dream. And while we want to encourage our kids to spend as much time outdoors as possible, it is critical to their health to be lathered up in sunscreen […]

Signs Your Child May Have a Vision Problem

During your child’s annual well visit, we check their vision to ensure there aren’t any problems. As preventative medicine specialists, we are responsible for identifying potential issues as early as possible. But since we don’t see your kids more often, it is essential for families to know the red flags that their child may have […]

Pediatric Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome: What Parents Should Know

Your teenager complains that they get dizzy when standing and feel faint. They complain of nausea and vomiting but aren’t sick. And they’re sleeping a lot more than what is typical for a teen. You want the best for your child and are concerned about this sudden change in health. So you make an appointment […]

Navigating the Baby Formula Shortage: Resources for Parents and Caregivers

The current baby formula shortage has created a lot of stress and concern for our families. To help provide the most up-to-date information and resources available, we put together this article which includes information and recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the NC Department of Health and Human Services. We hope you […]

Rainbow Pediatrics Opens Strong Kids Nutrition Clinic in Fayetteville, NC

Make Food Your Strength, Not Your Weakness. As parents and caregivers, we want the very best for our children. But there is a rising number of children who are overweight or obese in North Carolina, and that number has been growing steadily since 2012. The latest data shows that 19.8% of youth ages 10 to […]

Solving Childhood Allergies With Sublingual Immunotherapy

North Carolina is known for many things: basketball, bbq, great beaches, beautiful mountains, and, well, allergies. Historically, the treatment of choice for allergies was to take over-the-counter or prescription allergy medication. If you were particularly proactive, allergy shots were another option. But they are shots, and many kids were resistant – despite their parent’s good […]

Understanding Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) in Kids and How You Can Help

We want our kids to be healthy and strong. However, some are prone to stomach issues. While almost every child will get a stomachache, constipation, or diarrhea, kids with irritable bowel syndrome, also known as IBS get it more often. What is Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)? IBS is a digestive disorder that can happen in […]

Heavy Metals in Baby Food – Is Your Baby Safe?

When it comes to feeding your baby, it’s essential to make sure you’re giving them healthy food that will help them grow. Throughout recent years, we’ve learned that many leading brands of prepackaged baby food contain high levels of heavy metals—including arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury. This isn’t what you want for your baby. As […]

The Importance of Vitamin K Shots for Newborns

When babies are first born, it’s essential to perform various tests and procedural exams to ensure they are healthy. Many of these tests are intuitive, such as weighing and measuring your baby, checking their vital signs, and counting their fingers and toes. But some newborn procedures might seem less intuitive–like giving your baby a vitamin […]

Tips for a Healthy Pregnancy and a Healthy Baby

It’s natural to want to have a healthy pregnancy. It’s National Birth Defects Awareness Month, a time when we work together to increase understanding and prevention of birth defects. This issue is an important one, as the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that 1 in every 33 babies in the United States is born […]

Why Getting the HPV Vaccine for Your Child Helps Prevent Cancer

With the COVID pandemic so prevalent in our minds, it can be easy to forget about other commonly transmitted illnesses. Despite mask-wearing and hand-washing, there are still viruses out there that parents should be concerned about. The human papillomavirus (HPV) is one of those very common viruses that spread easily and can infect 80 percent […]

How to Tell the Difference Between RSV, COVID-19, and the Flu

After two years of managing our lives around the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been easy to forget that other viruses like RSV and the flu can still get passed around. While social distancing and mask-wearing have decreased the transmission of these other viruses, we are now starting to see a resurgence as restrictions continue to […]

CDC Updates Recommendations to Allow Covid Booster Shot for Children 12-15

With the start of the New Year, U.S. regulators issued a new expansion of the Covid-19 vaccine to include a booster shot for children ages 12-15. This news comes amidst the current spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant, with approval from the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) for an additional shot of the Pfizer vaccine. […]

The Omicron Variant and What Families Need to Know

The Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus is making many headlines these days and causing many parents to ask very valid questions. While the virus is new and not currently detected in North Carolina, we expect it is only a matter of time before it is here. So, families need to know how they can […]