Prevention Matters

One in every two U.S. children now grapples at some time with a chronic health condition, such as asthma, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or obesity, new research suggests. But those chronic illnesses won't persist for most of those children. Just over 7 percent of those who reported a chronic condition at the beginning of the study still had the condition six years later.

"Over time, we found the rates of chronic conditions and obesity in U.S. children increased, but quite a few of these conditions resolved on their own," said study author Dr. Jeanne Van Cleave, a pediatrician at MassGeneral Hospital for Children in Boston.

The findings are published in the Feb. 17 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.