Eras, stars influence how kids' names come into and go out of vogue

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Her name stands out from among the herd of Madisons, Emilys, Emmas, Hannahs, Abigails, Isabellas and Ashleys of her generation. "I don't know of anyone with the name `Barbara' but my grandma," 13-year-old Barbara Stattman says. If she needed more proof that her name is on the endangered species list, she found it at a party for local Barbaras, held last month in celebration of St. Barbara's Day. The other 70 Barbaras attending the party were, except for one 4-year-old, middle-aged and elderly. How the name game has changed since the 1930s, when "Barbara" began a three-decade run on the list of top 10 girls' names. This once-popular name dropped out of fashion like a poodle skirt, as did such other stalwarts as Linda, Susan and Carol - which had, themselves, replaced the ubiquitous Mildred, Dorothy and Virginia of earlier decades.

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Putting kids on the juice might not be the sweetest idea

Until a recent taste test, Williams had never sampled soda. Instead, his regular fare consists of mostly milk and juice — the healthy choices, right? Maybe not entirely. Milk and water are recommended, according to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005. Juice is advised only when consumed in moderation. And any drink made with high fructose corn syrup is out. "It's hard to know what's the right thing to give kids these days," said Denise Michaels, a Pittsburg mother of three, as she recently shopped for drinks to put in her children's school lunches. "Water always seems to make the list, but my kids want something sweeter." The beverage industry is heeding that call. In the past two years, more than a dozen beverage companies have unveiled flavored water or watered-down juice products.

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More Kids 'On Track' at School - 1 in 4 Gifted

Washington, D.C. - infoZine - Seventy-five percent of children 12 to 17 years old enrolled in school were academically "on track" (at or above the grade level for peers their age) in 2003, up 6 percentage points since 1994, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's latest report on how kids are spending their days. A Child's Day: 2003 [PDF] is the third examination of children's well-being and their daily activities based on the Census Bureau's Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP). Nearly 1 in 4 children in the 12- to 17-year-old age group were in a special class for gifted students or did advanced work in an academic subject. Other highlights: Parents were more likely to impose restrictions on TV viewing in the last decade. For example, about 67 percent of children 3 to 5 had limits on what television shows they could watch, when, and for how long in 2003, up significantly from 54 percent in 1994.

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