The News & Observer

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Stay-at-home moms may have been right all along when their maternal instincts told them they're best equipped to care for their children.

A new study from North Carolina State University concludes that children of mothers who work outside the home have a significantly higher risk of health problems, accidents and injuries.

The study found that kids of working moms have a 200 percent increase in the risk of experiencing overnight hospitalizations, asthma episodes and injuries or poisonings.

Parenting is an intensely emotional subject that leads to feelings of guilt, inadequacy and -- just as often -- a sense of superiority among parents, particularly among moms who handle the bulk of child-rearing duties. The so-called mommy wars have heated up in recent years as the numbers of women with children under age 18 who are in the workforce has risen to more than 75 percent.

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The death of a healthy Cary, N.C., high school senior last week of H1N1 flu is a reminder that the strain can still be lethal to young people, health officials said.

When the novel virus hit in 2009, college-age people seemed especially vulnerable, striking a group that is generally less inclined to get vaccinated or to seek treatment when sick.