Anyone who deals with children knows the importance of answering their questions about birth and death, of promoting their health through proper diet, exercise, and hygiene, and of caring for them when they fall ill or suffer pain. However, probably no area of children's understanding is in greater need of fresh insights.

This collection of essays is intended to provide the first state-of the-art examination of what children can and do know about biology and health. It represents a reappraisal of traditional stage-like conceptions in which it has been proposed, for example, that young children cannot understand contamination and contagion as causes of illness.

Based on research gathered by a variety of techniques, each of the contributors addresses the question of whether young children may be capable of demonstrating at least a skeletal knowledge of the causes of human health and illness (ranging from the origins of babies to the causes of aging). Referring to experimental studies, case histories, and historical changes in views of biology and health, the authors review and evaluate children's understanding of birth, life, and death, their knowledge of contamination and contagion as well as processes related to food, digestion, and pain. The chapters focus tightly on the connection between research and practice in examining the positive implications for communication with children about a wide variety of illnesses and diseases – implications that extend to children's ability to make informed decisions about medical and therapeutic treatment.