The public health of five million children should not be left to luck or chance.

In the beginning when I sat next to Tom Brokaw on the 'Today' show the stories I was interested in were those having to do with women and children and learning and health. In those days 25 to 30 years ago that was called soft news and not in a nice way.

And I believe that if we can care about whether or not our neighbor has a good job or access to affordable health care for their children and we move to implement the policies that can improve these situations we will unleash vast amounts of human potential and recapture the American spirit.

Children born to teens have less supportive and stimulating environments poorer health lower cognitive development and worse educational outcomes. Children of teen mothers are at increased risk of being in foster care and becoming teen parents themselves thereby repeating the cycle.

The rise of childhood obesity has placed the health of an entire generation at risk.

For the sake of our health our children and grandchildren and even our economic well-being we must make protecting the planet our top priority.

Adoptive parents are taking on enormous responsibility both emotionally and financially. Quite frankly they need as much disclosure as possible about the child's background and health to assure the best fit and be prepared.

I think all Americans believe in human rights. And health is an often overlooked aspect of basic human rights. And it's one that's easily corrected. The reason I say that is that many of the diseases that we treat around the world I knew when I was a child. My mother was a registered nurse. And they no longer exist in our country.

It's bizarre that the produce manager is more important to my children's health than the pediatrician.

Did you know that nearly one in three children live apart from their biological dads? Those kids are two to three times more likely to grow up in poverty to suffer in school and to have health and behavioral problems.