One of the great tragedies of our time is that childhood depression is increasing dramatically. The World Health Organization predicts that by the year 2020, when today's children reach adulthood, depression will rank as the second leading cause of "lost years of healthy life" behind only heart disease. Today's parents have cause for hope, however. Researchers are discovering that some depressions may be preventable. And new studies are showing that children can be taught, from a very young age, to live optimistically. Parents will find the latest information about childhood depression in this much-needed guide, as well as practical, everyday strategies to reduce your child's risk of developing the life-threatening disease.