Ariana Eunjung Cha

Washington, D.C.

National reporter

Education: Columbia University

Ariana Eunjung Cha is a national reporter. She has previously served as The Washington Post's bureau chief in Beijing, Shanghai and San Francisco, a correspondent in Baghdad and as a tech reporter based in Washington. Before becoming a journalist, Ariana worked as a programmer analyst on Wall Street. She has a degree in computer science from Columbia University.
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Latest from Ariana Eunjung Cha

They’re young and athletic. They’re also ill with a condition called POTS.

The syndrome tends to strike suddenly, leaving previously healthy people unable to function, with no clear cause.

April 10, 2024
A catcher for the women’s softball team at Nova Southeastern University in Davie, Fla., was diagnosed with the medical condition POTS. A disproportionate number of POTS patients are young, highly trained female athletes.

Fatty liver was a disease of the old. Then kids started getting sick.

The condition is now estimated to be as common as asthma in children. Our diet and lifestyle are the suspected culprits.

October 3, 2023
Dani gets a checkup with gastroenterologist Kimberly Newton at the UC-San Diego Altman Clinical and Translational Research Institute.

Their child’s obesity drug was working. Then their plan refused to pay.

Youth obesity is an epidemic, but few insurers will cover drugs costing more than $1,300 a month for adolescents.

March 26, 2023

‘Our state is at war with our family’: Clergy with trans kids fight back

They say their children’s lives and religious liberty are threatened by bills proposed in Missouri and elsewhere.

February 28, 2023
The Bogards' son sought to put a human face on gender identity issues to state lawmakers.

HIV at center of latest culture war after Tennessee rejects federal funds

The red-state pushback reflects growing tensions over federal priorities over public health issues.

January 26, 2023
Kayla Collins, director of health and wellness at OutMemphis, gets ready to give HIV tests when people drop in for a weekly dinner. The funding for those tests may no longer exist once Tennessee stops accepting federal HIV prevention grants after May 31.

What you need to know about the new childhood obesity guidelines

Aggressive treatment, including medication for kids as young as 12, and surgery for those as young as 13, is now recommended.

January 20, 2023
A 15-year-old takes a break from arm exercises during physical education class at Arroyo Valley High School in San Bernardino in 2019.

Aggressive treatment guidelines for childhood obesity getting backlash

But experts say that the old approach of “watchful waiting” often failed and that many children developed lifelong health issues.

January 20, 2023
Adolescents participate in physical education at Nitschmann Middle School in Bethlehem, Pa., in 2020.

Strep A: What to know about the usually mild infection tied to at least two U.S. pediatric deaths

Group A strep symptoms are usually mild, but several child deaths in the United States and Europe have resulted from an invasive form of the bacterial infection.

December 23, 2022
Streptococcus pyogenes.

First came a viral storm. Now, we have puzzling superinfections.

Rare bacterial infections, such as invasive strep A, are popping up around the United States and Europe, with unusual effects for children.

December 21, 2022
A crowd gathers in Belfast for the Dec. 14 funeral of 5-year-old Stella-Lily McCorkindale, who died after an illness tied to an invasive form of strep A.

Officials of both parties warn U.S. is ill-prepared for lifting of border restrictions

A Trump-era immigration policy that allowed agents to expel migrants is about to end. That is expected to result in a huge migrant influx and more headaches for U.S. cities along the border.

December 18, 2022
A shelter at the Sacred Heart Church in El Paso. The city fears a surge of asylum seekers will begin crossing the border with the court-ordered end of Title 42 on Wednesday.