Advice mothers receive is often inadequate in quality and quantity
October 1st 2015A nationally representative survey of more than 1000 mothers of infants aged 2 to 6 months showed that mothers report receiving little or inappropriate advice-even from physicians-about 5 key infant care practices: immunization, breastfeeding, sleep position, sleep location, and pacifier use.
Maternal substance abuse tied to risk of sudden neonatal death
October 1st 2015Of 32 neonates who died suddenly at a hospital in the United Kingdom and whose deaths remained unexplained after a thorough postmortem, 12 (37.5%) were born to mothers with a history of methadone use or use of drugs of addiction during pregnancy.
4 behavior targets help prevent obesity
October 1st 2015A 3- to 5-minute intervention delivered during routine pediatric visits and targeting 4 behaviors related to obesity-milk consumption, juice and sugar-sweetened beverage consumption, television/screen time, and physical activity-decreased the rate at which body mass index (BMI) percentile increased in young children in a recent trial.
Opening up the emergency contraception talk
September 8th 2015Since its approval nearly 20 years ago, emergency contraception therapies have changed a lot. One in 5 physicians hesitates to discuss them with their patients, but a new bulletin from the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology seeks to open the discussion.
Physician-provided oral health services reduce caries in kindergarteners
September 1st 2015Comprehensive preventive oral health services (POHS) provided by primary care clinicians can help improve the oral health of Medicaid-enrolled children, a retrospective study in more than 29,000 kindergarten students in North Carolina showed.
Beta-lactam or macrolide monotherapy for CAP?
September 1st 2015Empiric beta-lactam and macrolide monotherapy are similarly effective in outpatient management of children with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), according to results of a multicenter retrospective study in 1164 children treated for CAP at primary care pediatric clinics in Pennsylvania.
Can sports mitigate antisocial behavior?
September 1st 2015Participation in high school sports may curb persistent antisocial behavior. Investigators assessed almost 1000 boys and girls aged younger than 15 years for the presence of conduct disorder (CD) and questioned them about their involvement in sports and other extracurricular activities.
Office rapid strep tests: State of the art
September 1st 2015When I started my pediatric practice in 1986, we tested patients for strep throat by performing a throat culture, which was placed in a small office incubator for 48 hours. Typically, we put patients on an antibiotic pending culture results and would stop antibiotics if the culture proved negative. In my first year of practice, an interesting new technology arrived-rapid antigen detection tests (RADTs). These tests were reasonably accurate and enabled us to make a diagnosis at the time of the visit.
'Through a glass, darkly': Pediatric body dysmorphic disorder
September 1st 2015Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) can be a chronic and severe condition that often starts in adolescence. The telltale sign: children’s preoccupation with the idea that there’s something wrong with how they look, when in reality the imperfections they perceive in their appearance are slight or nonexistent.
Dying to be thin: Body image and disordered eating
September 1st 2015This article briefly discusses theories on why poor body image develops and the strong link to disordered eating; ways to screen for poor body image and eating disorders in children and adolescents; and some efforts under way to prevent and intervene in children at risk of, or who have developed, poor body image.
‘F’ for ‘Fat’: Grading Weight Report Cards
September 1st 2015In hopes of reversing the alarming trend of childhood obesity, 25 states currently have instituted BMI (Body Mass Index) surveillance and screening programs in schools-and 9 of those states require BMI “report cards” be sent home to parents.