Schoolteachers Are Awesome – School Health Policies, Less So | Survivor: Pediatrics

This is a sad but true phenomenon: kids who are sick and really just need to stay home to rest have to be dragged into the office, exposing those new babies to viral foes, and wasting an already stressed parent's time and money. Why? To get a note for school. From Dr. Berman's blog:

"If a mother calls the school and says her child is sick, the school won’t accept it. But if a mother calls me and says her child is sick, and I write a note to the school saying “Mom says her child is sick,” that somehow becomes acceptable documentation for the school.

The school expects me to take mom’s word for it but is unwilling to do so itself more than five times per semester.

This neatly passes the buck (or should I say, the bucks) to me, the de facto attendance secretary. And an MD is a pretty expensive attendance secretary."


Thanks, Dr. Berman, for so nicely explaining one of the peeves of pediatricians everywhere!

Schoolteachers Are Awesome – School Health Policies, Less So | Survivor: Pediatrics

Solving kids' sleep problems - Daily Dose - Boston.com

Solving kids' sleep problems - Daily Dose - Boston.com

Lack of exercise linked to higher heart disease risk in healthy children as young as 9

Lack of exercise linked to higher heart disease risk in healthy children as young as 9

Another strike against our sedentary, computer-oriented culture. I hope we can find a way to move our children back outside to really 'play'- need to do it as adults as well! Guess I'd better put down my computer and get going!!

FIRST WORDS Project

While it is not quite as simple as the news makes it sound, this screen does have the ability to identify early and sometimes subtle signs of Autism-spectrum disorders in infants and toddlers. The sooner the signs are recognized and interventions are started, the better the child will do.

FIRST WORDS Project
"CSBS-DP Infant/Toddler Checklist

Description of the Checklist

The Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales Developmental Profile Infant/Toddler Checklist is designed to measure the following 7 language predictors have been identified:

• Emotion and Use of Eye Gaze,
• Use of Communication,
• Use of Gestures,
• Use of Sounds,
• Use of Words,
• Understanding of Words, and
• Use of Objects.
  

The Checklist is a first step in routine developmental screening for children 6 to 24 months of age to decide if a communication evaluation is needed. It is designed for use in pediatricians' offices during well-child check-ups or routine visits or in childcare centers or other facilities serving infants and toddlers and their families. The Checklist is to be completed by a caregiver, who may be either a parent or other person who nurtures the child on a daily basis. The Checklist takes about 5 to 10 minutes to complete."

Data Support Feeding Guidelines for Allergy Prevention (printer-friendly)

Data Support Feeding Guidelines for Allergy Prevention (printer-friendly)
A nice summary from 2 German trials for those with access to Medscape. Essentially, solid foods should be started between 4-6 months of age. As supported in recent feeding guidelines, there is no benefit for the average population in delaying the start of solid foods, though this did not address specifically kids at higher risk of allergies by family history.

Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med -- Abstract: Attachment Security and Obesity in US Preschool-Aged Children, March 2011, Anderson and Whitaker 165 (3): 235

This is another piece of the extremely complex puzzle of growing obesity in children:

Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med -- Abstract: Attachment Security and Obesity in US Preschool-Aged Children, March 2011, Anderson and Whitaker 165 (3): 235

"Results The prevalence of obesity was 23.1% in children with insecure attachment and 16.6% in those with secure attachment. For children with insecure attachment, the odds of obesity were 1.30 (95% confidence interval, 1.05-1.62) times higher than for children with secure attachment after controlling for the quality of mother-child interaction during play, parenting practices related to obesity, maternal body mass index, and sociodemographic characteristics. Conclusions Insecure attachment in early childhood may be a risk factor for obesity. Interventions to increase children's attachment security should examine the effects on children's weight."