Susan Beck

Timothy Culbert, MD, and Rebecca Kajander, MPH, CNP, nearly put the audience to sleep at their October 18th interactive workshop, “Replacing Pills with Skills.” But that was just what they had hoped would happen!The two staff members from the Integrative Medicine Program at Children’s Hospital and Clinics in Minneapolis demonstrated-and then had the audience practice-a variety of self-care techniques that can be taught to children to help them manage common health problems, such as pain, insomnia, anxiety, and nausea.

In his plenary address of October 19, Dr Robert H. Lustig delivered a powerful, scientifically rigorous indictment of the central role of fructose in the current epidemic of childhood obesity.

Attorney General Eric Holder made a surprise appearance at Monday morning’s (Oct. 19) plenary session to talk to attendees at this year’s AAP Convention about the problem of children’s exposure to violence – and what pediatricians can do about it. His impassioned speech was met with a standing ovation from the packed DC Convention Center ballroom.

As our legislators craft their bills, the media is feeding us a relentless diet of health care debate coverage. TV, newspapers and journals, and the blogosphere report and opine tirelessly on questions of whether there will be a public option, how much health care reform will cost, how it wilil be financed, and others.