News

A 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.

MOC in Haiku

Clearly, we touched a nerve when we invited you to put pen to paper to channel your feelings about the Maintenance of Certification program-in haiku form!

Individualized parental counseling focused on presenting a wide range of information and options is key factor in effective collaborative care for extremely preterm infants, says AAP.

How fitting is it that the subject article for this first commentary would be on a topic that impacts all of our practices: Childhood obesity (“’F’ for ‘Fat’ Grading Weight Report Cards”). In it, Dr. Petrou discusses some of the controversies regarding legislation implemented in 24 states requiring mandatory body mass index (BMI) surveillance and screening programs in schools with ‘report cards’ to parents.

Adolescents can benefit from early screening and treatment of major depressive disorder initiated in their pediatrician’s office, according to a new draft recommendation from the US Preventive Services Task Force.

Welcome all pediatric APRNs

Busy PNPs and their fellow pediatric-focused APRNs recognize how important, yet sometimes difficult it is to maintain current clinical practice in a rapidly changing healthcare environment. NAPNAP is pleased to announce our new partnership with Contemporary Pediatrics.

A new report offers new information of what influences children's behavior toward alcohol and what pediatricians can do to curb underage drinking.

Since 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.

Empiric 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.

Participation 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.

The incidence and prevalence of eating disorders (EDs) among children and adolescents necessitates that pediatricians be able to identify and treat these increasingly common conditions.

When 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.

Body 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.

Medicaid, which along with the smaller Child Health Insurance Program covers 37% of US children, is undergoing a big transformation even as it is expanding significantly.

This 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.

In 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.

After a poor matchup to circulating viruses in the 2014-2015 season, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released a new vaccine for this year, along with updated administration guidelines.

A federal panel is asking for more research to support regular autism screening, stating in new draft guidance that there is not enough evidence that early, routine screenings recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics and many others are worthwhile.

Antibiotics and other medications don’t do any good and surgery is sometimes an extreme fix for otitis media with effusion (OME). Now, a United Kingdom researcher is giving new credence to a nonsurgical treatment that children can do on their own at home.

Although more adolescents are being vaccinated against human papillomavirus, adoption rates for the vaccine are still low in the United States, with 4 out of 10 girls remaining unvaccinated.