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High school students who are sexual minorities are more likely to take risks that increase their chances of cancer than their heterosexual peers, almost across the board, according to an analysis of the Youth Risk Behavior Surveys (YRBS).

I am responding to Dr. Horst D. Weinberg’s thoughtful and well-elucidated letter to Contemporary Pediatrics (“Pediatrics, then and now”; Contemp Pediatr. 31[2[:10-12).

An autopsy is educational as one physician might inform another as to the cause of death. The practicing physician, then educated, would be able to explain to family members the exact cause of the demise. Once understood, treatment of future cases might even be modified. In an obituary, we learn about the deceased, but can only mourn.

Transition programs prepare adolescent patients for their transfer from pediatric to adult healthcare. Primary care physicians must incorporate sexual health self-management into transition planning for adolescents and young adults, but most especially for those with chronic illness or developmental disabilities.

There is growing evidence that nutrition may play a role in managing symptoms of autism in some children. Here is a look at the current research supporting these nutritional interventions.

“We know there is gender bias in neurodevelopmental disorders, ranging from autism to intellectual disability,” begins Bradley P. Coe, PhD, senior fellow, Eichler Lab, Department of Genome Sciences at the University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, and coauthor of a new study that may help explain the gender chasm.

Researchers across the country and around the globe are using a technology to explore what children’s vocalizations tell us about autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other intellectual disabilities (IDs).

“It is well known that autism has a strong genetic component; that’s indisputable, but my interpretation [of this latest study] is that environmental insult also has a very strong effect.” The remark comes from Andrey Rzhetsky, PhD, Pritzker Scholar and professor of Genetic Medicine and Human Genetics at the University of Chicago, Illinois.

Although evidence suggests there are no consistent differences in prevalence of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) according to race or ethnicity, there is also abundant research demonstrating racial/ethnic disparities in the diagnosis of ASDs.

Previous Peds v2.0 articles have discussed cutting-edge technologies for screening patients and for expediting diagnoses. The technologies that are just as important in the pediatric office practice are the many electronic devices we often take for granted. Here’s the scoop on the tech you need to run an efficient, modern pediatrics practice.

Contemporary Pediatrics was already a 4-year-old toddler in 1980 when autism was first listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), the bible of US psychiatry.

Among the most vexing challenges of autism is its very diagnosis.

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are etiologically complex. Evidence that the origin begins in utero has made maternal conditions as risk factors during pregnancy the focus of increasing research.

Rates of third-generation cephalosporin-resistant (G3CR) and extended-spectrum ß-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Enterobacteriaceae infections are on the rise in kids, in both inpatient and outpatient settings across the country, according to a new study.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved the first drug to receive a Rare Pediatric Disease Priority Review Voucher, a new FDA program that aims to encourage development of new drugs and biologics for the prevention and treatment of rare pediatric diseases by helping speed such agents to market.

Not everyone agrees that the obesity rate among our nation’s preschoolers is dropping, as we reported earlier this month.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recently released another list of tests and treatments that you should think twice about before employing.

A pediatrician who is an expert on the effects of media on children-and who, not incidentally, helped write the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) guidelines on restricting media use by children aged younger than 2 years-says that 30 to 60 minutes per day spent using an iPad or similar device may be just fine for the age group.

Researchers think they now know why children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exhibit the hallmark symptom of withdrawing into their own inner world: They are paying attention to all the information their brains are processing while they are seemingly at rest.

The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recently weighed in on whether primary care behavioral interventions are effective in reducing use of illicit drugs and pharmaceuticals for nonmedical reasons in children and adolescents.

The majority of all pediatric Clostridium difficile infections are the result of a recent course of antibiotics prescribed by a physician for some other condition, according to a new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Crystal Murcia, PhD, of Contemporary Pediatrics talks to Emalee Flaherty, MD, from Ann & Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, about the recent American Academy of Pediatrics update on evaluating child fractures for physical abuse.

As if reasons didn’t already abound as to why parents shouldn’t smoke, parental cigarette smoking deleteriously affects children’s vascular health up to 25 years after exposure, putting kids at greater risk as adults for stroke and cardiovascular disease, according to the first prospective study of its kind.

The presence of a television in a child’s bedroom is associated with weight gain beyond that associated with just watching television in general, according to a recent study.

Only 12% of uninsured parents take breastfeeding classes, according to a new poll.

Having had an immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated allergy to a specific food may predispose children to another, more dangerous type of allergy to the same food.

Incidences involving oral vaccine for protecting children against rotavirus gastroenteritis mistakenly being injected are increasing, according to the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP).

See photos of Dr. Katrina Mitchell's work with burn-injured children in northwestern Tanzania, highlighting the need for greater global attention.