News

Links to useful websites about the Surgeon General's office.

Links to useful websites about malnutrition.

Links to useful websites about food safety.

A 12-month-old toddler will often display tantrums. The following are points for both parents and pediatricians to keep in mind in managing the behavior of a 1-year-old.

A guide for parents on preventing foodborne illness in fresh produce.

A 4-year-old boy verbally expresses his desire to be a girl, and wears female clothes. Does he meet clinical criteria for gender identity disorder?

A healthy 10-year-old girl has had a red, white, and blue lump on her thigh since birth.

Several organizations have been pushing for the "medical home," the idea that primary care providers (PCPs) should take responsibility for more coordinated care-and get paid for it.

A boy with extreme left leg pain, no history of trauma, and petechiæ, has a differential diagnosis ranging from malignancies to metabolic disorders.

Readers comment on the Ottawa ankle rules, radiologic imaging, and influenza immunization.

Commentary about the evidence that children, especially pre-school children, children with special health care needs, and children who are poor, have been overlooked with regard to their dental health.

An overview of the epidemiology, etiology, symptoms, common diagnostic tests, and various treatments of exercise-induced bronchospasm in the pediatric population.

Both autosomal dominant and recessive patterns of inheritance have been proposed.2 Bilateral tibial hemimelia has also been associated with CHARGE syndrome and Langer-Giedion syndrome and may be linked to several loci on chromosome 8.4,5

A 4-year-old boy was brought to the hospital because of fever (temperature of 39.4°C [103°F]) and a bright, salmon-pink rash on the palms and soles that was associated with peeling (A and B). His symptoms had been present for 2 days. During that time, he also had redness of the eyes, fatigue, and anorexia.

In July 2008, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) updated their recommendations on lipid screening and cardiovascular health in childhood.1 The new recommendations created a media stir because of the endorsement of the use of statins in certain at-risk children as young as 8 years.

In developing countries, vaccines against the human papillomavirus and new screening strategies offer an unprecedented opportunity to combat cervical cancer since standard Pap smear screening has proven too expensive and complicated to implement, according to research presented at the World Cancer Congress of the International Union Against Cancer held Aug. 27 to 31 in Geneva, Switzerland.

The final report by the World Health Organization's Commission on Social Determinants of Health contains a strong mandate for reducing global inequalities in health care, according to an editorial published in the Aug. 30 issue of The Lancet.

With the start of the school year comes a host of unique health and safety concerns for students to keep in mind. Everything from backpack use to appropriate sleep time are topics relevant to child health, and studies have helped guide the way toward avoiding the dangers and practicing preventive methods.

Babies delivered by Caesarean section may have a 20% increased risk of developing diabetes, according to a study led by researchers at Queen's University Belfast.

A mother's intention to vaccinate her daughter against the human papillomavirus vaccine (HPV) may have to do with parenting factors not related to feelings toward sexuality, according to a study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor haploinsufficiency is associated with onset of childhood obesity in patients with Wilms' tumor, aniridia, genitourinary abnormalities and mental retardation (WAGR) syndrome, and may be related to energy homeostasis in humans, researchers report in the Aug. 28 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Use of magnesium sulfate in mothers at high risk of early preterm delivery was associated with less occurrence of moderate or severe cerebral palsy in surviving offspring, according to study findings published in the Aug. 28 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Heritable mutations of the anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) gene appear to be the main cause of familial neuroblastoma, a finding that may offer a therapeutic target for the disease, according to research published online Aug. 24 in Nature.

Bacteria or fungi in a mother's amniotic fluid may play a larger role in premature birth than previously believed, according to the August 26 PLoS One.

The blood pressure of teens newly diagnosed with hypertension can be reduced with allopurinol, but the potential for the drug to become a new treatment depends on the outcome of larger clinical trials to better understand the potential side effects of the drug, according to a report published in the Aug. 27 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has published a handbook for educators and caregivers on how to tackle electronic aggression, including cyber-bullying and harassment, toward young people in their care.

Perioperative care for preschoolers must take into account their stage of emotional and psychological development as well as their unique physical and medical needs, according to an article published in the August issue of AORN Journal.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced it would revise criteria for over-the-counter cough and cold medications for children, according to The Washington Post.