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That first day of school: an exciting occasion for many children but, regrettably, a time of dread for some students. What's the problem? The task challenge of making friends and trying to be popular-an important part of a child's education but an experience that isn't always an easy or successful one.

The Medical Error Rate (MER) is not only high, it is on the rise, due to an increasingly complex health delivery system, managed care demands, and communication failure among physicians, pharmacy, and patients. “There’s growing pressure on everyone involved to reduce medical errors,” according to Philip D. Goldstein, MD, MPH, FAAP, who spoke today at the American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference and Exhibition. “Overall, patients aren’t any safer than they were 5 years ago. And data suggest that children are three times more likely to experience an adverse drug event than adults.” Pediatricians can realize tangible benefits by taking steps now to replace manually written prescriptions with e-prescribing, advised Dr. Goldstein.

Estimates are that 40% to 60% of adolescents use nutritional supplements for a variety of reasons. According to Cora Collette Breuner, MD, MPH, FAAP, associate professor of pediatrics, University of Washington in Seattle, billions of dollars are spent each year by adolescents on these substances, who may hope to improve athletic performance, alleviate fatigue, improve appearance, and gain or lose weight.

New recommendations by an expert panel sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Institutes of Health, and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) regarding growth curves will be published for practicing pediatricians early next year, reported Laurence Grummer-Strawn, PhD, Chief of the Maternal and Child Nutrition Branch of the CDC.

Many parents today are skeptical that recommended vaccinations are necessary. Data suggest that as many as 23% of parents think that children receive too many vaccinations, 29% believe that vaccines aren’t always proven safe, and 25% think that vaccination weakens the immune system.

Playing outside is a long-held joy of childhood, but bugs and animals that can cause harm lurk in places where children are likely to be playing?including the lawn, the woods, and the playground. Dennis L. Murray, MD, professor of pediatrics at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, offered preventive advice that you can share with parents during a seminar, "Keeping Children Safe in the Great Outdoors" Saturday at the 2006 AAP National Conference and Exhibition in Atlanta.

The US Congress dramatically reduced children's access to health care by passing the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) this year, according to American Academy of Pediatrics President Eileen Ouellette, MD, JD, during an address Saturday morning at the AAP National Conference and Exhibition in Atlanta. The act was subsequently signed into law by President George W. Bush.

When deciding whether a tonsillectomy is indicated for a given patient, tailor your decision to the severity of symptoms and that patient's ongoing story, advised a specialist Saturday at the AAP's National Conference and Exhibition in Atlanta.

Molds are commonplace in virtually every modern environment, and are even present in the everyday jar of peanut butter sitting on the kitchen counter in most children's homes. The advice of Lynnette J. Mazur, MD, MPH, presented Saturday at a seminar at the AAP National Conference and Exhibition, was simple: Eat a balanced diet!

Playing outside is a long-held joy of childhood, but bugs and animals that can cause harm lurk in places where children are likely to be playing?including the lawn, the woods, and the playground. Dennis L. Murray, MD, professor of pediatrics at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, offered preventive advice that you can share with parents during a seminar, "Keeping Children Safe in the Great Outdoors" Saturday at the 2006 AAP National Conference and Exhibition in Atlanta.

A report issued late this past summer by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) provides practical strategies and tools to help pediatricians and other health care professionals increase what NFID considers an alarmingly low rate of influenza immunization among children who have asthma—part of an initiative to address immunization barriers and improve parental education about the importance of influenza vaccination for all children with asthma. Influenza vaccination has been shown to reduce morbidity and mortality in this high-risk pediatric population.

The section of the National Institutes of Health that conducts and supports research on human development, medical rehabilitation, and the health of children, adults, families, and communities, has launched its redesigned Web site with your need and interests in mind. The new National Institute of Child Health and Human Development site, http://www.nichd.nih.gov, provides easy access to information for clinicians and for researchers, patients, and the general public.

Before children get decked out as their favorite cartoon and television characters this Halloween, remind parents that peanuts and milk could be in the candy that young ones receive while trick-or-treating—a situation that could be life-threatening to those who have an allergy to one of these foods.

Care provided by a primary care practice that embraces the medical home model is better organized, more accessible, and less stressful to coordinate-so say parents of children who have special health-care needs. Here is a look at how you and your practice benefit from providing family-centered care within the medical home model.

This list of books help teach children about special differences.

A 13-year-old prodigy's complains of "not accomplishing his goals in his studies." What can you do to help?

Awareness of over-the-counter and prescription drug abuse among adolescents is a first step you can take toward curtailing this worrisome trend. Take care, however, not to risk interfering when patients need these medications.

Getting children who have asthma into the water can have remarkable effects on health, the authors' experiences demonstrate. Place a properly structured swimming program on your list of recommendations for these patients, they urge-or put it on your medical community's to-do list.

A palpable abdominal mass detected during a routine office visit is often the first indication of the presence of this rare but highly treatable tumor of childhood. A child cured of Wilms tumor requires on-going follow-up for potential long-term complications.

Care provided by a primary care practice that embraces the medical home model is better organized, more accessible, and less stressful to coordinate-so say parents of children who have special health-care needs. Here is a look at how you and your practice benefit from providing family-centered care within the medical home model.