Arch Pediat Adol Med
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Arch Pediat Adol Med · Jul 2002
Multicenter StudyWelfare reform and the health of young children: a sentinel survey in 6 US cities.
Welfare reform under the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act replaced entitlement to cash assistance for low-income families with Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, thereby terminating or decreasing cash support for many participants. Proponents anticipated that continued receipt of food stamps would offset the effects of cash benefit losses, although access to food stamps was also restricted. ⋯ Terminating or reducing welfare benefits by sanctions, or decreasing benefits because of changes in income or expenses, is associated with greater odds that young children will experience food insecurity and hospitalizations.
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To compare the distribution and observation of helmet use patterns among 4 common childhood leisure activities-bicycle riding, in-line skating, skateboarding, and scooter riding-in a setting with no helmet use legislation. ⋯ While bicycle riding was the most popular activity observed, helmet use was most prevalent among in-line skaters and least prevalent among scooter riders, many of whom also wore them incorrectly. Observed helmet use was influenced mostly by adult and peer helmet use, indicating that public education and interventions should target children and their parents as well as scooter riders.
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Arch Pediat Adol Med · Jul 2002
The challenge of preventing and treating obesity in low-income, preschool children: perceptions of WIC health care professionals.
Obesity has become a common nutritional concern among low-income, preschool children, a primary target population of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Nutrition counseling efforts in WIC target childhood obesity, but new approaches are needed that address the different perceptions about obesity that are held by clients and health care professionals. ⋯ To become more responsive to the problem of childhood obesity, WIC should consider the following: (1) providing staff training in counseling skills that educate parents on child development and child-rearing and that elicit the client's social context and personal goals, (2) shifting time allocation and programmatic emphasis in the WIC visits away from nutritional risk assessment and toward counseling, and (3) developing collaborations with primary health care providers and community agencies that impact childhood obesity.
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Arch Pediat Adol Med · Jun 2002
Temporal associations between depressive symptoms and self-reported sexually transmitted disease among adolescents.
To examine the longitudinal associations between depressive symptoms and self-reported sexually transmitted disease (STD) diagnosis among adolescents. ⋯ Screening for depressive symptoms in sexually active adolescents, particularly boys, may identify those at risk for STDs. In addition, adolescents who are diagnosed as having STDs should be monitored for depression. These findings suggest that adolescent preventive care needs to include regular, comprehensive assessments of both mental health and STD.
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To evaluate the risk of bacteremia in children with febrile seizures treated as outpatients. ⋯ Children 2 to 24 months of age with febrile seizures are at similar risk for occult bacteremia as those with fever alone. Widespread use of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine may further decrease the incidence of bacteremia in this population.