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A cross-sectional study was conducted to (1) examine breastfeeding initiation and continuation rates, and; (2) investigate association between food insecurity and breastfeeding status, among low-income mothers. Mothers of infants two-months or younger were recruited from a local pediatric clinic serving primarily low-income families. Upon giving consent, mothers were interviewed in-person or over the phone in either English or Spanish. Of the total 92 mothers interviewed, 90% initiated breastfeeding, but only 24% were doing exclusive breastfeeding at 2 months of infant's age. After controlling for socio-demographics, it was found that food-insecure mothers were less likely to continue with breastfeeding (β = -1.51, p = .024). Future research is warranted to understand pathways through which food insecurity affects breastfeeding and how this disparity can be prevented to ensure a safe and secure start for infants worldwide.

Background Cosmetic contact lenses (CCL) are popular among adolescents, but incorrect use can harm the eye. Methods This study assessed CCL hygiene behaviors among adolescents attending a Texas pediatric clinic. Anonymous surveys about CCL hygiene practices were administered to adolescents 13-18 years old. Results We found that 14% (53/392) of respondents had worn CCL, of which 83% were females. Over 70% reported first use at 8 hours/day. Moreover, 15% of CCL users reported borrowing someone else's CCL. Complications resulting from wearing CCL were common. Conclusion This study highlights poor CCL hygiene among adolescents. These data demonstrate the need to develop interventions to educate adolescents on proper care and risks associated with CCLs.

Aims: The present study aims to screen autistism spectrum disorder in children attending pediatric clinic. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out on 1500 children a...

Objective: To determine the variability in pain intensity experienced by children with Juvenile Primary Fibromyalgia Syndrome (JPFS) and to relate within-day patterns of pain to children’s quality of life.Subjects and methods: Pain intensity was self-reported on a 0–10 cm visual analog scale by 46 young subjects with JPFS using a daily booklet chart three times a day for seven days. Forty-six healthy children and adolescents matched by age and sex were randomly recruited as controls from a pediatric clinic on a voluntary basis. Variability in pain during the day was investigated using a multidimensional pain survey that was completed three times daily in a printed booklet for one week and was related in the primary evaluation to scores for tender points and pediatric quality of life (PedsQL v 4.0).Results: Variations in pain intensity were observed during the day in patients with JPFS. The majority of JPFS patients (67%) had a high Average Absolute Change (AAC) in pain (>1 VAS unit), and a lower q...

The purpose of this study was to explore child welfare caregivers' perceptions of health care access barriers and pediatric health care use for children under their care. The caregivers have different levels of English-language use. A cross-sectional sample of 237 parents was interviewed at a child welfare pediatric clinic in Los Angeles, California. Non-English-speaking parents utilized pediatric health services for their children as often as English-speaking parents. Few differences existed in relation to parents' perceptions of access barriers with English-speaking parents rating barriers related to inconvenience of services and rudeness of staff as more troublesome than parents who were non-English speaking. All parents rated difficulty understanding doctors' explanations as the greatest access barrier, which may negatively affect adherence to health recommendations for children in the child welfare system.

Asthma is a complex disease with multiple interactions between genetic and environmental factors.The aim of our study was to investigate the possible genetic instability in asthmatic patients (AP) with asthma in human cultured peripheral blood lymphocytes. Furthermore, the presence of either cytostaticity or cytotoxicity was demonstrated.Human peripheral blood lymphocytes were cultured from 18 admitted children to the Pediatric Clinic of the University Hospital of Alexandroupolis (average age 7.2 years), and 9 healthy blood donors were used as control subjects (average age 6.5 years), none of whom was receiving drugs for medical or other reasons.A significant (p0.05) increase in spontaneous sister chromatid exchanges (SCEs) frequency in asthmatic patients compared with control subjects was observed. No statistically significant modification in the spontaneous proliferation rate index (PRI) in AP compared with the controls was demonstrated. Finally, MMC induced a statistically significant increase in SCEs frequency both to controls and to AP, with the MMC-induced SCEs rates in AP being statistically (p0.01) higher compared to the MMC-induced SCEs in controls.We try to improve a new diagnostic process of possible genetic instability by a combination of genotoxic, cytostatic and cytotoxic effects of asthma on human peripheral lymphocytes.

Objectives. To determine parents' awareness of and compliance with air pollution advisories, and to compare the awareness and compliance of parents' of asthmatics to that of other parents. Methods. Responses of 240 parents surveyed at pediatric clinic visits were compared. Results. A total of 88% of parents were aware of air pollution advisories; 71% reduced pollution and 55% restricted children's play “sometimes” because of advisories. However, only 7% complied with more than one third of the advisories issued. More parents of asthmatics reported awareness of alerts (p = 0.002), reducing pollution (p = 0.005), or restricting play “sometimes” in response to advisories (p = 0.007). Conclusions. Most parents report awareness of and some compliance with air pollution advisories. Parents of asthmatics are more aware and somewhat more compliant than other parents.

The objective of this research project is to describe parent-child activities and literacy experiences of low-income families attending an urban pediatric clinic. These data were used to educate clinic pediatricians about the needs of their patients and to facilitate the implementation of a literacy education program. Two hundred twenty-four primary caregivers of children between the ages of 1 and 5 years who spoke Spanish or English participated in clinic interviews. These low-income, diverse families engaged in many everyday activities that could facilitate the language and literacy development of their children. Barriers to greater literacy orientation among families included lack of access to children's books and limited use of libraries. Families most at risk for low child literacy orientation were recent immigrants (primarily from Mexico) who spoke English as a second language and had not completed high school. The knowledge of everyday parent-child activities, barriers to literacy, and the...

This study was conducted to assess the efficacy of the volunteer modeling component of a pediatric clinic-based program designed to encourage low-income parents to read regularly to their preschoolers. The program included modeling by volunteers in the clinic waiting room, anticipatory guidance by physicians, and give-away books. Results from a pre-post observational study revealed that following program implementation, parents were more likely to be engaged in developmentally constructive activities with their children in the waiting room. Implications for future collaboration between health-care providers and early childhood educators are discussed.

Shared parent-child reading during the preschool years is significantly related to children's emergent literacy skills. Factors potentially predictive of shared reading were assessed among low-income families of preschoolers (N = 79) attending a pediatric clinic. Demographic, experiential, attitudinal, and caretaker literacy measures were examined in relation to 2 self-report measures of shared parent-child reading: DeBaryshe's (1995) Reading Exposure Composite and Needlman, Fried, Morley, Taylor, and Zuckerman's (1991) Activity Recall Literacy Orientation. Regression analyses revealed that caretaker reading beliefs, self-reported caretaker literacy, and child interest in reading were significant predictors of both shared reading measures. Results are discussed in terms of implications for primary prevention programs aimed at encouraging children's emergent literacy skills in public pediatric settings.

We recently surveyed patients attending the pediatric clinic of the University of Antalya for the possible presence of abnormal hemoglobins (Hbs), and observed one major, electrophoretically fast-moving, variant in the blood of a young child. Both parents were heterozygous for a fast-moving variant; red cell lysates of these two adults were never simultaneously analyzed

Summary The paper studied birth order differences in the frequency of children's visits to emergency departments as a function of parental anxious concern. Equal numbers of fathers and mothers of 203 boys and 148 girls aged about 2.3 years were interviewed in a pediatric clinic. The sample involved 168 firstborns and 183 later-born children. The results indicate that in cases of illness, firstborn boys were taken most frequently and later-born girls least often. In cases of injury, later-born boys were brought more often than firstborn boys. A content analysis of verbal reports concerning these visits confirms that inexperienced parents of firstborns were more anxious about their children's health than the experienced and calmer parents of later borns. Parental overconcern and protectiveness may predispose firstborns to perceive illness and painful situations as more stressful compared to later borns and to become more concerned about their physical welfare in general.

Fourteen Black male, opiate addicts, their wives, and their children were studied intensively using psychiatric interviews and psychological tests. Their 32 children were compared to 37 pediatric clinic children. The children raised in a home where father is an opiate addict function cognitively less well than their father, and the teenagers show earlier and stronger antisocial trends than pediatric clinic peers. On the other hand, there is a surprising absence of other psychopathology that one might expect, taking into consideration the deviant environment from which they come.

SummaryIn the pediatric clinic of Ghent University, during a period from May 1956 till December 1961, Salmonella’s have been isolated from the stools of 315 children, including 192 infants.Altogether, 25 different types have been identified; more than 50 % of them belonged to the serologic group B with predominantly S. typhimurium.No definite influence of the season has been noticed.Most of the children came from cities and towns in the Flanders; 62 % came straight from home, 25 % were contaminated in the hospital and 13 % came from the obstetrical wards. Also among nursing Staff, there were healthy and sick carriers.In some of the cases, contamination by infected food was very likely.The 315 children with positive coprocultures included 46 carriers; the other 269 presented different clinical symptoms, mainly gastro-intestinal disturbances. The course of these cases was more or less serious. We were impressed by the chronic course in 20 children. In 16 others, the infection was not limited to the intestin...

SummaryThe assesment of toxoplasmic immunity is described in the populations of the pediatric clinic, the ophthalmologic clinic and the blood bank of the Baviere Hosp tal, as well as in the prenatal consultation of the Clinic « Reine Astrid » at Charleroi.The examination of the latter group shows the possible relation between the toxoplasmosis and the antecedents concerning ovulation and dystocia.

This article is based on the authors' observations on health care delivery and problems during a three-day site visit to rural Mississippi in February, 1976. During the trip, sponsored by the George Washington University Health Staff Seminar, they visited the following health clinics and facilities: Jackson-Hinds Comprehensive Health Center, Jackson and Utica, Miss; Central Maternal and Pediatric Clinic, Jackson; Milton Olive Clinic, Lexington; County Health Improvement Pmgram, Holmes County; Tchula Clinic, Tchula; and Delta Community Hospital, Mound Bayou