Monthly Archive for February, 2010

Upcoming event

Published on February 23, 2010 in Kidsquest, Parenting and Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

A few things

I just did a quick interview for Parent Map magazine last week about birthmarks and when to worry. There are a lot of common ones and very few should cause parents to worry.  It should be coming out soon.

kidsquest
Also, this Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon at KidsQuest Children’s Museum in Factoria mall is the 3rd annual Teddybear Clinic. It is a great event where children bring their prized stuffed animals to the museum for a full check up. Everything from a weight station to immunizations.  It is fun for both the kids and us health care workers that donate some time for this great event. Continue reading ‘Upcoming event’

What’s that noise?

Published on February 16, 2010 in Parenting and illness. 0 Comments Tags: , .

teddybearI thought I would share a recent event in our household.  Many would think that by me being a pediatrician, I can solve everything medical at home. Although it does have its perks, sometimes a problem arises that is bigger than one I can solve, at least at home that is.

Did you hear something?
About a week ago, my wife and I heard noise coming from our son’s room.  Since his sister had been sick with vomiting a few days earlier, I went upstairs assuming that was the case. What I found was a frightened child with a seal-like barking cough who was unable to breath comfortably from stridor.

Knowing he had croup, I  took him outside and attempted to calm him down in the cool nighttime air. I told my wife to hold him while I got the car keys to take him in to the urgent care. Fortunately when he calmed down, he quit blocking off his airway but we still made the journey to get some medicine to prevent him from getting worse.

This is certainly an example knowing what is going on but being unable to address the issue at home. There is something different when it involves your own child. It can skew your decision making process in a not so good way. I often get asked if I am the pediatrician for my own children and the answer is no. At home I want to be a dad.

Childhood Obesity

Published on February 9, 2010 in Parenting and Prevention. 2 Comments Tags: , , , .

soupMore and more these days we hear about childhood obesity in the news. It is a major problem that our society is facing and there are many reasons for it. It is an important topic that is covered at every well visit I do.

One of my observations is that some parents feel they are not doing a good job of feeding their child unless they eat a lot. Quite often it seems they have a skewed perspective around the actual amount of food their child really needs with their estimate being on the high side. Most children do a pretty good job of regulating the calories they need yet us parents come along and tell them to eat when they are not hungry.

Many of the families I see have heard me say that our job as parents is to offer good nutritious foods, whether our child chooses to eat it is up to them. Sure there is the rare exception to this rule, but most children will not starve themselves. Most children however can outlast their parents.

What are some simple things we can do as parents for our children? Well a recent study said there are three simple things we can do.

  1. Have the family eat dinner together at least six nights a week
  2. Make sure that they get an adequate nights sleep (10.5 hrs on weeknights)
  3. Limit screen viewing time to less than two hours

These three behaviors where associated with a 40% lower prevalence of obesity.
The study’s conclusions in Pediatrics by Sarah Anderson: PEDIATRICS (doi:10.1542/peds.2009-0417) had the following:
US preschool-aged children exposed to the three household routines of regularly eating the evening meal as a family, obtaining adequate nighttime sleep, and having limited screen-viewing time had an 40% lower prevalence of obesity than those exposed to none of these routines. These household routines may be promising targets for obesity-prevention efforts in early childhood.

Demystifying the bugs that bug your child

Published on February 9, 2010 in Prevention. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

An infection is an “invasion” of foreign cells or particles, such as bacteria or viruses, that enter a susceptible site in the body and multiply, resulting in disease. Sometimes the infection is localized to one particular part of the body, or can affect the whole body causing fever. Fever helps the body fight infections by making the body’s defense systems work more efficiently. Also, bacteria and viruses do not like the higher temperatures and are killed by fever.

Ear Infections Continue reading ‘Demystifying the bugs that bug your child’

Autism and MMR

Published on February 4, 2010 in Prevention and Vaccine. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

I came across this in the last day and found it quite interesting. The whole article that started the autism and MMR fears was just retracted from the Lancet this week. In a nutshell the study was flawed and unethical.

Associated Press

UK medical journal retracts flawed vaccine study

Tue Feb 2, 10:56 am ET

LONDON – A major British medical journal on Tuesday retracted a flawed study linking the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine to autism and bowel disease.

The retraction by The Lancet comes a day after a competing medical journal, BMJ, issued an embargoed commentary calling for The Lancet to formally retract the study. The commentary was to have been published on Wednesday. Continue reading ‘Autism and MMR’