Children, Volume 1, Issue 2 (September 2014) – 12 articles , Pages 63-260

Risk is big business. It has assumed almost universal acceptance as an ever-present reality of life, something out there waiting to cause harm (most notably to political, economic and health systems). It commands vast resources to develop preventative measures that are the preserve of experts issuing often contradictory advice and warnings. Children’s play is caught up in this account. No longer something that children just do, it is subject to adult scrutiny that simultaneously and paradoxically attempts to manage risk and promote “risk-taking” for its perceived instrumental benefits, primarily the development of risk assessing skills. Adults thus guide children’s play, rendering children passive and needy recipients of expertise. This article takes a broader perspective to consider how this contemporary understanding of risk plays out in material discursive practices in relation to childhood, play, health and wellbeing. It then draws on conceptual tools of relationality, materiality and performativity to reconfigure playing as an emergent co-production of entangled bodies, affects, objects, space and histories in ways that make life better for the time of playing. Such moments produce health-affirming potential as an intra-dependent phenomenon rather than an individual achievement. Finally, it considers implications for “health promotion” and health enabling environments. Full article

The Long-Term Follow-Up Guidelines for survivors of childhood, adolescent, and young adult cancers are evidence- and consensus-based guidelines that have been developed and published by the Children’s Oncology Group (COG) Late Effects Committee, Nursing Discipline, and the Patient Advocacy Committee. Originally published in 2004, the guidelines are currently in version 3.0. While the COG guidelines have been praised as a model for providing risk-based survivorship care, adherence has not been uniform. Reasons for this gap include unawareness on the part of the survivor and/or care team as well as disagreement about the individual recommendations. In some cases, the burden of testing (such as annual echocardiography or repeat pulmonary function testing) may be too great. A small number of intervention studies have documented improved adherence to guideline recommendations with dissemination of informational material. Future studies should focus on individualizing screening recommendations, as well as identifying unnecessary testing. Full article

Knowledge of vitamin D in the health of children has grown greatly over the years, extending past the importance for calcium homeostasis and bone growth. There is growing recognition of the role vitamin D plays in health impacting the innate immune system to prevent infections and the adaptive immune system to modulate autoimmunity. Other studies are starting to reveal the neurohormonal effects of vitamin D on brain development and behavior, with a link to mental health disorders. Many of these effects start well before the birth of the child, so it is important that each pregnant woman be assessed for vitamin D deficiency and supplemented for the best possible health outcome of the child. It is recommended that targeting a 25(OH)D level of 40–70 ng/mL for each individual would provide optimal health benefits and reduce health care costs. Current recommended doses of vitamin D supplementation fall short of what is needed to obtain ideal serum levels. A vitamin D supplementation program to prevent disease, much like the current vaccination program, could potentially have a dramatic impact on overall health worldwide. Full article

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most common neuropsychiatric disorder in children and is increasing in prevalence. There has also been a related increase in prescribing stimulant medication despite some controversy whether ADHD medication makes a lasting difference in school performance or achievement. Families who are apprehensive about side effects and with concerns for efficacy of medication pursue integrative medicine as an alternative or adjunct to pharmacologic and cognitive behavioral treatment approaches. Integrative medicine incorporates evidence-based medicine, both conventional and complementary and alternative therapies, to deliver personalized care to the patient, emphasizing diet, nutrients, gut health, and environmental influences as a means to decrease symptoms associated with chronic disorders. Pediatric integrative medicine practitioners are increasing in number throughout the United States because of improvement in patient health outcomes. However, limited funding and poor research design interfere with generalizable treatment approaches utilizing integrative medicine. The use of research designs originally intended for drugs and procedures are not suitable for many integrative medicine approaches. This article serves to highlight integrative medicine approaches in use today for children with ADHD, including dietary therapies, nutritional supplements, environmental hygiene, and neurofeedback. Full article

In the face of excellent survival rates for pediatric and adolescent cancer, preserving the opportunity to have biological children is an important component of long term quality of life. Yet, modern chemotherapeutic regimens continue to pose a threat to fertility. The only fertility preservation methods available to pre-pubertal children of both genders is cryopreservation of gonadal tissue, a highly experimental intervention, or shielding/re-location of reproductive tissue in the setting of radiation. These techniques are available in the post pubertal population as well, but post pubertal patients also have the option for cryopreservation of gametes, a process that is much simpler in males than females. For this reason, prior to the initiation of therapy, sperm banking should be considered standard of care for males, while consideration of embryo or oocyte cryopreservation should be limited to those females at risk of developing ovarian failure. Attention to reproductive health and fertility preservation should continue after the completion of therapy. Establishing programs that streamline access to current fertility preservation techniques will assist in ensuring that all eligible patients can avail themselves of current options. Full article

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) primarily describes two distinct chronic conditions with unknown etiology, ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD). UC is limited to the colon, while CD may involve any portion of the gastrointestinal tract from mouth to anus. These diseases exhibit a pattern of relapse and remission, and the disease processes are often painful and debilitating. Due to the chronic nature of IBD and the negative side effects of many of the conventional therapies, many patients and their families turn to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) for symptom relief. This article focuses on the current available evidence behind CAM/integrative therapies for IBD. Full article

Chronic pain is a growing problem in children, with prevalence as high as 30.8%. Acupuncture has been found to be useful in many chronic pain conditions, and may be of clinical value in a multidisciplinary treatment program. The basic principles of acupuncture are reviewed, as well as studies exploring basic mechanisms of acupuncture and clinical efficacy. Conditions commonly treated in the pediatric pain clinic, including headache, abdominal pain, fibromyalgia, juvenile arthritis, complex regional pain syndrome, cancer pain, as well as perioperative pain studies are reviewed and discussed. Areas in need of further research are identified, and procedural aspects of acupuncture practice and safety studies are reviewed. Acupuncture can be an effective adjuvant in the care of pediatric patients with painful conditions, both in a chronic and an acute setting. Further studies, including randomized controlled trials, as well as trials of comparative effectiveness are needed. Full article

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and functional dyspepsia (FD) are common problems in the pediatric population, with up to 7% of school-age children and up to 8% of adolescents suffering from epigastric pain, heartburn, and regurgitation. Reflux is defined as the passage of stomach contents into the esophagus, while GERD refers to reflux symptoms that are associated with symptoms or complications—such as pain, asthma, aspiration pneumonia, or chronic cough. FD, as defined by the Rome III classification, is a persistent upper abdominal pain or discomfort, not related to bowel movements, and without any organic cause, that is present for at least two months prior to diagnosis. Endoscopic examination is typically negative in FD, whereas patients with GERD may have evidence of esophagitis or gastritis either grossly or microscopically. Up to 70% of children with dyspepsia exhibit delayed gastric emptying. Treatment of GERD and FD requires an integrative approach that may include pharmacologic therapy, treating concurrent constipation, botanicals, mind body techniques, improving sleep hygiene, increasing physical activity, and traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture. Full article

There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that nutritional status during treatment for cancer has a significant impact on treatment-related toxicities and outcomes among children and adolescents with cancer. The effects of nutritional status appear to extend into survivorship with a large proportion of survivors at risk for a variety of nutrition-related morbidities. The influence of dietary intake on overall treatment outcomes and long-term morbidities is largely unknown. In adults, evidence suggests that greater adherence to cancer prevention dietary guidelines improves long-term health outcomes among survivors of cancer. Surveys describing dietary intake among survivors of childhood cancer have found that most survivors are not meeting the recommended guidelines for many dietary nutrients and this may have an unfavorable effect on nutrition-related outcomes. However, more research is needed in this area so that well-designed clinical trials may be developed and tested. This review presents an overview of the existing literature describing dietary intake among survivors of childhood cancer, the clinical implications of reported dietary behaviors among survivors, and identifies areas for future research. Full article

As human-driven climate change advances, many adults fret about the losses of livelihoods, houses and farms that may result. Children fret about their parents’ worries and about information they hear, but do not really understand about the world’s climate and perhaps about their own futures. In chronically worried or anxious children, blood cortisol levels rise and adverse changes accrue in various organ systems that prefigure adult-life diseases. Meanwhile, for many millions of children in poor countries who hear little news and live with day-to-day fatalism, climate change threatens the fundamentals of life—food sufficiency, safe drinking water and physical security—and heightens the risks of diarrhoeal disease, malaria and other climate-sensitive infections. Poor and disadvantaged populations, and especially their children, will bear the brunt of climate-related trauma, disease and premature death over the next few decades and, less directly, from social disruption, impoverishment and displacement. The recent droughts in Somalia as the Indian Ocean warmed and monsoonal rains failed, on top of chronic civil war, forced hundreds of thousands of Somali families into north-eastern Kenya’s vast Dadaab refugee camps, where, for children, shortages of food, water, hygiene and schooling has endangered physical, emotional and mental health. Children warrant special concern, both as children per se and as the coming generation likely to face ever more extreme climate conditions later this century. As children, they face diverse risks, from violent weather, proliferating aeroallergens, heat extremes and mobilised microbes, through to reduced recreational facilities, chronic anxieties about the future and health hazards of displacement and local resource conflict. Many will come to regard their parents’ generation and complacency as culpable. Full article

This review article addresses the process, intention, and therapeutic value of clinical hypnosis with children and adolescents. A brief historical perspective is followed by a digest of the published laboratory and clinical research that has accelerated substantially over the past two decades. This review lends appropriate credence to the benefits and integration to clinical practice of this powerful tool for teaching young people self-regulation skills. The breadth of application is described, and several clinical vignettes are provided as examples of what is possible. In addition to the provision of the most relevant citations in the pediatric, psychological, and neuroscience literature, this synopsis concludes with information regarding availability of skill development training in pediatric clinical hypnosis. Full article

More than 80% of children and young adults diagnosed with invasive cancer will survive five or more years beyond their cancer diagnosis. This population has an increased risk for serious illness- and treatment-related morbidity and premature mortality. A number of these adverse health outcomes, such as cardiovascular disease and some second primary neoplasms, either have modifiable risk factors or can be successfully treated if detected early. Absolute risk models that project a personalized risk of developing a health outcome can be useful in patient counseling, in designing intervention studies, in forming prevention strategies, and in deciding upon surveillance programs. Here, we review existing absolute risk prediction models that are directly applicable to survivors of a childhood cancer, discuss the concepts and interpretation of absolute risk models, and examine ways in which these models can be used applied in clinical practice and public health. Full article