The Pediatric Academic Societies Annual Meeting
The annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies was held from April 28 to May 1 in Boston and attracted approximately 8,000 participants from around the world, including pediatricians and other allied health professionals. The conference highlighted recent advances in pediatric health care, with more than 3,000 scientific papers presented on a variety of topics ranging from prematurity and infancy to adolescence and diseases that carry into adulthood.
In one study, Fahd A. Ahmad, M.D., of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, and colleagues used technology to identify youth in need of chlamydia and gonorrhea testing during emergency department visits and to integrate testing into their emergency department visit.
"We found that adolescents were willing to disclose personal information about their sexual history using our computer questionnaire. Sixty-five percent of the youth we approached took the survey, and about half of participants qualified for testing based on their answers, even though most of the participants visited the emergency department for reasons unrelated to these infections," Ahmad said.
Overall, adolescents were very accepting of the questionnaire, citing it was easy to use.
"They were willing to disclose sensitive information, and many of the youth actually tested positive for one of these infections, even though they came to the emergency department for something different. Many of these adolescents likely would not have been diagnosed and treated until much later, which would negatively impact their overall health," Ahmad added.
Abstract No. 1655.6
In another study, Rachel Gross, M.D., of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and The Children's Hospital at Montefiore in Bronx, N.Y., and colleagues aimed to understand how a mother's concern about having enough food to feed her family may be related to aspects of parenting known to be related to child obesity. The investigators surveyed low-income mothers with infants in the first six months of life and found that 35 percent of mothers had concerns about feeding their family.
"We found that food insecurity did not affect what the infants were fed, such as breast milk or formula, but instead how infants were fed. Mothers with concerns about feeding their family exhibited more control over their infant's feeding, either by limiting their intake even if the baby was still hungry or by pressuring the infant to eat even when the infant was full," Gross said. "It is believed that when mothers control what an infant eats, it may not enable the baby to develop the ability to know when they are hungry or full, which may lead to overeating and inappropriate weight gain."
Overall, the investigators found that food insecurity was related to key aspects of parenting associated with child obesity.
"Pediatricians should talk to the families about their concerns of not having enough money to buy food," Gross added.
Abstract No. 1660.2
PAS: Maternal Opioid Use, Neonatal Withdrawal Rising
MONDAY, April 30 (HealthDay News) -- From 2000 to 2009, there was a significant increase in the incidence of maternal opioid use and in the diagnosis of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), according to a study published online April 30 in the Journal of the American Medical Association to coincide with presentation at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies, held from April 28 to May 1 in Boston.
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PAS: Maternal Stress Tied to Lower Cord Iron Levels
MONDAY, April 30 (HealthDay News) -- Maternal stress during the first trimester of pregnancy may put newborns at risk for low iron status, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies, held from April 28 to May 1 in Boston.
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PAS: Depressed Mothers More Likely to Overfeed Infants
MONDAY, April 30 (HealthDay News) -- Low-income mothers are more than 10 times more likely to overfeed their infants, by adding cereal to bottles, if they are depressed or if the infant has a high-intensity temperament, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies, held from April 28 to May 1 in Boston.
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PAS: Combined Treatment Ups Glycemic Control in Young
MONDAY, April 30 (HealthDay News) -- The addition of rosiglitazone, but not lifestyle interventions, to metformin treatment improves glycemic control in young people with type 2 diabetes, according to a study published online April 29 in the New England Journal of Medicine to coincide with presentation at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies, held from April 28 to May 1 in Boston.
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PAS: Pacifiers Have No Detrimental Effect on Breastfeeding
MONDAY, April 30 (HealthDay News) -- Contrary to popular belief, the rate of exclusive breastfeeding among newborns significantly drops when routine hospital distribution of pacifiers is limited, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies, held from April 28 to May 1 in Boston.
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PAS: Apartment Dwellers Affected by Neighbor's Tobacco Smoke
MONDAY, April 30 (HealthDay News) -- Unwanted tobacco smoke often seeps from one apartment to another, with one-third of multi-unit housing dwellers reporting smelling tobacco smoke in their building, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies, held from April 28 to May 1 in Boston.
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PAS: Texting Linked to More Car Crashes Among Young
MONDAY, April 30 (HealthDay News) -- Among young drivers, texting is associated with a higher risk of motor vehicle crashes and dangerous driving, regardless of the cell phone position; and compulsive cell phone use is also linked with a higher risk of crashes, according to two studies presented at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies, held from April 28 to May 1 in Boston.
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