Our first version is now ready for stress testing by a select group of parents and families from our charity partner, WellChild. If you're joining us at RCPCH Conference and exhibition on 13-15 May, come to our stand for a sneak preview!
Open access. The prevalence of asthma and obesity have increased over the last decades. A possible association between these two chronic illnesses has been suggested, since the prevalence of asthmatic symptoms rises with increasing Body Mass Index (BMI). However, asthma is only one of several possible causes of shortness of breath in obese children. The aim of this study is to evaluate the prevalence of overtreatment with asthma medication in a cohort overweight/obese children with respiratory symptoms visiting a pediatric outpatient clinic.
The media reports may give the impression that this study refutes previous thinking that social media use can have a detrimental effect of wellbeing. In fact the findings don't seem to be so clear cut.
The study found that social media use is linked with reduced life satisfaction, while less social media use is linked with greater life satisfaction. But the links were very small and may not be significant.
The study has a number of limitations.
The UK's Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) does not set time limits for different age groups because there's a lack of evidence.
They recommend that parents should approach the issue on a case by case basis, rather than trying to use a "one-size-fits-all" approach.
To understand the case mix of three different paediatric services, reasons for using an acute paediatric service in a region of developing integrated care and where acute attendances could alternatively have been managed.. To read the full article, log in using your MPFT NHS OpenAthens details.
Young Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic children who care for ill or disabled relatives are more likely than other young carers to be isolated from support services, a Barnardo’s report published today reveals.
This report outlines steps that Government departments and other agencies should take to improve transitions for young people. However, no single Government department or agency can take on this challenge by working alone. A solution to addressing multiple disadvantage in young people’s lives will require a co-ordinated response.
A 5-year-old boy with known type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), treated with insulin, presents to the paediatric diabetes outpatient department for his routine clinic review. The family have started the boy on a ketogenic diet (<50 g of carbohydrates daily with target blood ketones of 2–3 mmol/L) to improve his diabetes control and for additional perceived health benefits. On the ketogenic diet, the patient’s insulin needs decreased, his HbA1c is good (41mmol/L/5.2%) and his height and weight are increasing along the 75th centile for his age. He has normal screening bloods (including lipids) and a normal ECG.
The paediatric diabetes multidisciplinary team traditionally recommend a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet for children with T1DM. The team have no experience of using a ketogenic or low-carbohydrate diet for the management of T1DM in children treated with insulin. You wonder if there is evidence to support the ketogenic diet in children with T1DM and if there are potential risks associated with the low-carbohydrate diet.. To read the full article, log in using your MPFT NHS OpenAthens details.
A pioneering NHS pilot scheme to help vulnerable children improve their sleep patterns has delivered significant improvements to families’ health and wellbeing.
The programme in Sheffield, developed by the NHS, the Children’s Sleep Charity and Sheffield City Council, delivers sleep clinics to children from troubled backgrounds or with very challenging behaviour, resulting in children sleeping well and performing better at school, while freeing up time for parents to recharge and be better able to look after their family.
New guidelines from the World Health Organisation (WHO) for children under 5 are “useful benchmarks” but require cautious interpretation, says RCPCH's Dr Max Davie.
According to new guidelines from the World Health Organisation (WHO), children under five must spend less time sitting watching screens or restrained in prams and seats if they are to grow up healthy. WHO also advise they get better quality sleep and have more time for active play.
This study is not particularly persuasive.
The overall difference between children using screens for more than 2 hours or less than 30 minutes was tiny: only a 2.2 score difference in their attention problem scores.
Though the children using screens for more than 2 hours had a higher risk of clinically significant attention problems or significant ADHD symptoms, these problems only affected around 1% of the whole study sample. So these are very small numbers
Conclusion: All children reported some impact on their body and self and/or in some activities after the use of the suit. The parents also saw improvements during the trial period. However, the results are inconclusive and a larger study is needed to determine if the suit is useful from a longer perspective and whether it can affect activity and participation in daily activities for children with spasticity. You can request a copy of this article by replying to this email. Please ensure you are clear which article you are requesting.
Achieving Consensus: advice for paediatricians and other health professionals on prevention, recognition and management of conflict in paediatric practice suggests practices which aim to support professionals to identify and reduce disharmony whilst maintaining the child’s best interest.
The proposed North Midlands Regional Adoption & Permanency Partnership is backed by the Department for Education and involves working with Shropshire Council, Stoke-on-Trent City Council and Telford and Wrekin Council.
Children from Staffordshire will remain the responsibility of the county council, but the joint project will provide a wider range of prospective adopters and carers to find the right home.
The dramatic decline in the popularity of smoking since the turn of the millennium could largely be the result of increased education and awareness of the harms of smoking, and that it's now less socially acceptable, particularly since the smoking ban in public places.
But what will be of concern to some is that while teens may be less likely to try smoking or think it acceptable, there may have been a massive increase in the perceived acceptability of vaping and the number of teens who have tried e-cigarettes if they'd been asked about it in the surveys.