Pediatricians and the clinicians who care for children writing on KevinMD about child health: childhood illness, development, vaccines and the parents who refuse them, breastfeeding and the pressure around it, childhood obesity, prevention, and the realities of caring for young patients and their families. Most contributors are pediatricians. For a maintained record of what pediatricians have said about children's health since 2004, from fever and sleep through obesity, abuse, teenagers, and Medicaid, see Children's health: what pediatricians say, in their own words. For what physicians have said about vaccines and vaccine hesitancy, from the autism claim through measles, exemptions, and federal policy, see Vaccines: what physicians say, in their own words. For what child psychiatrists and pediatricians have said about children's and teens' mental health, see Mental health: what psychiatrists and physicians say, in their own words. For what pediatricians have said about breastfeeding and postpartum care, see Women's health: what physicians say, in their own words.
An article in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2018 noted the sad milestone that firearms were causing 15% of all deaths in children and adolescents. Somewhat encouraging, a later study showed states with stricter firearm laws correlated with lower numbers of firearm deaths in children. The relationship was quite linear, as you can see below. The authors had specific criteria for weak vs. strong gun laws: if …
In the past week alone, I have heard the following comments from pediatricians on the front lines: “I’ve been practicing for 21 years, and I’ve never seen things this bad”; “I have been called uncaring because my patient had to wait an hour. But I couldn’t tell my patient that I was running behind because of a suicidal patient”; “I’m considering leaving clinical medicine because it seems like there is …
The spark just scarcely lit in Jo had vanished; I had seen no sign of awareness since the spasms began the night before. Having just edged over the threshold into what I considered a reasonable quality of life, with Josephine able to interact in a positive (though limited) way, the thought of …
Earlier this summer, the American Academy of Pediatrics made recommendations that contrasted with those from the CDC, emphasizing the need to do everything possible to prevent COVID infection in children. Specifically, they recommended that even vaccinated adults who were around unvaccinated children in schools continue to mask indoors. This more conservative stance initially caused confusion, but the CDC has since aligned their guidelines more closely with pediatricians. Nevertheless, there remain …
How do you know if your teen has a substance problem? The inability to control substance use despite negative consequences is a classic definition of a severe substance use disorder. But substances aren’t the only thing afflicting adolescents. Another dangerous behavior is invading the adolescent population: process disorders. …
Currently, there is an outcry against the pressures of breastfeeding, with an underlying backlash against the stigma of bottle feeding. Commercials from formula companies, such as Bobbie, are playing at the hearts of struggling breastfeeding mothers. Touted as an organic European formula comparable with breastmilk, Bobbie is the solution. Famous stars, like Queer Eye’s Tan France, emphatically narrate his decision on choosing formula over donor milk for their family. Over …
For years, I hated when patients would ask if I had children. I consider myself to be a good pediatrician and trained at a highly rated medical school and residency. I work hard and I care for my patients. I can, however, be socially awkward and did not start dating until later in life. At its most innocent, the question triggered inadequacies about my social and personal life. At its …
I fear we are reaching our breaking point. We have run a marathon, hoping that we were nearing the finish line as we saw numbers decline in June, only to be told to lace up our sneakers and start over.
Work in outpatient pediatrics is always busy in the summer – seeing our patients for school and sports physicals, marveling at how much they’ve grown since we …
I am a board-certified pediatrician, wife, mother of four, and host of a podcast. I have been interested in nutrition and feeding practices for as long as I can remember. In my practice as a pediatrician, I was constantly bombarded with parent concerns about children’s eating habits. Commonly parents worried that their children were not eating enough, were eating too …
“Children don’t get as sick with COVID-19” and “only children with comorbidities get very sick from COVID-19” are two statements that have concerned me during the pandemic. They have been used as statements to support loosening COVID-19 prevention measures for children, like wearing masks, and rationalizing arguments opposing vaccinating children against COVID-19. It is true that children, for the most part, do not get as sick from COVID-19. Nevertheless, while …
As a parent who also happens to be a hospital-based pediatrician, lots of people have asked me my opinion on back to school and/or daycare.
I am sharing my thoughts. I’m only one person. These are just my thoughts. Feel free to take what is helpful to you and trash the rest. It won’t hurt my feelings.
I think it’s important to frame this conversation by stating loudly and clearly that there …
I can write. Four years at the University of California, similarly at medical school, and three in residency taught me how to master the skill. Divorced with limited education and fewer resources, my mom struggled to raise six kids. She told me the most important thing she ever did was teaching me to read. It became my passion. As a child, I spent afternoons immersed in Perry Mason, Sidney Sheldon, …
The page comes during a lull on an otherwise busy day in the well-baby nursery (WBN). My pager’s shrill cry rouses me like the blast of a starting pistol.
DI-DI GESTATION. 37 WEEKS. BABY A WITH NON-REASSURING HEART TONES. BABY B BREECH. OPERATING ROOM A. COME STAT.
Translation: Twin birth. Baby A is STRESSED. Baby B attempted a front flip but got stuck. HURRY.
They say we should “work until we are old enough to retire.” What age is that? For some, retirement is at 65 years, and for others, it is never. As a physician, I guess I fell in the “never” category. I never thought I would hang up my beautiful red pediatric Littman stethoscope with a picture of Princess Tiana on its diaphragm. I never thought I would replace my prescription …
Some pediatric practices refuse to provide care for children with vaccine-hesitant parents.
Those pediatricians are quick to offer rationalizations for this decision. Many of their reasons are compelling. I’m confident you yourself are thinking of some right now. This piece isn’t intended to be a deep dive into those reasons. No justification for refusing care to certain children changes the outcomes.
We assume that these families end up at organizations like mine: …
Daily cries from parents, pediatricians, the press, and the public to reopen schools in the fall are certainly well-intentioned, but they are overlooking a critical opportunity to advance adolescent physical and mental health long after the COVID-19 pandemic is over. Delaying school start times for teens by an hour, or even two, could optimize a teen’s sleep and their ability to learn throughout the day.
The COVID-19 pandemic put a pause on institutions that we did not think were pausable, allowing us to ask critical questions regarding their relevance and necessity. One such institution is the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE). During COVID-19, Prometric sites closed, delaying exams for many. In response to public outcry, Step 2 CS has become defunct. Before COVID-19, there had been calls to reform the expensive licensing exams, …
“Thank you. You’re the first to say it’s OK for me not to breastfeed.”
These words have been said to me before by tearful, exhausted mothers. It had been sporadic, but now, it feels like I hear this every day in the clinic. Each time, I feel a rush of mixed feelings as I explain that other options had not been explored because of the known benefits of breastfeeding. I tell …
As a pediatrician, many friends, family, and even patients would frequently discuss how great of a dad I must be since I “knew everything about kids.” Little did they know that residency only taught me how to intubate my child; I never learned how to help them eat at the table, deal with tantrums in the store, or keep my cool when my kids would talk back to me. (Granted, …
I first met her at the bedside of her newly born son Tyler. Barely hours after her caesarian section, this mother mustered enough strength to get on a wheelchair to visit her little human at the NICU.
That was just the beginning of our journey together. She didn’t ask me how long or treacherous of a journey it was going to be. Secretly, I was relieved that she chose instead to …
