Community Magazine October 2009

72 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE CARSEATS FORCARRIDESONLY Parents are being warned about the possible dangers of using car seats for babies to sleep in at home. Sitting upright in a car seat, as opposed to lying in a crib, can compress the chest and lead to lower levels of oxygen. Dropping oxygen levels get worse when children have colds, so it is especially important to take them out of the car seat when they’re sick. Kids should be put in car seats only when traveling, not while sleeping or playing at home. The research was published online in the journal Pediatrics. Use of car seats while traveling in cars is crucial, even for short rides. People are 88 percent more likely to survive a motor vehicle accident if they are restrained. The researchers suggested keeping children out of car seats for long and unnecessary periods of time, and that manufacturers should consider modifications to the design of the seats. KIDS ABUSE ADHDMEDS As the rate of prescriptions handed out to kids to treat attention- deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) rose to about 80 percent, from 1998 to 2005, abuse of the drugs was up 76 percent, according to research published in the journal Pediatrics. Poison control centers have seen a significant increase in the number of calls for ADHD medication abuse that parallels the number of prescriptions being written. The study only examined data from poison centers, and thus does not provide an estimate of the total medication abuse problem. ADHD affects between 8 to 12 percent of children, and as many as 4 percent of adults, worldwide. The disorder is commonly treated with stimulant medications such as Adderall, Ritalin and Concerta. Besides marijuana, prescription medications are the most common drugs abused by teenagers to get high. Parents are encouraged to be aware of the potential for the abuse of prescription medications. MOMS LEARN FROMTHEIRMOMS Women follow their mothers’ parenting practices more than men, research fromOhio State University has found. Researchers analyzed survey results from 1,133 young parents who were asked how often they spanked their children, showed their children physical affection and praised them, and how often they read to their child. Their own parents had been part of a nationwide survey, and a comparison found that for all three behaviors women closely followed what their mothers did. Fathers did not follow their mothers’ parenting practices as much, despite the fact that these men grew up in a time when women did most of the parenting. Parents today tended to read more and show more affection to their children, and spank less. DOUBLE DOSE OF H1N1 VACCINE FOR YOUNGKIDS Children under 10 will likely need to take two doses of the Sanofi- Pasteur swine flu vaccine 21 days apart, according to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). In news that could ease the logistics of vaccinating children multiple times, the NIAID confirmed that kids could receive seasonal flu shots and H1N1 shots at the same time. Children aged 10 to 17 mounted an immune response that should protect them from H1N1 within 8 to 10 days, according to the NIAID. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said 46 U.S. children have died from swine flu, which appears to have first emerged in Mexico in March and which spread around the world to cause a pandemic in only six weeks. The United States has ordered over 222 million doses of H1N1 vaccine. The CDC has designated about 160 million people to be vaccinated first, including pregnant women, people with heart disease, asthma or diabetes and school-aged children. IMMUNIZATIONS STILL BELOWGOAL More than three-quarters of children in the U.S. have received the recommended vaccinations, but the numbers are still below the national goal of 80 percent. In 2008, 76.1 percent had received the entire recommended series of vaccines, a slight drop from the 2007 rate of 77.4 percent. “Vaccination is one of the most important things parents can do to protect their children’s health,” says Dr. Melinda Wharton, deputy director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. The recommended vaccinations include diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTaP); polio; measles, mumps and rubella (MMR); hepatitis B; and varicella (chickenpox). The findings were published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Children living at or above poverty levels were more likely to have been vaccinated than children living below the poverty level. The proportion of children who were not vaccinated at all remained stable at 0.06 percent. • Health