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Safety and Wellness > Wellness Resources > Growth and Development

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Issues That Affect Us All

Hundreds of health issues affecting children compete for our attention each year. Some hit us close to home as parents, perhaps impacting our own kids in significant ways. Some sweep onto the world stage with a devastating toll and then, when the media spotlight turns elsewhere, seem to disappear just as swiftly. And still others are around us every day, hidden in the private lives of teens or so habitual and obvious in our own lives that they are barely recognizable.

In this article, KidsHealth has featured 10 issues in children's health that touch the lives of almost everyone. The list is not meant to be comprehensive, nor is it intended to suggest that other health issues aren't as important. Rather, the issues highlighted here are some of those that garnered attention in 2005, and that KidsHealth believes are worth watching in 2006.

Some of these topics involve simple choices parents make every day as they do their best to raise their children. Others are so large in scope and painful to contemplate that they may be unintentionally brushed aside in the minds of many, viewed as issues that are a world away, tragic but ultimately too foreign, formidable, or far off in the future to fight. At least one is included here for the simple inspiration it offers - that kids can make a difference. And by keeping each of the health matters listed below in mind through 2006, so can each of us.

1. Bird Flu

With outbreaks of the deadly bird flu in Asia, world leaders started to prepare for the possibility that the virus could mutate into a form that could pass from person to person, causing a global health crisis. If that happens, kids could be particularly vulnerable because their young bodies can't fight off illnesses as well as adults. In many parts of the world, where children are poorly nourished and lack adequate medical care, an avian flu epidemic could be devastating. Political leaders around the world started developing emergency plans for an outbreak, stockpiling flu medicines, and working on a vaccine.

What to Watch:

As doctors look for ways to prevent and treat the bird flu, it's even more important for parents to do what they can to keep kids healthy, like practicing good hand-washing habits and getting their kids vaccinated. While the current flu immunization against the usual strains of flu may have little or no protective effect against bird flu, it can save lives - particularly in children with certain respiratory and immune conditions.

For Parents:
Bird Flu (Avian Flu)

For Teens:
Bird Flu (Avian Flu)

For Kids:
Bird Flu (Avian Flu)

2. Shaping Up Kids

With the debut of the new Food Guide Pyramid in April, and soaring rates of obesity and type 2 diabetes in kids, it's clear: Kids are getting way too much added sugars, fats, salts, and calories, and not enough of the nutrients they need to grow up healthy. More than 9 million U.S. kids and teens are obese and another 15% are at risk for becoming obese. The prevalence of type 2 diabetes - which used to be known as "adult-onset" diabetes - has more than doubled among kids in the past decade.

What to Watch:

Pressure is mounting on parents, schools, and businesses to help kids eat right and stay fit. In 2005, five states started requiring school nurses to compute students' body mass index (BMI), while lawmakers around the country started pushing to require restaurants to provide nutrition information on menus. In December, the Institute of Medicine, which advises the U.S. government on policy, called on food makers to start marketing healthier foods to kids. Getting America's kids into shape will not be easy. Is this one of those health issues that will simply go away? No. The health impact will be all too visible - and costly.

For Parents:
Kids and Food: 10 Tips for Parents
The New Food Guide Pyramid
Healthy Eating
Overweight and Obesity
Body Mass Index (BMI) Charts

For Teens:
The Food Guide Pyramid
Obesity
Food and Fitness
Body Mass Index

For Kids:
The Food Guide Pyramid
What Being Overweight Means
Body Mass Index
Staying Healthy
Why Exercise Is Cool

3. Kids Going Too Far for Sports

Are kids going too far to get ahead on the playing field? Many experts, including those from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, believe that some are. Pediatricians, surgeons, and athletic trainers around the country warn that a growing number of kids who play sports are undereating, overtraining, and using steroids and illegal supplements. And those trends could mean long-term damage to kids' bodies. Concerned doctors launched an ad campaign, challenging adults to consider: "What will last longer, their trophies or their injuries?"

What to Watch:

As U.S. lawmakers and major league sports officials figure out how to address steroid use among pro athletes, public health officials are calling on doctors, coaches, and parents to watch for this problem and others in young athletes, and play a more active role in preventing and treating them. For some parents, that may mean re-examining the emphasis they put on organized, competitive sports in their child's life.

For Parents:
What You Should Know About Steroids
Preventing Children's Sports Injuries

For Teens:
Sports Supplements
Food and Fitness
Are Steroids Worth the Risk?
Sports and Exercise Safety

For Kids:
Steroids
Taking the Pressure Off Sports Competition
Five Ways to Avoid Sports Injuries

4. HIV/AIDS

Some progress has been made in fighting AIDS and stopping the spread of the HIV virus. But HIV and AIDS are still a global threat, in part because poverty stands in the way of treatment and prevention for so many people. While most AIDS cases are in Africa, the illness is still spreading on every continent faster than the progress that's being made to stop it. And it's hit the young particularly hard: 2.3 million kids are living with HIV and AIDS, and last year alone, more than a million kids ages 15 or younger died from AIDS. All the while, millions more kids have been orphaned as their parents have died of the disease.

What to Watch:

Though AIDS is spreading fastest among the young, only a limited number of treatments have been developed just for kids. Of the 20 drugs developed so far, just 12 can be used for kids, and seven for babies. Doctors and scientists are scrambling to close that gap. If those who have AIDS aren't treated, the disease will continue to spread and the number of kids who are orphaned by AIDS will continue to swell. It will become an even more widespread problem that hits home in many communities. AIDS, contributing to the poverty of already impoverished areas of the world, threatens political stability in many places. It's important for parents, kids, and teens to understand how AIDS can be transmitted, what they can do to stay healthy, and what they can do to help those who are affected by the disease.

For Parents:
HIV and AIDS
STDs

For Teens:
HIV and AIDS
Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs)

For Kids:
HIV and AIDS

5. Safeguarding Kids From Sickness

Immunization rates in the United States are the highest they've ever been. But many parents are still not getting their kids vaccinated because they're concerned the shots cause conditions like autism, even though most scientists say there is no evidence of a link. Parents who don't immunize their kids put them and others at a greater risk for contracting deadly diseases. With this new group of unvaccinated kids, and increased international travel and immigration, deadly but preventable diseases like polio and measles are starting to crop up in the United States for the first time in decades.

What to Watch:

Getting immunizations helps protect kids against dangerous diseases, and they help protect kids who can't get vaccinated by helping slow down outbreaks of diseases. To counter the fear that vaccines cause problems in kids rather than protect them, public officials and doctors are making a new push to educate parents about how important it is to get kids their vaccinations on schedule. While diseases like polio and measles may seem like health problems from long ago, they are still circulating around the world. And if people shy away from vaccinations, they'll only grow into larger public health problems.

For Parents:
Frequently Asked Questions About Immunizations
Immunization Chart
Immune System

For Teens:
Immunizations
Immune System

For Kids:
A Kid's Guide to Shots
Who Needs a Flu Shot?
Word! Immunizations

6. Plugged-In Kids

Technology is transforming the way kids learn, communicate, and spend their free time. It's now almost impossible to imagine the world without all of us being plugged in. But the networked world exposed kids to new risks, such as Internet predators and scam artists. With cell phones, instant messaging, e-mail, blogs, video games, the Internet, and cable TV, kids can get instant access to the world like never before. That access - which in large part doesn't involve parents - has prompted questions about the impact that technology has on growing bodies and minds. And public health officials are trying to figure out how they can harness these advances to help kids grow up strong and healthy.

What to Watch:

As new forms of media continue to emerge, giving kids and teens even quicker and easier access to the world, health-care professionals are calling on the business community to develop products that encourage healthy lifestyles for kids. They're also calling on parents and schools to take more active roles in making sure that kids use technology in ways that fit into a healthy lifestyle.

For Parents:
Healthy Habits for TV, Internet, and Video Games
How TV Affects Your Child
Internet Safety

For Teens:
Extracurricular Excitement
Internet Safety: Safe Surfing Tips for Teens

For Kids:
It's Time to Play
Safe Cyberspace Surfing

7. Conquering Kids' Cancer

Nearly 80% of kids who get cancer are alive 5 years later, up from 59% in 1975. Doctors are continuing to develop a better understanding of how some types of kids' cancers are fundamentally different from the cancers that affect adults. And with that, doctors have been able to develop more targeted therapies that improve survival and have fewer side effects. In 2005, Clolar, a treatment for acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) came on the market - it was the first new leukemia treatment just for kids in the last decade. In April 2005, the Institute of Medicine called on government and the health care industry to work jointly to develop more cancer treatments specifically designed for kids.

What to Watch:

Though progress has been made in treating childhood cancer, the disease still affects millions of families, and needs significant research, support, and public attention. In the United States alone 9,510 kids are diagnosed with cancer each year, and about 1,585 kids will die from the disease, according to the National Institutes of Health.

For Parents:
Childhood Cancer

For Teens:
Types of Cancer Teens Get
Dealing with Cancer
Cancer Basics

For Kids:
What Is Cancer?
Some Kinds of Cancer Kids Get

8. Overuse of Antibiotics

The appropriate use of antibiotics can help get rid of some types of infections, particularly those caused by certain bacteria. But inappropriate and excessive use of antibiotics over time has had a dangerous side effect: It's helped create bacteria that are harder to kill. Now, bacteria that once responded well to antibiotics aren't budging, and some ear infections, sinus problems, and more deadly illnesses like meningitis and tuberculosis have become harder to treat. The widespread use of antibiotics in animals that people consume, such as chicken, has only compounded the problem - primarily by encouraging the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now calls antibiotic resistance "one of the world's most pressing public health problems."

What to Watch:

Public health officials and doctors are calling on parents to limit how much they ask for and use antibiotics for themselves and for kids. When kids are sick, it's tempting to ask for any pill to help make the sickness go away. But having a child take an antibiotic for a virus - or another illness that it won't help - won't make the child better, and may increase the health risks for the entire community. In answer to this widespread concern, as well as an increasing consumer appetite for "healthy" foods, businesses that process products like milk and chicken have started developing more products in which antibiotics weren't used. All food producers are being encouraged to reduce their widespread use of antibiotics in their animals.

For Parents:
The Danger of Antibiotic Overuse

For Teens:
Understanding Medications and What They Do

For Kids:
Word! Antibiotics

9. Cutting

Though cutting is not a new phenomenon, this form of self-injury among kids and teens has been in the spotlight in the past year. Cutting - when people intentionally make scratches or cuts on their bodies with sharp objects and make themselves bleed - is not an illness in itself. It's an unhealthy way of seeking relief from painful emotions that seem overwhelming or unbearable - like anger, hurt, alienation, or rejection. Cutting may be a symptom of one of several different mental health problems that can affect young people.

What to Watch:

As parents, teachers, and other adults become more aware of cutting, and of the deeper connections between emotional pain and self-injury, they are better able to get young people who cut the professional help they need. The attention that cutting has gotten helps focus awareness on the many mental health issues that affect kids and teens, which often are unrecognized or misunderstood, and therefore remain untreated. It also helps bring to light the importance of helping kids develop the skills to manage difficult emotions and challenges they may face.

For Parents:
Childhood Stress
What Kids Say About: Handling Stress
Emotions and Behavior

For Teens:
Cutting
Your Mind
Going to a Therapist

For Kids:
The Story on Stress
Five Steps for Fighting Stress
Going to a Psychologist, Psychiatrist, or Therapist

10. Keeping Up the Good Works

From selling lemonade to stuffing backpacks, kids this year showed that you're never too young to make a positive impact. When the tsunami devastated thousands of families in Southeast Asia, high school students in Virginia raised $29,000 to help feed and clothe them. When Hurricane Katrina hit, kids in Maryland sent thousands of backpacks to kids who were displaced by the storm. And kids all over the country - inspired by the efforts of a young cancer patient named Alex Scott - have run more than 4,000 lemonade stands to raise money to fight cancer, helping to donate more than $1.5 million to pediatric cancer care centers around the United States.

What to Watch:

As the tragic events of 2005 fade from the headlines, and social problems like hunger and homelessness lose the spotlight, the widespread need for basic food, shelter, clothing, and health care for victims will persist. It's important for kids and adults to stay aware of these issues and make a long-term commitment to make a difference. As many children see examples of others their age effectively helping those in need, they may be inspired to pitch in, too.

For Parents:
How to Talk to Your Child About the News
Making the Holidays Less Materialistic
Community Service: A Family's Guide to Getting Involved

For Teens:
Are the Holidays Too Materialistic?
Volunteering
Natural Disasters: How to Help

For Kids:
Priceless Holiday Gifts
Hurricanes
Joseph and John: Brothers Who Survived a Hurricane

Reviewed by: Neil Izenberg, MD
Date reviewed: December 2005