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Congress of the U.S.
In a letter to Congress, members of both parties agreed
that vaccines save lives. The letter expresses the benefits and safety of
vaccines as well as dangers of not vaccinating children. No other invention
in our history has saved more lives, or prevented so many hospitalizations
than vaccines. While the letter is not directly addressed to President
Trump, members from both parties of Congress have expressed concerns that
the President is not a vaccine advocate. With many believing that
anti-vaccine views will gain strength with the current President, it is
good to hear that both sides can agree on this topic of vaccine safety and
efficacy.
ICAAP and Illinois Alliance to Prevent
Obesity
Governor
Rauner gave his budget address in February calling on lawmakers to pass a
balanced budget with adequate spending and reforms. It's time for state
leaders to develop a budget plan and end the nearly 2 year impasse in the
state. One healthy source of revenue they should definitely include is a
penny-per-ounce excise tax on high-sugar drinks.
While the sugary drink tax has been part of
budget discussions in the Illinois Senate, Representative Robyn Gabel (D-18th
District) recently introduced the Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) Act
in the House (HB2914) to ensure the sugary drink tax is also
considered in the House budget discussions. The HEAL Act raises almost $600
million a year and puts the revenues into a Wellness Fund to invest $50
million into community prevention and the remaining funds into Medicaid to
help with the state's budget deficit. The tax excludes diet and low-calorie
drinks, milk, 100% fruit juice, infant formula, and water.
Ask your legislators to include a sugary drink tax in
the Illinois budget to invest in prevention and Medicaid.
This tax on the number one source of added
sugar in the diet is an investment in health.
For further information, please contact Mary
Elsner, Director, Obesity Prevention Initiatives at 312/733-1026, ext, 220
or melsner@illinoisaap.com.
ICAAP
Dr.
David Steward, MD, MPH works as a faculty member in the Department of
Internal Medicine at Southern Illinois University’s School of Medicine and
is a primary care internist with an interest in public and population
health. In the first keynote presentation, he will address the social
determinants of health and discuss how understanding and using them can
lead to better health care, improved outcomes, and happier, healthier
children.
Register today for the 3rd annual Autism,
Behavior, and Complex Medical Needs — Downstate (ABC-D) Conference. This
year’s theme is "Zip Code vs. Genetic Code: The Social Determinants of
Caring for Children and Families with Special Needs," and it will be
held at the Regency Conference Center in O'Fallon, IL on Friday, April
28th. View the conference website or the brochure for more information on registration,
other speakers, and continuing education opportunities, including CME.
 The Illinois Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics is
accredited by the Illinois State Medical Society (ISMS) to provide
continuing medical education for physicians.
The Illinois Chapter, American Academy of
Pediatrics designates this enduring material for a maximum of 6 AMA PRA
Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate
with the extent of their participation in the activity.
ICAAP
To
help you address obesity prevention and treatment in your practice, ICAAP’s
Obesity Prevention Initiatives offers an array of CME free of charge on
ICAAP's new online learning platform in the course
catalogue under Obesity Prevention. March’s spotlight is on the course
titled, "Understanding and Assessing Psychosocial Factors
Associated with Childhood Obesity." After taking the course,
learners will be able to analyze and express the important role
parents/adult caregivers play in their children’s development; demonstrate
the significant role social stigma has in affecting body image and
overweight; identify the effects of obesity on self-esteem and body image;
summarize obesity-related co-morbid mental disorders; and apply appropriate
psychosocial screening instruments for use in office practice.
For more information, or for assistance
navigating resources and finding resources for patients, please contact
Anna Carvlin, Manager of Obesity Prevention Initiatives, at 312/733-1026 x
214 or acarvlin@illinoisaap.com.
ICAAP obesity-related resources are funded by grants from the Otho S. A.
Sprague Memorial Institute and the Illinois Department of Healthcare and
Family Services.
The Illinois Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics is
accredited by the Illinois State Medical Society (ISMS) to provide
continuing medical education for physicians.
The Illinois Chapter, American Academy of
Pediatrics designates this enduring material for a maximum of 1.25 AMA
PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit
commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Crain's Chicago Business
After
a five-year effort to boost its support of breastfeeding, Rush University
Medical Center has obtained a prestigious "baby-friendly"
designation by a World Health Organization-affiliated institution. Rush is
only the fourth hospital in Chicago and the 17th in Illinois to earn the
Baby-Friendly USA accolade. READ
MORE
National Geographic
Before
vaccines, millions of children died horrific deaths each year from
infectious diseases like whooping cough, polio, and measles. Today, thanks
to vaccines, most of these diseases have been eradicated. Yet people in
different corners of the world are rejecting vaccines. In the U.S., more
and more parents are refusing to have their children vaccinated because
they believe a debunked theory that vaccines cause autism. Meanwhile, in
Pakistan and Afghanistan, health workers are regularly targeted because
vaccines are thought to be a Western plot to make Muslims infertile. READ
MORE
HealthDay News
A
type of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infection has increased 700 percent
in American children since 2007, a new investigation reveals. These
infections are caused by Enterobacteriaceae bacteria — normal
bacteria that can become resistant to multiple drugs. Once confined to
hospitals, the tough-to-treat infections are spreading into the community
at large, say researchers who evaluated eight years of data. READ
MORE
Penn State College of Medicine
Adolescents
with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) use emergency department services four
times as often as their peers without autism, according to Penn State
College of Medicine researchers. The findings suggest that youth with autism
may need better access to primary care and specialist services. The
researchers looked at private insurance healthcare claims from 2005 to 2013
in 12 to 21 year olds. Adolescents with autism included in the study
received at least two separate diagnoses of ASD over the timeframe. Two
diagnoses reduce the chance of including misdiagnoses. READ
MORE
Reuters
A
large number of pediatricians in training may already be experiencing
burnout, a recent U.S. study suggests, and those who do are more likely to
make errors or take shortcuts during treatment. New doctors, known as
residents, tend to work extremely long hours and are at high risk for job
burnout, the study team writes in the journal Pediatrics. READ
MORE
News-Medical.net
Blindness
and eye problems may seem far in the future for children and teenagers with
diabetes. But a new study shows these concerns shouldn't be overlooked in
those with the condition — of any age. The large, national study, led by
University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center, shows more than 1 in 5 youth
with type 1 diabetes, and 7 percent with type 2 diabetes, have diagnoses of
diabetic retinopathy, a weakening of the walls of the eye's blood vessels
after prolonged exposure to high blood sugar. In the review of 4,008 cases,
children as young as 6 had been diagnosed with proliferative diabetic
retinopathy, the more advanced form of the disease. READ
MORE
ScienceDaily
Northwestern
Medicine scientists have found a molecule that stops the growth of an
aggressive pediatric brain tumor. The tumor is always fatal and primarily
strikes children under 10 years old. Every year, about 300 children under
the age of 10 years old in the U.S. develop a tumor referred to as diffuse
intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG). "This tumor kills every single kid
who gets DIPG within one year. No one survives," said the study's
first author, Andrea Piunti, a postdoctoral fellow in Shilatifard's lab in
biochemistry and molecular genetics at Northwestern University Feinberg
School of Medicine. READ
MORE
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