Vaccination Laws, Diabetes Among Childrem – PediaCast 083

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Announcer: This is PediaCast.

Dr. Mike Patrick: Bandwidth for PediaCast is Provided by Nationwide Children's Hospital.& For every child, for every reason. &

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Welcome to PediaCast.& A pediatric podcast for parents.& The News Edition.& And now direct from Birdhouse Studios, here is your host, Dr. Mike.

Dr. Mike Patrick: Hello, everyone.& And welcome to PediaCast.& It's episode 83 for Monday, November 19th, 2007.& This is Dr. Mike coming to you from Birdhouse Studio.& And as always, I'd like to welcome all of you to the program on this Thanksgiving week. It was a good weekend. The Ohio State Buck Eyes beat Michigan Wolverines, four years in a row.

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And they're heading for the Rose Bowl, unless there is some other upsets still to be determine, which could happen.& But, I've been quite happy with the Rose Bowl.& We haven't been there since 1997.& So I think an Ohio State USC Rose Bowl game would be pretty good.& I do have a question for you, when do you and your family start getting ready for Christmas.& You know, with putting the tree up and the lights, and starting to listen to Christmas music.& Because Thanksgiving is a little early this year compared to other years in the past.& And traditionally we kind of started into the Christmas season after Thanksgiving.& Although, this year,& the kids in particular, we have to get a new Christmas tree, cause last year had too much duct tape and… It needed too much help let's put it that way. And we're not real tree people.& So, we got this new tree that was pre-lit and of course the kids had to get it up.& So, we have our tree up for a little while now. &

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Although that is another story, with the fiasco with the lights even though it's a pre-lit tree, but, you know me and tangents.& We'll talk about that some other time.& I any case, we listen to music at work in the common areas, where the nurses are and where we chart. And everyone has forbidden me from playing any Christmas music until the beginning of December. I mean if I have my way, I'd start playing it after Thanksgiving, although one of the nurses in our office, her birthday is December 19th.& And she says, they don't even think about Christmas till after her birthday.& But, boy that seems like a rush. &

All right, well be better move on. What are we going to talk about today?& Parents who choose not to vaccinate their kids risks jail time, at least in Maryland.& Also Type 2 Diabetes incidence continues to rise in kids.& Readiness for school, what is the role of a child's environment.& Teaching kids about racism and an update on a story we had a couple of weeks ago, Ohio, failing to apply for a Federal grant aimed at HIV education for teenagers.

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Don't forget, if there is a topic you would like us to talk about, all you have to do is go to pediacast.org and click on the Contact Link.& You can also e-mail me directly at pediacast@gmail.com or call the voice line at 347-404-KIDS. &

I also have a quick updated for you on Stickam.& I told you we are having some audio difficulties.& And I'm in the process of building a page, pediacast.org called Live, and still really under construction at this point.& But it looks like we are going to be able to stream the show live to that page and we'll put a schedule up of when we're going to do that, as for what the recording schedule is each week.& That way if you're free at the time when we are recording, you can just go to pediacast.org, click on the Live Link and it will be streamed right there.& So we are working on that.& Something to look forward to.& Probably sometime next week is when we'll get that up and running. &

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OK, don't forget the information presented in every episode of PediaCast is for general educational purposes only.& We do not diagnose medical conditions or formulate treatment plans for specific individuals.& If you have a concern about your child's health, be sure to call your doctor and arrange a hands on physical examination and a face to face interview.& Also your use of this audio program is subject to the PediaCast Terms of Use Agreement which you can find at pediacast.org.& And with that in mind, we will be back with News Parents Can Use, right after this short break.

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Our News Parents Can Use, News Edition, is brought to you in conjunction with news partner Medical News Today, the largest independent health and medical news website.& And you can visit them online at medicalnewstoday.com. &

Parents of children who go to Prince George's County Schools in Maryland are to appear at a special court hearing.& Their choices are stark, either have their children vaccinated right there in the court or face imprisonment and fines.& This county still have 2,300 kids who had not been vaccinated and drastic measures were put into force to make sure they were vaccinated.& Rarely has such drastic measures been taken in America to make sure children get their vaccinations. According to school officials and prosecutors, parents had have plenty of warnings over the last 12 months.& They stressed that this drive is aimed solely at protecting children and not locking up parents.& Schools have barred unvaccinated kids from attending school without a court approved excuse. &

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John White, representing the local school system said "How can parents in good conscience allow their children to miss school and their education for no particular reason".& A temporary clinic is being set up adjacent to the courthouse where the children can receive their shots. Parents will however have an opportunity to put their case forward before a judge if they want exemptions for their children and this can be granted for religious or medical reasons.& Fines and jail terms could be handed out for those who do not comply and did not offer the judge a valid excuse and still did not comply.& Fines may amount up to $50 each day that the children go unvaccinated and the parent would be prosecuted under Truancy laws.& Authorities have told parents they cannot just sit on the fence, their choices are clear, either get an exemption, get your kids vaccinated or face fines and jail.

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Many are concern that under such menacing pressure parents cannot make an informed decision, apparently even the judge did not seem to keen on bringing loads of parents into court under these circumstances.& But some parents have reacted to the threat. One week ago, there were 2,300 children listed as not having received their shots and that number now stands at 1,100.

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USA Today carried a four day series last week entitled "The Fight Against Diabetes".& This examined how the nationwide trend toward high fat food and low activity play has run amok into the genetic predispostion for diabetes and prompted an increase in cases of Type 2 Diabetes in children.& According to USA Today, the trend threatens to offset the benefits of improved diabetes treatment that have led to reduction in may of the diseases' deadly or disabling complications.& Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes in children is unchartered ground USA Today reports.

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The FDA has approved insulin and Metformin as treatments of Type 2 Diabetes in children, however, insulin is a first line treatment for treatment for Type 2 Diabetes can cause weight gain in over weight children and Metformin alone often is inadequate according to Jane Lynch of the Texas Diabetes Institute.& In addition, although diet and exercise can help manage Type 2 Diabetes in children, health insurance often do not cover the cost of nutritionist or diabetes education.& And it takes intensive education and reinforcement to prompt behavioral changes according to Lynch. &

In conjunction with the USA Today series, ABC's New World News reported an ongoing study examining the use of oral insulin in young children who are predispose to developing Type 1 Diabetes.& The segment includes comments from William Russel, Director of Pediatric Endocrinology at Vanderbilt University, and family members of a child enrolled in the study.& Video of the segment is available online and of course we’ll include a link to that along with links to the USA Today stories on diabetes research and diet and that's all in the Show Notes at pediacast.org. &

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Early school success seems to depend largely on children entering school ready to learn.& And many policy initiatives have highlighted the importance of preparing children for school entry.& A new study finds that children's environment plays a major role in the readiness for school suggesting an intervention could help boost school readiness in at risk youngsters.& The study conducted by researchers at Lavelle University, the University of Montreal, and the University of Quebec at Montreal appears in the Novermber-December 2007 issue of the journal "Child Development".& It is one of the first studies to consider both environmental and genetic influences on children's readiness for school.& The researchers examined 420 pairs of five year old twins, assessing the children on four measures of school readiness that included identifying colors and shapes.& Answering questions about spatial positions such as above, below, left, right.& Relative size such as smaller, bigger and order, such as first, middle, and last. &

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Identifying numbers and counting and identifying letters and writing.& Two years later, the children's teachers were asked to rate the school achievement of 237 pairs of the twins.& Environmental factors shared by twins in the same family such as family resources and income.& Parents' behavior with respect to learning and the twins' child care experiences were responsible for much of the individual difference in the children's school readiness skills according to the study.& The influence of the environmental factors was seen over and above the influence of the genetic factors.& The shared factors influence school readiness in both general and specific ways, that is they were found to be significant for each component of school readiness and for the core abilities underlying over all school readiness

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Genetic factors played a significant role in the children's core abilities but the environment shared by twins of the same family remained the most important factor over all.& Both genetic and environmental factors were found to influence the association between children's school readiness and later school achievement.& "Our results have important implications for preventative interventions" said Michael Bolven, Canada Research Chair in Child Social Development and Professor of Psychology at Lavelle University in Quebec City, and one of the study's authors. &

They should be seen as a further incentive for continued implementation and evaluation of preventative interventional programs aimed at improving the level of school readiness in children from at risk families.

Challenging the idea that racism education could be harmful to students, a new study from the University of Texas at Austin, found the results of learning about historical racism are primarily positive. &

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The study appears also on the November-December issue of the Child Development.& Psychologist Rebecca Bigler and Julie Millegan-Hughe, found white children who received history lessons about discrimination against famous African-Americans had significantly more positive attitude towards African-Americans than those who received lessons with no mention of racism.& African-American children who learned about racism did not differ in their racial attitudes from those who heard lessons that omitted the racism information the study showed.& There is considerable debate about when and how children should be taught about racism says Bigler, Director of the university's Gender and Racial Attitudes Lab.& The little research has examined elementary aged school children's cognitive and emotional reactions to such lessons.& To examine the consequences for white and African-American children, the learning about historical racism.

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The researchers presented biography lessons about 12 historical figures.& Six African-Americans and six Europeans-Americans to two groups of children ages 6 to 11.& For each group, some lessons provided information about racism such as racially biased hiring practices and segregation, while others omitted this information.& After the lesson, the children were interviewed about their racial attitude and reactions including guilt, defensiveness, and anger.& Both white and black children who learned about racism were more likely to value racial fairness and to express greater satisfaction with lesson.& White children whose lessons included information on discrimination showed more defensiveness, had more racial guilt if they were older than 7 and were less likely to accept stereo typical views about African Americans.& While the study shows learning about racism is beneficial to both black and white children, Bigler notes the lessons did not present information about the most violent forms of racial prejudice for example lynching. &

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He goes on to say additional work on the topic is needed so we now how to best present to children some of the more abhorrent truths from US history. &

And finally, an update to a story we did a couple of weeks ago regarding Ohio's failure to apply for a million dollar federal grant aimed at educating teenagers about the spread of HIV.& Well according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, officials at the Ohio, Department of Education, changed their minds and decided not to go ahead and apply for the $1.25 million, 5 year grant from the CDC.& The department had said in late October, it would not apply for the money.& To receive a grant, each state must submit a 5 year plan for promoting HIV prevention among teenagers and establish a panel to review materials that might be offered to schools.& Ohio received the grant for 12 years but dropped out in 2000 after some state law makers disagreed with language and condom promotion aspects of a teacher training program. &

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Karla Carruthers, a spokesperson for the department, last month said, the state does not have an existing program to support the grant.& And developing one would require the legislature to approve changes in the states' health education policies.& Carruthers now reports that department officials decided to apply for the grant following conversations with the administration and legislative offices, including the office of Governor Ted Strickland.& Keith Dailey, a spokesperson for the governor said "Strickland supports the application".& According to the Plain Dealer, the education department received about 2,000 emails after the announcement that it would not apply for the grant, most of which were from people who supported the application.& Earl Pike, Executive Director of the AIDS Task Force of Greater Cleveland, who promoted an email campaign, said the decision to not apply really struck a nerve for a lot of people across the state.& Pike added the task force is thrilled the department is exercising leadership on the issue.

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State education officials are working out the details of the application but plan to propose using the grant to create an HIV prevention program within the department.& CDC officials have said there is enough money for every state to receive a grant under the program.& The application deadline is November 21st.& If the grant is awarded, Ohio can receive up to $250,000 annually for five years.& The only other state not applying for the grant in recent years is Utah.& Utah's governor stepped up to the plate, time will tell, but there's not too much time left after all, the application deadline is Wednesday. &

All right, that wraps up our slightly abbreviated News Edition this week.& We will be back and wrap up the show right after this. &

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Thanks go out to the Nationwide Children's Hospital for providing the bandwidth for this podcast.& Also to Medical News Today for being our news partner and Vlad over at vladstudio.com for helping us out with the artwork in the website and in the feed.& And thanks to all of you for taking the time out of your day to include us in it.& Don't forget that Pedia Scribe, the blog.& That is the official blog of PediaCast.& That's put together by my lovely wife Karen.& She has a great post on there about Thanksgiving and part of that post talks about the year that we ate Thanksgiving dinner in the parking lot of a grocery store, out of the back of an SUV in North Carolina.& And yes I'm serious, it really did happen.& I wouldn't forget about a thing like that. In fact, it's so crazy, I wouldn't even think to make that up. &

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So, if you want to hear about that year, just look for the link in the Show Notes or go to pediascribe.com.& Also, don't forget the PediaCast shop.& We have t-shirts with no mark-up on our part.& iTunes reviews are most helpful.& We are just shy of 150 and my personal goal by the New Year is 200 reviews.& So if you haven't left us a short review over on the iTunes store, that will be so much appreciated. &

We're only going to do two more shows this week 'cause we're going to take a little Thanksgiving break.& I have an interview coming up with an inventor of a pretty cool safety product.& And then we will also answer more of your questions before Thanksgiving.& so until tomorrow, this is Dr. Mike saying stay safe, stay healthy, and stay involved with your kids.& So long everybody. &

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