The Friday Funny: Childhood Nutrition
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President Obama Needs You!
By Stacy Beller Stryer, M.D.
We are asking a lot of President Obama. We are asking him to end the wars around the globe, help societies in need, bring jobs and prosperity back to the United States, provide healthcare for all Americans, improve our children’s education, and so on. In his inaugural address, President Obama agreed to tackle many of these issues. We must remember, however, that he is not Superman. He has told us many times, including yesterday, that he cannot make these changes alone but needs the help of all Americans. As he said, “What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility – a recognition on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world …”
Why am I, a pediatrician, discussing an inaugural speech on a website about healthcare? Because, as the President said, each and every one of us has the responsibility of contributing as much as possible to our society and to the world-at-large. As a pediatrician, one of my responsibilities is to guide mothers and fathers toward being the best parents possible. As a parent, each of you has the responsibility of doing the best job you can in raising your children, even before they are born. This means eating well, and refraining from smoking and drinking during pregnancy. It also means providing for them in as many was as possible. This includes, not only giving them appropriate clothing and food, but also stimulating their minds and hearts. It means treating them with respect, acting as positive role models, and teaching them right from wrong – why smoking and having sex as a teen is wrong, why doing well in school is important, and why all people should be treated equal, whether they are black or white, straight or gay, fat or thin. It means boosting your children’s self confidence and letting them know how much you love them. It means becoming involved in activities which help the environment, community, and those in need. And when children become teens, parents must also change their ways – they must learn to recognize when teens need space and when it is time for them to develop their independence.
President Obama is certainly asking a lot of us. But I know we can rise to the occasion. By being good parents and role models, we will not only have fulfilled our duties and responsibilities, but we will also have prepared the next generation to do the same. Here’s to President Obama – and to each and every parent in America.
Realistic Expectations For Hand Sanitizers In Elementary Schools
Photo Credit: Dr. Crippen
I recently listened in to a Webinar related to infectious disease prevention strategies in elementary schools. The lead speaker (Dr. Thomas Sandora) was the principal investigator of a research study that was sponsored by Clorox and published in the Journal, Pediatrics a few months ago. I thought the results were interesting.
Study Design
This study was a randomized, controlled trial of 285 third to fifth graders in a school in Avon, Ohio. The study took place over a two-month period: from March to May, 2006. Half of the classrooms were randomized to the intervention group (which included having the kids apply hand sanitizer before and after lunch, and the teachers perform a sanitary wipe down of all their desks once/day), the other half were observed during their “business as usual” daily routine without sanitizers. The primary outcome measure was “days of school missed due to illness – either upper respiratory or gastrointestinal.” Swabs of surfaces in both the intervention and control groups were taken.
Results
Interestingly, there was no difference in the groups in terms of days of school missed due to upper respiratory type illnesses. There was a small but significant (9%) reduction in gastrointestinal-related illnesses absenteeism in the intervention group. Surface swabs picked up norovirus with higher frequency in the control group classrooms. No MRSA was detected during the study.
Discussion
Upper respiratory tract infections (URIs) are highly contagious, and are commonly spread by droplets in the air as well as surface contact (some viruses and bacteria can survive for 2 hours or more outside the body). Due to an infected child’s continuous contact with their own nasal secretions (sorry for the graphic photo), it is difficult to reduce the spread of URIs through the occasional hand washing or sanitizing. One would have to wash a child’s hands after each time they touched their mouth or nose.
On the other hand, gastrointestinal infections like norovirus are spread via the fecal-oral route, and are therefore not dripped and sneezed all over the place the way URI-causing viruses tend to be. Instead, GI infections are spread when hands are not washed thoroughly after a trip to the bathroom – and then food is touched and ingested.
So it’s not all that surprising that the transmission of GI-related infections were particularly susceptible to this study’s intervention: hand sanitizing before and after lunch, and a daily desk surface wipe.
An interesting point that Dr. Sandora made was that alcohol-based hand sanitizers don’t contribute to antibiotic resistance, because their killing mechanism is not related to antibiotics. I guess it’s like saying that humans don’t become resistant to knife injuries when exposed to attacks with greater frequency.
Conclusions
Hand sanitizer and surface disinfectant strategies may be more effective in reducing the transmission of gastrointestinal illnesses than respiratory tract illnesses in elementary school children. But since compliance is challenging – the total reduction in GI illness transmission remains modest though probably worth the hygiene effort. One glance at the photo above tells you all you need to know.
Cute Kid And Animal Photos
My brother-in-law is a police sargeant and amateur photographer. His wife is an elephant keeper. Chuck took a headshot of me in the past, and I just couldn’t resist sharing some of his recent work with you. Which one do you like best?
The Friday Funny: Caption Contest
Can you think of a really good caption for this medical cartoon? The winner will receive a Better Health t-shirt, effusive praise, and bragging rights. The winning caption will be chosen on the basis of subjective criteria by a panel of 3 judges of variable wit. List your captions in the comments section. Enjoy!
