The News Review:
- Hospital reports sad facts on kids’ health
- How to deal with junior geeks
- Dungeon victims’ health damaged
Hospital reports sad facts on kids’ health
Columbus Dispatch – May 1, 2008
The high number of Franklin County babies who die before their first birthdays is appalling andindicative of greater problems in the community, said Dr. Teresa Long, Columbus healthcommissioner. High rates of infant mortality can be linked to other health measures, including asthmaincidence, smoking and teen pregnancy, said Long and Carolyn Slack, director of the healthdepartment’s maternal and child health division. “Broader issues really are impinging on us having any success ? there are families living inneighborhoods where they aren’t safe, issues around institutional racism, very complex things thatare making this number not go down,” Slack said. Columbus school board President Terry Boyd welcomed the opportunity to look for innovative waysto improve children’s health. “If a student is not healthy, it’s very difficult for them to learn… The high number of Franklin County babies who die before their first birthdays is appalling andindicative of greater problems in the community, said Dr. Teresa Long, Columbus healthcommissioner. High rates of infant mortality can be linked to other health measures, including asthmaincidence, smoking and teen pregnancy, said Long and Carolyn Slack, director of the healthdepartment’s maternal and child health division. “Broader issues really are impinging on us having any success ? there are families living inneighborhoods where they aren’t safe, issues around institutional racism, very complex things thatare making this number not go down,” Slack said. Columbus school board President Terry Boyd welcomed the opportunity to look for innovative waysto improve children’s health. “If a student is not healthy, it’s very difficult for them to learn.
How to deal with junior geeks
The Age – May 1, 2008
“Our teachers are with the children and can build on thelearning experience they are getting – very different from plonkinga child in front of a computer and letting them go for it,” MrBouwmeester says. “The lessons are valuable for children becausethey are in a group – having a great laugh and sharing discoveriesand experiences. Leading pediatric researcher and author Professor FrankOberklaid, who is the director of the Centre for Community ChildHealth at the Royal Children’s Hospital, says before the age offive a child needs one thing above all else to fully develop theirbrain – people. “What children need more than anything in those early years isrelationships so they can learn to socialise, take turns, deal withfrustrations. That’s infinitely more important than anything else,”he says. What concerns him about the rising interest in tech toys andtuition is the unfounded belief that parents are giving theirchildren a head start in learning. “Do children of today need to learn computer skills? Yes, ofcourse… “Do children of today need to learn computer skills? Yes, ofcourse. It’s the new literacy,” Professor Oberklaid says. “Butthere’s a real concern about “hothousing” – exposing two, three andfour-year-olds to stimulating activities like Baby Einstein andflash cards that help teach your child to read by three. There’s noevidence that ‘hothousing’ makes any long-term difference (toeducation). He says the commercialism of “hothousing” is simply preying onthe guilt of middle-class parents who want to give children thebest of everything, with technology the latest arena in which tocompete. “I’m concerned about the pressure on parents,” ProfessorOberklaid says. “Hugh Mackay calls it the ‘overscheduled’ child.
Dungeon victims’ health damaged
The Age – May 1, 2008
The meeting wasallowed to occur even before DNA tests had confirmed the childrenwere all his incestuous offspring. The eldest girl remains inhospital, kept in an artificial coma due to kidney failure. “We are looking after all of them with a large team of child andadult psychologists, therapists, neurologists … andphysiotherapists,” Dr Kepplinger said. “Each of the patients is traumatised in a different way and weare giving them individual therapy. Of the children reared upstairs, brought up on fresh foods andused to sunshine, one has a heart problem that could begenetic. But these children, despite their easier life, will have to copewith the knowledge of their birth and circumstances. One was a twin whose brother died three days after being born.
