Educating Pediatric Residents About Parenting: A Survey of Residency Program Leaders.

The American Academic of Pediatrics guides pediatricians to counsel parents about how to promote their children's cognitive, emotional, and self-regulatory development, but the extent to which pediatricians receive the training needed to do so is unknown. An online survey was distributed to members of the Association of Pediatric Program Directors. Although most respondents agreed that it was "very important" to educate residents about parenting skills, only 11% rated their program as doing so "very well.

Building Capacity in Pediatric Environmental Health: The Academic Pediatric Association's Professional Development Program.

Background: Environmental exposures contribute to multiple diseases in children; yet, few pediatricians have training in pediatric environmental health (PEH), and few academic health centers have PEH expertise. To build national capacity in PEH, the Academic Pediatric Association (APA) launched a professional development program that since 2002 has encouraged the establishment of post-residency/post-doctoral training programs, supported a special interest group, and convened an annual mentored retreat for PEH trainees.

Objective: Describe the APA's professional development program in PEH and assess its impact by tracking careers of former trainees.

Building New York State Centers of Excellence in Children's Environmental Health: A Replicable Model in a Time of Uncertainty.

Public health programs may be seriously affected in periods of federal retrenchment. During these times, state-based strategies provide an alternate pathway for advancing public health.A 12-year campaign to secure state support for a network of Centers of Excellence in Children's Environmental Health (CEH) promoting health of children across New York State is described.

Improving pediatrician knowledge about environmental triggers of asthma.

Background: Control of environmental triggers (ETs) greatly improves asthma outcomes in children. Disseminating these findings to general pediatricians has not been well established.

Methods: After delivering a structured and standardized presentation on ET identification and control to pediatricians, we surveyed them about knowledge and practices of ET assessment and management.

Organic foods: health and environmental advantages and disadvantages.

The US market for organic foods has grown from $3.5 billion in 1996 to $28.6 billion in 2010, according to the Organic Trade Association.

Impact of September 11 World Trade Center disaster on children and pregnant women.

Background: Children are uniquely sensitive to toxic exposures in the environment. This sensitivity reflects children's disproportionately heavy exposures coupled with the biologic vulnerability that is a consequence of their passage through the complex transitions of early development.

Methods And Results: To assess effects on children's health associated with the attacks on the World Trade Center (WTC) of September 11, 2001, research teams at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and other academic health centers in New York City launched a series of clinical and epidemiologic studies.

Environmental exposures and puberty in inner-city girls.

Background: Hormonally active environmental exposures are suspected to alter onset of puberty in girls, but research on this question has been very limited.

Objective: We investigated pubertal status in relation to hormonally active environmental exposures among a multiethnic group of 192 healthy 9-year-old girls residing in New York City.

Methods: Information was collected on breast and pubic hair stages, weight and height.

The ambulatory pediatric association fellowship in pediatric environmental health: a 5-year assessment.

Background: Evidence is mounting that environmental exposures contribute to causation of disease in children. Yet few pediatricians are trained to diagnose, treat, or prevent disease of environmental origin.

Objectives: To develop a cadre of future leaders in pediatric environmental health (PEH), the Ambulatory Pediatric Association (APA) launched a new 3-year fellowship in 2001-the world's first formal training program in PEH.

Grand rounds: nephrotoxicity in a young child exposed to uranium from contaminated well water.

Context: Private wells that tap groundwater are largely exempt from federal drinking-water regulations, and in most states well water is not subject to much of the mandatory testing required of public water systems. Families that rely on private wells are thus at risk of exposure to a variety of unmeasured contaminants.

Case Presentation: A family of seven--two adults and five children--residing in rural northwestern Connecticut discovered elevated concentrations of uranium in their drinking water, with levels measured at 866 and 1,160 microg/L, values well above the U.

Effective risk communication in children's environmental health: lessons learned from 9/11.

In situations with visible threats to children's health, pediatric health care providers must be prepared to communicate the health risks of environmental exposures. Several factors influence the effectiveness of such discussions: whether the individual providing the information is considered a reliable source, the familiarity of the physician and parent/guardian with these issues, and the limited research specifically assessing risk of exposure in childhood. This article describes the theory behind effective risk communication using examples from events following September 11, 2001.

The environment in pediatric practice: a study of New York pediatricians' attitudes, beliefs, and practices towards children's environmental health.

Chronic diseases of environmental origin are a significant and increasing public health problem among the children of New York State, yet few resources exist to address this growing burden. To assess New York State pediatricians self-perceived competency in dealing with common environmental exposures and diseases of environmental origin in children, we assessed their attitudes and beliefs about the role of the environment in children's health. A four-page survey was sent to 1,500 randomly selected members of the New York State American Academy of Pediatrics in February 2004.

Characteristics of pubertal development in a multi-ethnic population of nine-year-old girls.

Purpose: Early age at menarche increases future disease risk. Secular decline in age at menarche has been attributed to body size characteristics, diet, and energy expenditure. Risk factors for puberty have been less frequently explored.