Participation of Children and Adolescents in Live Crisis Drills and Exercises.

Children and adolescents should be included in exercises and drills to the extent that their involvement advances readiness to meet their unique needs in the event of a crisis and/or furthers their own preparedness or resiliency. However, there is also a need to be cautious about the potential psychological risks and other unintended consequences of directly involving children in live exercises and drills. These risks and consequences are especially a concern when children are deceived and led to believe there is an actual attack and not a drill and/or for high-intensity active shooter drills.

Primary care pediatrics and public health: meeting the needs of today's children.

The proportion of children suffering from chronic illnesses--such as asthma and obesity, which have significant environmental components--is increasing. Chronic disease states previously seen only in adulthood are emerging during childhood, and health inequalities by social class are increasing. Advocacy to ensure environmental health and to protect from the biological embedding of toxic stress has become a fundamental part of pediatrics.

Increasing immunization coverage.

In 1977, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a statement calling for universal immunization of all children for whom vaccines are not contraindicated. In 1995, the policy statement "Implementation of the Immunization Policy" was published by the American Academy of Pediatrics, followed in 2003 with publication of the first version of this statement, "Increasing Immunization Coverage." Since 2003, there have continued to be improvements in immunization coverage, with progress toward meeting the goals set forth in Healthy People 2010.

Child health in child care: a multi-state survey of Head Start and non-Head Start child care directors.

Introduction: Directors of Head Start (HS) and non-Head Start (non-HS) child care centers were surveyed to compare health consultation and screening for and prevalence of health risks among enrolled children.

Methods: Directors of licensed centers from five states were surveyed from 2004 to 2005. Data were analyzed using cross-tabulation and logistic regression techniques.