New Brunswick's mental health action plan: A quantitative exploration of program efficacy in children and youth using the Canadian Community Health Survey.

In 2011, the New Brunswick government released the New Brunswick Mental Health Action Plan 2011-2018 (Action Plan). Following the release of the Action Plan in 2011, two progress reports were released in 2013 and 2015, highlighting the implementation status of the Action Plan. While vague in their language, these reports indicated considerable progress in implementing the Action Plan, as various initiatives were undertaken to raise awareness and provide additional resources to facilitate early prevention and intervention in children and youth.

Accountability in protection of children against violence: Monitoring and measurement.

Violence against children (VAC) is a pervasive and persistent injustice around the world. Thirty years after the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the right of children to be protected against all forms of violence is still routinely violated. It is only within the last twenty years that the scope of this problem has been studied; as many point out, understanding the scope of the problem through comprehensive data collection is necessary to improve child protection.

Refugee and Asylum-Seeking Children: Interrupted Child Development and Unfulfilled Child Rights.

The 21st century phenomenon of "global displacement" is particularly concerning when it comes to children. Childhood is a critical period of accelerated growth and development. These processes can be negatively affected by the many stressors to which refugee and asylum-seeking children are subjected.

Hair cortisol reflects socio-economic factors and hair zinc in preschoolers.

This study examined the relationship between children's hair cortisol and socioeconomic status of the family, as measured by parental education and income. Low family socioeconomic status has traditionally been considered a long-term environmental stressor. Measurement of hair cortisol provides an integrated index of cumulative stress exposure across an extended period of time.

Priorities for research on equity and health: towards an equity-focused health research agenda.

Piroska Östlin and colleagues argue that a paradigm shift is needed to keep the focus on health equity within the social determinants of health research agenda.

Associations of socio-demographic and behavioral variables with hair zinc of Vancouver preschoolers.

Marginal zinc deficiency (MZD) exists in children of industrialized societies and impairs growth and development. MZD is believed to be one of the most common deficiencies, even though there is no data available on its global prevalence. This is partly because of the lack of sensitivity and specificity of serum zinc, the most commonly used biomarker of zinc status, to detect MZD.

Addressing social determinants of health inequities: what can the state and civil society do?

In this Health Policy article, we selected and reviewed evidence synthesised by nine knowledge networks established by WHO to support the Commission on the Social Determinants of Health. We have indicated the part that national governments and civil society can play in reducing health inequity. Government action can take three forms: (1) as provider or guarantor of human rights and essential services; (2) as facilitator of policy frameworks that provide the basis for equitable health improvement; and (3) as gatherer and monitor of data about their populations in ways that generate health information about mortality and morbidity and data about health equity.

Age-based differences in hair zinc of Vancouver preschoolers.

Marginal zinc deficiency (MZD), the subclinical stage of zinc deficiency, is common in industrialized societies. Serum zinc, the most common biomarker of zinc status, lacks sensitivity and specificity to diagnose this deficiency. Hair zinc, however, is sensitive and specific enough to detect MZD in children.

Increased levels of mercury associated with high fish intakes among children from Vancouver, Canada.

Objective: To assess exposure to mercury (Hg) among children in population subgroups whose traditional dietary practices include fish.

Study Design: We determined blood Hg, red blood cell phosphatidylethanolamine omega-3 eicosapentaenoic acid as a marker of fish intake, and assessed indexes of childhood behavior in preschool children 1.5 to 5 years of age (n = 228) living in an ethnically diverse neighborhood in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

n-6 Docosapentaenoic acid is not a predictor of low docosahexaenoic acid status in Canadian preschool children.

Background: The n-3 fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; 22:6n-3) is important for neural and visual functional development. In animals, 22:6n-3 deficiency is accompanied by increased docosapentaenoic acid (DPA; 22:5n-6), which suggests that the ratio of 22:6n-3 to 22:5n-6 could be a useful biochemical marker of low n-3 fatty acid status. The n-3 fatty acid status of preschool children has not been described, and data are lacking on whether low 22:6n-3 is accompanied by high 22:5n-6 in humans.