Introduction
Children's health , or pediatrics, focuses on the well-being of children from conception through adolescence. It is vitally concerned with all aspects of children's growth and development and with the unique opportunity that each child has to achieve their full potential as a healthy adult.
Child health was once a part of adult medicine. It emerged in the 19th and early 20th century as a medical specialty because of the gradual awareness that the health problems of children are different from those of grownups. It was also recognized that a child's response to illness, medications and the environment depends upon the age of the child.
There are many aspects to child health. Any organization of these aspects of child health is necessarily arbitrary. For example, the topics could be presented in alphabetical order. However, it seems most logical to start at the beginning -- with the factors that determine a child's healthy growth and development.
Growth and Development
A healthy child's development actually begins before conception with the parents' health and their genetic legacy. It continues on to conception and through the prenatal period. During this time, there is naturally considerable overlap between pediatric concerns for the fetus and obstetrical concerns for the mother.
Once the baby is delivered, there are new and important matters to ponder, such as breast feeding, newborn screening tests and sleeping safety. All too soon, there are healthcare appointments to be kept, for example, for well-baby checkups and immunizations. These are followed by other challenges, such as when to introduce solid foods and to start toilet training.
The field of pediatrics recognizes classic stages in growth and development, but these are artificial since a child's growth and development constitute a continuum. A baby changes at an astonishing rate during the newborn period and early infancy. Before you know it, the baby becomes a toddler, next a child and, after a little more than a decade, is already a teen. It is a busy, challenging period
Children's Illnesses
Unfortunately, even the healthiest baby can get sick. It is worth knowing the signs and symptoms of the common childhood illnesses as well as the treatment and prevention of these illnesses. There are a number of common childhood conditions such as ear infections and even tonsillitis, which may be unavoidable. But children are also subject to serious infectious diseases, some of which can be prevented by immunizations.
Children may be born with health problems. For example, a cleft lip or palate is evident at birth. But some equally common birth defects, such as heart malformations, may not be immediately apparent. Birth defects of all kinds are a consequential concern for children and their parents. It is estimated that between 2-3% of all children are born with birth defects.
Children's Injuries
It may not be possible to prevent a specific birth defect or an illness, but it should be possible to protect a child from an accident and injury, such as from common cuts and burns. Considerable progress has been made in the safety arena, for example, in the rapid recall of dangerous toys. The mandated uses of car seats, safety belts and bicycle helmets are also examples of advances in child safety.
But other major areas of safety concern remain -- such as the all-too-frequent drownings of children in swimming pools, their accidental swallowing of household cleaning products, their being burned by a hot stove or heater, or being accidentally shot with a firearm. The list is endless. All of us must exercise continued vigilance and make every effort to be sure that a child's environment is made as safe as it possibly can be.