Health promotion and disease prevention in children: it's never too early.

摘要

HEALTH PROMOTION AND DISEASE PREVENTION ARE as integral to childhood as play. They start in utero, when a mother takes prenatal vitamins or refrains from drinking alcohol or smoking; continue after a child is born when a mother breastfeeds; and are addressed daily, when parents make sure a child snacks on fruit instead of junk food or plays outside rather than watches television. Parents are guided in their efforts by their child's clinicians, a major portion of whose practices are devoted to health promotion and disease prevention, such as administering immunizations or recommending car seats and bicycle helmets. Many of these interventions are very cost-effective. But despite the pervasiveness and importance of health promotion and disease prevention, research in these areas often takes a backseat to flashier studies on the newest drug or surgical intervention. This issue of JAMA focuses attention on this crucial area to a child's well-being. The articles in this issue illustrate the wide diversity of prevention efforts in pediatrics. They deal with newborns to adolescents, range from the Netherlands to Nicaragua, and study prevention of acute and chronic illnesses and promotion of physical and mental health. The articles herein describe behavioral interventions, complex technological treatments, and simple injections.