FDA Wants Pediatric Device Data
The Food and Drug Administration said it will require device manufacturers to include in their applications any available data on products' effects in children, even if the device in question is intended for adult use. An applicant also must predict pediatric use of its product and a description of any pediatric subpopulations that might benefit from the device, the FDA said. The effort is intended to reveal which devices that were developed for adults should be assessed or modified for use in pediatric populations. The information requirements were mandated by a 2007 law.
Minority Children Face Inequities
Minority children in the United States have a higher overall death rate than do white children and higher incidences of several dangerous diseases and conditions, according to a report in Pediatrics. Compiled for the American Academy of Pediatrics' Committee on Pediatric Research from studies spanning more than 50 years, the report also found widespread racial and ethnic disparities in pediatric care. Minority children have a higher incidence of HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases, asthma, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and certain types of cancers, according to the report. Some minority groups face greater violence than white children do. Other common disparities for minority children included higher rates of obesity and lower rates of breast-feeding, immunizations, and proper nutrition, the report said. Compared with white children, minorities have less insurance coverage, less access to adequate health care, less time with doctors, fewer screenings, and longer times for diagnosis for some conditions, according to the report.
EPA to Scrutinize Bisphenol A
The Environmental Protection Agency said it would take several steps to address the potential health effects of bisphenol A, a chemical used in the manufacture of some plastics and other products. The EPA said it would focus on the environmental impacts of BPA, but also will evaluate the potential impact on children from exposure to BPA from sources other than food packaging. (In January, the FDA said it would study BPA in food packaging.) “We share FDA's concern about the potential health impacts from BPA,” said Steve Owens, assistant administrator of the EPA's Office of Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic Substances. The environmental agency said it will require manufacturers to test BPA's effects, and it will seek to add the chemical to its list of chemicals of concern.
Companies Get Fs for Marketing
The healthful-eating advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest has given most food and entertainment companies F grades for their policies on marketing food products to children. A report card on 128 companies' marketing practices gave 95 Fs, along with a smattering of Cs and Ds, the group said. “Despite the industry's self-regulatory system, the vast majority of food and entertainment companies have no protections in place for children,” the group's nutrition policy director, Margo Wootan, D.Sc., in a statement. The group is particularly concerned, Dr. Wootan said, because most of the marketing was for sugary cereals, fast food, snack foods, and candy. Candy manufacturer Mars Inc. received the highest grade awarded, B+, not for its products but for its marketing policy, which abstains from most of the key marketing tactics used to reach children under 12, the CPSI said.
Many Parents Neglect Boosters
Although nearly all parents use appropriate car seats for their children who are 5 years or younger, use of booster seats drops to just 40% by age 8, according to a national children's health survey. The poll from the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor, Mich., found that three-fourths of children aged 4–8 years use booster seats. However, half of parents didn't know their state booster seat law, and another 20% said they knew the law but were mistaken about the age requirement. Although studies show that booster seats can reduce the risk of injury in car crashes by up to 50%, almost half of parents said they wouldn't use booster seats for children aged 7–8 if the law didn't require it. “Not much is known about how parents get information about seat belt and booster seat use as [children] age,” Dr. Michelle Lea Macy, a University of Michigan pediatric emergency room physician, said in a statement. During well-child exams is a good time for doctors and parents to discuss when children should transition from car seats to booster seats and seat belts, said Dr. Macy.
Schools Have Cut Sweet Drinks
Three years after manufacturers agreed to reduce the number of beverage calories available to children during the school day, they are in compliance in almost all schools, according to the final report on the impact of the voluntary guidelines. As a result, the number of beverage calories shipped to schools has dropped by 88% and the overall volume of full-calorie carbonated soft drinks shipped to schools has fallen by 95%, said the report from the advocacy group Alliance for a Healthier Generation, which negotiated the original agreement.