John C Kim and International Adoption Video

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Vital Signs - Study Looks at Injuries From Bunk Beds - NYTimes.com



 
 

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via www.nytimes.com on 6/2/08

ital Signs

Hazards: Bunk Beds Are Often Bump Beds

Published: June 3, 2008

Each year, thousands of children who are tucked into their bunk beds for a good night's sleep end up with a bump on the head or worse, a new study finds.

After studying emergency admissions over a six-year period, the researchers reported that on average, more than 35,000 children and young adults a year were hurt on bunk beds. The study appears in the current Pediatrics. The lead author is Anjali L. D'Souza.

Most injuries involved falls and occurred to children under age 6. But from ages 18 to 21, the researchers found, when many bunk bed users are living at schools, the injury rates were also high. Alcohol often seemed to play a role, the researchers said.

Many accidents involved using the ladder. And the study confirmed something parents already know: jumping off the bunk bed is a bad idea.

The most common injuries were cuts, followed by scrapes and bruises. But fractures occurred about a fifth of the time, said the researchers, from Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, and Ohio State University.

Among the ways to reduce the risk, the researchers said, are making sure that guardrails are set up properly and discouraging children from playing on the bed.


 
 

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Monday, June 2, 2008

The Ethicist - Kicked Out of the Play Group - The Ethicist - Randy Cohen - N...



 
 

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via www.nytimes.com on 6/2/08

June 1, 2008
The Ethicist

Kicked Out of the Play Group

My daughter's play group consists of children ranging in age from infancy to 4 years old. One mother revealed that she does not vaccinate her son. After much frank but cordial discussion and opinions from pediatricians — some thought she endangered our vaccinated kids; others did not — she felt pressured to leave the group. Did the group behave ethically? J.G., PASADENA

The group's inclination was understandable, but its actions were unfortunate. Parents may — must — provide for their kids' safety, but should not act unless that safety is truly threatened. Had you thought this mother was a witch who would cast wicked spells on your kids, you would have been wrong to purge her from your midst. A parent may prevent her child from being turned into a toad, but she may not exile someone when there's no actual risk of toad-turning. You could, however, expel a member who is merely a social or cultural menace — a parent (or precocious but sullen 2-year-old) who curses like a drunken sailor, perhaps.

Did this mother present any such dangers? It can be a tough call to make when pediatricians offer contradictory advice, but the doctors I consulted say she did not imperil your kids, so I say you were wrong to push her out. Her views on vaccination are certainly benighted. Or as Dr. Mark Cullen of the Yale medical school more tactfully puts it, "The data on the harm from vaccines (e.g., autism) is such that the mother's choice not to vaccinate is a very poor one for her own child." That is, she endangers not your play group's vaccinated kids but her own. She also jeopardizes other people's unvaccinated children. Dr. Michele Barry, Cullen's wife and also of Yale, cites a statistic from one study: "The likelihood of an unvaccinated child getting measles after exposure is anywhere from 22 to 224 times greater compared to vaccinated kids."

Assuming that this mother is a congenial person (and you wouldn't have included her otherwise), you should not exile her simply because she deviates from the group's thinking. It is possible to socialize with people who have a diversity of ideas, even wrongheaded ones. As Dr. Johnson wrote, "a man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind." And he is a guy I'd want in my play group.


 
 

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Personal Web site for John C Kim: KIDDOC.ORG

I am a pediatrician specializing in General Pediatrics, International Adoption Medicine, and in the diagnosis and coaching of families pursuing joy.