Why it’s important: Ouch. Previous
research has found that doctors often
treat adult women’s pain differently
from men’s. Though preliminary,
the study suggests that this disparity
may start all too early. And because
little kids often lack the vocabulary
to describe their pain, other people’s
accurate interpretations of their
emotions are particularly important.
True, it may take a while to overturn
the patriarchy. But being aware of this
kind of bias can help you become abetter advocate for your own child,
says Dr. Hill. “No pediatrician gets up
in the morning and says, ‘I am going to
treat a boy’s pain differently from a
girl’s.’ But doctors are human, and we
can bring all kinds of assumptions when
we interpret what’s going on with any
individual patient. One of the most
important things a parent can do is tell
the doctor, ‘I know my child, and
she is not usually like this. She hardly
ever complains. She is the kind of
kid who can fall off her bike and get
back up, laughing.’ As pediatricians,
we put a huge amount of stock in that
kind of statement.”Parents’ actions
can ease or enable a
child’s anxiety.The research: More than 100 kids ages
7 to 14 with anxiety disorders were
given cognitive behavioral therapy (to
help them learn to challenge their
worried thoughts), or their parents were
coached in weekly counseling sessions
on strategies for reacting to their
child’s anxiety, such as reducing the
number of reassuring text
messages they sent their child.
Treating the parents was just
as effective in reducing their
kids’ a nxiety levels as treating
the kids directly, according to the
study in the Journal of the
American Academy of Child &
Adolescent Psychiatry.
Why it’s important: One in three
children will experience a
clinically significant anxiety
disorder before adulthood.
While therapy and medication
are very effective treatments,
this study ref lects a growing
interest in the role parents can
play in helping kids cope better.
“It just makes sense. Parents
inf luence their children much
more than even the best
therapist,” says Matthew Biel,
M.D., division chief of child
a nd adolescent psychiatry at
MedStar Georgetown University
Hospital, in Washington, D.C.
Loving parents can
inadvertently contribute to
their child’s anxiety by being overly
accommodating, an issue that the
study’s counseling sessions addressed.
“If your child is afraid of dogs, you
might cross the street to avoid one.
If he is afraid of the dark, you might sit
with him until he falls asleep,” says
Dr. Biel. Although this can provide
immediate relief, it also teaches your
child that there must truly be something
to fear—and he isn’t able to handle
it by himself. Instead, it’s better to help
a child move out of his comfort zone:
Encourage him to get a little closer to
that friendly goldendoodle, for exa mple,
and praise his bravery when he does.treatment, two thirds of the kids were
able to tolerate the equivalent of eating
two peanuts with no more than mild
symptoms, according to a clinical trial
published in the New England Journal
of Medicine.
Why it’s important: For kids who have a
peanut allergy, a birthday party or a
chance encounter with the wrong cookie
can mean a scary trip to the emergency
room. The treatment studied is the
first of its kind aimed at preventing
anaphylactic attacks. “It doesn’t mean
that children with a peanut
a l lerg y wi l l be able to sit down
and eat a jar of peanut butter, but
it could mean that they won’t
have a life-threatening reaction
if they reach into a bag that has
Reese’s Pieces candies in it,”
says Angela Castellanos, M.D.,
a pediatrician and editorial
fellow at the New England
Journal of Medicine. There are
still concerns and questions:
Some of the kids in the
treatment group had significant
allergic reactions requiring
medical intervention and
close medical supervision. And
doctors don’t know if kids will
need to continue treatment with
the peanut protein for the rest of
their life in order to retain the
tolerance. The manufacturer is
awaiting FDA approval to market
the peanut powder in prescription
form, which would be given to
kids in a special protocol
supervised by their doctor.
Girls’ pain is taken less
seriously than boys’.The research: Adult subjects watched
the same video of a child’s upset
reaction to receiving a finger stick at a
pre-K checkup. The gender of the child
was unclear in the film, and those who
thought the child was “Samuel” (a boy)
rated the child as being in more pain
than those who believed they saw
“Samantha” (a girl). The Yale University
researchers attributed the difference to
stereotypical beliefs such as “Boys are
more stoic” and “Girls are more emotive.” MARLENE ROUNDS/GETTY.
PARENTS 30 SEPTEMBER 2019
KIDSÑHealth