MCH Alert


Maternal and Child Health Library

This and past issues of the MCH Alert are available at http://www.mchlibrary.info/alert/archives.html.


September 15, 2006

1. Fact Sheet Focuses on Opportunities for States to Prevent Injury Among Children and Adolescents
2. New Folic Acid Brochure Released
3. Analysis Investigates Exposure to Alcohol Radio Advertising Among Underage Youth
4. Study Examines Effect of Maternal Depression and Violence Exposure on Child School Functioning
5. Article Assesses Effects of Prenatal and Postnatal Lactation Consultants in Infant Health Care Use

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1. FACT SHEET FOCUSES ON OPPORTUNITIES FOR STATES TO PREVENT INJURY AMONG CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS

Leading Causes of Injuries Among Children and Adolescents presents statistics on common injury mechanisms among children and adolescents as well as opportunities for prevention. The fact sheet, produced by the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, includes information on motor vehicle injuries, child and adolescent violence, suicide, recreational injuries, and child maltreatment. The fact sheet is available at http://www.astho.org/pubs/AdolescentfactsheetfinalAugust2006.pdf.

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2. NEW FOLIC ACID BROCHURE RELEASED

Congratulations, Mom. You Have a Beautiful Baby explains why folic acid is important even after childbirth and reminds new mothers to take a multivitamin with folic acid every day. The brochure, produced by the National Birth Defects Prevention Network, is targeted to postpartum women. Tips on postpartum self-care, such as getting enough rest; finding time to relax; and eating a healthy, varied diet, are presented. Content is appropriate for use in a variety of settings, including hospitals, obstetric and pediatric offices, and family planning and WIC programs. The brochure is available in English at http://www.nbdpn.org/current/2006pdf/NTDpostpartum_hr_eng.pdf and in Spanish at
http://www.nbdpn.org/current/2006pdf/NTDpostpartum_hr_span.pdf.

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3. ANALYSIS INVESTIGATES EXPOSURE TO ALCOHOL RADIO ADVERTISING AMONG UNDERAGE YOUTH

"Alcohol advertising is common on radio programs which have disproportionately large youth audiences and . . .this advertising accounts for a substantial proportion of all alcohol radio advertising heard by underage youth," state the authors of a report published in the September 1, 2006, issue of MMWR Weekly. Recent studies have emphasized the contribution of alcohol marketing to underage drinking and have demonstrated that a substantial proportion of alcohol advertising appears in media for which the audience is composed disproportionately of underage youth (defined as children and adolescents ages 12-20). The report summarizes results from a study to determine the proportion of alcohol advertisements that occurred on radio programs with audiences composed disproportionately of underage youth and the proportion of total youth exposure to alcohol advertising that occurs as a result of such advertising.

The researchers evaluated the placement of individual radio advertisements for the 25 most-advertised alcohol brands and the composition of audiences in the top 104 media markets in the United States. Radio programs based on three levels of audience composition were assessed. The first level was based on a market standard in which the proportion of underage youth exceeded its proportion in the general population of a given local market. The second level was based on a standard in which the proportion of underage youth exceeded 15% of the audience (National Research Council and Institute of Medicine threshold). The third level was based on a standard in which the proportion of underage youth exceeded 30% of the audience (level above which major alcohol companies have agreed not to advertise on radio and other media). Monitoring took place from June 15 through August 5, 2004.

The authors found that
These results, the authors conclude, "indicate that 1) the current voluntary standards limiting alcohol marketing to youth should be enforced and ultimately strengthened, and 2) ongoing monitoring of youth exposure to alcohol advertising should continue."

Jernigan DH, Ostroff J, Ross CS, et al. 2006. Youth exposure to alcohol advertising on radio -- United States, June-August 2004. MMWR Weekly 55(34):937-940. Available at
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5534a3.htm.

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4. STUDY EXAMINES EFFECT OF MATERNAL DEPRESSION AND VIOLENCE EXPOSURE ON CHILD SCHOOL FUNCTIONING

"When coexistent within the same family, maternal depression and violence were associated with poorer cognitive abilities and more-concerning child behaviors than when each was present individually," state the authors of an article published in the September 2006 issue of Pediatrics. To date, studies of maternal depression have not considered the consequences of concurrent violence exposure on child outcomes. The article presents findings from a study to determine the impact of violence exposure on the relationship between maternal depression and childhood cognitive performance and behavior.

The study sample was drawn from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey, Kindergarten Cohort. The survey draws from a nationally representative sample of children who attended kindergarten in 1998 to 1999 and monitors the children through the fifth grade with regular face-to-face parent interviews, teacher surveys, and direct cognitive assessments. Depressive symptoms and exposure to violence among respondent biological mothers were assessed, as were child and family characteristics, school functioning, and child behavior. A total of 12,083 mother-child dyads were assigned to one of four mutually exclusive exposure categories: (1) neither maternal depression nor violence, (2) violence only, (3) depression only, or (4) both depression and violence. The researchers first tested the association between maternal depression and the study outcomes (school functioning and child behavior) alone, then after adjusting for child and family characteristics, and finally after adjusting for violence exposure. All analyses were stratified by child gender and race.

The authors found that
The authors conclude that "from the perspective of child outcomes, considering maternal depression without considering violence potentially means ignoring a significant part of the problem."

Silverstein M, Augustyn M, Cabral H, et al. 2006. Maternal depression and violence exposure: Double jeopardy for child school functioning. Pediatrics 118(3):792-800. Abstract available at http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/118/3/e792.

Readers: More information is available from the Bright Futures Web site at http://www.brightfutures.org/mentalhealth/index.html; and from the MCH Library's knowledge paths, Postpartum Depression, at http://www.mchlibrary.info/KnowledgePaths/kp_postpartum.html; Domestic Violence, at http://www.mchlibrary.info/KnowledgePaths/kp_domviolence.html; and Mental Health in Children and Adolescents, at http://www.mchlibrary.info/KnowledgePaths/kp_mentalhealth.html.

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5. ARTICLE ASSESSES EFFECTS OF PRENATAL AND POSTNATAL LACTATION CONSULTANTS IN INFANT HEALTH CARE USE

"Achieving the proposed Healthy People 2010 goal of 60% of women exclusively breastfeeding at 3 months will be challenging," state the authors of an article published in the September 2006 issue of Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. It is well documented that breastfeeding protects against gastrointestinal and (to a lesser extent) respiratory tract infection, and that the protective effect is enhanced with greater duration and exclusivity of breastfeeding. Still, U.S. breastfeeding rates at 6 months (35%) and 12 months (16%) do not meet Healthy People 2010 goals of 50% and 25%, respectively. In the study described in this article, the authors conducted an unmasked randomized controlled trial of a best-practices prenatal and postnatal lactation consultant (LC) intervention on infant emergency department (ED) and outpatient site care for up to 12 months. Maternal self-report of health care use for symptoms of otitis media, respiratory tract illness, and gastrointestinal illness and computerized medical center data for these breastfeeding-sensitive (BFS) illnesses were obtained. Weekly breastfeeding outcomes were assessed via a standardized tool that measured seven levels of breastfeeding.

The analytical sample consisted of 338 women enrolled in prenatal care at two Bronx, NY, sites. The sample was primary Hispanic (56%) and African American (36%). The women were divided into a prenatal and postpartum lactation-support intervention group and a control group.

The authors found that
The authors conclude that "future interventions with low-income, multiethnic women must increase breastfeeding intensity significantly if they are to demonstrably affect infant health."

Bonuck KA, Freeman K, Trombley M. 2006. Randomized controlled trial of a prenatal and postnatal lactation consultant intervention on infant health care use. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine 160 (9):953-960. Abstract available at http://archpedi.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/160/9/953.

Readers: More information is available from the MCH Library's bibliographies, Breastfeeding and Working Mothers, at http://www.mchlibrary.info/action.lasso?-database=Biblio&-layout=Web&-response=/databases/BibLists/bib_brfeedwork.html&-MaxRecords=all&-DoScript=auto_search_brfeedwork&-search; Breastfeeding: Consumer Education Materials, at http://www.mchlibrary.info/action.lasso?-database=Biblio&-layout=Web&-response=/databases/BibLists/bib_brfeedcons.html&-MaxRecords=all&-DoScript=auto_search_brfeedcons&-search; and Breastfeeding Promotion, Support, and Education, at http://www.mchlibrary.info/action.lasso?-database=Biblio&-layout=Web&-response=/databases/BibLists/bib_brfeedprom.html&-MaxRecords=all&-DoScript=auto_search_brfeedprom&-search.

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MCH Alert © 1998-2006 by National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health and Georgetown University. MCH Alert is produced by Maternal and Child Health Library at the National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health under its cooperative agreement (U02MC00001) with the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Health Resources and Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Maternal and Child Health Bureau reserves a royalty-free, nonexclusive, and irrevocable right to use the work for federal purposes and to authorize others to use the work for federal purposes.
 
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