
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
- Of the 67,404 alcohol advertisements assessed in the sample from
all 104 markets, 32,800 (49%) were placed on programming for which the
local audience was composed disproportionately of underage youth.
- Results based on a 15% National Research Council and Institute of
Medicine threshold were similar to those based on the market standard.
- Of all advertisements in the 104 markets, 9,158 (14%) aired on
programs for which underage youth represented more than 30% of the
audience.
- Overall, 71% of total underage youth exposure to radio alcohol
advertising was accounted for by advertisements on programs with
disproportionately large underage youth audiences; 32% of advertising
exposure was accounted for by advertisements that aired on programs
exceeding the 30% threshold.
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
- Seventy-seven percent of the mother-child dyads were assigned to
the neither depression nor violence category, 7% to violence alone, 13%
to depression alone, and 3% to both.
- Maternal depression alone was associated with decreases in mean
child reading scores, mathematics, and general knowledge. Regarding
child behaviors, maternal depression alone had a statistically
significant association only with interpersonal skills.
- After adjusting for violence exposure, the effect of maternal
depression on reading scores decreased in magnitude by 24%; on general
knowledge by 25%; and on externalizing behavior by 31%.
- Among children with dual exposure to maternal depression and
violence, decreases in mean scores for reading, mathematics, and
general knowledge were more than double in magnitude, compared with
those among children exposed to either factor alone. Regarding
behavior, children with dual exposure had significantly lower scores
for self-control, whereas the effects of violence or maternal
depression alone were less substantial.
- In all categories of school functioning, the combined effect of
depression and violence seemed greater for boys than for girls.
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
- Combined breastmilk and infant formula was the most common
breastfeeding intention.
- In multivariate analysis, treatment effects for respiratory
tract, gastrointestinal, and any BFS illnesses were not statistically
significant.
- For otitis media, there was a significant treatment
group-by-Medicaid interaction, with reduced visits for the intervention
group's non-Medicaid participants relative to its Medicaid participants.
- There were no differences in exclusive breastfeeding rates at any
time; these rates peaked for both groups at 2 weeks.
- The intervention group was significantly more likely to
breastfeed at each week, up to and including week 20, except for week
18.
- Group differences for 50% or more breast milk remained
statistically significant for each week, up to and including week 9.
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
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