Stanford Report, May 3, 2006

Packard talks range from birth control to video games

BY KRISTA CONGER

A number of physicians from Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford gave presentations on their research at the April 29-May 2 Pediatric Academic Societies meeting in San Francisco. Here's a sampling of the talks.

Teenagers baffled by birth control

A survey of more than 500 tenth graders in Northern California by Sophia Yen, MD, clinical instructor of pediatrics-adolescent medicine, found that about one in five believe that birth control pills are a form of abortion, and nearly half felt the same way about emergency contraception. Yen noted that 85 percent would consider using emergency contraception if they had unprotected vaginal sex, but more than half didn't know where to get the pills.

Obesity Rx: Play more video games

Not all screen time is bad! A presentation at the conference highlighted a study by Yen and researchers from UCSF of the video game Dance Dance Revolution with "red octane ignition pads." It found that playing the game for more than one hour each week helped many kids lose weight. The results suggest that video games incorporating physical activities could be a useful anti-obesity tool.

Using team sports to help overweight kids

It's obvious that athletic participation often increases physical fitness in children. But many overweight kids who might benefit from team sports aren't encouraged to join in. Dana Weintraub, MD, clinical instructor of pediatrics, reported on a just-concluded, randomized controlled trial of 21 children. The study compares an after-school team sports program designed for this special population—the skinny need not apply—with traditional health education. Many of the 13 overweight children in the trial reduced their body mass index, as well as experienced improved self-esteem and a reduction in depressive symptoms and concerns about their weight.

Preemies at risk of aluminum exposure

Neonatologists have a tough choice when it comes to their newborn charges. Many intravenous nutritive solutions essential to keeping a premature infant alive and thriving contain aluminum, which can damage the baby's fragile central nervous system and bones. Pharmacy director Robert Poole presented a study showing how physicians exceed by five to 10 times the maximum daily amount of aluminum recommended by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, often for a week or more, to meet the bone-building needs of these infants. He called on manufacturers to reduce the amount of aluminum in their products.

Failure to follow ER instructions

Pediatric emergency medicine specialists may sometimes feel like they are banging their head against a wall when it comes to their young patients' long-term health. A new study by pediatric emergency specialist Ewen Wang, MD, of pediatric patients at the emergency department formerly shared by Packard Children's and Stanford Hospital indicates that little more than half of parents or guardians of children treated in the ER follow through with recommended doctor visits and prescriptions. The study also found that families with private insurance were more likely to follow the doctors' orders than were those on the lower rungs of the socioeconomic ladder.

Goodbye to finger sticks?

Kids with type I diabetes have grown accustomed to repeated finger sticks to test blood glucose levels. That doesn't mean they like it. Darrell Wilson, MD, professor of pediatrics (endocrinology), headed a study of a commercial continuous glucose monitoring system in children and teens. The findings showed that the system, which relies on a small sensor left under the skin that uses a wireless signal to transmit real-time glucose values to a monitor carried by the patient, works as well at home as it does in the hospital environment—even after five days.