Children and Adolescents

Recent reports have suggested that the problem of childhood and adolescent obesity has been exaggerated in Australia, and that community-wide obesity prevention initiatives are not warranted; we argue that this is not an accurate reflection of the situation. Available data indicate that obesity affects 6%-8% of Australian schoolchildren, and that the proportion has continued to increase in recent years. Childhood and adolescent obesity is associated with a wide range of immediate health concerns, as well as increasing the risk of disease in adulthood. Some weight-related health problems are also found in overweight children. A range of strategies, including whole-of-community obesity prevention programs, will be required to tackle this problem. Concerns about disordered eating in children and adolescents should not preclude appropriate action on childhood obesity.

Low back pain (LBP) in children and adolescents was considered for many years to be rare and an indication of serious disease [1]. In the last two decades, epidemi-ological studies have shown that the prevalence of ... Ismail Bejia Nabiha Abid Kamel Ben Salem Mondher Letaief ...

This article reviews the various settings in which infants, children, and adolescents experience pain during acute medical procedures and issues related to referral of children to pain management teams. In addition, self-report, reports by others, physiological monitoring, and direct observation methods of assessment of pain and related constructs are discussed and recommendations are provided. Pharmacological, other medical approaches, and empirically supported cognitive behavioral interventions are reviewed. Salient features of the interventions are discussed, and recommendations are made for necessary components of effective treatment interventions.

This study examined the linkages between negative cognitive errors and anxiety in a sample of children and adolescents referred for anxiety problems (N = 251). The Children's Negative Cognitive Error Questionnaire was used to assess cognitive errors and several self-report measures of anxiety were used to examine the specific linkages between cognitive errors and different aspects of children's anxiety phenomenology.

Although children and adolescents with developmental disabilities are said to have higher risks of abuse than those without, trauma and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) are little examined in those diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASDs). Our study aims to assess trauma types, prevalence, risk factors and symptoms; and PTSD in individuals with diagnosis of ASD. Participants were 69 children and adolescents (53 males, 16 females) who were consecutively followed-up at our clinic and met DSM-IV criteria for ASD. Assessment was done using semi-structured interview forms. 18 had trauma history and 12 were diagnosed with PTSD. Witnessing or being a victim of accidents/disasters/violence was the most common type of trauma. Interestingly, the rate of sexual and/or physical abuse was less than in the general population. Trauma history and PTSD rates were higher in girls than boys. Deterioration in social and communicative abilities, increase in stereotypes, aggression, distract...

Anxiety disorders represent one of the most common categories of psychopathology in children and adolescents. Apart from separation anxiety disorder, a well recognized problem of childhood, it is now widely accepted that generalized anxiety disorder, social phobia, specific phobia, posttraumatic stress disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder and panic disorder all occur during the childhood and adolescent years. Numerous studies examining the

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Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder that severely disrupts social and cognitive functions. MRI is the method of choice for in vivo and non-invasively investigating human brain morphology in children and adolescents. The authors reviewed structural MRI studies that investigated structural brain anatomy and development in autistic patients. All original MRI research papers involving autistic patients, published from 1966 to May 2003, were reviewed in order to elucidate brain anatomy and development of autism and rated for completeness using a 12-item check-list. Increased total brain, parieto-temporal lobe, and cerebellar hemisphere volumes were the most replicated abnormalities in autism. Interestingly, recent findings suggested that the size of amygdala, hippocampus, and corpus callosum may also be abnormal. It is conceivable that abnormalities in neural network involving fronto-temporo-parietal cortex, limbic system, and cerebellum may underlie the pathophysiology of autism, and that such changes could result from abnormal brain development during early life. Nonetheless, available MRI studies were often conflicting and could have been limited by methodological issues. Future MRI investigations should include well-characterized groups of autistic and matched healthy individuals, while taking into consideration confounding factors such as IQ, and socioeconomic status.