ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To inventory the use of colecalciferol in children aged 1-4 years. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. METHOD: Fifteen health centre physicians throughout the Netherlands in April 1998 collected data on the use of colecalciferol among children aged 1 to 4 years. At the periodical medical examination, parents were asked if their child was given colecalciferol and if so, the name of the preparation and the dosage. The child's age and the mother's country of origin were also recorded. RESULTS: 660 Children were evaluated: 190 aged 1 year, 200 aged 2 years, 220 aged 3 years and 50 aged 4 years. There existed a 'top five' of preparations used by 72% of the parents. Fifty-seven per cent of the children (almost) daily received the dose of colecalciferol recommended by the Dutch Health Council (10-15 micrograms). Fifteen per cent received no suppletion at all. The percentage of nonusers increased with age from 9% of those aged 1 year to 26% of those aged 4 years. Of the children given some form of suppletion (almost) every day, 81% received the recommended dose, 16% too little and 3% too much. Suppletion according to the recommendations was found more often for children of European mothers than for children of non-European mothers. Enquiries among all university hospitals left the impression that rickets is infrequent among otherwise healthy children.
Subject(s)
Cholecalciferol/therapeutic use , Dietary Supplements , Rickets/prevention & control , Age Distribution , Child, Preschool , Cross-Cultural Comparison , Cross-Sectional Studies , Ethnicity/statistics & numerical data , Female , Humans , Infant , Male , Netherlands/epidemiology , Nutrition Policy , Rickets/drug therapyABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Assessment of the course of signs of asymmetry in toddlers who had a preferential posture as infants. DESIGN: Descriptive. METHOD: Children who at the age of 1-6 months showed a preferential posture (n = 623) and at the age of 7-14 months displayed asymmetry of the shape and/or the rotation of the head (n = 259 of 468 children examined; 55%), were invited in 1997/'98 at the age of 2-3 years by 71 physicians of Infant Health Care Centres in the Netherlands. These physicians examined 129 children for asymmetry of the rotation and shape of the head. The parents of children with asymmetry were questioned about their reaction to the condition. RESULTS: Of the 129 children examined, 53% still had signs of asymmetry: active rotation was restricted in 6%, passive rotation in 2%, 45% had an asymmetric flattening of the occiput and 21% of the forehead. Of the 68 parents, 4 (6%) regarded the asymmetry of their child's head as a problem. CONCLUSION: Asymmetry in infants runs a favourable course with respect to rotation and shape of the head; the condition had disappeared in three-quarters of the toddlers who had shown a preferential posture as infants. Flattening of the occiput is the most persistent sign. Parents infrequently experience the asymmetry at the age of 2 to 3 years as a problem.
Subject(s)
Facial Bones/abnormalities , Facial Bones/growth & development , Prone Position , Skull/abnormalities , Skull/growth & development , Supine Position , Child, Preschool , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Functional Laterality , Head Movements/physiology , Humans , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Male , Prospective Studies , SleepABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of preferential posture in infants up to the age of six months; to determine the percentage of referrals for diagnostics and (or) treatment; to gather information about risk factors. SETTING: Infant Health Care (IHC) centres in the Netherlands. DESIGN: Descriptive controlled investigation. METHOD: During September 1995 a total of 7609 infants were examined by 167 IHC doctors for the presence of preferential posture. Data on the physical examination and on the occurrence of risk factors were registered for every child with preferential posture (n = 623) and for a next child of the same age and the same sex without preferential posture. Six months later 468 children with preferential posture were re-examined. RESULTS: The prevalence of preferential posture was 8.2% and was highest in children below 16 weeks of age. The ratio boy:girl was 3:2. Firstborns, premature children and children in breech position at the time of delivery, had a higher risk for preferential posture. The position of the child after the first week of life and the way of feeding proved to be significant risk factors. After six months 32% of the children with preferential posture had been referred for additional diagnostics and, if necessary, treatment. CONCLUSION: Preferential posture is frequently observed and leads to referral, additional diagnostics and (or) treatment in 2.5% of all children up to 6 months of age.