Comparison of Caregiver and Provider Food Insecurity Screening Preferences Within a Health System.

Food insecurity is a public health concern associated with poor health. Evidence guiding how to best implement screening for food insecurity across a pediatric health care system is lacking. We performed a single-center, multi-department, cross-sectional study of caregivers and health care providers in outpatient and inpatient settings to describe the beliefs, barriers, preferences, and preferred food insecurity screening location. Most providers and caregivers underestimated the pervasiveness of food insecurity while acknowledging the benefit of screening. Caregivers are overall receptive to food insecurity screening and disagree with feelings of discomfort or shame when disclosing food insecurity status. Providers acknowledged perceived caregiver discomfort, lack of community food resources, and lack of a validated screening tool as barriers to screening. Both caregivers and providers identified the primary care setting as the preferred screening setting.

A 4-year old presenting with fever and achiness.

In children under the age of 5 who have abnormalities in history, physical examination, and laboratory studies indicating multi-system disease, uncovering the correct diagnosis is challenging. Here, we report the course of a 4-year-old girl who presented with a change in behavior, fever, arthralgia, arthritis, and hematuria following three recent hospitalizations for pneumonia and impetigo. Serologic findings were suggestive of a rheumatologic etiology and a renal biopsy was consistent with Membranous Lupus Nephritis Class V which helped secure the diagnosis of pediatric systemic lupus erythematosus. We review the clinical features and diagnostic criteria of early-onset systemic lupus erythematosus and discuss diagnostic considerations and prognosis.

Improving Willingness to Try Fruits and Vegetables Among Low-Income Children Through Use of Characters.

Purpose: Low-income children are disproportionately affected by high rates of food insecurity and obesity, placing them at risk for poor health outcomes. Diets that are rich in fruits and vegetables (FV) are associated with health benefits such as reducing the risk of obesity. Despite these benefits, American children do not consume nationally recommended amounts of fruits (63%) and vegetables (90%) per day. Data reveal that young children exhibit increased food neophobia toward vegetables. One way to decrease food neophobia is to introduce FV to young children via recipe tasting. The purpose of the study was to increase willingness to try FV among low-income children using live characters at Summer Food Service Program Sites. Methods: The study design was a small-scale pilot study to conduct taste tests of recipes with 125 low-income children. Researchers created recipe-tasting stations at two different sites. At Site 1, characters promoting FV characters were present at the recipe-tasting station. At Site 2, researchers presented recipes without characters being present. Taste tests were conducted once per week for a period of 4 weeks using two previously validated instruments, Taste Test Tool and the Taste and Rate Questionnaire. Results: Results demonstrated that introducing FV recipes with characters showed a trend toward increasing willingness to try FV among low-income children. Data also suggested that low-income children had limited exposure to specific FV before recipe tastings. Conclusion: The use of characters is a promising approach to increase willingness to try FV among low-income children.