The main aim of pediatrics is prevention. Prevention of diseases, of injury, of emotional problems, of developmental and intellectual delays. Our armamentarium include vaccines; screening instruments; and guidance on development, safety, and nutrition.
It's time to add one more item to our tool kit: screening our young patients for health and emotional problems related to poverty.
At St. Christopher's Hospital for Children in the heart of North Philadelphia, we see 15 to 20 newborns a day, brought in for their checkups. Many are at high risk of developmental delays, school failure, ADHD, heart disease and even premature death - all because they ed areas were born into the most concentrated poverty in Pennsylvania.
[To read the full article by Daniel Taylor, click here]
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