Childhood Obesity, Drug Abuse Top Concerns for Kids

Internet Behavior, Including Sexting, Also Major Concern

Aug. 16, 2011 -- Sexting and Internet safety issues now rank among the top 10 health concerns U.S. adults have about children, joining childhood obesity, drug abuse, and teen pregnancy, according to a new poll by the University of Michigan.

The University of Michigan’s C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health asked more than 2,000 adults of difference races and ethnicities to rate 23 different health concerns for children living in their communities.

The top 10 children's health concerns list is topped by childhood obesity, drug abuse, and smoking and tobacco use, but the 2011 results suggest that parents are getting wise to new safety risks associated with the Internet and other technologies.

Overall,  33% of adults surveyed said that childhood obesity and drug abuse were "big problems."

“The perception of drug abuse as a big problem matches recent national data showing increasing use of marijuana and other drugs by U.S. teens,” Matthew Davis, MD, an associate professor at the University of Michigan Medical School, says in a news release. “Meanwhile, although obesity remains atop the list of child health concerns for the fourth straight year, the level of public concern has declined over the last few years in our polls.”

Smoking and tobacco use came next as a concern of 25% of adults, followed by teen pregnancy and bullying at 24%, Internet safety at 23%, stress at 22%, and alcohol abuse, driving accidents, and sexting at 20%.

Sexting involves sending sexually suggestive messages or photos, mostly from one mobile phone to another.

He says this decline “may be a warning to public health officials because it indicates how the public is hearing national messages that previous increases in children’s obesity rates have recently leveled off.”

Interestingly, the researchers say, the top 10 health concerns differed sharply among white, black, and Hispanic adults.

For example, Davis says, black adults “are much more likely to cite violence-related issues as big problems for kids in their communities.”

The top 10 health concerns for black adults include gun-related injuries, school violence, and unsafe neighborhoods. Those topics do not rank in the top 10 lists for white or Hispanic adults.

“This finding is a reminder that newly popular programs to address bullying and Internet safety concerns in many communities must not crowd out initiatives that address immediate safety issues related to neighborhood and interpersonal violence,” Davis says.

Tables of Top Concerns Overall and by Racial/Ethnic Groups

Overall, here is the top 10 health concerns of all adults polled:

Childhood obesity, 33%Drug abuse, 33%Smoking and tobacco use, 23%Teen pregnancy, 24%Bullying, 24%Internet safety, 23%Stress, 22%Alcohol abuse, 20%Driving accidents, 20%Sexting, 20%

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Posted in: abuse,Childhood,Concerns,Obesity

Social workers accused parents of bone disease baby of child abuse

Now, the family, from Bristol, have been reunited, after prosecutors decided to drop the case when they realised Harrison was suffering from Osteogenesis imperfecta.

Their nightmare began when Harrison was just six-weeks-old.

Miss Gardland, 26, said: "For the first weeks he was bringing up blood with his milk and he was irritable.

"I knew something wasn't right so I took him to the hospital. They did tests on him but everything came back absolutely normal."

But when she got home she noticed his legs were swollen.

X-rays later showed Harrison had several fractures in his arm, feet and legs.

Miss Garland said: "We obviously had no idea that this condition was in our family so when they asked us how they happened we were left with the answer that we didn't know.

"They said they needed to investigate it and we were happy for them to do that."

Tests showed Harrison's vitamin D levels were abnormally low so he was given injections.

As soon as the fractures were discovered, South Gloucestershire Social Services were called in to speak to the couple.

Police arrested Miss Garland while she was in hospital with Harrison and Mr Crummey, who was recovering from an operation at home, was also arrested.

They were questioned separately under caution by police. Neither of them had been in any sort of trouble before.

"The police and social services asked us a lot of questions. They asked me if there was any family history of violence," said Miss Garland.

"We found out the police were speaking to all our neighbours asking them what we were like. They went through our house. I was in absolute shock. I was shaking. I felt like a criminal," she said.

While Harrison was in hospital, Miss Garland was not allowed to be alone with her son.

"I wasn't eating and I couldn't sleep because I was worried they would take him from me," she said.

"Paul and I weren't allowed to be alone together. I never for one second questioned Paul. Neither of us needed to ask each other. We just knew."

At the time, Bethany was just 20-months-old and was placed in the care of Miss Garland's father.

The case was brought before Bristol County Court, where a judge ordered the family to live in a family placement centre.

"The judge didn't want to separate me from Harrison because I was still breast feeding," the mother said.

"We were watched 24 hours a day and there were cameras in every room. It was like a prison because even when we were allowed to go out we had to have staff with us."

After three months, staff could find nothing wrong and recommended the family should stay together.

But social workers applied for an interim care order and the children were placed into foster care with their grandfather.

They were only allowed to see the children for six hours each day under supervision for over a year.

"It was horrible. When I went home at night and the kids weren't there, I just broke down," said Miss Garland. "There was so much going on in our lives. We were a mess. We took things out on each other."

In January 2009, Miss Garland found a medical expert who believed Harrison had Osteogenesis imperfecta after looking into the family's medical history.

Six months later, the two other doctors involved in the case agreed he could have the condition after reading the expert's report.

South Gloucestershire Social Services then dropped their case.

Miss Garland, who has another daughter, Juliet, 18 months, with current fiance Kai Howell, 29, said: "When I heard the news, I couldn't even speak. I was sat in my mum's garden in tears.

"Straight away, we took them to the park. It felt so right to finally be together as a family."

A month later, Harrison was diagnosed with Osteogenesis imperfecta. Doctors also tested Bethany, who was found to have a lesser type of the condition.

Harrison is still having vitamin D injections to help strengthen his bones and sees a physiotherapist to help build the muscle surrounding his bones.

Mr Crummey, 41, said: "All we wanted to do was help our sick child but we were treated like criminals. We had to sit and watch Harrison in pain.

"We've missed out on so much of our children's lives. They've been through so much. It tore Amy and I apart because we didn't know how to handle it."

"We've never received an apology from social services. It makes me feel very angry."

A spokesman for South Gloucestershire Council said: "While we cannot comment on individual cases, we do have a legal duty to protect children and young people living in South Gloucestershire and we always put the welfare of the child at the heart of how we deliver our services."

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Posted in: abuse,accused,child,disease,parents,Social,workers