The Attitude of Female Pediatricians Towards Birth, Breastfeeding and Child Care on Their Own Children in Turkey

Aim: Although pediatricians are one of the leading professionals in public to consult with on childbearing, breastfeeding and child care, there is a lack of data about the attitude, choice and practice of pediatricians towards these issues. The aim of this study is to determine female pediatricians’ practices on childbearing, breastfeeding and child care and to discuss the possible differences from the general population. Materials and Methods: This is a descriptive study of women pediatricians’ attitudes who have children between 2 and 6 years old, about childbearing, breastfeeding and child care. The study group was surveyed about their demographic characteristics; breastfeeding practices and their general attitude toward mothering. The data were compared with the general population and similar groups in terms of education and socioeconomic status, previously reported in Turkey Demographic and Health Survey in 2013 (TDHS-2013). Results: The study group included 146 women pediatricians (mean age: 35.49±3.4) mothering children between 2 and 6 years [median age 3.5 (1.5)]. The median age at first birth of the study group [30 (4)] was significantly higher than in the general population. The rate of caesarean delivery of the study group was 91.8% and was significantly higher than reported previously. The median duration of exclusive and total breastfeeding were 5 (2) months and 13 (11) months respectively. The median duration of exclusive breastfeeding was significantly higher while the total breastfeeding duration was significantly lower than both groups reported in TDHS-2013. Conclusion: Women pediatricians’ choices on and experiences of childbearing, breastfeeding and child care differ from the general population in Turkey. This specific group of health professionals’ decisions must be well evaluated worldwide as they have an undeniable role on families, on children and thus on public health

Breastfeeding and Infant Nutrition Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices of Parents

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and practices of parents about breastfeeding, complementary food, and infant nutrition who have healthy infants born at term and under 2 years of age. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study conducted among the parents of infants who came for well-child visits to pediatric clinics of 4 hospitals. Healthy infants under 2 years of age and who had been born at term were interviewed. The questionnaire included 35 questions to evaluate parents' knowledge, attitude, and practices about breastfeeding and infant nutrition in addition to sociodemographic data. Data were obtained via questionnaire and were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences 20.0 package program. Results: The study group consisted of 679 infants and their parents. The median durations of exclusive breastfeeding and total breastfeeding time were found to be 4 months and 10 months. Although 75% of the participants stated that infants must be exclusively breastfed for 6 months, the rate of exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months was 44%. The 393 (58%) participants used formula for infant nutrition and 47 (12%) of those started with complementary feeding. 90% of the participants stated that formula advertisements did not affect their decision on starting formula but the rate of thinking that other people may be affected by the advertisements was 80%. Conclusion: The knowledge of parents on human milk is not insufficient but they need to be supported especially to continue exclusive breastfeeding during the first 6 months and appropriate complementary food during the weaning period

Vaccine refusal risk factors among parents of children with autism spectrum disorders.

Background. Vaccine refusal is a global trend and was announced as one of the top ten health threats in recentyears. The rate of vaccine refusal (VR) among children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has also increasedin parallel with the global trend but their vaccination behavior may differ from that of the normal population.This study aims to determine the VR rates among parents of children with ASD, to define the risk factors fordeveloping VR, and to evaluate the parental concerns for childhood vaccinations in this susceptible population.Methods. We conducted a 4-part survey questionnaire among parents of children with ASD, evaluating thevaccination status for both the child with ASD and their younger sibling. The vaccination uptake of the firstchild was accepted as the ‘baseline’ behavior, while the following sibling’s uptake was suggested as the ‘current’behavior. The risk factors of VR were determined with logistic regression analysis.Results. The study group included 110 parents of children with ASD (M/F:76/34) and their younger siblings(M/F:57/53). The rate of ‘baseline VR’ was 12.7 % whereas the ‘current VR’ was 40% (p=0.001). High socioeconomicstatus (relative risk [RR]: 4.4; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.01-16.6; p=0.04), using social media as the mainsource of information (RR: 7; 95% CI: 1.5-32; p= 0.01) and lack of regular well-child visits of the sibling (RR: 25;95% CI 4.1-166; p=0.001) were determined as risk factors for VR.Conclusions. The vaccination behavior of parents changed after having a child with ASD, and thus, the youngersiblings may constitute a risk group for VR. In clinical practice, pediatricians should be aware of this risk andevaluate the vaccination uptake of the younger siblings of children with ASD more carefully. Regular well-childvisits and improving media literacy may be the key points to prevent VR in this susceptible population.&nbsp;</p

Features of Childhood Sexual Abuse During Initiation Period of Lockdown due to COVID-19 Pandemic in Turkey

Objectives:During Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, lockdown carried out all over the world has caused many health problems in children and adolescents. In addition to increased screen exposure, obesity and diabetes due to a sedentary lifestyle the risk of child abuse and neglect have also increased due to changing socioeconomic conditions. Childhood sexual abuse is a social problem with biopsychosocial consequences. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the characteristics of cases who applied to İzmir Child Advovacy Center (CAC) due to sexual abuse in the first 45 days of lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic in our country.Materials and Methods:In our study, the medical records of child sexual abuse cases who were admitted to İzmir CAC during the first 45 days of lockdown between March 25, 2020 and May 10, 2020 were evaluated retrospectively and descriptive analyses were performed.Results:The study group consisted of 53 children and adolescents, 92.5% of whom were girls (n=49) and 7.5% (n=5) were boys, with a mean age of 12.4±3.9 years. The most common form of admission was through law enforcement agencies, and the person most frequently reporting the case was the mother of the victim. The most common abusers were boyfriends or peers of the children whereas the rate of domestic abuse was 11%. According to our results, the admissions of child sexual abuse cases to İzmir CAC have decreased by approximately 50% compared to previous years in the first 45 days of lockdown. Domestic child sexual abuse rates were similar with the previous years and the general literature.Conclusion:Changing socioeconomic factors due to COVID-19 pandemic have caused increased risk for child abuse and neglect because of increased personal, social and relational stress. The findings of our study suggest that the rate of reporting child sexual abuse has decreased during the pandemic process. In addition, the decreased rate of strangers as abusers compared to the general literature may be a result of social distance carried out during pandemic