Childcare and School Health Screenings

A special issue of Children (ISSN 2227-9067). This special issue belongs to the section "Global Pediatric Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 March 2024) | Viewed by 3546

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute, Oakland, CA 94609, USA
Interests: nutrition; childhood obesity; child care; school health screenings

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Children intends to release a Special Issue focused on childcare and health screenings in schools. 

Childcare- and school-based health screenings happen each year in communities worldwide. Screenings vary in terms of purpose, mandatory vs. optional nature, demands on the time of teachers or health professionals, and data use. 

Screening may simply involve parents completing health forms when they enroll their child in childcare or school. It can also include multiple yearly physical assessments performed by nurses, pediatricians, dentists, or audiologists at the childcare center. Beyond simply alerting the childcare provider about any special healthcare needs and clinician contact information, robust systematic health screening data are the cornerstone for essential public health services that improve population health. School-based asthma screenings motivated intervention that significantly reduced asthma hospitalizations and disparities, for example.

This Special Issue seeks ways to leverage childcare and school health screenings to protect and promote the health of children.

We welcome papers that describe screenings assessing the nutrition, growth, weight, dental, hearing, vision, asthma, immunization, allergy, or other health issues or conditions of children in a licensed childcare or day care setting. Papers may report the history, legal context, purpose, protocol, cost–benefit, uses of screening results data, policy implications, and/or public health impact of childcare health screenings.

Dr. Jodi Stookey
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Children is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • childcare
  • health screenings
  • nutrition assessment
  • nutritional epidemiology
  • public health

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

10 pages, 499 KiB  
Article
SARS-CoV-2 Seroprevalence in a Berlin Kindergarten Environment: A Cross-Sectional Study, September 2021
by Julian Bernhard, Stefanie Theuring, Welmoed van Loon, Marcus A. Mall, Joachim Seybold, Tobias Kurth, Raquel Rubio-Acero, Andreas Wieser and Frank P. Mockenhaupt
Children 2024, 11(4), 405; https://doi.org/10.3390/children11040405 - 28 Mar 2024
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Abstract
SARS-CoV-2 serology may be helpful to retrospectively understand infection dynamics in specific settings including kindergartens. We assessed SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in individuals connected to kindergartens in Berlin, Germany in September 2021. Children, staff, and household members from 12 randomly selected kindergartens were interviewed on [...] Read more.
SARS-CoV-2 serology may be helpful to retrospectively understand infection dynamics in specific settings including kindergartens. We assessed SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in individuals connected to kindergartens in Berlin, Germany in September 2021. Children, staff, and household members from 12 randomly selected kindergartens were interviewed on COVID-19 history and sociodemographic parameters. Blood samples were collected on filter paper. SARS-CoV-2 anti-S and anti-N antibodies were assessed using Roche Elecsys. We assessed seroprevalence and the proportion of so far unrecognized SARS-CoV-2 infections. We included 277 participants, comprising 48 (17.3%) kindergarten children, 37 (13.4%) staff, and 192 (69.3%) household members. SARS-CoV-2 antibodies were present in 65.0%, and 52.7% of all participants were vaccinated. Evidence of previous infection was observed in 16.7% of kindergarten children, 16.2% of staff, and 10.4% of household members. Undiagnosed infections were observed in 12.5%, 5.4%, and 3.6%, respectively. Preceding infections were associated with facemask neglect. In conclusion, two-thirds of our cohort were SARS-CoV-2 seroreactive in September 2021, largely as a result of vaccination in adults. Kindergarten children showed the highest proportion of non-vaccine-induced seropositivity and an increased proportion of previously unrecognized SARS-CoV-2 infection. Silent infections in pre-school children need to be considered when interpreting SARS-CoV-2 infections in the kindergarten context. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Childcare and School Health Screenings)
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10 pages, 300 KiB  
Article
A Comparative Study of Metabolic Syndrome Using NCEP—ATP III and IDF Criteria in Children and Its Relationship with Biochemical Indicators in Huatusco, Veracruz, Mexico
by Eduardo Rivadeneyra-Domínguez, Joel Jahaziel Díaz-Vallejo, Aurora Guadalupe Prado-Bobadilla and Juan Francisco Rodríguez-Landa
Children 2023, 10(3), 473; https://doi.org/10.3390/children10030473 - 27 Feb 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2012
Abstract
Metabolic syndrome includes a set of metabolic alterations associated with overweight and obesity. The criteria for its diagnosis are heterogeneous, and there have been few studies about prevalence in the pediatric population. The aim of this study was to describe how the estimated [...] Read more.
Metabolic syndrome includes a set of metabolic alterations associated with overweight and obesity. The criteria for its diagnosis are heterogeneous, and there have been few studies about prevalence in the pediatric population. The aim of this study was to describe how the estimated prevalence of metabolic syndrome varies by International Diabetes Federation (IDF) vs. National Cholesterol Education Program—Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP—ATP) criteria. We conducted a cross-sectional study in which anthropometric information, triglyceride, cholesterol, glycemia, and insulin levels, among others, were collected. We compared the group potentially misclassified by IDF with the group classified without metabolic syndrome by NCEP—ATP with respect to weight status and biomarkers. Statistical analysis included linear regression, Mann–Whitney U test, Fisher´s exact test, and odds ratio calculation. The IDF criteria missed the association with obesity, although the undetected group differed significantly from the nonmetabolic syndrome group in terms of IBM and weight. The associated biomarkers were ultrasensitive C-reactive protein (Hs-CRP), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) enzyme, insulin, triglycerides, and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. Waist circumference was the parameter with the strongest association for presenting metabolic syndrome, with an odds ratio of 18.33. The results of this study showed the estimated prevalence of MS varies by criteria, due to cutoff points, and how the high prevalence of MS strongly associated with obesity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Childcare and School Health Screenings)
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