Diplomate, Board Certification of Emergency Medicine
Chairman, Department of Emergency Medicine Ma'ayenei Hayeshua
Hospital
I love children. I could spend hours watching them play, and I
love hearing their outlook on life. Just as children have
different perspectives and priorities, so do they have
different patterns of physical growth and diseases than
adults. Pediatricians often say that children are not just
little adults. They really aren't. We will take a look at
these differences by looking into each pediatric subspecialty
and see these special needs.
Before we start this series, let me tackle the four horrible
things that Israelis do to their children, and two lesser
evils that are rampant in this country.
1) Children love bicycles and scooters (korkinets), yet
in Israel few wear helmets. Helmets lower the chance of head
injury by 85 percent. Helmets at this point are not terribly
expensive and can be life saving. [Editor's Note: A helmet
costs about NIS 75. We heard a report of a rov in Shuafat who
required all his congregants to wear helmets when riding
bicycles.]
2) I wouldn't think of not wearing a safety belt in a car, but
in Israel, it is acceptable to have children play in the car
unbuckled, or in the case of infants, to be held on the lap
instead of being strapped into an approved safety seat. I have
seen many traumas where people were fatally injured when a
safety belt would have stopped them from being ejected from
the vehicle and would have saved their life. Israeli drivers
aren't the safest and even if you are a safe driver, there is
no guarantee that other drivers are.
3) Medicines in Israel rarely come in childproof dispensers
and toxic cleaning substances (such as St. Moritz) are also
accessible to children and are extremely dangerous. All such
substances must be put out of reach of children!
4) Israelis pushing baby carriages and strollers often do so
in the street and not on the sidewalk. Israelis love traveling
at high speeds, and may not see the mother and child until it
is too late.
The two lesser evils have to do with the mouth.
1) Israelis use pacifiers heavily. Pacifiers have been linked
with dental infections and ear infections.
2) Putting children to bed with bottles that have liquids
other than water in them is asking for trouble. This rots away
teeth.
And two last concerns which are very serious as well:
1) Smoking around your child is dangerous for his developing
lungs. Quit smoking now, or choose an out of the way place to
smoke, like perhaps Antarctica!
2) Your child will miss a lot by not being nursed. Formula can
be an occasional substitute, but the use of formula is a poor
substitute for mother's milk. Adjustment problems, less
protection from disease, and lower IQ can all come from not
being nursed.
Write me in care of the Yated.
A message from Glaxo, sponsor of this column. A
responsible parent gives his child the best protection against
disease. Antibiotics are not the answer -- vaccines are.
Havrix is the only approved vaccine against Hepatitis A, a
disease that doesn't kill but causes people to be
incapacitated for long periods of time. Be nice to your child -
- and yourselves. Give them -- and you -- Havrix.
