1 School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720
Pediatricians have long interested themselves in the health of juvenile delinquents. The Academy first appointed a Committee on Juvenile Delinquency in 1955. Although this Committee has changed its title to the Committee on Youth and has expanded its role to include other problems and concerns of young people, it still concerns itself with the health supervision of youth in detention facilities. It has now developed, with the endorsement of the National Council of Juvenile Court Judges, written standards for health care provided in juvenile court institutions.1
Juvenile delinquents come largely from low income families, and often from families with serious social problems.