PEDIATRICS Vol. 9 No. 4 April 1952, pp. 513-514
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TRENDS

PRACTICE OF PREVENTIVE PEDIATRIC CARE

Editors: JOHN P. HUBBARD, M.D..

A QUESTION which repeatedly arises in planning for broader distribution of health services for children is the extent to which health supervision is assumed to be a function of practicing physicians on the one hand and of official health agencies on the other hand. At the time of the Academy's study of child health services, about 90% of the health supervision given to the preschool child was attributable to general practitioners and pediatricians in private practice and only about 10% given in well child conferences. It was also observed that the amount of health supervision was distinctly less in areas of low economic status than in the more favored areas.

Since the Academy's study was completed additional evidence has been brought to light which corroborates the dominant role of the practicing physician in preventive medical care of infants and which again cites the discrepancy in both quantity and quality of care for the children of the less favored families. By the use of fairly simple sampling technics, a study was conducted by Kandle and Goetz in one metropolitan center to determine the extent of immunization against diphtheria. This study, although limited to one city and one small fraction of health services for infants, indicates a trend which is important to those who, as teachers or practitioners, are responsible for child health.

Among the group of infants in the sample, the net level of immunization against diphtheria was 63% among white children and 41% among Negro children. In interpreting these data, the greater prevalence of diphtheria among whites should be taken into account.