Socioeconomic conditions are known to be major determinants of health at all stages of life, from pregnancy through childhood and adulthood. "Life-course epidemiology" has added a further dimension to the understanding of the social determinants of health by showing an association between early-life socioeconomic conditions and adult health-related behaviors, morbidity, and mortality. Sensitive and critical periods of development, such as the prenatal period and early childhood, present significant opportunities to influence lifelong health. Yet simply intervening in the health system is insufficient to influence health early in the life course. Community-level approaches to affect key determinants of health are also critical. Many of these issues were raised in the 1995 National Academies book, Children's Health, the Nation's Wealth. The present volume builds upon this earlier book with presentations and examples from the field. Focusing on Children's Health describes the evidence linking early childhood life conditions and adult health; discusses the contribution of the early life course to observed racial and ethnic disparities in health; and highlights successful models that engage both community factors and health care to affect life course development.

Research on adult personal-social networks has contributed greatly to an understanding of mental health, illness, and responses to stress. Fueled by this successful research and a growing concern for today's youth, the contributors to this volume have conducted investigations into the functioning and structures of the social networks of toddlers, school-age children, adolescents, and college students. The editors of this volume move beyond vague generalizations about characteristic and behavior acquisition through socialization in childhood by applying a longitudinal perspective to the sampling of child, adolescent, and young-adult network research. Social Networks of Children, Adolescents, and College Students unites several major empirical studies of children's social networks, investigating the acquisition of specific behaviors from particular groups of individuals under certain conditions. Topics covered include: * the effects of social networks on child development and disorder * the relationship between social networks and coping with stress the role of friends or groups in positive socialization * Of special interest to practitioners, researchers, and advanced students are: * comparative data on children from other cultural groups and non-mainstream American youths descriptions and evaluations of methodologies * introductory materials by the editors commenting on the field and the research extensive bibliographies

Having the ability to focus, relax and concentrate is key to enabling children and young people to achieve emotional well-being, and is also important for a child's development of skills and abilities. This book uses a model of 'mindfulness play' to help children to achieve well-being, an approach designed by the author which encourages children to build awareness of their inner and outer worlds. Part One covers the theoretical and practical background, setting out how to facilitate play using the mindfulness play model, including consideration of the emotional environment. Part Two includes a wealth of games and activities, from 'Body focus' and 'Fidget flop' to 'Musical drawings' and 'Pass a smile'. The activities are suitable for use with groups and individual children aged 5–12, and can be adapted for children with specific attention and concentration difficulties, such as ADHD, and for older children. This is an ideal resource for teachers, counsellors, social workers, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, youth workers, parents, and carers.

Children face disproportionate risks from contaminants such as air pollution and lead paint. The health consequences to the country¿s 74 million children are significant. In 1997, EPA created the Office of Children¿s Health and convened the Children¿s Health Protection Advisory Comm. to provide advice and recommendations to assist in developing regulations, guidance, and policies to address children¿s health. In April 1997, the Pres. signed Exec. Order 13045, creating an interagency Task Force to recommend fed. strategies for protecting children. This testimony assesses the extent to which EPA has used the Advisory Comm. and addressed the committee¿s key recommendations. It also includes information about the Task Force. Illustrations.

Every day millions of children in developing countries face adversities of many kinds, yet there is a shortage of sound evidence concerning their plight and an urgent need to identify the most appropriate and effective policy responses from among the multiple approaches that exist. This collection of journal papers aims to engage with researchers and debates in the field so as to understand better some of the numerous risks confronted by children in developing countries. It highlights the complexity of protecting children in various forms of adversity, challenges conventional wisdom about what protects children, demonstrates why it is essential to consult with children to protect them successfully, and suggests that successful protection must be based on strong empirical understanding of the situation and the perspectives of children and communities involved. The contributors are all experienced researchers and practitioners who have worked for many years with children in developing countries. The book offers suggestions for reform of current child protection policies, based on empirical findings around a range of child protection concerns, including children’s work, independent migration, family separation, early marriage, and military occupation. Together, the contributions provide a body of knowledge important to humanitarian and development policy and practice. This book was published as a special issue of Development in Practice.