Childhood obesity is a challenging public health issue facing communities throughout the U.S. Local efforts are believed to be essential to assuring environments that support physical activity and healthy food/beverage consumption among children and their families. However, little is known about how broadly and intensively communities are implementing combinations of programs and policies that address childhood nutrition, physical activity, and weight control. The Healthy Communities Study is a nationwide scientific study in diverse communities to identify characteristics of communities and programs that may be associated with childhood obesity. Data collection occurred in 2013–2015; data analysis will be completed in 2016. As part of the Healthy Communities Study, researchers designed a measurement system to assess the number and scope of community programs and policies and to examine possible associations between calculated “intensity” scores for these programs and policies and behavioral and outcome measures related to healthy weight among children. This report describes the protocol used to capture and code instances of community programs and policies, to characterize attributes of community programs and policies related to study hypotheses, and to calculate the intensity of combinations of community programs and policies (i.e., using the attributes of change strategy, duration, and reach).

Objective It is critical that pediatric residents learn to effectively screen families for active and addressable social needs (i.e., negative social determinants of health.) We sought to determine 1) whether a brief intervention teaching residents about IHELP, a social needs screening tool, could improve resident screening, and 2) how accurately IHELP could detect needs in the inpatient setting. Methods During an 18-month period, interns rotating on one of two otherwise identical inpatient general pediatrics teams were trained in IHELP. Interns on the other team served as the comparison group. Every admission history and physical (H&P) was reviewed for IHELP screening. Social work evaluations were used to establish the sensitivity and specificity of IHELP and document resources provided to families with active needs. During a 21-month post-intervention period, every third H&P was reviewed to determine median duration of continued IHELP use. Results 619 admissions met inclusion criteria. Over 80% of intervention team H&Ps documented use of IHELP. The percentage of social work consults was nearly 3 times greater on the intervention team than on the comparison team (P<0.001). Among H&Ps with documented use of IHELP, specificity was 0.96 (95% CI 0.87–0.99) and sensitivity was 0.63 (95% CI 0.50–0.73). Social work provided resources for 78% of positively screened families. The median duration of screening use by residents after the intervention was 8.1 months (IQR 1–10 months) Conclusions A brief intervention increased resident screening and detection of social needs, leading to important referrals to address those needs.

WHAT'S KNOWN ON THIS SUBJECT: Sudden infant death syndrome and other sleep-related causes of infant mortality have several known risk factors. Less is known about the association of those risk factors at different times during infancy.WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS: Risk factors for sleep-related infant deaths may be different for different age groups. The predominant risk factor for younger infants is bed-sharing, whereas rolling to prone, with objects in the sleep area, is the predominant risk factor for older infants. abstract OBJECTIVE: Sudden infant death syndrome and other sleep-related causes of infant mortality have several known risk factors. Less is known about the association of those risk factors at different times during infancy. Our objective was to determine any associations between risk factors for sleeprelated deaths at different ages. METHODS:A cross-sectional study of sleep-related infant deaths from 24 states during 2004-2012 contained in the National Center for the Review and Prevention of Child Deaths Case Reporting System, a database of death reports from state child death review teams. The main exposure was age, divided into younger (0-3 months) and older (4 months to 364 days) infants. The primary outcomes were bed-sharing, objects in the sleep environment, location (eg, adult bed), and position (eg, prone). RESULTS:A total of 8207 deaths were analyzed. Younger victims were more likely bed-sharing (73.8% vs 58.9%, P , .001) and sleeping in an adult bed/on a person (51.6% vs 43.8%, P , .001). A higher percentage of older victims had an object in the sleep environment (39.4% vs 33.5%, P , .001) and changed position from side/back to prone (18.4% vs 13.8%, P , .001). Multivariable regression confirmed these associations. CONCLUSIONS:Risk factors for sleep-related infant deaths may be different for different age groups. The predominant risk factor for younger infants is bed-sharing, whereas rolling into objects in the sleep area is the predominant risk factor for older infants. Parents should be warned about the dangers of these specific risk factors appropriate to their infant' s age. Pediatrics 2014;134:e406-e412 AUTHORS:

Objective Child health is strongly influenced by social determinants. Little is known about the opinions of primary caregivers regarding the physicians’ role in addressing social needs. Our objective was to examine caregivers’ opinions about that role and any associations between those opinions, previous exposure to screening for needs by pediatric residents, and socioeconomic status (SES). Methods Cross-sectional survey study of caregivers of hospitalized children. The survey collected information on caregiver opinion regarding their ability to ask physicians for help with social needs, whether physicians know how to help with those needs, and whether physicians should ask about social needs. The chi square test was used to identify associations between caregiver opinions, prior screening by a resident at admission, and SES (determined by census tract median household income.) Results Surveys were completed by 143 caregivers (79% participation). Most respondents agreed that they could ask their physician for help (54.5%), that their physician knows how to help (64.3%), and that physicians should ask about social needs (71.3%). Previously screened caregivers had more favorable opinions about asking for help (76.2% vs. 45.5%, P<0.01), whether their physician knows how to help (81.0% vs. 57.4%, P=0.02), and physician screening for unmet needs (85.7% vs. 65.3%, P=0.03). There were no SES differences in opinion. Conclusions Caregivers have favorable opinions of the physician’s role in addressing the social determinants of health, especially after being screened. Physicians should be confident in the acceptability of screening families for social needs.

Findings of this large-scale study indicate that great variation exists across communities in the intensity and focus of community interventions being implemented to address childhood obesity.