Play

WIC policies should help kids drink less fruit juice, Stanford experts say

Every day of my 1980s childhood began with orange juice, which my mom served because it was considered a good way to get our daily vitamin C. Since then, nutritionists’ thinking has changed. Daily consumption of fruit juice has been linked with childhood obesity and dental cavities, and kids are thought to be better off getting their vitamins from whole fruits. Yet some health policies haven’t kept up.

Play

Packard Children’s patient visits Capitol Hill to advocate for kids with complex medical conditions

On the heels of his preschool graduation, 4-year-old Tyler Briend kicked off his summer vacation by traveling to Washington D.C. to speak with lawmakers about improving health care access for kids like him – patients living with complex medical conditions. Tyler, a patient at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford, and his parents made the trip as part of Speak Now for Kids Family Advocacy Day, sponsored by the Children’s Hospital Association (CHA).

Play

Ending preventable stillbirth: A Q&A with Stanford global-health expert Gary Darmstadt

Today, prominent medical journal The Lancet publishes “Ending Preventable Stillbirth,” a series of articles calling for global efforts to greatly reduce fetal deaths that occur late in pregnancy or during labor. The series brings much-needed attention to a medical and societal problem that often goes ignored. “Millions of women and families around the world have suffered the pain of stillbirth in silence,” said Stanford global health expert Gary Darmstadt, MD.

Play

An optimist’s approach to improving global child health

Globally, more than six million children die before their fifth birthday each year, most having been born into poverty. While great strides have been made over the last few decades in reducing global child mortality, some countries, like Pakistan, have lagged behind. In a recent Stanford podcast, Anita Zaidi, MD, an internationally renowned pediatrician and director of the Enteric and Diarrheal Diseases Program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, spoke about the state of child health in her home country of Pakistan and what it takes to lift a nation up.