Pediatrics

Pediatrics is the medical specialty concerned with the health of infants, children, and adolescents; their growth and development; and their opportunity to achieve full potential as adults. This includes the age group from newborn to age 16–21, depending on the country. The word pediatrics is derived from two Greek words, paidi which means “child” and iatros which means “doctor.” Pediatricians are physicians who assume a responsibility for children's physical, mental, and emotional progress from conception to maturity. Hence, pediatricians must be concerned with social and environmental influences, which have a major impact on the health and well-being of children and their families, as well as with particular organ systems and biologic processes. The young are often among the most vulnerable or disadvantaged in society, and thus their needs require special attention.

In the United States, pediatricians are considered to be primary care doctors, along with family practice, internal medicine, and obstetrics. Much of the rest of the world considers them specialists, and parents are only referred to pediatricians for special care not handled by the generalists. Most pediatricians are members of a national body, such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Canadian Paediatric Society, and the British Association of Paediatric Surgeons.

Pediatrics emerged as a medical specialty over a century ago in response to increasing awareness that the health problems of children differ from those of adults and that a child's response to illness and stress varies with age. The obvious body size differences are paralleled by maturational changes. The smaller body of an infant or neonate is substantially different physiologically from that of an adult. Congenital defects, genetic variance, immunology, oncology, and a host of other issues are unique to the realm of pediatrics. Increasingly effective healthcare also means that diseases such as sickle cell anemia and cystic fibrosis are more often treated by pediatricians, although many or most patients grow into adulthood. Issues revolving around infectious diseases and immunizations are also dealt with primarily by pediatricians.

Another major difference between pediatrics and adult medicine is that children are minors and, in most jurisdictions, cannot make decisions for themselves. The issue of guardianship, legal responsibility, and informed consent must always be considered in every pediatric procedure. In a sense, pediatricians often have to treat the parents and, sometimes, the family, rather than just the child. Adolescents are in their own legal class, having rights to their own healthcare decisions in only certain circumstances, although this is in legal flux and varies by region.

Moreover, today it is widely recognized that the health problems of children and youth vary widely among the nations of the world depending on a number of factors, which are often interrelated. These factors include the prevalence and ecology of infectious agents and their hosts; climate and geography; agricultural resources and practices; educational, economic, social, and cultural considerations; stage of industrialization and urbanization; and, in many instances, the gene frequencies for some disorders.

Assessment of the state of health of any community must begin with a description of the incidence of illness and must continue with studies that show the changes that occur with time and in response to programs of prevention, case finding, therapy, and adequate surveillance.

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