PEDIATRICS

It's a problem that's been building for the past year but it's now an even bigger issue - a shortage in very common medicines often used for kids, but adults as well. A pediatric hospitalist wants the public to know it's not a reason to panic, but it's important to know what the other options are.

Leading doctors are reporting long COVID is affecting many kids, even if they had mild illness or were asymptomatic. Serious issues are lingering for months or even years, so top experts have compiled guidelines on how to diagnose and treat long COVID in children.

By Mayo Clinic News NetworkObese teenagers who lose weight are at risk of developing eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, Mayo Clinic researchers imply in a recent Pediatrics article. Eating disorders among these patients are also not being adequately detected because the weight loss is seen as positive by providers and family members. This report analyzes two examples of eating disorders that developed in the process of obese adolescents' efforts to reduce their weight. Both cases illustrate specific challenges in the identification of eating disorder behaviors in adolescents with this weight history and the corresponding delay such teenagers experience accessing appropriate treatment. Eating disorders are associated with high relapse rates and significant impairment to daily life, along with a host of medical side effects that can be life-threatening, says Dr. Sim.