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David Fair: Are you ready for the start of the new school year? Well, most K-through-12 kids in our area will go back to class a week from today. I'm David Fair, and this is 89 one WEMU. New parents spend a lot of time in August gathering school supplies, getting new clothes for the kids and figuring out the morning schedule for the next nine months. It's also a time where we realize the kids are going to be spending a good portion of their day out of the house and away from our supervision. For many, that raises additional worries and concerns. C.S. Mott Children's Hospital at the University of Michigan conducted a national poll of parents to find out exactly what the concerns are regarding their children's health. I'm glad to say today we have the co-director of that poll on the other end of the WEMU phone line. Dr. Susan Woolford is a pediatrician at Mott. And, Dr. Woolford, thank you for making time for us.
Dr. Susan Woolford: Good morning, David. Thank you for your interest in our poll.
David Fair: Well, a decade ago, a similar survey of parents found that the top health concern for children was childhood obesity. Based on the results of this new poll, is that still true?
Dr. Susan Woolford: So, based on these results, we found that parents still expressed concern about obesity. But this time around, overuse of devices and screen time and social media and Internet safety have come to the top of the list.
David Fair: Yeah, as you were talking, I was just perusing the list of top concerns, and as you mentioned, overuse of electronic devices and screen time right at the top. Social media is a second, Internet safety third, depression and suicide fourth and bullying fifth. Is there not an argument to be made that all of those concerns can be directly related?
Dr. Susan Woolford: Absolutely. We find that many of the issues that have percolated to the top are interrelated. So, of course, overuse of devices and social media and Internet use, typically, that pushes out the time that people may spend in outdoor activities and more physical pursuits. And so, we believe that that would be related to weight issues. We know that a lot of those behaviors, the screen time, use, etc., might play into emotional health and mental health. And we see that mental health issues also emerged as some of the top concerns. So, there's definitely a lot of connection between the issues that parents are concerned about.
David Fair: For the parents who put those five concerns I just mentioned at the top of the list, from your professional standpoint, is there a way to not only constructively address those issues with children, but win buy-in as well?
Dr. Susan Woolford: I definitely agree with you, David, on this. Many of these issues are things that we have ways to help with, right? So, for depression and suicide and stress and anxiety and bullying, these things that impact mental health, while parents also noted in our survey that there were issues with access to mental health services, parents can and children can get help with these issues by working with their general pediatrician, who will have methods of helping to mitigate these concerns and to connect them with the services that are available. Also, pediatricians are well-positioned to help parents navigate ways to help their children moderate their use of screen time activities and social media.
David Fair: This is 89 one WEMU, and we're talking about children's health concerns as parents get ready to send kids back to school. Our guest is Dr. Susan Woolford from Mott Children's Hospital. And you are heading right down the path I wanted to go. To be very specific about the top ten concerns, the next five on the list are stress and anxiety, unhealthy diet, costs of health care and insurance, school violence and smoking and vaping. Again, these are concerns that go hand-in-hand. And it sure appears to me that stress and anxiety have become so much more pervasive among children over the last decade. Are you seeing that in your patients at Mott's, too?
Dr. Susan Woolford: Absolutely. Particularly over the course of the pandemic, the prevalence of stress and anxiety in young people has increased significantly. Those who had concerns with stress and anxiety in the past, those concerns had increased. And those who hadn't had concerns in this area in the past are beginning to have more concerns in this area. So, it's definitely something that we are seeing in pediatric practice quite frequently.
David Fair: Now, there are many that contend we have become too reliant as a society on medications and pharmaceuticals for management of stress and anxiety. Now, clearly, to be clear, no one should be denied medication that needs it. But do you have concerns that drugs are being overused in children?
Dr. Susan Woolford: So, I think that, as you suggest, medications should be used when they are appropriate and in working with one's pediatrician. Most often, pediatricians and health care providers will help patients navigate ways to address the stress and concern that may not include medications starting off with. So, for example, exercise may help, addressing screen time, addressing those factors that might be promoting stress and anxiety in a young person doing those things that behavioral and lifestyle approaches, first of all, is what's recommended. And then, only if those behavioral approaches are not successful, then one can consider the use of medication in certain children where it might be helpful.
David Fair: And have you found that those that are resistant to using medications where you, as a pediatrician, might find it appropriate, are there some holistic measures that can be taken that tend to mitigate at equal levels?
Dr. Susan Woolford: There definitely are some lifestyle approaches and holistic approaches, as you suggest, that can be helpful, really starting to try to help with even something as basic as helping with adequate sleep. Because many times when people are stressed and anxious, they're not getting good sleep. And so, there are behavioral methods to help with that. Improving diet quality can also have an impact, and there are cognitive behavioral approaches that can help with stress and anxiety. So, there are definitely approaches that can be used if people are not open to using medications initially.
David Fair: Our conversation with Dr. Susan Woolford continues on 89 one WEMU. Dr. Wolford is a pediatrician at Mott's Children's Hospital and was co-director of a national poll on parental concerns about children's health. As we prepare for a new school year, Dr. Woolford, America is the home of school shootings, and that is a stressor for just about everyone. My perception of things is that parents probably worry about it more than kids. But I also suspect the worries of parents are easily ingested by children. How can parents manage all of the concerns we've talked about today without passing them along to the youngsters who are clearly not as equipped to deal with it?
Dr. Susan Woolford: You raise a really good point about the concern around school violence. So, we found, in this poll, that a number of parents, as we say, about 49% of parents were concerned about school violence, listing this as a big concern. We found that those families where they lived in lower income households were more likely to express this as a concern than those in high income families. And we believe that this is likely because of the fact that the lower income families may be more likely to be impacted by school violence. So, how do parents address this with their children while not increasing their child's level of stress and anxiety around school violence? I think this is done by helping children understand that safety precautions and measures are being put in place in schools. So, they have the drills, and they put in place security measures to help keep their children safe. And children should be aware that, while they do these things, it's not to increase their anxiety, but to help keep them safe. But also, parents might encourage children to be aware of the fact that, while all these measures are put in place, the likelihood of them encountering a school shooting is very, very small. So, I think it's putting it in perspective, but allowing them to know that measures are being taken to keep them safe.
David Fair: So, as a pediatrician, in reviewing the results of the poll and what parents have expressed in it, do your personal and professional top concerns align with the concerns of parents reflected in this 2023 poll?
Dr. Susan Woolford: They do, in fact, align very closely with parents' concerns. The things that are in the top ten are things that I think are appropriately there. And even more than that, the things that are at the bottom of the list, I think are appropriately there as well. So, for example, at the bottom of the list, we have concern about vaccines and COVID. And I think that it was very encouraging to me to see, as a pediatrician, that few people list vaccine safety as a concern because indeed vaccines are incredibly safe. And so, I think, particularly as children are heading back to school, it is a great time for parents to take their children in and make sure that they're up-to-date on their routine vaccines. They are safe and effective and a great way to prepare children to keep them healthy as they enter into this full term.
David Fair: Well, I'd like to thank you for making time for us today and providing the insights, Dr. Woolford.
Dr. Susan Woolford: Thank you for your interest in the poll.
David Fair: That is Dr. Susan Woolford. She is co-director of that Mott Children's Hospital National Poll of Parents about health concerns for their children as we are about to embark upon a new school year. For more information about the poll and today's conversation, visit our website at WEMU dot org at your convenience. I'm David Fair, and this is your community NPR station, 89 one WEMU FM Ypsilanti.
TOP 10 PARENTAL CONCERNS REGARDING CHILDREN'S HEALTH, ACCORDING TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN C.S. MOTT CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL NATIONAL POLL ON CHILDREN'S HEALTH:
- Overuse of devices/screen time (67%)
- Social media (66%)
- Internet safety (62%)
- Depression/suicide (57%)
- Bullying (53%)
- Stress/anxiety (52%)
- Unhealthy diet (52%)
- Costs of healthcare/health insurance (50%)
- School violence (49%)
- Smoking/vaping (48%)
Please read more about the new report here.
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