Children are not little adults - they have a host of particular traits and ways to adjust to their environment. They have distinct strengths, weaknesses, and needs, that vary quite considerably over time from conception to adulthood. This book conveys practical, useful data that offers health practitioners knowledge and skills that promote the healthy, well-balanced development of healthy and sick children. It is a holistic, interdisciplinary approach to tending to children that takes into account the child, his or her family, social and physical environment, and the healthcare team. It also hopes to open communication channels between health professionals, childrens families, and non-medical specialists who have childrens welfare at heart. It deals with a wide array of relevant issues that encompass both prevention and cure: the relationship between the childrens well-being and the health of their physical and psychosocial climate; the prophylactic and curative management of high-risk children; the short and long-term impact of maternal and child nutrition on the young ones health and development; the family-centered care; the rights of the child in health care; prophylactic interventions in children; prenatal puericulture; child growth and development; care of the newborn baby; some common health issues in children; child safety; first aid in emergencies; pregnancy in teenage girls; rising and caring for a child with a chronic disease; and prevention of chronic illnesses starting in early life. This handbook is for both undergraduate and graduate health professionals.
