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This paper examines the perceived service needs of families of Hunter region preschool aged children with disruptive behaviour problems, attending centre-based child care services. Families were recruited via clinics and child care services, using defined eligibility criteria. Respondents ranked their service needs in clinical early education, and community-based categories, as well as strategies for cost reduction. Respondents also provided service utilisation, family stress, and socio-demographic details. The highest clinical service priorities entailed expansion of mainstream community treatment services. In the early education sector, highest priority was given to extending the behaviour management skills of existing child care staff, ahead of the need to recruit specialist staff. Priority was given to support groups and an information and referral service, ahead of respite services. Exceptional levels of family stress and burden of care were detected for this group. The findings provide a consumer's perspective on the provision of services for preschool-aged children with disruptive behaviour., This study was funded by the Hunter Area Health Service and the NSW Department of Education. Introduction Defiance, tantrums, inattentiveness, and high levels of motor activity are commonly seen in [...]

Research has determined that breast feeding is not a major contributor to cognitive development. In Australian tests between 1979 and 1982, assessments were made for bottle-fed and breast-fed children at ages two, four, seven and 11 to 13. After weighting for environmental, biomedical and sociodemographic factors, a statistically insignificant beneficial effect was observed for breast feeding.

Opportunistic survey methods might provide a practical and resource-efficient alternative to large-scale community surveys, and further studies are underway to validate this method a a community survey tool. The author bases this conclusion on opportunistic blood lead testing of a paediatric inpatient population, and provides statistics to support it.

Exposure to low levels of lead during early childhood may cause decreased intellectual development. A study compared the IQ scores of 494 seven-year-old children to their blood levels of lead both before birth and throughout the first seven years of their life. Children who had higher blood levels of lead before and after birth had lower IQ scores than those with lower blood levels of lead. At 15 months and two, three and four years old, children with a 30 microgram (ug) per deciliter concentration of lead in their blood had an IQ score that was 4% to 5% lower that of children with a 10 ug per deciliter concentration of lead in their blood. All of the children lived in a lead-smelting community in Australia and had been reported as having slower intellectual development at two and four years old. It is not known whether exposure to lead during early childhood affects mental development later in life.

Abstract Background Home visiting programs comprising intensive and sustained visits by professionals (usually nurses) over the first two years of life show promise in promoting child health and family functioning, and ameliorating disadvantage. Australian evidence of the effectiveness of sustained nurse home visiting in early childhood is limited. This paper describes the method and cohort characteristics of the first Australian study of sustained home visiting commencing antenatally and continuing to child-age two years for at-risk mothers in a disadvantaged community (the Miller Early Childhood Sustained Home-visiting trial). Methods and design Mothers reporting risks for poorer parenting outcomes residing in an area of socioeconomic disadvantage were recruited between February 2003 and March 2005. Mothers randomised to the intervention group received a standardised program of nurse home visiting. Interviews and observations covering child, maternal, family and environmental issues were undertaken with mothers antenatally and at 1, 12 and 24 months postpartum. Standardised tests of child development and maternal-child interaction were undertaken at 18 and 30 months postpartum. Information from hospital and community heath records was also obtained. Discussion A total of 338 women were identified and invited to participate, and 208 were recruited to the study. Rates of active follow-up were 86% at 12 months, 74% at 24 months and 63% at 30 months postpartum. Participation in particular data points ranged from 66% at 1 month to 51% at 24 months postpartum. Rates of active follow-up and data point participation were not significantly different for the intervention or comparison group at any data point. Mothers who presented for antenatal care prior to 20 weeks pregnant, those with household income from full-time employment and those who reported being abused themselves as a child were more likely to be retained in the study. The Miller Early Childhood Sustained Home-visiting trial will provide Australian evidence of the effectiveness of sustained nurse home visiting for children at risk of poorer health and developmental outcomes. Trial registration ACTRN12608000473369