Parents are role models for children because what they say and do, guide their children in the long run. The role of parents is to create a warm, supportive & responsive ambience at home and take care of their children’s health needs. As far as health care goes, we don’t have any authentic source of information for parents on issues related to child health, specific to our culture and context. The cultural and socioeconomic diversity within our country makes it difficult to come to a consensus statement for any health-related issue. It is the need of the hour to come out with authentic and must-know information for parents as guidelines to help their children, not only during disease but also in health. Pediatrics is primarily a preventive subject and so should be our instructions for parents.
With these issues churning in our mind, we embarked on this Journey to create the Parental Guidelines by the Indian Academy of Pediatrics. The two broad categories appeared to be Guidelines for healthy children and Guidelines to take care of the sick child. Guidelines for use in healthy children were further selected in the fields of how to maintain good health, ensure normal nutrition, provide a safe and secure environment, identify & expose to early learning opportunities, and inculcate responsive parenting – the 5 domains for nurturing children. Topics for Guidelines for sick children were selected based on the most common conditions or diseases parents are faced with such as fever, diarrhea, cough, and infective illnesses and then diseases pertaining to cardiovascular, respiratory, hematological, and other systems. We also included care of chronic and terminal illnesses. Health issues may be different in different age groups. Selected topics are a mix of acute emergencies, accidents, long standing health problems, serious diseases extending from newborn to adolescent period.
The guidelines have been framed by stalwarts in their respective fields. More than 400 experts from all parts of our country and Pediatricians of Indian origin from other parts of the developed world viz. USA, Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, UAE, have contributed to these guidelines.
Each guideline is in Q&A format making it very easy for parents to understand. These questions are framed based on the experience of Pediatricians, what they were frequently asked in their OPD. Difficult medical words are not used. Such a format will help parents relate better to the guidelines. Simple layman language, ample use of sketches & cartoons, multicolor layout, & pleasant typesetting will ensure that the reader remains glued to the contents. This will set a benchmark in parent education in child health, which will help understand needs and hence improve child health.
Besides parents, these guidelines will also be immensely useful to the pediatricians, teachers, counselors, policy makers, and advocates of child health. All these Guidelines, other than being published in this App are freely available for dissemination and distribution to parents in its current form. For wider acceptance, we plan to translate them into regional languages. We intend to revise this at least every 3-4 years and thus welcome any feedback or criticism for improvement in content or presentation.
Disclaimer:
The content on the Palan Poshan app is for informational or educational purposes only, & does not substitute professional medical advice or consultations with healthcare professionals. No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek advice from your physician or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition/treatment and before undertaking a new health care regimen & never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this app.