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CNN YOUR HEALTH
YOUR HEALTH: The Child Care Dilemma
Aired May 5, 2001 - 15:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANNOUNCER: Today on a special edition of YOUR HEALTH: The dilemma of whether to put your child in day care and the controversy surrounding a new study.
Plus, listen up: Ear infections and what doctors are doing to help combat one of the most common childhood illnesses.
And singing and cycling are going hand in hand at many gyms around the country. We'll have the latest on this hot new fitness trend.
KATHY SLOBOGIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to YOUR HEALTH. I'm family and education correspondent Kathy Slobogin, just outside Washington, D.C. Putting a child in day care is never an easy decision for a parent. There are concerns and often guilty feelings. On top of that, a new study says although there's definite benefits to day care, there may be serious drawbacks as well.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SLOBOGIN (voice-over): It's 8:00 a.m. And the Lipshie family are going their separate ways. Alyssa Lipshie and her kindergartener Noah (ph) head off to the school in Washington, D.C., where she teaches. John Lipshie (ph), an attorney, take 2 1/2 year-old Jessie (ph) to day care.
Three out of five young children in the U.S. are in child care. For most of their parents, it's a decision laced with worry and guilt.
ALYSSA LIPSHIE, MOTHER: You can't help but think there's people out there who do it the other way. They're able to do it. They're happy doing it. And here I am thinking I want the best for my child. And I'm doing this for that reason. But I'm not ever sure that it's, you know, is what is actually best. I feel guilty.
Unsure. One word, unsure.
SLOBOGIN: Alyssa Lipshie stayed home with each of her children for a year. But ultimately, she needed to work.
LIPSHIE: I love my child. But I wasn't being the mother that I really wanted to be. I was frustrated by small things. And I realized I was really slowly becoming depressed. And by going back to work, I was able to sort of relieve some of the stress that I had from staying at home and come home and be so glad to see my kids at the end of the day that I was really, I think, feeling like a better mother.
SLOBOGIN: Wendy Williams has no choice. She's a single mother who works as a paralegal in Atlanta. Her four-year-old Samantha is in day care nearly 10 hours a day. It's a state-of-the-art center complete with video cameras hooked up to the Internet for parents who want to keep tabs.
WENDY WILLIAMS, MOTHER: If I were home with her all day and it were just she and I, she'd be bored. I mean, she's in a learning environment. She's making friends. And that's a huge part of her life now.
SLOBOGIN: Like many working parents, Alyssa Lipshie and Wendy Williams feel buffeted by studies on child care. Two weeks ago, the latest, the largest long-term study in the country, brought bad news.
(on camera): There's broad consensus that quality child care can give children an academic edge, improving language and cognitive skills. But the new study suggests that may come at a price -- more aggressive behavior, including bullying, defiance, and meanness.
(voice-over): The government-sponsored study found problem behavior in 17 percent of children who spent a lot of time in child care compared to only nine percent of those cared for by mothers. The study first worried than angered Alyssa Lipshie.
LIPSHIE: My gut feeling is it's wrong, absolutely wrong. To put it in ways that evoke all this guilt, and when we're all trying to do the best we can, of course we love our children and we're going to have this heart-felt reaction to this thing, why would they want somebody to feel like that?
WILLIAMS: Well, I took offense to it, to be quite honest. I feel like the whole day care scenario has been a positive experience for us.
SLOBOGIN: Even researchers who worked on the study have taken exception to the way it was reported.
DEBORAH PHILLIPS, DAY CARE STUDY RESEARCHER: What is sort of the take-home message? In fact, 83 percent of the children who had been a lot of child care during their preschool years, did not show elevated levels of aggression at all. And even if you look at the 17 or so percent who did, they're completely within the normal range on this measure that we used.
SLOBOGIN: For many parents, the study is beside the point. Child care isn't going away.
Fifty-five percent of working women in the U.S. bring home half or more of their family's earnings, according to the Children's Defense Fund. Helen Blank says the real question to ask isn't whether child care is good or bad, but why the government doesn't do more to help parents.
HELEN BLANK, CHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND: I think this country gets a big resounding F in terms of other countries. Other countries start right. They offer families paid family leave. They allow mothers to stay home with their children during the critical early months after childbirth. And then they have high-quality child care that is actually subsidized so parents don't have to take it out of their own pockets.
SLOBOGIN: Those pockets have to be fairly deep to afford quality child care. The Lipshies' day care costs nearly $1,000 a month. Many parents have to trade quality for affordability.
But lost in all the hand-wringing over child care is a message that should give parents comfort.
PHILLIPS: Parents have a much stronger affect on their children's development than any aspect of child care. That's a critical take-home message for parents. And that doesn't matter whether the children are in 50 hours of child care a week or two hours of child care a week.
SLOBOGIN: It's a message most parents probably know instinctively. But it's good to hear the experts say it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SLOBOGIN: Later, we'll talk with pediatrician, T. Barry Brazelton about child care issues and the results of the study.
Still ahead on YOUR HEALTH: Why doctors say taking antidepressants may be useful in preventing chronic headaches.
Plus, women may no longer need Pap and pelvic exams in order to get birth control pills.
And do certain medications work differently in white patients than in non-white patients?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: Welcome back to YOUR HEALTH with this week's health headlines. Should doctors take into account a patient's race when prescribing medicine? One study in the "New England Journal of Medicine" says yes. The study found that a drug to treat heart failure didn't work as well for African-American patients as it did for white patients.
But another study found that whites and African-Americans responded the same way to a different drug that treats heart failure. Some researchers say due to genetic differences, blacks and whites metabolize some, but not all, drugs differently. But there are some researchers who believe there are no biological differences between races and making such distinctions is unscientific.
Also, for years it's been common medical practice for women to undergo Pap and pelvic examinations before their doctor would prescribe birth control pills. But recent research says that may no longer be necessary. Researchers now say women seeking hormonal contraceptives, like birth control, may only need to get their blood pressure checked and provide a detailed medical history.
Though, they add that it is still advisable to undergo an annual Pap and pelvic and breast examination as this is one of the best early detection methods for several cancers.
And antidepressants and stress management may be the key to helping chronic tensions headaches. Researchers have found that people who take antidepressants, combined with behavior therapy, do better than those who use therapy alone. Chronic tension headaches are defined as those that tend to occur 15 or more days per month for at least six months. The pain can be mild to moderate and generally last from 30 minutes to one week each time it occurs.
That's a look at this week's YOUR HEALTH headlines.
SLOBOGIN: Next on YOUR HEALTH, how doctors are treating middle ear infections in children without antibiotics.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: Ear infections: Persistent in the middle ear and chronic otitis media can reduce a child's hearing at a time it's critical for speech and language development.
SLOBOGIN: Have you ever noticed your little one pulling on his or her ear? That could be a sign of pain from a middle ear infection. It's common in kids, and routinely it's treated with antibiotics. But now doctors are discovering alternatives.
Toria Tolley explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TORIA TOLLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Otitis media, or middle ear infection, is the most common reason a child is brought in to see a doctor nowadays. It usually follows a cold, or upper respiratory infection.
The child runs a fever, may be unusually fussy, have trouble eating or sleeping, and may have some discharge from eyes or ears. They often tug on their ear, too, indicating pain.
In the past, doctors routinely put the child on medication. In fact, ear infections are the number one illness for which they prescribe antibiotics. But that is changing. Pediatrician Michael Papciak says antibiotics are not always necessary, and can actually do more harm than good.
DR. MICHAEL PAPCIAK, PEDIATRICIAN: I think we have always had ear infections, historically, in children. I think now we are successful in preventing most of the major complications that used to be a complication in the pre-antibiotic era. So, we've prevented all that, but what we've done is we've produced an awful lot of antibiotic usage in America and sometimes the development of antibiotic resistancy. TOLLEY: Since antibiotics are used for a number of serious childhood illnesses, a child's resistance to the treatment could be life-threatening. Recent medical studies show that in up to 80 percent of cases, the ear infection cleared up without using an antibiotic.
PAPCIAK: That's if the child doesn't get a subsequent infection during the time that he has that ear infection that's healing, he doesn't get a fresh cold, and so I would probably lower it to probably around 50 percent.
TOLLEY: Even children that suffer from frequent and chronic ear infections can avoid the risk of too much antibiotics. Small plastic tubes inserted in the child's ear can prevent pressure and fluid build-up that causes infection.
PAPCIAK: If you've had three or four infections over a period of months that haven't resolved themselves on a recheck, then you pretty much are a candidate for tubes.
TOLLEY: Dr. Papciak said if a child is losing sleep or appears to be in a lot of pain, a trip to the office is still warranted. Otherwise, keep them comfortable with over-the-counter children's fever and pain relief medicine, and check symptoms every couple of days.
Toria Tolley, CNN, YOUR HEALTH.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SLOBOGIN: Coming up on YOUR HEALTH, you've heard of whistling while you work. Well, how about singing while you work out? But first, our doctor "Q&A" from our CNN health Web site.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SLOBOGIN: Now, our weekly edition of "Feeling Fit." A few weeks ago, we told you that indoor cycling can be a fun and challenging workout, but here's an interesting twist. In some cycling programs, your vocal cords are put to work.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Well, this may not be his lucky break, or hers, but one thing is for sure, fitness experts say cycle karaoke is invigorating, fast-paced and aggressive. Your vocal chords are put to work.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Well, it kind of takes your mind off what you're doing at the moment.
COHEN: Originated at Punch Fitness in Los Angeles, California some three years ago, cycle karaoke combines singing and indoor cycling, and now it's available in health clubs across the country.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: It is a great motivator and the songs that we sing are songs that everybody knows, you know, kind of feel good. This is a really good way to stay aerobic with your workout because if you can talk and workout at the same time, it means that you're not going into your anaerobic threshold.
COHEN: Participants pick their favorite dance, disco or Motown hits...
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: We just put this, the words up on the screen and everybody sings while they write and it is difficult. I mean it's a little bit more of a cardiovascular workout. You're expending more calories. You're building cardiovascular endurance. You're building strength endurance. You're building muscular endurance and it's just a full, it's also a great fat burning class.
UNIDENTIFIED CLASS MEMBERS: It's so easy to fall in love.
COHEN: And it's a good excuse to sing while you get in shape.
For "Feeling Fit," I'm Elizabeth Cohen.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SLOBOGIN: Welcome back to this special edition of YOUR HEALTH. Earlier in the program we talked about day care: the problems, benefits and concerns. I spoke with nationally renowned pediatrician T. Barry Brazelton about child care issues and the results of the study we told you about earlier.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SLOBOGIN (voice-over): For more than 40 years, pediatrician T. Barry Brazelton has been helping parents raise their children.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. T. BARRY BRAZELTON, PEDIATRICIAN: Some babies can support themselves in sitting by propping themselves up with both arms.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SLOBOGIN: His books and tapes have guided a generation of parents through everything from tantrums to toilet training.
We asked him about the latest skirmish over child care.
(on camera): Is child care in the early years detrimental to children?
BRAZELTON: Gee, you know, I had to overcome a bias. I have three militant daughters and they said to me one day, "Dad, you're in the last century."
SLOBOGIN: Did you, at one time, feel that maternal care, exclusive maternal care, was what a child needed? BRAZELTON: Oh, yes, sure. And I came to it -- my wife stayed home with all of our children, and I just expected that. But, you know, I've had to reevaluate that, and I'm not sure it doesn't cost a mother a hell of a lot to stay home these days.
I think we've split women in two, and we haven't put them back them back together again yet.
SLOBOGIN (voice-over): With more than 60 percent of mothers working, Dr. Brazelton says the focus should be on improving the quality of child care in the early years, years when he says crucial building blocks of a child's character are being formed.
(on camera): What's the general state of child care in this country, do you feel?
BRAZELTON: Deplorable; absolutely deplorable. Probably nearly 80 percent of child care you or I wouldn't trust with our children, nor would the mothers of those kids. It's just scary.
SLOBOGIN (voice-over): Compounding the fear are studies like the one two weeks ago, which found children who spent a lot of time in child care were more aggressive than those at home with their mothers.
BRAZELTON: This is going to scare the devil out of parents that have to leave their kids in child care, and I think it's tragic. I thought it was very biased, and I think this bias shows through in the studies that we've done so far. I don't know whether they really looked at the quality of child care carefully enough. If 80 percent of it really isn't adequate, how are they going to get a sample of really good quality child care that backs up the child, but also backs up the parent?
SLOBOGIN: For the past five years, Brazelton has focused on the quality of child care with a simple but profound idea: catering to the parent as much as the child.
In 33 centers around the country, Brazelton has helped train workers in his touch-points model. Touch-points are what he calls the rough spots in a child's life, like bedwetting or extended crying episodes, which can derail new parents. But Brazelton says they are normal and predictable.
BRAZELTON: There's a period of disorganization, and the child's sort of gathering steam to get ready for this next big spurt, and the parents fall apart with the child and they think, oh my God, what have I done wrong?
SLOBOGIN: Brazelton's centers train child care workers to help parents anticipate the rough spots.
BRAZELTON: And these kids come in different people within two or three months. It's like a miracle.
SLOBOGIN: Brazelton's advice to worried parents is to trust their instincts, take from new studies what makes sense to them, but most of all, make sure they enjoy the time they have with their children.
BRAZELTON: You've got to save up energy from the workforce. Learn to cheat; don't give all of your energy to your boss. And just be there when the child needs you, and be there at the end of the day.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SLOBOGIN: That's our program for today. There's much more health information at your fingertips. Just log on to cnn.com/health for more information on any of today's stories. Your AOL keyword is CNN. Our Web site is produced in conjunction with WebMD. For everyone on the CNN health team, thanks for watching. I'm family and education correspondent Kathy Slobogin.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
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