This report describes the proceedings of a symposium on the Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) and the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (SFP), held in January, 1977. The symposium was intended to bring together a variety of individuals concerned with providing adequate nutrition and health care to low-income…

A framework of concepts in nutrition, environmental factors, genetics, and human growth and development is presented as a background for developing elementary and secondary curricula on responsible childbearing. Aspects of the four subject areas are outlined for instruction at five education levels: preschool through kindergarten, primary, upper…

DATA FROM RECENT COMPREHENSIVE STUDIES OF THE PATHOLOGY OF MENTAL RETARDATION ARE ASSEMBLED, INCLUDING MATERIAL ON ETIOLOGY, MORPHOLOGY, BIOCHEMISTRY, AND LABORATORY DIAGNOSIS. AREAS COVERED ARE (1) GENETIC CAUSES OF MENTAL RETARDATION, (2) DISORDERS OF GESTATION, (3) BIRTH INJURY, (4) GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS OF POSTNATAL CAUSES OF MENTAL…

Experiences in prenatal life and early childhood that may cause personality disorders or criminal behavior in later life are examined in these proceedings of the Subcommittee on Childhood Experiences as Causes of Criminal Behavior of the Standing Committee on Health, Welfare and Science, Senate of Canada. This issue, the third in a series of 19…

This report attempts to identify the relevant environmental factors which have an impact upon the quality of life of the child. The following are discussed: (1) introduction--population growth, population growth and natural resource reserves, GNP and the quality of life, regulation of population size, population quality; (2) prenatal…

Contents of this compilation of testimony include: (1) statements by L. L. Cavalli-Sforza, professor of genetics, Stanford University; Richard A. Goldsby; Irving I. Gottesman, professor of psychology, University of Minnesota; Arthur R. Jensen; and Jane R. Mercer, associate professor of sociology, University of California, Riverside; (2) such…

Increase in number of children infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and consequential developmental disabilities of these children are discussed. Families caring for HIV-infected children express four recurrent themes: psychological stress, grief and mourning, guilt and self-blame, and isolation and fear of discrimination. Flexible…

This study compared speech and language comprehension and production between 249 very low birthweight and 363 normal birthweight 8 year olds. Although low birthweight children tended to score lower, when those with major neurological abnormalities were excluded, no significant differences were found between the two groups. However, general…

Reviews recent research on relationships between young maternal age and incidence of low-birth-weight infants. Different lines of research attribute low birth weight to biological and sociocultural factors. Both factors, plus lifestyle choices made by adolescents, combine to raise or lower the risk of delivering a low-birth-weight infant.…

Examined links between early risk and problematic developmental outcomes in adopted children during middle childhood. Found no direct relation between prenatal, perinatal, or preplacement risk factors and problematic socioemotional adjustment. With 12 high-risk children, proactive cooperation among the child's adoptive and birth family members on…

The aim of the review of D.V. Cicchetti, A.S. Kaufman, and S.S. Sparrow (funded by the General Electric Company; this issue) is to "evaluate [the] literature relating the effects of prenatal and postnatal exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) upon neurobehavioral, health-related, and cognitive deficits in neonates, developing infants,…

This invited response to the paper by D.V. Cicchetti, A.S. Kaufman, and S.S. Sparrow (CKS), and the responses by the investigative teams of the studies criticized by them, addresses specific errors of logic and interpretation by CKS, and integrates comments made by the study investigators. CKS provide a flawed analysis of the literature on the…

This paper provides information on the incidence and prevalence of alcohol-related birth defects, the human and economic costs of fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) and fetal alcohol effects (FAE), and examples of prevention and intervention strategies that can help reduce the occurrence of and ameliorate the consequences of FAS/FAE. It discusses the…

This proceedings contains commissioned background papers used by conference work groups focusing on nine aspects of farmworker substance abuse, and the action plan developed by the work groups. The keynote address by Felipe G. Castro examines risk factors for substance abuse and addiction among Chicano farmworkers, particularly adolescent and…

This bulletin highlights topics addressed at a National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE) Action Seminar on Infants Exposed to Illicit Drugs and Alcohol in Utero. The incidence of babies being born exposed to cocaine and other illicit drugs is outlined, and it is concluded that numbers appear to be on the rise. The…