Children's Mercy Pediatric PodCalls

Many parents worry about their child receiving the human papillomavirus vaccine, or the HPV vaccine. John Lantos, MD, Director of the Children’s Mercy Bioethics Center, is joined by Mary Anne Jackson, MD, Chief of Infectious Disease at Children’s Mercy, and a nationally recognized expert on the issue, who helps clarify the myths and facts about the HPV vaccine.

Should we use doctors, or just have faith that God will heal? Should physicians leave their own faith at the door when seeing a patient? John Lantos, MD, Director of the Children’s Mercy Pediatric Bioethics Center, and Dane Sommer, DMin, MDiv, BCC, Director of Chaplaincy Services at Children’s Mercy, discuss the role of religion in the doctor’s office.

High blood pressure, high cholesterol, and insulin resistance aren’t just affecting older people. Today, these conditions are being diagnosed in children. Up to one out of every five children in the U. S. is overweight or obese, and this number is continuing to grow. Children become overweight and obese for a variety of reasons. The most common causes are genetic factors, lack of physical activity, unhealthy eating patterns, or a combination of these factors. John Lantos, MD, Director of the Children’s Mercy Pediatric Bioethics Center, and Meredith Dreyer, PhD, clinical psychologist, with the Children’s Mercy Weight Management Department, and the Associate Director of the Center for Children’s Healthy Lifestyles and Nutrition at Children’s Mercy, discuss how you can help to overcome obesity in your own family.

It can be frustrating when your child doesn’t listen or misbehaves. As a parent, you ask yourself, what is the best way to discipline my child? John Lantos, MD, Director of the Children’s Mercy Pediatric Bioethics Center, and Edward R. Christophersen, Ph.D., ABPP, FAAP, clinical psychologist with the Children’s Mercy, discuss alternatives to spanking and positive ways to discipline a child.

When is someone too young to have weight loss surgery? The number of teens receiving weight loss surgery is on the rise. But is it safe for teens to undergo weight loss surgery and are teens able to understand the risks and side effects? John Lantos, MD, Director of the Children’s Mercy Pediatric Bioethics Center, and Meredith Dreyer, PhD, clinical psychologist with the Children’s Mercy Weight Management Department, and the Associate Director of the Center for Children’s Healthy Lifestyles and Nutrition at Children’s Mercy, discuss who is best qualified for the intervention.

Families of hospitalized children often face unique and difficult questions, emotions and decisions. John Lantos, MD, Director of the Children’s Mercy Bioethics Center, talks with Dane Sommer, DMin, MDiv, BCC, Director of Chaplaincy Services at Children’s Mercy, about helping parents and caregivers cope with a child’s end of life.

What do your kids eat in the cafeteria for lunch? Are they snacking on candy and sugary drinks from the school vending machine? John Lantos, MD, Director of the Children’s Mercy Pediatric Bioethics Center, and Meredith Dreyer, PhD, clinical psychologist with the Children’s Mercy Weight Management Department, and the Associate Director of the Center for Children’s Healthy Lifestyles and Nutrition at Children’s Mercy, discuss how parents can help choose what goes on their child’s tray.

With more new parents expressing concerns about the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, this podcast clarifies what the latest scientific research says about MMR and its suggested links to autism. John Lantos, MD, Director of the Children’s Mercy Bioethics Center, is joined by Mary Anne Jackson, MD, Chief of Infectious Disease at Children’s Mercy, a nationally recognized expert on the issue.

Childhood vaccines are important because they protect not only your child, but the children around him or her as well. In the past, they’ve helped eliminate diseases such as measles, but as fewer children become immunized, diseases that once were eradicated are starting to resurface. In the podcast, John Lantos, MD, Director of the Children’s Mercy Bioethics Center, is joined by Mary Anne Jackson, MD, Chief of Infectious Disease at Children’s Mercy, a nationally recognized expert on the issue.