Children's Sleep and Cognition

The newest issue of Health Affairs offers more insight from industry experts regarding the direction of health IT under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Perspectives begin with some thoughtful opinions presented from academic sources, and end up with a withering political diatribe from the business sector. All are available in full text, online.

For those of you who were worried about the cataclysm where public health meets Entertainment Tonight, fear no more—Gupta is out of the running for Surgeon General. The official story regarding the decision involved family considerations, but that may not have been all of it. Gary Schwitzer, an ex-CNNer and Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota School of Journalism and Mass Communication, has been on Gupta’s case for awhile.

And speaking of CNN, I wanted to stand up and applaud when I read Neil Kavey’s comments on sleep last week. I’m equally delighted to see teens’ sleep needs get some press, particularly as there is evidence that sleep is linked to cognition. It makes you think twice about President Obama’s call for a longer school day and year. It also makes Kavey’s observation with regard to society’s misplaced values ring in the ears. Perhaps that’s one thing our children shouldn’t inherit.

We Americans can rest easy in knowing that we’re not the only nation battling a tide of parental hysteria. The anti-vaccination movement is evidently alive and well in Britain, as pointed out by the NHS Blog Doctor. Visit his blog if you ever need a laugh—nothing and no one is sacred. Agree with him or not, you can’t help but obtain a little perspective when the discussion begins with a clip of an old John Cleese skit.