Issue Highlights

A substantial proportion of paediatric drug administrations require manipulation of dosage form due to the lack of age-appropriate formulations. This poses a number of risks, including dose inaccuracies and altered pharmacokinetics, and raises safety concerns. In a previous issue, a narrative review by Paulsson et al. highlights key risks and compiles recommendations for oral drug manipulation to support the safety, efficacy and patient outcomes in paediatric patients [1]. Andersson comments on the recommendations by Paulsson et al. and explains why their review is required reading for everybody handling paediatric drugs [2]. Increasing sedentary behaviour at 9 years of age, at the expense of physical activity and sleep, was associated with higher systolic and diastolic blood pressure, according to a study by Nilsson et al. [3]. Greater sedentary behaviour at 4 years of age was associated with higher diastolic blood pressure and lower high-density lipoprotein at 9 years of age. Swedish screen time guidelines recommend limiting recreational screen time to a maximum of 2 h per day for children aged 6–12 years. The study showed that children who adhered to screen time guidelines had a lower metabolic syndrome score, low-density lipoprotein and triglycerides. Luo and Zhang comments on the findings [4]. Licia et al. conducted a multicentre prospective study that included very low birth weight infants born in Italy from 2016 to 2020 [5]. The authors enrolled 1381 patients with a median gestational age of 29.1 weeks and 136 (9.8%) of those died. Severe functional disability was observed in 8.9% of the survivors, including neuropsychological impairment (59.1%), cerebral palsy (4.2%), deafness (1.0%) and blindness (0.2%). The multivariate analysis showed that male gender, advanced resuscitation, periventricular leukomalacia and periventricular-intraventricular haemorrhage predicted severe functional disability. The potential impact of caffeine on infants with bronchiolitis was investigated in a French study [6]. Caffeine was found to reduce the duration of, and need for, nutritional support in infants who required ventilatory support. The authors concluded that caffeine could be a promising therapeutic option for infants with bronchiolitis, but said that randomised trials are needed to confirm the efficacy and safety of this treatment. A new joint consensus statement from European paediatric societies provides practical, evidence-based guidelines for safe and effective physical activity for children and adolescents with chronic health conditions [7]. It covers conditions such as juvenile idiopathic arthritis, asthma, cystic fibrosis and diabetes. The recommendations, which are presented by Wyszyńska et al., are primarily intended for paediatric healthcare professionals, but can also be accessed by parents and caregivers. Their aim is to improve quality of life, promote safe participation in sports and support long-term health outcomes. Images: 1. M Karlén, 2-5: Istockphoto.