Relaxation and guided imagery used with 12-year-olds during venipuncture in a school-based screening study.

Needle-related procedures are reported to be problematic for children. In a school-based celiac disease screening, 12-year-olds' experiences with relaxation and guided imagery (R-GI) during venipuncture were investigated. One group tried nurse-led R-GI (n = 60) and another group received standard care (SC; n = 49). A mixed method design was applied using short written narratives, facial affective scale (FAS), and visual analog scale (VAS) for pain intensity. Qualitative content analysis highlighted that diversity and contradictions when facing blood tests. FAS scores were significantly lower in the SC group before (p = 0.01), during (p = 0.01), and after (p = 0.01) venipuncture. VAS scores did not differ between the groups. The blood test was mostly experienced as unproblematic, and GI during venipuncture did not decrease pain or affect. However, the fact that a number of children scored high FAS indicates a need for effective methods to help children cope with needle-related school-based procedures.

Epidemiological research drives a paradigm shift in complementary feeding - the celiac disease story and lessons learnt.

Breast milk is the initial natural food for infants, but already during the second half year complementary feeding is essential. Epidemiological research, first on celiac disease and later on atopic diseases, has driven a paradigm shift with respect to most favorable age to introduce complementary feeding. Simplified, this implies a shift from later to earlier introduction, which is now taken into account in recommendations on infant feeding. Complementary feeding, including all foods, should not be initiated for any infant before 4 months of age, and not later than around 6 months, including infants with elevated disease risk (e.g. for celiac disease or atopic diseases). Motivating reasons could be that ongoing breastfeeding provides an 'immunological umbrella' and/ or a different age interval gives a 'window of opportunity' for developing oral tolerance towards gluten and other food antigens. This will for some infants be in conflict with recent WHO recommendations on exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months. Epidemiology has evolved over time and could, if increasingly used, contribute even more to innovations in pediatric nutrition and other phenomena related to population health.