Characteristics of child health care practitioners in overweight prevention of children.

OBJECTIVES: To identify behavioral and personal characteristics of child health care (CHC) practitioners that influences the effect of early overweight prevention in children. METHODS: In total 216 questionnaires were filled out by CHC practitioners from four organizations in the Netherlands. RESULTS: There is a gap between awareness of the problem overweight in early childhood and actually discussing this with parents, as well as a gap between the existing recommendations and the perceived importance of early overweight prevention. Despite the fact that nurses have a more central task in life-style support than physicians, they reported to have less knowledge and skills than physicians. CONCLUSIONS: While both CHC physicians and nurses need support in improving their knowledge and skills, it is the nurses who need more support. A more structured and tailored implementation strategy with more emphasis on the needs of the nurses and physicians may improve early overweight management.

Analysis of kanamycin sulfate by liquid chromatography with pulsed electrochemical detection.

The analysis of kanamycin sulfate by liquid chromatography using a column packed with poly(styrene-divinylbenzene) and pulsed electrochemical detection on a gold electrode is described. A two-step gradient was necessary to obtain a good separation together with a reasonable analysis time of maximum 45 min. The mobile phases consisted of an aqueous solution of 20 g/l or 60 g/l sodium sulfate, 1.3 g/l sodium octanesulfonate and 50 ml/l 0.2 M phosphate buffer pH 3.0. Sodium hydroxide was added post-column. The influence of the different chromatographic parameters on the separation was investigated. A number of commercial samples were analyzed using this method. Besides the previously reported impurities, such as kanamycins B and C, two other impurities were separated, one of which is called kanamycin D. In total, eight components were separated.