Pediatria pre prax 3/2015

Racial and ethnic aspects in pediatrics

In general terms, the article highlights the fact that racial and ethnic origin can be linked to genetically determined health risks (or benefits). Contemporary genetics can identify a number of these predispositions and thus contribute to timely diagnosis, treatment, and better prognosis of some conditions. The children’s health status can also be affected by ethnically bound traditions and customs in treating and bringing up children in families; these are studied and utilized by ethnopediatrics. Moreover, pediatricians should be prepared for the situation when children of certain ethnic backgrounds can present with conditions not common in our population and when anthropometric and developmental parameters of children may not always correspond to "Czech" standards. In spite of these facts and the increasing immigration to the Czech Republic by people of various races and ethnic backgrounds, the Czech pediatrics is handicapped in this area by a society-wide suspicious or even negativistic attitude towards racial and ethnic issues and, in particular, towards ethnic identification. A debate of the pediatric community and the attitude of the bodies of the Czech Pediatric Society could contribute to a shift in the perception of this issue.

Keywords: racial and ethnic aspects in pediatrics, genetics, ethnopediatrics, conditions linked to ethnic origin.