Press Release by University of Michigan, C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital
11 October 2010
Parents rate research on environmental effects, childhood diseases, and causes of childhood injuries less important.
Each year, hundreds of millions of public and private dollars are spent on medical research to improve the health of children – yet parents have little input regarding how those dollars should be spent.
A poll released by the C.S. Mott Children’s National Poll on Children’s Health shows that nearly 9 in 10 parents rank vaccine safety, and the effectiveness and safety of medicines, as the most important topics in children’s health research today.
The poll, which asked 1,621 parents age 18 and older in August 2010 to rate the importance of different types of medical research for children’s health, found that parents rated the topics as follows:
1. Vaccine safety – 89%
2. Medication safety and effectiveness – 88%
3. Things in the environment that could lead to health issues – 72%
4. Foods that might protect against cancer – 67%
5. New treatments for rare childhood diseases – 66%
6. Cancer causing foods – 64%
7. New treatments for common childhood illnesses – 64%
8. Leading causes of injuries – 46%
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