Promoting Child Health

Acta Paediatrica was founded in 1921 by Isac Jundell, professor of paediatrics at the Karolinska Institute. The aim was to publish scientific articles in paediatrics originating from the Scandinavian countries. Since then, Acta Paediatrica has become a fully international journal, recruiting manuscript submissions and subscribers from all over the world. Threats to child health have changed over the years, and Acta Paediatrica has been in the forefront in pinpointing them. Some key articles that illustrate this endeavour, published in the early days of Acta Paediatrica, are worth highlighting. In the 1920s, du Rietz published an article on the relationship between high infant mortality and low family income. Subsequently, this paper received attention also by the political community, and during the 1930s, a number of social reforms were introduced to promote maternal and infant health care. Maternity and child care centres were established in all of Sweden. Since then, preventive care has been the hallmark of Scandinavian paediatrics. Arvid Wallgren, former chief editor of Acta Paediatrica 1950–1965, was a pioneer in the prevention of child tuberculosis. He introduced BCG vaccination in Sweden. A number of papers on the importance of detecting urinary infections in early life in order to prevent renal insufficiency in adulthood have been published in Acta Paediatrica. Breast feeding and its beneficial effects on child health have been promoted by Acta Paediatrica, which has probably contributed to the exceptionally high rate of breast feeding in Sweden and the other Nordic countries. A number of articles proving the ill effects of alcohol and smoking during pregnancy have also been published in Acta Paediatrica. The Nordic countries belong to the leading countries in the world with regard to the lowest infant mortality and the lowest child mortality. In the Nordic countries, as elsewhere, reduction of air, water and food pollution is very important in order to improve the environment for the children. Scandinavian neonatology has also introduced low, as alternative to more high technology approaches continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), early extubation, developmental care, (NIDCAP) and room air for resuscitation. Acta Paediatrica is proud to have been part of this development in the past, and is committed to continue to promote these areas in future. Subsequent to the change of publishers, from Taylor and Francis to Blackwell Publishing, some editorial reforms will be made: Regular articles will continue to constitute a major part of the journal. We will promote original scientific articles of general interest to paediatricians. The printed articles should be very short (maximum 4 pages), tables and figures can be published as Supplementary Material Online. A Science Writer has been commissioned to improve the articles. A Different View is a column where more speculative and provocative hypotheses can be presented. The column is edited by Dr. Alan Leviton at Harvard University. Clinical Observations generating new hypotheses have been welcome in Acta Paediatrica and also appreciated. A new format for case reports will be introduced. Interesting cases can be published as difficult diagnostic or therapeutic problems, with alternative possible diagnoses. The reader will be encouraged to solve the problem ‘Quest for the Diagnosis’—on another page the follow-up of the case will be presented. These articles, Quest for the Diagnosis, have been published in Acta Paediatrica since April 2006. Cases can also be presented as Clinical Overviews. Some illustrative cases followed by a flow diagram on how to treat these cases can be published. The purpose is mainly educational. The section with Review articles, Commentaries and Viewpoints will be expanded and we welcome all kinds of proposals from our readers. We also want to promote scientific training for paediatricians. We particularly welcome articles, which are intended to be included in academic theses. We also encourage publication of reviews based on academic theses. To promote this area, we will publish one article per issue under the heading Young Investigator. Under this heading, we want to publish original articles by young investigators intended to be included in academic theses in paediatrics. The first