We encourage you to contact us about any questions you have specific to your child's health. If you have questions about health information you find on the Internet, in magazines, etc., please share it with us.

Review our tips for evaluating health web sites and for asking health questions online.

Recommended pediatric web sites

General pediatric sites

  • Kids Health sponsored by the Nemours Foundation. Well-written articles for parents, and special areas for children and teens.
  • KidsGrowth. A 'filing cabinet' of resources and references for parents.
  • American Academy of Pediatrics. Free online information about safety, immunizations, and child development. You can also order books and videos about children's health written and endorsed by board-certified pediatricians.
  • Health Topics: Infants and Children at the Centers for Disease Control. Articles on common illnesses, development, and safety.
  • Children's Health Medical Library at medem.com. Articles on common children's health topics, written and approved by leading medical societies, such as the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association.
  • HealthFinder. Search patient health literature for specific topics of your interest.
  • MedlinePlus. Search lay health literature with the same tool physicians use to keep up-to-date in medical literature.

Immunization information

Behavior, developmental, and learning problems

Evaluating health web sites

Suzanne Berman, M.D.

The Internet has become a great tool for medical self-education and communication. Many families have been able to find out more about their child's new or chronic illness, and doctors are able to consult each other instantly, even across the world, about complex or unusual cases.

Unfortunately, much of what is available on the Internet is misleading, unreliable, or downright wrong. For a few dollars, anyone can anonymously register a web site and put up any kind of information. Learn to be critical of what you read on the Internet to distinguish useful information from trash.

While incorrect Web information about your favorite TV stars or sports figures may not lead to bad consequences, incorrect health information can be devastating. When you surf health care websites, consider the following:

  • Who wrote the article or page you're reading? To be more specific:
  • Where is his or her name? Each informational piece should have a by-line, either at the beginning of the article or as a signature at the bottom. Anonymous information could have come from anywhere - in fact, it could have been plagiarized if authorship isn't attributed.
  • What are his or her credentials? Doctors of Medicine (MD), doctors of osteopathy (DO), and doctors of dental surgery (DDS) list their titles after their names. Registered nurses (RN), especially pediatric nurse practioners (PNP), can be an excellent source of reliable information. Psychologists may have a MA, PhD, or PsyD degree from an accredited university. Make sure any person giving advice for the treatment of children has had some pediatric specialty training -- treatments for adults don't necessarily work for kids. Another good sign of reliability is a teaching or faculty appointment ("professor") at a reputable university or medical school. Journalists writing health care articles won't have any of these credentials, of course, but they should quote sources who do.
  • If necessary, can these be easily verified? Web sites with short biographies about their staff writers and contributors, and e-mail contact addresses, can provide this information.
  • Does the information concur with guidelines and recommendations of reliable health care provider organizations, like the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)?
  • A recent study (McClung et al, Pediatrics, 101:6 June 1998, p. e2) evaluated on-line advice for treating diarrhea in children. A total of 60 on-line articles were reviewed. However, only 12 (20%) agreed with current AAP recommendations. In fact, many articles which didn't agree with AAP guidelines were sponsored by major medical centers and universities.
  • Not all respected physicians or physician groups always agree 100%. If an individual or group has a dissenting viewpoint, justification for the alternative viewpoint should be listed.
  • When was the article or page written?
  • Does this information reflect current medical standards? Medicine, like all sciences, changes a great deal even within a year. A well written article that was state-of-the-art just 3-5 years ago (when many health web sites were first launched) might now be out-of-date.
  • Has it ever been updated? Good web sites have date-stamped pages that show when the content was last modified.
  • Who owns and pays for the site?
  • Is this a paid subscription service? If so, be certain you're getting your money's worth. Most good health care sites require you to register your name and email address, in order to track usage, but don't charge anything.
  • Is it paid for by advertising? Some advertisers sponsor web sites as a public service. Others may provide limited health information, in an attempt to get you to the site so you will buy their products.

If you can't answer these questions easily, we suggest looking elsewhere for health information. If you have any questions about anything you find on the Internet, we'd be happy to discuss them with you. Send us an e-mail or paper copy of the article, plus your questions or comments, and we can discuss them at your next office visit.

Asking health questions online

Suzanne Berman, M.D.

We urge you to be cautious about asking health questions online, including participating in online discussion groups on health topics. In addition to the caveats about visiting online health sites in general, remember the following:

  • People who respond to your questions or posts may or may not be health professionals and may give you misleading or erroneous advice.
  • Online "professional answerers" may put their names and credentials, but more often than not they have an anonymous alias. One website reports that the following individual is a board-certified pediatrician:

" 'I have been in private practice for 15 years, the emergency room for two years, and have served as the Assistant Surgeon General for the Medical Board for the State of Georgia.' writes Bessey52 in her profile."

While this is quite possibly true, there is no way of verifying the credentials for an eponym such as Bessey52.

  • Parents of children with chronic illnesses can be expert resources on caring for a child with that illness, but be wary of parents who claim they can diagnose or treat your child as well (especially when just based on your written description), or that you are treating your child incorrectly. Remember that many severe illnesses of children, such as leukemia, have different subtypes which are treated differently. A parent may share their child's treatment regimen with you, but it may not be right for your child.
  • Just as many pediatric diagnoses cannot be established over the phone but require an office visit, much personalized pediatric advice cannot be done over the Internet without first seeing the child.
  • Authorship is usually much more nebulous in online question-and-answer sessions than in published website articles. Some websites let you "ask the doctor" a question in a real-time chat room. Often, the identity and credentials of the doctor(s) are not disclosed.

As a service to you, established patients of Plateau Pediatrics can ask their own doctor questions on line.

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Last revised 5/28/06

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