Hiram E. Fitzgerald

Infancy and Culture: An International Review and Source Book provides a cross-indexed, annotated guide to social and behavioral studies of infants of color. Derived from five major data bases of published scientific literature, this volume was designed to elevate the scientific study of infants of color to a level reflecting their majority status in the world's population. While the vast majority of the world's infants are infants of color, a scan of 175 journals only resulted in 386 studies. This crisply underscores the need to intensify studies of cross-culture and within-culture variability, in order to broaden our understanding of the cultural impact on social and behavioral development during the first few years of human life. Infancy and Culture takes a small step in that direction by cataloging the extant literature by geographic region, and by cross-indexing it by topical content. Citations are numbered consecutively throughout the text and both author and subject indexes are pegged to the citation number, not to page numbers, thereby facilitating one's search for all published literature related to a particular topic. Finally, the editors provide a brief summary of the research for each chapter in the volume.

Infancy and Culture: An International Review and Source Book provides a cross-indexed, annotated guide to social and behavioral studies of infants of color. Derived from five major data bases of published scientific literature, this volume was designed to elevate the scientific study of infants of color to a level reflecting their majority status in the world's population. While the vast majority of the world's infants are infants of color, a scan of 175 journals only resulted in 386 studies. This crisply underscores the need to intensify studies of cross-culture and within-culture variability, in order to broaden our understanding of the cultural impact on social and behavioral development during the first few years of human life. Infancy and Culture takes a small step in that direction by cataloging the extant literature by geographic region, and by cross-indexing it by topical content. Citations are numbered consecutively throughout the text and both author and subject indexes are pegged to the citation number, not to page numbers, thereby facilitating one's search for all published literature related to a particular topic. Finally, the editors provide a brief summary of the research for each chapter in the volume.

Childhood obesity is one of the most serious public health challenges of the 21st century. Overweight and obese children are likely to stay obese into adulthood and more likely to develop non communicable diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular diseases at a younger age. It can be a risk factor for developing sleep apnea, asthma, hormonal imbalances, and pcos in later life. Overweight and obesity, as well as their related diseases, are largely preventable. Prevention of childhood obesity therefore needs high priority.

Integrating infant mental health services into early education programs leads to better child outcomes and stronger parent–child relationships—the big question is how to do it appropriately and effectively. Clear answers are in this accessible textbook, created to prepare early childhood professionals and programs to weave best practices in mental health into their everyday work. Ideal for preservice university courses, in-service professional development, and program administrators, this introductory text combines the authoritative guidance of more than a dozen respected mental health and early childhood experts. Professionals will get a primer on infant mental health, strengthening their knowledge of key issues such as screening and assessment, attachment, emotional dysregulation and aggression, risk and resilience, maternal depression, and children's exposure to trauma. Then they'll get practical, research-based guidance they can use to-recognize indicators of mental health problems in very young children, including emotional dysregulation and behavioral and developmental changes-promote parents' and caregivers' mental health through direct and indirect supports, including regular mental health screening, community partnerships with mental health providers, and parent education-build on child and family strengths and mitigate risk factors such as poverty and violence-strengthen parent–child relationships and interactions through play and effective caregiving routines-maintain their own mental health, building positive relationships with co-workers and reducing the effects of compassion fatigue and secondary stress-participate in reflective supervision to sharpen their ability to think critically and solve problems-conduct sound program evaluation that includes the input of families, staff, and the surrounding culture and community work effectively with outside mental health consultants when child and family needs extend beyond the program's scopeWith this highly readable introduction to key mental health principles, the next generation of early childhood professionals will fully understand the latest research and best practice—so they can support optimal caregiver-child relationships, enhance professional collaboration, and strengthen child development.

By the year 2050, the population of the United States is projected to be approximately half white and half non-white. Yet the knowledge of child development within ethnic minority groups lags markedly behind knowledge of child development for white Americans, and it is increasingly clear that the rich diversity within minority groups is masked by studies focusing on between-group comparisons. Children of Color: Research, Health, and Public Policy Issues , a collection of original essays, brings together researchers from the fields of education, family and child ecology, nursing, psychology, sociology, pediatrics, anthropology, and social work to explore the rich cultural, familial, and individual diversity of all ethnic minority groups. The essays were generated by round table discussions sponsored by the Society for Research in Child Development and the Irving Harris Foundation, and they cover a broad range of topics including immigration policy, social policy, health status of immigrant infants, children and families, and educational policies related to minority children.