Children’s Health (Pediatrics)

Children’s health covers babies, children and teenagers, from routine growth and immunisation through to conditions that look different in childhood than in adult life. Children are not small adults: their bodies handle medicines differently, and a young child cannot always tell you what is wrong. This page is written for a parent or guardian.

Conditions in this area

• Otitis, or ear infection: about 75 per cent of children have at least one before school, showing up as ear pain, pulling at an ear, or a child who is unsettled and feverish.
• Asthma: the airways narrow and become inflamed, causing cough, wheeze and breathlessness that is often worse at night or with running.
• Rotavirus: a gut infection bringing watery diarrhoea and vomiting in babies and toddlers, where the real risk is dehydration.
• Meningococcal disease and vaccination: uncommon but fast-moving, and the reason a fever with a stiff neck is an emergency.
• HPV and HPV vaccination: a very common virus linked to several cancers later in life, which is why the vaccine is offered in school programs.
• Eczema and atopic dermatitis: dry, itchy, inflamed skin affecting about 15 per cent of children in Canada, often disturbing the household’s sleep.
• ADHD: a neurodevelopmental condition affecting attention, impulsivity and activity, diagnosed in about 8.4 per cent of children and youth aged 1 to 17 in 2023.

What these conditions have in common

Several of these travel together. Eczema, asthma and allergy often appear in the same child and the same family, and treating one can make the others easier. Ear infections, rotavirus and meningococcal disease hit hardest in the first years of life, when the immune system is still learning and a small body loses fluid quickly. Poor sleep from eczema or untreated asthma can also look like the inattention of ADHD.

What links the whole list is a practical problem. Because medicines are developed and licensed in adults first, much of what is given to children has never been studied in children. The Canadian Paediatric Society reports that up to 80 per cent of medicines used in Canadian paediatric hospitals are prescribed off label. Clinicians work from the best evidence available, and paediatric research exists to replace that with proper evidence.

Treatment and management in Canada

Most children are looked after by a family doctor, nurse practitioner or paediatrician, using growth charts, milestones and examination rather than extensive testing. A team may discuss:

• Pain relief and watchful waiting for many ear infections, with antibiotics when a clinician judges them needed
• Inhaled medicines for asthma, with a written action plan and inhaler technique teaching
• Moisturisers and topical anti-inflammatory treatment for eczema, with allergy assessment
• Oral rehydration for gastroenteritis, and hospital care if a child is dehydrated
• Routine immunisation, following your province or territory’s schedule
• Behavioural support, school accommodations and, in some cases, medicines for ADHD

Children’s needs change as they grow, so what worked at two may not fit at eight. These are decisions for you and your child’s own clinician.

When to talk to a doctor

• Trouble breathing, grunting, blue or grey lips, a rash like small bruises that does not fade when pressed, a stiff neck, a seizure, or a child who is very hard to wake needs emergency care. Call 911.
• Any fever in a baby under three months old needs same-day assessment.
• Dehydration, including far fewer wet nappies, no tears, a dry mouth or unusual drowsiness, needs same-day assessment.
• Ear pain with high fever, or fluid from the ear, needs same-day assessment.
• Concerns about growth, hearing, speech, learning or behaviour are worth an appointment, since support works better started early.
• Trust your judgement. If your child seems different in a way you cannot explain, seek advice.

Why research in this area matters

Paediatric research often has to establish in children what is already known in adults: the right form of a medicine, the right amount for a child’s size, and how children respond over years rather than weeks. Trials in Canada also test vaccines in children, compare asthma and eczema treatments, and look at school-based programs for ADHD.

Research involving children in Canada follows the Tri-Council Policy Statement on research ethics. A parent or legal guardian gives consent, and where a child has some ability to understand what the research involves, the researcher must find out the child’s own wishes: a child’s refusal means they do not take part. Every study is reviewed by a research ethics board, participation is voluntary, and you can withdraw your child at any time without affecting their regular care. No one can say in advance whether a study will help a child.

Learn more from Canadian sources

• Caring for Kids, Canadian Paediatric Society
• AboutKidsHealth, The Hospital for Sick Children
• Immunize Canada
• Provincial and territorial immunization information
• TCPS 2: consent in research involving children