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Study: Doctors Advice May Fall On Deaf Ears

ANN ARBOR (WWJ) - Do you follow the advice from your child's pediatrician?

According to a new poll by the University of Michigan, thirteen percent of parents rarely heed tips they receive from their children's provider when it comes to things such as eating and sleeping habits.

Lead Researcher Sarah Clark says one of the reasons is that parents don't always understand the doctor's tip.

"It's not so much imparting the knowledge as it is explaining on an everyday basis how to put some of these tips into practice," said Clark. "You know, we can't let parents off the hook either - parents need to acknowledge when there is something either they don't understand or they don't agree with."

She notes that another reason some parents don't follow the physician's advice is they may be getting conflicting information on issues; such as SIDS.

SIDS, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, is closely linked to child sleep position, infant sleep position. So that advice from the child's provider to put the infant to sleep on his or her back becomes really important, because it directly links into that child's risk of SIDS.

"The advice you get from your child's doctor might be a little different from what the child's grandma says to do because things have changed a little bit over the generations," Clark said.

She said in some cases, parents can't follow through with some of the doctor's advice because they may not have the means to do so.

Clark says a discussion between doctors and parents could help the mother or father better understand why the provider is making that recommendation.

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