Social Consequences of Children's Diseases, 1983

Common children's diseases (primarily infections of the respiratory passage) is one of the largest health problems for families with small children. This is due particularly to the frequency of these diseases and to problems as regards child-minding when the children are ill for families where both parents work outside the home. The purposes of the project are to map out the incidence of children's diseases and their consequences for families with small children, to characterize particularly afflicted families and children with recurring diseases, and to analyse the health-related behaviour and wishes of the parents regarding child-minding in connection with these diseases. The aim is to provide exact documentation of the magnitude of children's diseases as a social problem. The basic epidemiological information is important in order to begin the implementation of an applied preventive and health pedagogical effort. The survey was carried out as a postal questionnaire survey comprising a random selection of parents with children aged 10 months, 2 years, and 4 years