BOSTON—Children and adolescent use of complementary or alternative medicines (CAM) reflects parents' behavior, according to Harvard Medical School researchers. HeathDay reported the researchers found almost 12 percent of children and adolescents in the United States use CAM, and children were more likely to use them if their parents did.
They also found CAM use was more common among adolescents, children who live in the West and those that used prescription medications. Most kids who used CAM had chronic conditions as anxiety, stress, musculoskeletal conditions, skin conditions and sinusitis, the study reported. In addition, 66 percent children with cancer said they use some type of CAM.
The report will be published in the February 2010 issue of Pediatrics and was based on information collected in 2007 as part of the U.S. government-funded National Health Interview Survey. It included data on 9,417 children younger than 18 years of age. The survey excluded vitamins and minerals and focused on other remedies, such as homeopathic and herbal treatments.