Folk remedies and child abuse: A review with emphasis on caida de mollera and its relationship to shaken baby syndrome

Physical Discipline and Children's Adjustment: Cultural Normativeness as a Moderator

“…In the anthropology literature, there are many examples of parental behaviors that appear to have no detrimental effects on children's adjustment, despite the perception in other cultural contexts that these behaviors would be harmful to children. For instance, folk remedies for a variety of medical symptoms sometimes involve parenting practices that leave burns or other marks but that are intended, within certain cultural contexts, to facilitate children's recovery from illness (e.g., Hansen, 1997;Risser & Mazur, 1995). It appears that such behaviors become problematic only when parents engage in them outside of their normative context, such as when they immigrate to the United States and their practices conflict with American definitions of child abuse or neglect (see Levesque, 2000).…”

The Use of Folk Remedies Among Children in an Urban Black Community: Remedies for Fever, Colic, and Teething

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] Because of this and the possible impact on medical care, health beliefs and traditions should be considered during the treatment of children. Historically, folk remedy use has been associated with a lack of access to health care because of a shortage of physicians, language or cultural barriers, socioeconomic status, or mistrust of physicians.…”

“…3,4,7,8 These and other reports documented that families tend to combine folk remedies with modern medicine to maintain good health and to treat acute and chronic illnesses. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]11,13 One of us (L.C.S. ), while a member of a pediatric group practice in Detroit, observed that folk remedies were commonly used for children before parents sought the care of a physician.…”

Medical Relief Trips...What’s Missing? Exploring Ethical Issues and the Physician-Patient Relationship

“…It is all the more relevant for physicians working in foreign countries to understand the cultural factors that influence how illness and medicine are perceived. For instance, in Hispanic cultures, caida de mollera (sunken fontanelle), presumed to be caused by the sudden release of the nipple from the baby's mouth during feeding, is traditionally treated by holding the baby upside-down and dipping its head in a pan of water or tapping the feet several times (Hansen, 1997). These treatments, which are gently performed, have been misunderstood to be a form of child abuse by physicians unfamiliar with the practice.…”