What Do Parents Think
About the Vaccines?
Ilya Burdman, who works in cybersecurity,
recalls how his parents suffered from COVID-
19 during the summer of 2020, before the
vaccine was available.

“They had to go through two weeks of
pretty much not being able to get up. They
had difficulty breathing, and I don’t want that
experience for my children,” he says. “It’s
something I would try to prevent as much
as possible.

“The vaccine is very important to have,” he
adds. “It’s extremely safe, and I think COVID
will not be going away anytime soon.”
Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have
been linked in rare cases, particularly among
young men, to myocarditis, a condition that
causes an inflammation of the heart muscle.

However, concern about this side effect could be
reduced by the lower doses that children would
receive of the Pfizer vaccine. In Pfizer’s trials,
the smaller doses produced similar antibody
responses to those seen in a study of 16- to
25-year-old individuals who received full doses.

Some parents worry about the relatively
small size of the trials and about a lack of
long-term data on the safety of the shots. In
general, parents tend to be skeptical of new
“I am at the point
where my kids’
mental well-being
has to take priority.”
—Jacqueline Renfrow
vaccines. For example, while
the varicella vaccine, which
protects against chicken
pox, was highly effective and
showed few side effects, parents
were hesitant to adopt it once the
FDA approved it in 1995, with only
one-third of eligible adolescents fully
immunized by 2008.

Sharone Lerner Cheskis says her 13-year-
old son, then 12, was among the first to get the
vaccine when it was approved for his age group.

“He was bouncing off the walls excited,” she
says. “It’s really made us feel more comfortable.

He’s around a lot of other kids, so it’s important
for us that he has that layer of protection.

“For our younger son,” who’s 9, “we’re going
to do the exact same thing,” she adds. “Both
my boys play sports. They’re in public school—
we’re just around a lot of people.”
Cheskis is a speech-language pathologist at
Prince George’s County Public Schools. She
says that the pandemic has been hard for many
of the kids that she sees since it has prevented
them from talking with people outside of
their families.

“There’s been a certain amount of drop in
skill,” she says, adding that the vaccine would
help “kids to get back to closer to where they
were” before COVID-19.

Lucy Leibowitz, a pediatric psychologist,
says it is “too soon” to say how the pandemic
overall will impact children in the long term, as
“we are still very much in it.”
She plans to vaccinate her 7-year-old child
as soon as she can, which would bring“peaceof
mind” when visiting family. However, her
4-year-old child would remain ineligible.

30 Washington FAMILY NOVEMBER 2021
“It would probably be similar to how things
were when my husband and I got vaccinated,”
she says. “It’s not drastically going to change
what we’re doing.”
However, Leibowitz says, changing public
health guidelines and conditions can be
confusing for kids.

“I took off my mask while talking to one
of my kiddo’s friend’s parents at an outdoor
playdate, and my 7-year-old said, ‘Mom, put
your mask back on,’” she says, “I explained, ‘We
are both vaccinated. We are outside, and I made
the determination that this is safe.’”
As the pandemic ebbs and flows and as
vaccines and more information become
available, Leibowitz advises parents to be open
with their children about their decisions about
participating in certain activities.

“Rather than just saying, ‘You have to do
this,’” she says, “explain the reasons why you
do this in kid-appropriate language.” n
Mid-Atlantic Media staff writer Ben Kahn
contributed to this article. This story originally
appeared in the Washington Jewish Week.

MOTHER/DAUGHTER: KATE_SEPT2004; BOYS: FLUXFACTORY/E+
with the idea of their children getting
vaccinated. In
mid-September, around when schools reopened and
hospitalizations and deaths soared
due to the highly contagious
delta variant, the Kaiser Family
Foundation conducted a
nationally representative
survey. Thirty-four percent of
parents interviewed say they
would have their children
ages 5 to 11 vaccinated as
soon as possible, up from
26% in July.

For Rockville
resident Jacqueline Renfrow, whose three
children are younger than 12, the
vaccine cannot come quickly enough,
“I am at the point where my kids’ mental
well-being has to take priority,” she says.

“Watching them over the course of almost
two years—they were not themselves—it was
hard to watch.”
The mental and emotional toll isolation was
taking on her children eventually reached a
tipping point. Renfrow sends her kids to after-
school activities—in-person and masked-up.

“I just cannot worry every minute about
them, so I throw a mask on them and take the
proper precautions,” she says. “They cannot
stay inside forever.”



HEALTHY FAMILY
Adolescent Diabetes Is On the Rise
Here’s What Parents Should Know
I BY MEGAN CONWAY
Newton points out that even prior to the
pandemic, the number of Type 2 diabetes in the
under-20 U.S. population was increasing at an
alarming rate (2). The University of Maryland
Medical Center noted a “statistically significant
increase in … children and adolescents less
than 20 years of age newly diagnosed with
diabetes (over the last year),” with most of this
increase driven by an increase in the rate of
Type 2 diabetes.

n recent years, health experts have noted
rising rates of diabetes, both among the
general population and in adolescents.

We spoke with Dr. Paula G. Newton,
director of pediatric endocrinology at the
University of Maryland Center for Diabetes and
Endocrinology, and Dr. Brynn Marks, pediatric
endocrinologist at Children’s National Hospital,
to find out more adolescent diabetes.

MARKHATFIELD/ISTOCK/GETTY IMAGES PLUS
Overview Two types of diabetes exist: Type 1 and Type
2. According to Newton, “Type 1 diabetes is an
autoimmune condition where your immune
system—which is supposed to fight germs,
bacteria and things that make you sick—
instead starts attacking (your pancreas). Your
pancreas can no longer make insulin.” As a
result, an individual’s blood sugar increases.

To address this increase, a person must treat
this condition with insulin.

Marks adds, “While the exact cause of Type
1 diabetes is unknown, viral infections are
thought to be a possible trigger in genetically
susceptible individuals.” This disease, she
explains, develops in stages.

Newton reports, “Type 2 diabetes is more
related to weight, exercise and diet. When
people are diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes,
often their pancreas can still make insulin—and
often makes an increased amount of insulin—
but it is still not enough to keep … blood sugars
in the normal range.” This type of diabetes,
Newton says, is usually initially treated with
insulin. However, “as the blood sugars improve
and (patients) make lifestyle changes, many can
decrease the amount of insulin required and can
utilize more oral medications.”
Risk factors and health
consequences Risk factors for diabetes depends on the type.

Newton points out that those with Type 1
diabetes have a greater likelihood of having
a family member with other autoimmune
conditions. People with Type 2 diabetes are
more likely to have a parent or close member
of the family with insulin resistance or Type
2 diabetes.

In addition, Newton says, “The risk of Type
2 diabetes (differs with) race and ethnicity,
with American Indians, African Americans and
Latinx (individuals) being most at risk.”
Age also contributes to risk. “Type 2 diabetes
is more common in people over age 10 and
those … in puberty as compared to younger
children.” Finally, a major Type 2 diabetes risk
factor is lifestyle. Weight gain, lack of exercise
and eating high-calorie and high-fat foods in
large amounts are contributing factors.

Newton further explains, “Adolescents with
Type 2 diabetes are at increased risk for other
metabolic conditions such as high cholesterol
and high blood pressure,” and “complications
of persistent high blood sugars such as visual
impairment, kidney disease and neuropathy
(numbness, weakness and pain in the feet
and legs).”
Current trends
Prevention and screening
The Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention reports no current known cure
for Type 1 diabetes, but Marks notes, “With
insulin therapy and recent developments in
Type 1 diabetes technologies, we are able to
successfully treat Type 1 diabetes and people
can live near normal lives.”
Several lifestyle changes can help individuals
prevent Type 2 diabetes. Marks advises, “Staying
active and eating a healthy, well-balanced diet
can help to maintain normal glucose values.”
Newton recommends that the family
contribute to meal planning that includes
choosing fruits and vegetables in lieu of high-
calorie, high-fat foods. Sleep is important, and
Newton reports that a consistent eight to 10
hours a night is optimal for children in school.

Parents should look out for potential
concerning signs of diabetes, says Newton,
which include, “increased thirst, increased
urination, bedwetting in a previously dry child,
sudden unexplained weight loss and gastroin-
testinal symptoms such as persistent vomiting.”
If parents notice these symptoms, Newton sug-
gests first contacting your child’s pediatrician.

If screening indicates a concern for diabetes or
pre-diabetes, your child will be referred to a pedi-
atric endocrinologist for further treatment. n
According to Newton, one in 400 people
younger than age 20 have Type 1 diabetes.

“The incidence in minority populations
(African American and Latinx communities)
has shown a slight increase over the past
several years,” Newton says.

“At Children’s National, we saw an increase
in both cases of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes
over the last three years,” notes Marks (1).

Current research from her organization does Sources:
not suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic (1) Marks et al, Horm Res Paediatr, 2021, https://
caused the increase in cases of Type 1 diabetes.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34564073/ However, “as a viral infection may precede (2) “Youth-Onset Type 2 Diabetes Consensus Report:
the development of Type 1 diabetes by years,
Current Status, Challenges and Priorities,” Kristen J.

we will need to watch trends in the number of
Nadeau et al, Diabetes Care, Sept. 2016, 39(9), 1635-
cases for years to come in order to fully answer
1642, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27486237/
this question.”
DOI: 10.2337/dc16-1066
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