Public Health

Look down a shopping aisle and you will find that labels on household and personal care products list a litany of chemical ingredients. Consumers who prefer less industrial alternatives can choose “green” or “natural” products that claim to be chemical free, but what actually goes into them is often unclear.

A 2012 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates the number of U.S. children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) at approximately 1 million. This represents a significant increase from estimates just a few years earlier.

The dramatic variation of health care costs across the United States was one of the important factors behind the U.S. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, passed by the U.S. Congress and signed by President Obama in 2010. Moreover, research programs such as the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care project have documented how higher costs do not necessarily result in better patient outcomes.

A tension exists between adults’ natural desire to keep children safe and the apparently natural need for children to develop their risk-taking abilities by engaging in adventurous play. The first step towards determining what is the appropriate level of risk for children is to categorize the various types play in which they engage.