ABSTRACT
Over the last several decades the practice of pediatrics has changed radically—so much so that pediatricians often describe their specialty today as the "new pediatrics", or refer to the problems they treat as "new morbidity" in pediatrics. What makes this new pediatrics "new" is its shift away from physical problems of children, which once dominated pediatrics, to problems of a nonphysical nature. The "new pediatrics" oversees not only children's physical growth and development, but their emotional, psychological, social, and even, as some pediatricians have interpreted it, their spiritual well-being. Another feature of new pediatrics is its concern with adolescents. Adolescent health care has its own distinctive problems: acne, sports injuries, and gynecological needs of young women. There are parallels between pediatricians who transformed the mission of pediatrics and organizations and social movements that have transformed themselves. The Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (FIP) was established to raise funds to support research into infantile paralysis and to assist victims of disease.
