title: Connecting the dots: developing a holistic picture of children's health.
abstract: Current definitions of child health transcend the historical biomedical model, which largely equated health with the absence of disease. Scientific evidence indicates that child health is best defined as the optimization of a child's developmental potential and functional capacity with interventions focused on maximizing protective factors and minimizing risk factors. This approach to child health recognizes the interplay among physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development and stresses the lifelong consequences of deficits in these developmental areas.
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002651:Child Advocacy; D002657:Child Development; D002662:Child Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D002669:Child Welfare; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care; D019033:Delivery of Health Care, Integrated / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003729:Dental Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D018479:Early Intervention, Educational; D005381:Financing, Organized; D018166:Health Care Reform; D006291:Health Policy; D006293:Health Promotion; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006694:Holistic Health; D006801:Humans; D007373:Interinstitutional Relations; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration; D010372:Pediatrics; D011050:Policy Making; D011314:Preventive Health Services; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012947:Social Work; D014481:United States