MDNews - Greater Kansas

G R E G G O R Y VA N S I C K L E , MD, ha s played an active role in nurturing the Topeka area's youngest residents since beginning a practice in the community more than 35 years ago. "In my medica l tra ining, children were t he mos t rew a rd i n g a nd f u n patients that I'd ever seen," he says. "That 's how I made my decision to go into pediatrics." Dr. Van Sickle arrived in Topeka as a solo practitioner in 1980, and a practice merge a few years later paved the way for the forma l creation of Pediatric Associates in 1988. W hile some elements of pediatric practice have rema i ned consistent throughout the yea rs, Dr. Va n Sickle says the decline of one major ty pe of epidemic and the rise of another predict the conditions all other specialists will see in the years to come. " The biggest cha nge — one sing le, h u g e c h a n g e i n m y p r o f e s s i o n a l l i fet i me — h a s been t he decl i ne i n vaccine-preventable diseases," Dr. Van Sickle says, adding that he trained in an era of spinal meningitis and widespread fea r of bacteria l disea ses. "A lso, we used to admit ma ny, ma ny kids a yea r with vomiting a nd dehydration from rotavirus. A ll of this has dra matica lly decrea sed w it h t he development of appropriate vaccines. "I tell people if there's any advantage to getting older, it's that I've seen virtu- a lly every disease that these vaccines prevent," Dr. Van Sickle says. "As these diseases recede into the background, people begin to think they don't exist. Very few diseases have been eradicated, but t hese ot her d isea ses, g iven t he oppor tunity, could still be a mong us without vaccination." However, a new epidemic — child- hood obesity — is now one of the biggest cha llenges pediatricians face. "Increasing incidence of obesity is a new pediatric problem, which has turned into a whole plethora of adult problems as well," Dr. Van Sickle says. "Quite clearly, we're seeing much, much more obesity now than when I finished my training in the late 1970s and early 80s. From that time to now, obesity has really reached epidemic proportions, with obesity tri- pling among children and quadrupling among adolescents." One of the f lummoxing cha llenges of the childhood obesity epidemic is that pediatricians know what is needed to prevent it. The difficulty is helping patients and their parents implement the advice into everyday life. " The ex per ts a re now say ing that a lmost a ll obesity is due to sedentar y lifestyle, an inta ke of ca lories beyond what the body needs, or both," Dr. Van Sick le says. " You tr y to f ig ure out if there's any thing you can change, and it's frustrating because you're ta lking about lifestyle changes." B u t a d d r e s s i n g t h i s i s s u e i s critica l for the physicia ns who play a formative role in the health of up-and- coming generations. "We're in the unique position of trying to prevent over weight children from becoming overweight adults," Dr. Van Sickle says. To do so, they encourage at least one hour a day of vigorous physica l activ- ity for each member of the fa mily, as well as reducing sweetened beverages and increasing consumption of fruits, vegetables and whole grains. In the past couple of decades, Dr. Van Sickle says, screen time has become more promi- nent, and he says children should spend fewer tha n t wo hours a day in front of screens, unless that time is clearly associated with academics. "These are things that we encourage, and ultimately I think everyone realizes this has to be a n a ffa ir for the entire family to get involved in," he says. n Vaccines, Obesity Have Changed Pediatric Practice During Dr. Van Sickle's Career THE TOPEK A PHYSICIAN HA S DE VOTED MORE THAN THREE DECADES TO THE HE ALTH OF UP-AND-COMING GENER ATIONS. BY SARAH GOODING Greggory Van Sickle, MD M D N E W S .C O M /// M D N E W S G R E AT E R K A N S A S ■ 2 017 D R . D R O P - I N ❰❰❰❰❰ 0 5

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