Pediatric Specialty Group

Promoting Children's Bone and Joint Health

The United States Bone and Joint Initiative (USBJI) Pediatric Specialty Group's goal is to identify the primary areas of concern with regard to children's musculoskeletal health, including those that relate to other health issues, and to develop programs and activities through research, education and advocacy that will promote their improved health, and reduce the burden of disease.

• World Pediatric Bone and Joint (PB&J) Day, features educational stories on important bone and joint-related conditions about which kids, adolescents and their parents should be aware.

• Every year too many children are injured severely by lawn mowers. Power mowers can be especially dangerous, with children getting caught under them, and as the victims of projectiles fired from the blades with the force of a bullet. However, most lawn mower-related injuries can be prevented by following safety guidelines. The USBJI Pediatric Specialty Group is especially concerned with this issue and has assembled a number of lawn mower use safety tips and downloadable resources.
• Case Statement on The Effects of Obesity on Musculoskeletal Health in Children. A Symposium on the effects of obesity on musculoskeletal health was published in the scientific journal Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research.
• The Value in Musculoskeletal Care: The Summary and Recommendations which resulted from this Summit, held Oct. 2011, and at which pediatric societies were well represented can be viewed here, along with a full report on the meeting and Action Plan based on the Recommendations.
• The Burden of Musculoskeletal Diseases in the United States: Prevalence, Societal and Economic Cost (BMUS): This essential resource for researchers and for advocacy is available at www.boneandjointburden.org. The publication includes chapters on scoliosis, arthritis, injuries, children and adolescents, and neoplasms.
• PB&J (Protect Your Bones and Joints): This free public education program is aimed at improving the knowledge of teens and young adults about musculoskeletal disorders and to encourage them to learn about prevention activities. The Pediatric Specialty Group has developed content on the effects of obesity for the program. 
• Bone and Joint Action Week is held October 12-20 with activities focused on disorders including arthritis, back pain, osteoporosis and trauma. The Pediatric Specialty Group is the founder of World Pediatric Bone and Joint (PB&J) Day celebrated every year on October 19. Each year the group addresses a topic and develops an educational story on the importance of bone and joint-related conditions about which kids, adolescents and their parents should be aware. National Action Week information click here.
• Ponseti International Association (PIA)(Clubfoot): PIA is the global leader in training and educating physicians and other healthcare providers on a non-invasive treatment for congenital clubfoot. Clubfoot is the single-most crippling musculoskeletal birth defect in the world. The Ponseti Method is a non-surgical approach to treatment of clubfoot. To learn more about clubfoot, preferred providers and support groups, link to the Ponseti International Association website.
• Young Investigators Initiative - A career development and grant mentoring program: Many pediatricians and other researchers studying pediatric musculoskeletal questions have become participants in this highly successful program. To learn more about how to apply, visit our Young Investigators Initiative page.
• Pediatric Specialty Strategic Planning Group: This group was tasked with identifying the areas of greatest need in the coming years. The priority areas the group identified are published as an Executive Summary, and in full, as part of the Program Book for the Bone and Joint Global Network Conference in 2009 (see pages 59-61, and 91-108), and published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, September, 2013. http://jbjs.org/content/95/17/e125.
• Pediatric Specialty Group Member List.