Selected by the editors of Contemporary Pediatrics as the most significant pediatric study of 1999. Also first printed in 1999, v 282, p1561-1567 JAMA

Objective: To estimate excess direct medical costs of low birth weight from maternal smoking and short-term cost savings from smoking cessation programs before or during the first trimester of pregnancy.

Methods: Simulations using data on neonatal costs per live birth. Outcome measures are mean US excess direct medical cost per live birth, total excess direct medical cost, reductions in low birth weight, and savings in medical costs from an annual 1 percentage point drop in smoking prevalence among pregnant women.

Results: Mean average excess direct medical cost per live birth for each pregnant smoker (in 1995 dollars) was $511; total cost was $263 million. An annual drop of 1 percentage point in smoking prevalence would prevent 1300 low birth weight live births and save $21 million in direct medical costs in the first year of the program; it would prevent 57,200 low birth weight infants and save $572 million in direct medical costs in 7 years.

Conclusions: Smoking cessation before the end of the first trimester produces significant cost savings from the prevention of low birth weight.

By the year 2050, the population of the United States is projected to be approximately half white and half non-white. Yet the knowledge of child development within ethnic minority groups lags markedly behind knowledge of child development for white Americans, and it is increasingly clear that the rich diversity within minority groups is masked by studies focusing on between-group comparisons. Children of Color: Research, Health, and Public Policy Issues, a collection of original essays, brings together researchers from the fields of education, family and child ecology, nursing, psychology, sociology, pediatrics, anthropology, and social work to explore the rich cultural, familial, and individual diversity of all ethnic minority groups. The essays were generated by round table discussions sponsored by the Society for Research in Child Development and the Irving Harris Foundation, and they cover a broad range of topics including immigration policy, social policy, health status of immigrant infants, children and families, and educational policies related to minority children.