Michael L. Weitzman, MD

Our research is aimed understanding and integrate the diverse factors in our society that enhance or impede the development and wellness of children. We recognize that while quality health care is an essential element of children's wellness, it is only an element. Ensuring wellness for all our children requires that we adopt a much broader framework. In particular, we are most concerned about the new epidemic of alternative tobacco products, parental depression and child health; and obesity comorbidities. We examine the interaction between the child and his or her environments and communities primarily through secondary analysis of large, national datasets such as the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, the National Health Interview Survey, the Community Tracking Survey of the General Population, the State Inpatient Database, the Health Care Cost and Utilization Project, and the National Survey of Child Abuse and Welfare. In addition MUCH of the work on hookahs involves primary data collection in the US and abroad.