Editorial Policy

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is the world's largest publisher of pediatric content. HealthyChildren.org is the digital extension of the AAP mission to provide the most trustworthy health content to parents and caregivers at home, on the go, and from anywhere in the world.

With the goal of improved health literacy, HealthyChildren.org delivers thousands of pages of up-to-the-minute, authoritative content in English and Spanish, along with interactive tools, and customized content for registered users.

The articles found on HealthyChildren.org are produced and reviewed by subject-matter expert pediatrician members of the over 90 Committees, Councils and Sections of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) to ensure they are consistent with AAP guidelines, policy, health initiatives and standards of pediatric care. The HealthyChildren.org editorial staff works in partnership with these contributors and groups to determine new articles of interest, new site features and long-term goals.

The AAP makes every effort to maintain the accuracy of the information on its websites, including HealthyChildren.org. All content is reviewed on a regular basis to ensure all information is accurate, balanced, current and family friendly.

The HealthyChildren.org editorial staff makes every effort to be as neutral as possible with regard to sex, race, color, religion and age.

HealthyChildren.org content is translated into Spanish by trained translation professionals (agencies, individuals or any combination thereof) with proven experience translating medical and wellness content as well as with expertise in writing online consumer content. We strive to use a more "universal" Spanish, selecting terms that the majority of Spanish speakers will understand, avoiding local terminology and maintaining the integrity of the Spanish language whenever possible.

Translated articles are also reviewed by our in-house Spanish editor and Spanish-speaking AAP-member pediatricians to ensure clinical and medical information has been correctly translated and is culturally relevant.

The AAP's wide variety of Committees, Councils and Sections are made up of members with expertise and interest in specialized areas of pediatrics. These groups and contributors help develop many of the AAP policies and programs as well as present educational programs for pediatricians in order to highlight current research and practical knowledge in their respective specialties. All content and features on HealthyChildren.org are reviewed by these members.

AAP members who may have a conflict of interest due to their hospital or workplace affiliation or due to another interest, professional or personal, in reviewing a given article are not permitted to review such content.

External websites and resources linked on HealthyChildren.org have been recommended and approved by subject-matter experts at the AAP. Organizations and individuals outside of the AAP are welcome to submit external websites and resources to us for consideration and review. Detailed information on the hyperlinks to third party websites found on HealthyChildren.org can be found in our Terms of Use.

The AAP is a not-for-profit Illinois corporation organized for scientific and educational purposes, exempt from income tax under Section 501(c) (3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. The AAP has been classified as an organization that is not a private foundation as defined in Section 509(a) of the Internal Revenue Code.

This website is owned, operated, and primarily funded by the American Academy of Pediatrics (collectively "AAP," "we," or "us"). Sponsorship acknowledgement may appear on HealthyChildren.org and may indicate that additional funding or other support was received to offset the cost of operating the site. Any such sponsorships are denoted as such, and are separate from editorial content and do not influence the content in any way.

Click here for information about sponsorship opportunities on HealthyChildren.org.

Feedback: We are pleased to hear from our visitors and members. Please send comments and questions about HealthyChildren.org or our Editorial Policy via e-mail to info@healthychildren.org. Please note the AAP does not have practicing pediatricians on staff to respond to parental requests regarding individual medical conditions, or questions about the AAP's policies and statements. Your best resource for this information is your pediatrician. If you do not have a pediatrician, you may search for one using our "Find a Pediatrician" tool or you may contact the physician referral service at your local hospital or county medical society. You may also search the AAP's current policy statements by keyword at https://www.aap.org/en/policy/. If the AAP has any policy statements regarding your concerns, you will find them there.

Updates to This Policy: HealthyChildren.org editorial staff will review this policy frequently and revise it periodically. If we make changes to this policy, we will post the updated policy here. This policy's effective date will be identified at the bottom of the page.