{"id":5581,"date":"2016-09-07T10:08:47","date_gmt":"2016-09-07T00:08:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/?p=5581"},"modified":"2016-09-07T10:52:35","modified_gmt":"2016-09-07T00:52:35","slug":"over-the-counter-medicines-what-parents-use-and-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/over-the-counter-medicines-what-parents-use-and-why\/","title":{"rendered":"Over-the-counter medicines: What parents use and why"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ACHP<\/a><\/p>\n

Australian parents are spending millions of dollars a year on cough and cold medicines that could harm young children, the latest Australian Child Health Poll has found.<\/p>\n

The fourth poll reveals that Aussie parents are spending an estimated $67 million annually on cough and cold medicines for children aged under 15-years.<\/p>\n

And a third of children aged under six-years receive over-the-counter cough and cold medicines, a product group that the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) warns could harm children of this age.<\/p>\n

Director of the poll, paediatrician Dr Anthea Rhodes said: \u201cWe all struggle to cope with our kids\u2019 coughs and colds over winter, but for young children these medicines are known to be ineffective, and in some cases potentially harmful.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s particularly disturbing is that among parents who are giving these products to their young children, 74 per cent do so on the advice of a pharmacist, and 64 per cent on the advice of a doctor,\u201d Dr Rhodes said.<\/p>\n

Other findings from the poll show that:\"ACHP<\/a><\/p>\n