Behavioral pediatrics: its past and its future

What can one predict about the future of behavioral pediatrics? How can its present academic status be enhanced? What anticipatory guidance can be offered to behavioral pediatrics fellows? The evolution of ambulatory pediatrics and adolescent medicine as academic disciplines offers a historical perspective that helps answer these questions. The similarities between these sister disciplines and behavioral pediatrics are identified along with the principles that guided their development. Likewise, promoting factors and potential future initiatives for behavioral pediatrics are presented. A checklist of career success predictors is included. The establishment of Sections of Personal Health Promotion in departments of pediatrics is suggested as a means to augment the creativity, resources, and critical mass available to Sections of Behavioral Pediatrics.