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Once or twice during each of the past three decades we have been presented with the results of studies concerning the content of well child visits.1-6 These studies have analyzed the amount of time physicians spend in the several components of such visits and have shown that very little attention is given to discussion of child behavior and development or to the provision of anticipatory guidance and assurance to the mother. The most recent of these studies, by Reisinger and Bires in this issue of Pediatrics (p 889),6 is perhaps the most discouraging to those who advocate periodic well child visits as a mechanism for providing support and guidance to mothers in child rearing and as a means for preventing emotional, behavioral, and developmental problems.