This series ofarticles will consider the medical and sociomedicalproblems of children belonging to the main ethnic minorities in Bnrtain. The first two articles deal with general aspects, and later articles are concerned with the diseases ofchildren offamilies originatingfrom India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, including Asians from east Africa; the West Indies and Africa; the Mediterranean and Aegean; and China and Vietnam. An ethnic minority is a group of individuals who consider themselves separate

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... from the general population, and are seen by the population at large to be distinct becatuse of one or more of the following: common geographical or racial origin, skin colour, language, religious beliefs and practices, or dietary customs. Generally such minority groups live in fairly well defined areas in our cities and large towns. The term Asian is used to describe people from the Indian subcontinent and also those who, though originally from India, entered Britain from east Africa. The South East Asian minorities considered here are the Chinese and Vietnamese. In working with families of the various ethnic minorities in Britain doctors and others should avoid "stereotyping" and appreciate that each individual's responses and adaptations to Britain are unique. Why the children are important Britain has a long history of acceptance, with varying degrees of tolerance, of peaceful immigration from different parts of Europe, and Italian, Greek, and Cypriot communities have been established in Britain for many generations. Immigration from outside Europe on a large scale is something new and has brought with it problems that were previously unfamiliar to the health services. Even now there is still inadequate instruction about the needs and diseases of minority groups in our medical and nursing schools. The medical