Tag: children’s health (Page 4 of 6)

Putting An End To Obesity Trends Needs To Start In Childhood

April 13, 2012 / Staff

Kids are going to have to make serious calorie cuts to avoid obesity as they get older.

If current trends continue, childhood obesity will transition into adult obesity.

In setting the Healthy People 2020 goals, the feds were more pragmatic. They hope to reduce the childhood obesity rate by 10 percent of the 2005-2008 levels, to 14.6 percent of children and teens. Getting there would require kids to cut 23 calories a day, on average. Teens, who are more likely to be obese than young children, would have to cut more.

The good news is that obesity seems to be leveling off but even if the obesity epidemic has peaked, children are heavier than they have ever been in human history.

Nutrition, Quality Control, Research

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Incidence Of Autism Higher Than In Past Decade

March 30, 2012 / Staff

Rates of autism have risen from 1 in 100 children to 1 in 88.

April is Autism Awareness month and new figures released today in a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has shown higher than expected incidence of autism.

“One thing the data tells us with certainty — there are many children and families who need help,” said Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the CDC. “We must continue to track autism spectrum disorders because this is the information communities need to guide improvements in services to help children,” Frieden said.
Autism spectrum disorders are developmental disabilities that can cause language delays, impaired social and communication skills and repetitive behaviors. The group of disorders includes classic autism, as well as less severe forms of the condition, such as Asperger’s syndrome.

Increased awareness has led to more accurate diagnosis.

The earlier a correct diagnosis can be made the sooner intervention can begin.

Research, Wellness

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A Little Dirt Is A Good Thing

March 25, 2012 / Staff

Moms can relax. Dirty little children aren’t such a bad thing.

Exposure to germs as a kid seems to be helpful, while living in an environment that’s squeaky clean seems to pose risks for some illnesses. Still, nobody knew precisely why. But now some scientists say they think they’ve figured out the details of the “hygiene hypothesis.”
They found that microbes in the gut keep a rare part of the immune system reined in. No microbes, and the immune cells go crazy in the lungs and intestines, increasing the risk of asthma and colitis. Add in the microbes, and cells in question, invariant natural killer T cells, retreat.

Aside from toxic waste, getting grimy and being exposed to a variety of germs in the environment can actually improve immunity.

Quality Control, Research, Wellness

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Bottled Water May Be The Culprit In Early Childhood Tooth Decay

March 22, 2012 / Staff

If you think that bottled water is better than tap, then think again.

Dentists are seeing record numbers of tooth decay in very young children, some as young as eighteen months old.

Not only are children drinking more sugary juices and less water but the water that they are drinking is not fluoridated.

“You should brush twice a day with a fluoride toothpaste, see the dentist twice a year for fluoride treatment and get fluoride in your drinking water,” said Jonathan D. Shenkin, spokesman on pediatric dentistry for the American Dental Association. “If you’re not getting it in your drinking water, that takes out a component of the effectiveness of that triad.”

Another concern to consider is the level of BPA in plastic bottles.

This highly toxic chemical leaches into the water and can further damage you and your child’s health.

Doctors, Quality Control, Research, Resources, Wellness

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U.S Department Of Agriculture Serves Our Children

March 7, 2012 / Staff

The “pink slime” as it’s being called has caused quite the furor on the internet.

Parents and activists are alarmed to find out that this combination of meat by-products and ammonia hydroxide is being served to children in school lunches because the U.S Department of Agriculture continues to purchase it.

This “high risk product” has not passed food inspection findings, however, the U.S.D.A. commissioned a separate study to assess the safety of BPI’s “Lean Beef Trimmings” to make it appear safe.

Custer said he first encountered the product — which gained fame recently as “pink slime” in part due to the efforts of celebrity chef Jamie Oliver — back in the late 1990s. Despite voicing his concerns to other officials at the food inspection service, however, the USDA ruled that Lean Beef Trimmings were safe. “The word in the office was that undersecretary JoAnn Smith pushed it through, and that was that,” Custer said.
Appointed by President George H.W. Bush in 1989, Smith had deep ties with the beef industry, serving as president of both the Florida Cattlemen’s Association and the of the National Cattlemen’s Association.
“Scientists in D.C. were pressured to approve this stuff with minimal safety approval,” Zirnstein said.

Nutrition, Quality Control

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