Safer For Your Home And Self

Top 10 New Year’s Resolutions

by Kimberly & Albrecht Powell, Pittsburgh, PA.

New Year’s Eve has always been a time for looking back to the past, and more importantly, forward to the coming year. It’s a time to reflect on the changes we want (or need) to make and resolve to follow through on those changes. Did your New Year resolutions make any of these top five?

1) Spend More Time with Family & Friends
Recent polls conducted by General Nutrition Centers, Quicken, and others shows that more than 50% of Americans vow to appreciate loved ones and spend more time with family and friends this year. TriCountyMoms are making a change and zooming in on this #1 resolution. Vist us now www.TriCountyMoms.com

2) Fit in Fitness
The evidence is in for fitness. Regular exercise has been associated with more health benefits than anything else known to man. Studies show that it reduces the risk of some cancers, increases longevity, helps achieve and maintain weight loss, enhances mood, lowers blood pressure, and even improves arthritis. In short, exercise keeps you healthy and makes you look and feel better.

3) Tame the Bulge
Over 66 percent of adult Americans are considered overweight or obese ]by recent studies, so it is not surprising to find that weight loss is one of the most popular New Year’s resolutions. Setting reasonable goals and staying focused are the two most important factors in sticking with a weight loss program, and the key to success for those millions of Americans who made a New Year’s commitment to shed extra pounds.

4) Quit Smoking
If you have resolved to make this the year that you stamp out your smoking habit, over-the-counter availability of nicotine replacement therapy now provides easier access to proven quit-smoking aids. Even if you’ve tried to quit before and failed, don’t let it get you down. On average, smokers try about four times before they quit for good. Start enjoying the rest of your smoke-free life!

5) Enjoy Life More
Given the hectic, stressful lifestyles of millions of Americans, it is no wonder that “enjoying life more” has become a popular resolution in recent years. It’s an important step to a happier and healthier you! So take that step NOW and see what we are up to!
www.TriCountyMoms.com

Happy New Year,
Linda

Excess Sweet Drinks Put Kids at Risk

Drinking Lots of Soda, Juice Steers Children Toward Obesity, Diabetes By Daniel DeNoon
WebMD Medical News Reviewed By Louise Chang, MD
on Friday, December 22, 2006

More From WebMD

10 Ways to Raise Food-Smart Kids

Dieting Tips for Diabetics

Study Links Cola to Bone Loss in Women

Dec. 22, 2006 — Drinking lots of soda and juice drinks may put kids’ health at risk — leading to poor health and teen obesityobesity as young as age 13, a U.S. study shows.

The findings come from a study of 154 girls seen every two years since age 5. Researchers included Alison K. Ventura, Leann L. Birch, PhD, and Eric Loken, PhD, of Pennsylvania State University.

By age 13, 14% of the girls studied already showed high risk of developing metabolic syndromemetabolic syndrome — a cluster of ominous risk factors that indicate a person could be headed toward heart diseaseheart disease, strokestroke, or type 2 diabetesdiabetes.

These girls were at or near the danger level for three metabolic syndrome risk factors — big waistline, high blood pressurehigh blood pressure, and a low level of good HDL cholesterolHDL cholesterol.

What made these high-health-risk girls different from other girls?

Their parents tended to be more obese and to have more obesity-related health problems than other parents. Indeed, the high-risk girls gained more weight — and gained weight faster — than other girls.

However, the only significant difference in their diet was that, at young ages, they drank more sugary beverages than other girls.

“We found the highest risk group was consuming more servings of these sweetened beverages at age 5 to 9, compared to other groups,” Ventura tells WebMD. “At the later ages it was more soda, but in the earlier ages it was things like 10% fruit juices, sports drinks, and flavored beverages with added sugar.”

Ventura and colleagues report their findings in the December issue of Pediatrics.

Kids’ Health at Risk

At age 9, the high-risk girls drank 50% more servings of sweetened beverages each day than the lowest-risk girls.

That doesn’t mean sodas and other sugary drinks are bad. It just means too many kids get too much of them, says nutritionist Leslie Bonci, MPH, RD, director of sports nutrition at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

“There is no kid-sized soda bottle, and few 6-ounce glasses at home,” Bonci tells WebMD. “So kids get used to drinking soda in whatever size glass they have at home, whatever size bottle or can — and that is not a single serving, it’s a tureen.

“And no child needs to be consuming a tureen of soda,” she says.

Plus, unlike other calorie-rich foods, drinking a zillion calories in a soft drink doesn’t leave you feeling too full to take in still more calories.

“Nobody drinks half of a 20-ounce bottle of soda and says, ‘Whoa, I’m stuffed!’” Bonci says. “The kids consume a lot of calories and are not feeling full. So every other aspect of food intake may stay the same.”

Moreover, Bonci says, kids who drink sugared drinks aren’t drinking milk. So too many sweet drinks also displace healthy components of a child’s diet.

Ventura says the study should be a wake-up call — if not a fire alarm — for parents.

“Metabolic syndromeMetabolic syndrome is something that develops before we see it. So parents should be aware of these things right from the start,” she says.

“What kids are eating at young ages does have an impact. Even as soon as age 13, we are seeing the effects of these lifestyle choices,” says Bonci.

The American Beverage Association, a trade group that represents the beverage industry, did not respond to WebMD’s requests for an interview in time for publication.

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SOURCES: Ventura, A. Pediatrics, December 2006; vol 118: pp 2434-2442. Alison K. Ventura, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pa. Leslie Bonci, MPH, RD, director of sports nutrition, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

Deadline nears to join pesticide notification list

By Robert Miller
THE NEWS-TIMES

To get on the Department of Environmental Protection’s pesticide pre-notification registry:

Call the DEP’s pesticide division at (860) 424-3324
Or go to the DEP registry Web site at www.dep.state.ct.us/wst/pesticides/registry_prenotification.htm
Registry forms are also at www.ehhi.org, as well as two reports by Environment and Human Health Inc. on pesticide use in Connecticut.

If you worry about what your neighbor is laying down on the soil to make that grass so green, you only have until the month’s end to get on the Department of Environmental Protection’s pesticide pre-notification registry. That way, if your neighbors hire a company to treat their lawns or spray their trees, the company has to give you 24 hours notice before it arrives on the scene — enough time to close your windows and collect your laundry, your kids and your pets.

“Pesticides can be carried on the skin, they can be ingested, they can be inhaled,” said Nancy Alderman, president of Environment and Human Health Inc., a New Haven-based environmental advocacy group. The DEP established this program in 1991. Surprisingly, the registry has never had more than about 250 names.

“It’s been remarkably centered in the 200 to 250 name level,” said Bradley Robinson, the supervisor of the DEP’s pesticide program. “In 1991, when it started, I thought ‘Oh my goodness — we don’t have the staff to deal with this.’ We thought 10,000 people would sign up.”

Robinson suspects the registry list has stayed short because people don’t think pesticide use is a “big issue.”

“People get along with their neighbors,” he said.

Alderman said the DEP’s timing — which calls for people concerned about neighborhood pesticides to register by Dec. 31 — may also play a part in the even-keeled indifference to the program.

Robinson said people can indeed sign up all year long. They can also get the DEP registration forms and present them personally to the pesticide company in person to start the process immediately.

But because it takes the DEP several weeks to collect all the names and notify the lawn care companies about whom they should notify, Robinson said, anyone who wants to be on the registry for 2007 should sign up this month.

“You can sign up next summer,” he said. “But you won’t get on the list until 2008.”

John Wargo, a professor of risk analysis and environmental policy at Yale University said the public’s disinterest in the program may also be due to the program’s basic flaw — it just tells people when a pesticide company is coming, rather than doing anything to regulate the use of the chemicals.

“I think we’re really conducting a large-scale experiment in human exposure to pesticides,” he said.

EHHI has written two reports about the use of lawn care pesticides, which Alderman said is much more extensive than might be realized.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has reported that homeowners use 10 times the amount of pesticides on their lawns than farmers use on their fields. These substances, EHHI said, are designed to be toxic and have been associated with birth defects, mutations and cancer in laboratory animals, with young children and fetuses especially vulnerable to their effects. But, EHHI said, the federal Environmental Protection Agency has only tested nine of the more than 200 pesticides on the market for their effects on the developing nervous system.

“They look at short-term effects — what to do when the substance gets into your eyes and mouth,” Alderman said. “But we don’t know the long-term health risks. And when the federal government does test these chemicals, they test them one at a time. But a weed or seed pesticide uses two or three ingredients and no one knows how they interact.”

Wargo said there has been no attempt to trace pesticides into the groundwater. One EHHI report took samples from 53 private wells in the town of Woodbridge — an affluent suburb north of New Haven. Of the 53 wells, six had traces of pesticides in their water. Five of the six had more than one pesticide. One well had traces of five different pesticides.

“A high percentage of people in Connecticut get their water from wells,” Wargo said. “A lot of these wells are old, shallow wells. But even with deep wells, the pesticides on the surface can be pulled deep into the ground.”

EHHI also notes that along with human consumption, the pesticides are now infiltrating the suburban ecosystem compromising the health of birds, fish and amphibians.

Wargo said when the state pesticide registry began, there was hope that knowing when the lawn care truck was coming might get people talking about this issue, and help reduce the amount of pesticides people use.

That hasn’t happened. Instead, he said, the registry is “the third-best reaction to the problem.”

“First best would be a federal government that would regulate and test these substances and track them in the groundwater,” he said.

Contact Robert Miller
at bmiller@newstimes.com

Join our TEAM and take a stand at bettering your home environment!
www.TriCountyMoms.com

Wednesday, 6th December 2006
Bedtime story ‘good for kids’ health’
READING children bedtime stories helps them sleep better and makes them more alert the next day, research has revealed.

More than 60 per cent of parents interviewed in a survey for the National Literacy Trust and Starbucks said their children fell asleep easily and slept through the night after a story.

More than four-fifths (83 per cent) were likely to be alert and perky during the day.

Article source:
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/health/s/230/230068_bedtime_story_good_for_kids_health.html

KIDS’ HEALTH | Is your child too busy?
KIDS’ HEALTH | Is a frantic timetable keeping your child too busy?

Your child’s basketball practice, tuba lessons and club meetings may have you running all over town in dismay and can also leave your child frazzled. It’s important that your child enjoy being a child.

The loss of free time in combination with a hurried lifestyle can cause stress and may contribute to depression for children, according to a report from the American Academy of Pediatrics. Unstructured play is essential for helping children reach important social, emotional and cognitive developmental milestones as well as helping them manage stress and become resilient.

Tips for parents with busy children:

•A child should be involved in no more than three extracurricular activities at a time.

•School is the child’s primary responsibility. Too much pressure on extracurricular activities can take a toll on school performance.

•Make sure your child is eating well-balanced meals and getting enough sleep.

•Listen to your child. The activity should make the child happy, not the parent.

•Don’t become too intense about your child’s participation in an activity. It can kill his or her enjoyment. Comment on your child’s effort and good attitude, and don’t focus on winning or scoring points.

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| Ken Wible, chief of general pediatrics at Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics
http://www.kansascity.com

Connecting the environment and children’s health

By MYRIAM BEAULNE and TAMARA LORINCZ

There has been growing awareness and concern about the environmental impacts of industrial chemicals on children’s health. This month, the Lancet, a well-respected British medical journal, reported that over 200 industrial chemicals could affect the brain development of children. According to the authors, children’s exposure to these chemicals is causing a “silent pandemic” of developmental disabilities, including autism and attention deficit disorder.

The toxic chemicals, including lead, mercury, pesticides, phenol and benzene, are not only used by industry, but are also found in workplaces, schools and homes. Children are at risk from a variety of household hazards, ranging from cleaning and personal care products to pesticides. Brain development is only one of the potential health impacts of these chemicals.

This year, Environmental Defence conducted the first Canadian study for harmful chemicals in children’s bodies. Children and their parents from five Canadian families were tested for 68 chemicals, such as pesticides, PCBs, stain repellants, flame retardants and lead. The report, titled Polluted Children, Toxic Nation, indicates a need for more information about Canadian children’s exposure to toxic chemicals. Many of the chemicals discovered in the families are associated with cancer, hormone disruption, reproductive disorders, respiratory illnesses and developmental problems in children.

This is troubling, because children are more vulnerable to environmental contaminants than adults, due to their physiology, metabolism, rapid development and behaviour. Fortunately, there are ways to reduce environmental risks and many safer alternatives exist to toxic chemicals. We need to clean up our environment and require safer products to protect our children’s health.

As part of its national awareness campaign, the Canadian Partnership for Children’s Health and Environment, in collaboration with Best Start Resource Centre, recently released Playing It Safe: Service Providers’ Strategies to Reduce Environmental Risks to Preconception, Prenatal and Child Health. It offers useful guidance to professionals working with children and parents and it complements Child Health and the Environment: A Primer. For the public, the Playing it Safe: Childproofing for Environmental Health brochure provides helpful tips to reduce children’s exposure to toxic chemicals. These documents are available online www.healthyenvironmentforkids.ca.

In Nova Scotia, there are many initiatives that make the important connections between the natural environment and children’s well-being. For example, the Citizens for a Safe Learning Environment have worked for 13 years to create environmentally healthy schools in the province. The Environmental Health Association of Nova Scotia publishes a popular resource entitled A Guide to Less Toxic Products ( www.lesstoxicguide.ca).

Real Alternatives to Toxins in the Environment and the Sierra Club of Canada, Atlantic Chapter, have helped to reduce the cosmetic and residential use of pesticides in the Halifax Regional Municipality, and the Nova Scotia Organic Growers Association are supporting farmers engaged in organic farming and supplying organic produce in the province.

According to the Nova Scotia Lung Association, this province has one of the highest rates of children’s asthma and respiratory problems in the country. The Active and Safe Routes to School program at the Ecology Action Centre advocates sustainable transportation to and from school to clean the air and to improve the physical fitness of our children. The Children’s Clean Air Network encourages people to not idle their car as another simple way to clean the air for our children.

But there is more that we can do. In our homes, we can use environmentally friendly cleaning products and eat more organic food. We can call on our municipal governments to ban automobile idling and to provide more sustainable transportation. Our provincial government should establish a provincewide cosmetic pesticide ban.

The federal government should institute mandatory labelling of toxic chemicals on all products, perform in-depth safety assessments on all chemicals that pose a health risk, set up a Children’s Environmental Health Program to conduct more biomonitoring research, and expand public education on the environmental links to children’s health. Industry as well has a critical role to play to reduce its production, use and sale of harmful chemicals.

In its recent report, entitled Environmental Threats to Children: Understanding the Risks; Enabling Prevention, Toronto Public Health called on all levels of government and communities across Canada to take urgent action to protect children’s health. When we pollute our air, water and soil, we are putting the health of our children at risk. Our children deserve better.

For information, visit www.hpclearinghouse.ca

Cutting recess harmful to kids’ health
Experts say without play obesity will rise
By RUMA KUMAR
Associated Press
For some youngsters, a 15-minute recess is a chance to practice for a soccer game later that day. But for many others, that time is the only physical activity during the day.

In a growing number of elementary schools, those 15 minutes of playtime are threatened. Roughly 40 percent of U.S. school districts either have eliminated recess or are considering eliminating it.

Even more ominous, child-health experts argue, is the trend toward banning run-and-chase games, such as tag and kickball. Eliminating games that increase heart rates and improve hand-eye coordination, critics say, will fuel already high childhood-obesity rates.

”Imagine a child’s circulatory system as if it’s a river. Rivers that slow down become stagnant, diseased,” says Rhonda Clements, a former president of the American Association for the Child’s Right to Play. Clements, a professor of education at Manhattanville College in New York, has written or edited nine books on the value of child’s play.

”If we continue to eliminate physically vigorous games that help strengthen children’s circulation, their strength and muscular conditioning, then just like a river, their bodies become susceptible to disease,” she says.

Running at recess was banned last year in Broward County, Fla. In October, officials at an elementary school south of Boston banned tag and touch football. Elementary schools in Cheyenne, Wyo., and Spokane, Wash., banned tag during recess.

And this past summer, Portland, Ore., public schools eliminated swings from their playgrounds, along with merry-go-rounds, tube slides, track rides, arch climbers and teeter-totters.

Some educators call these extreme reactions to overblown concerns.

”We never even considered getting rid of recess,” says Monica Smith, principal at Sandymount Elementary in Finksburg, Md. ”It’s too important. The kids get recharged. They get back into the classrooms ready to learn. I wish we could give them more time. But with all the other subjects we’re mandated to have, all we have left for recess is 15 minutes.”

Public school systems are increasingly afraid of lawsuits from parents of children who get hurt on the playground.

That fear of liability and the pressure to prepare students for high-stakes testing have spurred thousands of schools to cut recess and physical education — usually in favor of increasing math and reading instruction.

Critics say that’s unwise on two counts.

”Recess is being cut out so children will have more time to study for the tests, and we know that test-driven instruction doesn’t allow time for creative thinking and learning for children,” says Joe L. Frost, a retired professor of education at the University of Texas in Austin and an expert on childhood play. ”On top of that, the few schools that continue to keep recess have really dumbed the playground down.”

The most recent numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that 17 percent of children and adolescents are overweight. The proportion of overweight children ages 6 to 11 increased from 11 percent in 1994 to 19 percent a decade later. Among adolescents 12 to 19, the proportion overweight increased from 11 percent to 17 percent during the same period, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.

Research shows that physical activity declines as children get older, so experts worry that fewer opportunities for physical activity in the lower grades in school will make even more sedentary high school students.

Although half of all high school students attended physical education at least once a week, attendance rates declined by grade. About 73 percent of ninth-graders reported attending one or more physical education classes per week compared with 31 percent of seniors, the National Parent Teacher Association reports.

During the past decade, the number of U.S. high school students attending daily physical education classes dropped from 42 percent to 29 percent. Nearly half of all students and 75 percent of high school students do not attend any physical education classes, according to the National Association for Sport and Physical Education.

Guidelines from national child health groups such as the NASPE call for 150 minutes per week of physical education or activity for pupils in kindergarten through fifth grade. For grades six to eight, NASPE recommends 225 minutes of physical education per week.

”We try to strive to meet the standards,” says Rick Wiles, coordinator of health, physical education and dance at Anne Arundel, Md., County Public Schools. But there are higher priorities. ”When you’re dealing with 79 elementary schools, to add 30 minutes every day to the instructional day has a pretty hefty fiscal impact,” he says.

How many other schools have jummped on this ban wagon of no recess???