Posts Tagged ‘health’

Came across this article online. Interesting discussion about the best age to start an infant on solid food. What do you think? Any comments? Share…

Most Mothers Give Infants Solid Food Too Early

By Rachael Rettner, MyHealthDaily Staff Writer / LiveScience.com

More than a third of U.S. mothers start feeding their infants solid food too soon, a new study finds.

In the study, 40 percent of mothers said they gave their infants solid foods before the age of 4 months, which is earlier than recommended. About 24 percent of mothers who breast-fed, and 53 percent of mothers who formula-fed, gave their babies solid food too early.  Read the rest of this entry »

I caught this segment on ABC’s Good Morning America this morning. Apparently a ‘thigh gap’ is the latest must have in order to have the “perfect” body. This obsession is rampant among teens and I’m sure tweens too. Unfortunately, these girls don’t realize that 99.9% of the photos they see in magazines have been retouched to death. OK, some women are born that way. I would venture to guess that the majority of us were not. If nothing else this article will give a parent a heads-up on a potential body image issue. 

‘Thigh Gap’: New Teen Body Obsession?

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Thanks to a very hard fall onto the wooden arm of a couch when I was very little, under two years old, I had all of my front teeth pulled. Needless to say it was a very different kind of face I showed the world for many years to come. I had no front teeth until my second set of teeth finally came in. With great empathy for the topic of this article I just came across, I am sharing some important information about dental injuries in young children.

Dental Injuries in Young Children

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As a mom we are aware of the pressures put on our little girls to be “pretty” and “fit”. You do your best to steer your daughter in the right direction so she makes good choices when it comes to what she eats and her activity level. All the while you think you’re doing the right thing. When do the influences get to be too much? Was it something you said or did? Is someone outside the family making comments that are pushing your daughter to excess? At what age should you start to be concerned about your child’s self image? If nothing else, this article will make you think. It will make you want to pay closer attention to how focused your daughter is on her physical being.

Mom Finds Devastating “Diet List” On 7-Year-Old’s Bedroom Floor

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I just came across this article from whattoexpect.com and thought I’d pass along the information…

Protection from Whooping Cough Vaccine (DTaP) Wanes Over Time

by Sharon Mazel

Your little one gets vaccinated against whooping cough (pertussis), diphtheria, and tetanus with the DTaP vaccine five times before age six, but a new study published in the journal Pediatrics finds that protection against pertussis starts to weaken just a few years after preschool kids get their final shot and well before children get their recommended booster (called Tdap) at age 11 or 12. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s so easy to get caught up in a glut of activities and scheduled appointments these days. Trying to make everyone in the family happy and engaged can lead to over-scheduling and the potential for burnout. This article puts it all into perspective.

Is Your Family Suffering From Over-Scheduling?
Know The Warning Signs!

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Who doesn’t want to be happy? Certainly moms do! This article has some sound advice to help you keep your life as “mom” in balance. Nobody said it would be easy. Following some of these suggestions can only help. If you’ve got some tips of your own, share. What works for you might help someone else.

8 Ways To Be A Happier Mom

via Team Mom/Yahoo! Shine/by Woman’s Day
By Theo Pauline Nestor

While our greatest hope is for our children to turn into happy adults, most of us moms grit our teeth a fair amount on the road there. After we hustle our kids off to soccer practice, shop for dinner and hunt down the perfect kindergarten, we are left with little inspiration to model the one thing we most wish for our children: happiness. It’s not that we don’t want to be happy. It’s more a question of how to fit it into our schedule. Read on for some practical tips from parenting experts on how to move “be happy” to the top of your to-do list. Read the rest of this entry »

How Much Sugar Are You Consuming? (a visual aid)

I just came across this great graphic that shows you just how much sugar is in everyday items we eat. You might be surprised about some of them. The visual sure drives it home how much sugar can be consumed without our noticing it.

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Interesting findings from this study…

Vaccines: ‘Shot-Limiting’ On The Rise In Portland, Study Finds

via The Huffington Post, by Emma Mustich

The medical advances that make young children less susceptible to mumps, polio and other diseases also mean that babies enter the world with a heavy vaccination schedule in store. The CDC suggests that parents bring their babies to the pediatrician for a total of 18 immunizations plus the flu vaccine before they even turn 9 months old.

But a new study of more than 97,700 children from Portland, Oregon, published in the journal Pediatrics, indicates that an increasing number of parents are straying from the CDC’s vaccine plan.

The CDC schedule calls for five or more vaccines per visit at some early childhood appointments, but “shot-limiters” –- children whose parents attempt to control the number of vaccinations they receive –- are becoming more prevalent in Portland, the study says.

The research, which relied on vaccination records gathered through the Oregon ALERT Immunization Information System, found that over the three years between 2006 and 2009, there was a 7 percent increase in shot-limiting for children between 0 and 9 months of age. Whereas only 2.5 percent of the 97,711 children studied were classed as “consistent shot-limiters” – i.e., babies “having no more than 2 vaccine injections on all immunization visits from birth up to 9 months of age” — in 2006, that percentage jumped to 9.5 in 2009. Children who did not receive any vaccines were not included in the study.

Parents with a more by-the-book approach to vaccines — “non-limiters” and “episodic limiters” — took their children for an average of 3.2 injections on each of around three doctor visits, while “consistent shot-limiters” saw the doctor more than four times in the same period, getting only 1-2 shots per visit.

“Shot-limiting” parents do not necessarily seek to limit the aggregate number of vaccines their children receive, but because of their insistence on spreading shots over so many appointments, these parents sometimes simply skip important vaccines, the study found.

The study’s authors named parental skepticism, fear of children’s pain, and “mistrust toward industries and governments associated with vaccination” among reasons why parents might postpone or avoid shots. They added that “media attention regarding vaccine safety issues likely contributed to the observed increase in shot-limiting in 2007.”

On its Vaccines & Immunizations site, the CDC recognizes that some of the diseases babies are immunized against are “becoming very rare” -– but says it’s still important for children to get the recommended shots:

Even if there are only a few cases of disease today, if we take away the protection given by vaccination, more and more people will be infected and will spread disease to others. Soon we will undo the progress we have made over the years.

Finally, the authors of the Pediatrics study note that ignoring the accepted vaccination schedule can be dangerous: “Delaying receipt of vaccines will unnecessarily increase the amount of time children are susceptible to vaccine-preventable diseases; there are known risks to the child but no known benefits associated with use of alternative schedules.”

 

 

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Have you ever gone into the kitchen to cook a meal – take something out of the refrigerator or cabinet and just stand there… wondering… “What does this expiration date mean?” “It’s been in the fridge for a week. I wonder if it’s still good?” I came across this Fact Sheet from the USDA (via ConsumerBell) and thought it might be a great resource of information about food product dating. Ever wonder what the difference is between “Best if used by,” “Use by,” and “Sell by”? How much to do you know about dates on egg cartons, UPC or bar codes, storage times? This fact sheet has all the info you need.

Food Product Dating

via USDA Fact Sheet

“Sell by Feb 14″ is a type of information you might find on a meat or poultry product. Are dates required on food products? Does it mean the product will be unsafe to use after that date? Here is some background information which answers these and other questions about product dating. Read the rest of this entry »