Health and Nutrition: August 2010 Archives
The American Heart Association recently published a promotional piece in Good Housekeeping (June 2010), supporting the magazine's "Cook Your Heart Out" campaign, which underscores heart-healthy eating even by those with " The Littlest Hearts." We couldn't agree more! Their "8 Ways to Help Children Eat Better" paraphrased here are ideas parents of young children can consider doing:
1. Acting as a good role model.
(Childsafetyblog.org suggests we must always try to do this!) So if you eat unhealthy snacks in front of your child, why should your child feel he or she shouldn't do the same? Eat nutritious snacks and your child will be more apt to follow suit!
2. Get children involved.
Ask your children to do simple, low-risk tasks in the kitchen (not around the stove!), such as rinsing veggies before you cook them or setting the table. Gradually increase their responsibilities as they grow.
3. Cook smart and healthfully!
Show your children how their favorite dishes can be prepared in a healthful way... If you have any doubts about cooking or proper measurements or portion sizes, check the American Heart Association Cookbook to learn how to trim the fat and other empty calories. Incorporate more vegetables and fruits in your meals. Bake, broil, and steam--instead of frying!
4. Set food boundaries but give children choices too!
You determine the time and place meals and snacks will be served. Let kids know what will be served. Give them a few options within the menu. Show them what an acceptable portion size is when they are young... that will help cut down on "eyes that are bigger than stomachs!"
5. Bring your entire family to the table!
The family that eats together... you know the drill--well, it's true! Make the family table a happy, healthy, and memorable place to be together.
6. Read food labels... Make it a game!
Just understanding food labels can be quite a chore. The American Heart Association suggests you make it a game. I can honestly say childsafetyblog has difficulty spelling "polyunsaturated" and "monosodium glutamate"...
7. Outreach--Don't Just Talk About it--Do it!
It's important that you contact your children's school to learn what they are eating while in school--Request healthy food options. Also let daycare caregivers know what you would like your child to eat. If they don't have it, you provide it!
8. Be upbeat!
Who likes to hear what we aren't permitted to do? Most kids want to know what they can do to look, feel, and be their best. Praise them when they do a good job with words and healthful snacks.
For additional information about heart health in children, please visit: www.heart.org/healtheirkids
With thanks and credit to the American Heart Association for all they do to keep us healthy and to Good Housekeeping for helping promote the campaign for healthy hearts in children!
Yesterday and earlier last week, there was a recall of shell eggs due to probable contamination with Salmonella. This is one of the largest egg recalls ever, so it's time to take a hard look at your egg cartons to see where the eggs you may have recently purchased were produced!
About Salmonella enteritidis (SE), once this bacteria is introduced in the human body, it is difficult to get rid of successfully. The young and the frail are the most vulnerable to its damage. The bacteria multiplies in the intestines causing inflammation and sometimes bloody diarrhea. In infants, dehydration causing severe toxicosis is a major problem. SE can be fatal.
So don't be shy about asking your grocery store managers, "Are these eggs among the ones which have been recalled?" Your grocer or supermarket manager should have a list of stock/lot numbers of those eggs for you to view so you may compare with the lot/plant numbers of those egg cartons on the shelves. If not, you can check these websites: www.foodsafety.gov and www.eggsafety.org
According to the FDA, the eggs you should look out for are:
"Eggs affected by the expanded recall distributed to food wholesalers, distribution centers and foodservice companies in California, Arizona, Missouri, Minnesota, Texas, Georgia, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Nevada, Iowa, Illinois, Utah, Nebraska, Arkansas, Wisconsin and Oklahoma. These companies distribute nationwide." and "...are packaged under the following brand names: Albertsons, Farm Fresh, James Farms, Glenview, Mountain Dairy, Ralphs, Boomsma,
To date, the possibly contaminated eggs have come from a single egg-producing source company, Wright County Egg of Galt, Iowa. Generally speaking, food products from the heart of the Midwest, especially from Iowa, are usually good, clean, quality-controlled and safe to consume, so, we need to ask exactly what is happening to our U.S. food sources vis à vis quality-control?
What should you do to make sure your eggs are safe to consume? If you have eggs in the above-numbered egg cartons at home, DO NOT cook or eat them, but take your grocery receipt (if you have it) and the shell eggs in the carton (as many as you may still have) to the store where you purchased them for a full refund. Don't take a chance on cooking the eggs or using them in food preparation and getting salmonella!
About eggs in general, don't leave them out on the kitchen counter for prolonged lengths of time. Cook them thoroughly when you do cook them. If you use eggs in cakes, cookies and other food dishes, make sure you bake or cook those dishes as soon as possible after initial preparation and thoroughly as well. Practice safe food handling always, separating raw foods from cooked ones, chilling and cooking eggs thoroughly and making sure cutting boards, measuring and cooking utensils are squeaky clean when you use them.
This month--and it's more than half over--is Back to School Safety Month. Most parents are considering all the things their children need for a great start of the first weeks of school. Parents are especially focused on the requirements of young children and those who will attend school for the first time: how to keep them safe on their journey to and from school and how to keep them safe around other children in school.
Immunizations are a hot topic of conversation. Which vaccinations do children attending school in your state's school district require in order to enter school? Before calling your local physician or primary care provider to make an appointment, it is a good idea to call the school your child will attend. Simply ask for the school's nurse or the principal's office and request the vaccine requirements for your particular school for your children's age(s). Since this is a frequently asked question by parents, the answer may even be found on your school's website!
Much having to do with the administration of vaccines has changed in recent years. At one time, only the DPT (Diphtheria, Pertussis and Tetanus) vaccine was required in addition to small pox and polio vaccines. The small pox vaccine was an injection and the polio vaccine was administered on a cube of sugar! There were tine tests for TB, and that was the sum total of the required precautions fifty years ago. It's little wonder that until the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) vaccine was developed, there were epidemics of measles, mumps, and rubella in children.
Now, the DPT vaccine is more effective than ever and there are vaccines against Hepatitis as well as Haemophilus Influenza type b (or Hib). "Hib" is an important one, especially for parents of young children, to learn about. According to Pediatric's Vincent Ianelli, MD, children should receive the Hib vaccine at:
- 4 months of age
- 6 months of age
- And 12-15 months of age.
The reason it is important for children to receive the Hib vaccine is that your child can get Hib simply by being around other children or adults who have it. Your child may not become visibly sick, but if Hib bacteria remains in a child's nose and throat and proceeds to the lungs or bloodstream, serious problems can occur. Before the Hib vaccine, Hib was the principal cause of bacterial meningitis in children. Meningitis, a disease affecting the brain and spinal cord, can cause permanent brain damage and even death. Prior to the development of the vaccine, more than 20,000 children under 5 years old became ill in the U.S. annually, and approximately 1,000 people died from disease-related to Hib each year.
As with any vaccine or medication given to children, parents need to be aware there can be a reaction and should closely monitor children following vaccination. If parents or caregivers observe any high fever, behavioral changes, change in skin pallor (to pale or red), rash or redness of the skin at the injection site, hives, swelling of the airway, difficulty breathing or wheezing following a vaccination, take your child to the Emergency Room immediately or contact your physician. Adverse reactions to any vaccine should be reported to your child's physician.
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