The WELLalarm Blog

Website Review: Healthy Child Healthy World

I just heard about a web resource for families, Healthy Child Healthy World. Built upon the premise that our environment directly affects our health (well, yeah!), the organization takes an environmentalist approach to health:

Healthy Child Healthy World is dedicated to protecting the health and well being of children from harmful environmental exposures. We educate parents, support protective policies, and engage communities to make responsible decisions, simple everyday choices, and well-informed lifestyle improvements to create healthy environments where children and families can flourish.

On the website you can find articles, ways to get involved, guides, recommended products, and a blog. Healthy Child Healthy World collaborates with a a lot of smart, like-minded organizations like Allergy Kids, Autism Speaks, and Healthy Schools Network Inc. You can also buy their book, Health Child Healthy World: Creating a Cleaner, Greener, Safer Home.

It all sounds like a fabulous resource for families who want to take an active role in improving the health of their own children and children all over the world. Thanks to Squeaky Stroller for the tip!

AAP Recommends Double the Vitamin D for Children

This week the American Academy of Pediatrics announced that it is now recommending 400 IU of vitamin D daily for infants and children. This is double the previously recommended amount of 200 IU a day.

This change is based on new clinical trials on vitamin D showing that 400 IU of vitamin D will prevent and treat rickets. The AAP is recommending more vitamin D to prevent other diseases, such as cancer, hearth disease, and diabetes, though there is no conclusive evidence proving that higher levels of vitamin D will prevent these diseases.

Naturally this has gotten people talking about supplements for babies and children. My personal preference is to try to get all the recommended vitamins and minerals from a healthy, varied diet before I start reaching for supplements. In that respect, I think my own family may be all right.

According to the report's co-author, Dr. Frank Greer, children would need to drink four cups of milk a day to meet the new requirement. Dr. Greer, I'd like to introduce you to my lactophile son. Between the copious amounts of milk he guzzles daily and his passion for cheese and yogurt I think we've got it covered, thank you.

The AAP is particularly concerned that breast milk may be especially low in mothers who are themselves vitamin D deficient. They are recommending supplements for breast-fed babies, which frustrates me a little (ever try giving a baby vitamin or mineral supplements?). I wish researchers could put greater focus on improving the nutrition of pregnant and nursing mothers.

If your child cannot or will not drink milk supplements may be a good idea. However, there are other good sources of vitamin D, such as egg yolks and oily fish (mackerel, tuna). Check out this list of foods high in vitamin D from Nutrition Data.com.

I'm just saying... let's take a breath, talk to our pediatricians, and think a moment before we go crazy with the supplements.

More news stories on the AAP's new recommendation for vitamin D

CNN: Kids should get more vitamin D

MSN: Vitamin D Supplementation Guidelines for Youngsters Doubled

Health News: Doubling Vitamin D for Children Could Prevent Serious Diseases

ABC News: Pediatricians Double Vitamin D Requirement

Suite 101: Vitamin D Deficiency in Breastfed Babies: Sun Exposure, Breastfeeding, and Rickets

(Image via Western Kentucky University)

What is Sarah Palin's connection to autism?

Did you notice John McCain's mention of Palin's expertise in autism during last night's debate? That got a lot of people talking. "Doesn't Palin's son have Down Syndrome?" "What does Palin have to do with autism?"

For the record, Palin does have a nephew who is autistic. As for why that makes her an expert, I guess we'll have to wait for either Palin or McCain to elaborate. Meanwhile, check out Special Needs Truth '08 for a more thorough examination of the Palin-autism connection.

Would McCain/Palin Really Be Advocates for Children with Disabilities?

In Sarah Palin's speech at the Republican Convention she mentioned her experience as the mother of a baby with Downs Syndrome:

To the families of special-needs children all across this country, I have a message: For years, you sought to make America a more welcoming place for your sons and daughters. I pledge to you that if we are elected, you will have a friend and advocate in the White House.

I have to admit, this pledge surprised me. Two candidates who seek to shrink government and who are running with a what some consider a radical health care reform plan are going to advocate for families of special-needs children? They're going to be vigilant in enforcing the "progressive" laws that protect rights and benefits (including Medicaid) for the disabled? Really?

My youngest sister, now 20 years old, was born with cerebral palsy. She is severely disabled. No one knows like my mother how important it is that America be a welcoming place for my sister -- and how much work it takes. My mother has fought hard to defend my sister's rights for things like an equal education, access to public buildings, and the special funding middle-class families need for things like physical therapy and in-home care.

She has had to fight her health insurance companies, too. Almost every new procedure and device is initially rejected as "not medically necessary" before my mother jumps through the hoops to prove its necessity. My sister can talk, but it is incredibly difficult to understand her. When a new assisted communication device became available Mom made a video of my sister visiting her doctor and trying to communicate with him; only then did the insurance company deem it "medically necessary!"

This why McCain's health care reform plan makes me queasy. Would a McCain/Palin administration add to my mother's burden in seeking quality health care for my sister?* As for Palin, it doesn't appear that her own efforts towards health care reform have been terribly impressive.

That's policy; what about the personal? Many people, including Obama, have argued that a candidate's family life should have no place in political discourse. I appreciate that... and yet, much of Palin's family story makes me uncomfortable.

Oddly enough, my own mother's life mirrors Palin's in some ways. Both women have five children. Both women gave birth to severely handicapped babies when most of their other children where teenagers. And in both families, a teenage daughter became pregnant herself shortly after the birth of that sibling. My mother now wonders if there was a connection between my youngest sister's arrival and my other sister's pregnancy. And she knows that between these two children (not to mention the other three!) Ms. Palin must surely have her hands full.

What does it say about Palin that she is running for Vice President at a time of great need for her family? What does it say about her priorities, goals, leadership, and ambition? With all due respect to Barak Obama, I think these are reasonable questions to ask, especially when Palin so pointedly draws our attention to her family.

Check out Health08.org for full coverage of the health care reform debate.

As the campaigns continue, check in with the St. Petersburg Times' Truth-O-Meter.

Read a previous WELLalarm post on health care reform and the elections here.

Obama's plan for people with disabilities.

A mother's perspective on the subject -- the mother of a high-functioning autistic son.

Another mother's perspective, mother of a mentally retarded young adult.

 

*For the record, my mother is more optimistic about McCain and Palin.

Blog and Podcast Review: Nonna's Kitchen

If you're the parent of a picky eater, perhaps Nonna can help.

A friend of mine recently told me about Joann Bruso, author of the book Baby Bites: Transforming A Picky Eater Into A Healthy Eater. Bruso also has a related blog, Nonna's Kitchen, and produces a podcast called What's Cookin' With Nonna. Her mission is to help families cook and eat healthy food.

"Nonna" is an Italian word for "grandmother" -- Bruso is currently grandmother to six grandchildren. Before she had children she wrote a monthly nutrition column. Years later, after trying to feed her toddler grandson, Joshy, she she created her method for transforming a picky eater into a petit epicure.

The answer, as she explains in her post You Can Transform Your Picky Eater Into a Healthy Eater, is to encourage your child to play with his or her food! Bruso incorporates sensory learning and directed play to build familiarity with and curiosity in new foods. She also encourages parents to improve the nutritional value of their children's food, tossing out the processed junk in favor of fresh, home-cooked meals.

Bruso expands her method in her book, and it look like a terrific resource. So is her blog, chock full of recipes and useful nutritional advice. Her twice-weekly podcast is a delight.

Does her method work? I'll leave that for you to find out! But I think she's on to something.

How to test your water for lead

I'm always looking for ways to protect my health by eliminating toxins in my home. Lately I've been thinking about the quality of my tap water. After all, I live in an old building in a very crowded city!

We all know that having lead in your water is bad news. Even small amounts over a long period of time can cause anaemia, nerve damage, mental impairment... The list goes on and on. Lead exposure is especially harmful for babies and small children, and lead can cross the placenta during pregnancy. (Keep that in mind, pregnant readers!)

When I checked the EPA's website to find out how to test my water I learned that I can check the quality of my water supply by reading my EPA annual water quality report. This is a good place to start; however, the report will not show me if my own household plumbing is leaking lead into my water.

To do that, the EPA recommends contacting my state certification officer for a list of certified laboratories. They suggest testing for copper and pH as well. If the pH in your water is below 6.5, you could have copper leaching into your water.

Hopefully my water is fine; if not, one option is to install a lead-removing filter certified by NSF International.

For more information:

EPA Safe Drinking Water Hotline 1-800-426-4791

National Lead Information Center 1-800-LEAD-FYI

Healthy tips for the fall

(Image via Cooking for Monkeys)

Are we really already looking at Labor Day Weekend? Where did the summer go? Here are some timely links I found that may ease your transition into fall.

Vital Juice reminds us that the warm weather isn't over yet with a list of workout tips to take into fall.

Next time stress has you reaching for the Häagen-Dazs, try these tension-taming foods instead.

For those of you heading off to college, here is some food and financial advice for college students.

Parents, you may be interested in Healthy Living's series, America's Healthiest Schools.

If you're looking for fun, healthy lunches to pack for your kids, check out the adorable bento lunches from Cooking for Monkeys.

For my pregnant friends, a conversation with ObGyn Sarah Maddison about what you can and cannot do while pregnant. I love that the writer quotes that Adam Ant song, "Don't Drink, Don't Smoke, What Do You Do?"

Are you worried about maintaining your health on a smaller budget? ABC News brings you Five Ways to Spend Less and Stay Well. (Via Fit Sugar)

Is your birth plan realistic?

When I was pregnant with my son I became obsessed with labor. It wasn't enough to attend birthing classes, I read everything I could get my hands on about labor, especially about "natural childbirth." I decided I needed a birth plan to communicate my vision of childbirth to my midwife and the hospital staff.

A birth plan is a document in which you describe what you want to happen during  your labor. My birth plan consisted of a long list of what I did and did not want to happen. In a nutshell, I wanted my labor to be as free of medical intervention as possible. I wanted to deliver without an epidural, standing upright, singing "I am woman hear me roar" if I could manage it, and I wanted to hold my slimy, newborn baby immediately after his birth. Most of all, I wanted to have full control over my labor.

(Image of Tlazolteotl, the goddess of childbirth, via College of the Sequoias.)

I presented this list to my midwife, a member of a practice I had chosen specifically for its woman-friendly approach. She looked at me like a time-traveller from the 1940s. Of course I could roam freely while I labored! Of course they would not be administering an episiotomy, or using forceps, or whisking my baby away from me! But... no one has full control over her labor.

At this point I began to feel a little foolish about my starry-eyed birth plan. But have a chat with a few of your mom friends and you'll see why some of us worry about what happens when the hospital takes over. My friend, Lindsey, delivered her first baby with a Planned Parenthood midwife. It was an empowering birth. The next time around she had health insurance and an ObGyn, but she was needlessly (it turns out) put on bed rest for the last two months, induced to fit her doctor's schedule, given a colossal dose of pitocin, ignored when she asked to have it turned down, and then was given an epidural so strong she couldn't feel a thing, even when it came time to push. She was immobilized for most of her labor.

(Image via Hmmbilical.)

"I felt gypped," she says, "gypped out of the last two months of my pregnancy. Gypped out of going into labor naturally.  And gypped out of a natural labor. I hated my second birth and felt resentful for months."

Lindsey had a birth plan; it just wasn't respected. But even when your midwife or doctor respects your birth plan, things don't always go as you expect them to. Some babies insist on getting into breech presentation and then wrapping their umbilical cords around their necks. (The little anarchists!) Labor is full of surprises. So what's realistic? How do you create a birth plan that's flexible but also true to your vision?

"I did have to let go of a lot of my expectations about how birthing would go," says my friend, Jane, about her birth plan. Hers was idealistic, too, but I think the most helpful section is this paragraph:

Because this is our first child, we do not know for sure what the whole thing will be like, and how we will feel.  We would like our childbirth team to be flexible and accommodating of our feelings and—perhaps changing—wishes.  No matter the eventual course of events, we would like consistent positive reinforcement and good vibes from all members of our childbirth team.   

Ultimately, I think a birth plan is an important exercise to help you think about how you want to give birth, and it's a great conversation starter with your midwife or doctor. Talk about the kind of birth you want to have. Make sure he/she understands your priorities, but understand that you may have to let go of some details. Hopefully, and that's a big hopefully, you can find the right practitioners who are also covered by your health insurance. (Sigh.) Under the best circumstances, your doctor/midwife/labor nurse can be your advocate through the process, without your having to wave a piece of paper at the hospital staff as you're wheeled into the labor room. 

As for my labor story: I had excruciating back labor. Surprise! I was lucky to get a labor nurse who had dealt with her own back labor -- twice, and drug-free. She was incredibly supportive. I managed my labor until an unfortunate taste of hospital soup set me vomiting for 20 minutes and stalled my labor for two hours. My midwife suggested pitocin, I asked for an epidural, and after an hour's nap my labor got started again. The epidural wore off just enough so I could feel myself dilating (from 4 cm to 10 cm in 30 minutes) and I could push productively -- that I could definitely feel. My husband cut the cord and I got to hold my son for a minute before he was cleaned.

I felt good, over all, about my birth experience. I know I got lucky -- with my reaction to the drugs and with the supportive midwife and labor nurse. However, I think educating myself and talking beforehand with my midwife played a large role in shaping my birthing experience.

There are several web resources available to help you create your own birth plan. Many of them are a little like What To Expect When You're Expecting: an invitation for neurosis. Don't obsess! Remember, this is just something to get you started thinking and talking.

i parenting

Baby Zone

Baby Center

She Knows Pregnancy and Baby

Mineral sunscreen coupons and discounts

Don't you love it when the summer goods go on sale? And don't you love that the sales start when we still have two more months of hot weather?

Even though we should all be wearing sunscreen year-round, sunscreen has a funny habit of disappearing from shelves once September rolls around. Maybe you should stock up now! I've done a search with one eye on discounts and the other eye on Skin Deep ratings.

Here's the biggie: Amazon is offering $25 off select sunscreen orders of $50 or more via coupon code JUL08SUN. (Includes free shipping.) Fallene sunscreen looks like the safest and most effective choice of the selections.

Barnacle Kove sells EWG-approved Mexitan sunscreen lotions. Receive $5.00 off the total purchase price of $25.00 or more using coupon code L8RG8R.

Coolibar is having an end-of-summer sale now. They carry Blue Lizard and Vanicream, along with protective hats and clothing. Shipping is free on orders of $50 or more.

Click here to get 10% off KINeSYS sunscreen using coupon code 10p55dc99. Free shipping on orders over $45

Drugstore.com has many sunscreens on sale, including my picks, California Baby and Vanicream.

It costs $47 for the Environmental Working Group to analyze each sunscreen. You can help them keep up the good work and make a donation here.

Keep in mind, sunscreen is becomes less effective as it ages, so you may not want to buy an entire years' supply!

(Image via Discovery Education.)

My family health care philosophy

Hello! I'm Adriana, editor of the WELLalarm blog. I'll be posting a series on healthy parenting based on my own experience as a parent and on the expertise of friends and trusted advisors. I'm the mother of a vibrant four-year-old boy, Jasper. We've weathered the baby and toddler years and are now enjoying the adventures of the preschool years.

Just to get started I thought I'd share a little of my philosophy on babies' and children's health. As the oldest of five children I went into parenthood knowing a bit about babies (more than my husband did, as the youngest of five children). But that didn't stop me from reading just about every pediatrician-penned book on the market. How would I keep this little person alive? What could go wrong? Would I be ready?

Eventually I relaxed and started building the foundation of our family health care philosophy.

1. Partner with a pediatrician I connect with well. Our first pediatrician came highly recommended by an ObGyn at my midwife's practice. The pediatrician seemed bright and well qualified, but she bristled at my numerous questions and seemed to see my son in terms of numbers (length, weight, growth rate) rather than as a whole human being. Was I being too picky?

I hesitated for about a month and then, at the recommendation of a friend, switched to a doctor who took great delight in meeting my son and welcomed active discussion during our visits. As with the first doctor, we don't always agree on every aspect of healthcare. But we agree on enough, and more importantly, we communicate well with each other. She respects the wisdom of parents and genuinely enjoys working with children.

2. Tune in to my child. This can be especially difficult in dual-career families, but I think it's essential. I've tried to take time every day to give Jasper my full attention so I know what his "normal" looks and feels like. This helps me to then...

3. Trust my instincts. This takes a little practice and experience, but as I've learned to stay tuned into Jasper I've learned to trust my own judgement. I think a large component of this is also dependent on my own mental health. Parents do need to be careful not to project their own neuroses onto their children. Easier said than done, right? That's why it's important to...

4. Take care of my own health as well. That means making sure my husband and I get regular physical exams, eat well, get as much sleep as parents of a small child can, and nurture our relationship with each other.

We've been fortunate that Jasper is such a healthy kid. I know taking care of your family's health gets much, much more complicated when you have a child with a serious illness or disability. I saw this with my youngest sister, who has cerebral palsy. Still, I think it's a good place to start; After all, I learned this philosophy partly from my own parents.

I look forward to discussing more about family health in the future!