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• "Shot Down": Babble Investigates the Anti-Vaccination Movement

  Show of hands: how many of your kids have had polio? Measles? Mumps? I'd venture to guess that most of you have vaccinated your kids against those and other diseases. There are a surprising number of parents who are opting out of vaccinations, and to many parents (myself included), that decision is seen as irresponsible and fraught with peril - not only for the child in question, but other kids who may come into contact with those who have not been vaccinated. Over at Babble, reporter Liza Featherstone contributes a thoughtful but tough look at the anti-vaccination movement. She explores the myriad of reasons why some parents choose not to give their kids shots; chief among these are fears of autism, side effects, and actually contracting the disease that the vaccine was supposed to prevent.  According to Featherstone, such fears are based on misinformation, inference, and flawed logic. Indeed, she wonders how it that people are "more willing to believe a random article on the internet than scientists who have spent their lives studying vaccines." The problem here, notes Featherstone, is that the choice to not vaccinate has repercussions beyond one's own child. Featherstone cites outbreaks of whopping cough in Colorado, a state with a considerable number of "vaccine resistors" (also of note but not mentioned in the piece: an outbreak of mumps in the Midwest last year and another outbreak of measles in Boston - in the measles case, the outbreak was traced back to a computer programmer from India, a country where only 56% of the population is thought to be vaccinated against the disease. Gee.) So - to vaccinate, or not? Tell us what you think. Posted Mar 27 2007, 08:36 AM by JasonAvant with | with 11 comment(s) Filed under: health, medicine, Babble, health and well-being of children., medical ethics, chicken pox, vaccinations, childcare, health care, pro-vaccination, medical, drugs, health risks, baby health, children's health, health news, Child medication, bad medical advice, anti-vaccination

• Lead Lunch Boxes Safe Again? Only for Brunch

  The Associated Press story yesterday about lead-tainted lunch boxes has left the government agency in charge of lead testing in a furor. "We are not evil-doers!" the agency shrieked. OK, maybe not. Still, they're pissed. The story said the agency, the Consumer Protection Safety Commission, tested lunch boxes, found high levels of lead in some but then gave the go ahead to fill them up with Twinkies and Suzie-Qs (mmmm Suzie-Qs). The Food and Drug Administration got into the act, telling manufacturers to stop killing children and baby seals. Even Wal-Mart banned some boxes. Plain Jane Mom pointed out the agency's response to the uproar. The CPSC said its testing showed all was well with the lunch boxes and that it wasn't covering up anything for political or nefarious purposes. The agency backed up its record for getting medieval on lead in toys, clothes, etc. -- a well-documented fact -- but I'm still not going to buy any vinyl lunch boxes for my kid. They may not have found lead at "hazardous levels" -- but limiting lead at any level is my concern. Posted Feb 21 2007, 02:56 PM by Mike Adamick (Cry It Out!) with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: health, news, health and well-being of children., child safety, safety, FDA, cpsc, health risks, children's health

• Lunch Boxes Unsafe but Government Stalls in Letting You Know

  Thank you, Associated Press. As a former reporter, it always thrills me to find journalists hot on the trail of important stories. This time? It's about lunch boxes. They're unsafe. And the government doesn't want you to know. Or didn't, that is, until the AP came along and opened an Incredible Hulk lunch box on their sorry excuses for public servants. It turns out that one in five vinyl lunch boxes contained lead in levels high enough to be considered unsafe -- while a few more contained 10 times as much. The Consumer Safety Products Commission's response? Everything's fine. Not so fast. Read More... Posted Feb 19 2007, 04:09 PM by Mike Adamick (Cry It Out!) with | with 5 comment(s) Filed under: mommy blogs, health and well-being of children., child safety, children's products, safety, school lunches, health risks

• You've Already Messed Up Your Baby ... Maybe

  Everything you're doing is messing up your kid -- and your own potential to have more, which, of course, you'd mess up. From drinking a soda yourself and shampooing your hair to using baby bottles to feed your child, a toxic cocktail of chemicals is playing havoc on hormones and causing developmental problems modern science has yet to fully comprehend. At least that's the message of an Oakland Tribune article about the as-yet-unknown downside of modern, everyday products. The chemicals inside plastics, toys and appliances tinker with key hormones -- turning them on when they should be off, or vice versa. "In the absence of concrete data for many of these chemicals, the precautionary principle should be exercised," said one scientist. Read More... Posted Feb 05 2007, 10:32 AM by Mike Adamick (Cry It Out!) with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: parenting, health, baby, products, health and well-being of children., children's products, angst, worried parents

• Uganda Reports 20,000 Children Tested HIV Positive in 2006

  Some sobering news from Uganda: the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation reports that over 20,000 Ugandan children tested positive for HIV last year.  According to Uganda's Ministry of Health, the majority of those children were infected by their mothers during pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding. The article's focus is on the AIDS epidemic in Uganda; it seems almost beyond comprehension that in 2001, there were over 110,000 Ugandan kids living with HIV. Equally hard to grasp is the fact that obtaining something as basic as reliable transportation is a challenge - the story points out that the man heading up the Glaser Foundation's work in Uganda was donating motorcycles to local health officials to assist in communication and shipment of blood samples from clinics. The spread of AIDS through Africa is one of the great tragedies of our time. There are no easy answers, only mind-numbing numbers. Around the world, 2,000 kids a day test positive for HIV. Posted Feb 04 2007, 03:20 PM by JasonAvant with | with no comments Filed under: children, health and well-being of children., health care, Africa, elizabeth glaser pediatric AIDS foundation, HIV

• Progress in the War on Childhood Obesity

  Some good news to report: a handful of states are doing something about overweight kids. CNN reports that California, Illinois, New York, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Pennsylvania have received high marks from the University of Baltimore's Obesity Initiative for their efforts in combatting childhood obesity. Each state has implemeted policy designed to promote a healthy lifestyle for children, from limiting access to vending machines to mandatory P.E. classes and recess time. More promising: some 27 states received a "B" grade or higher for their legislative and public policy work in this area. (What's interesting: Utah got an "F", yet ranks lowest on the prevalence of obese kids. And people make fun of the Mormons for not drinking Coke. Hmm.) While childhood obesity is still a problem, it's good to see that it may finally be getting the attention that it deserves. Indeed, the article quotes Kenneth Stanton, the Obesity Initiative's chairman, comparing the shift in attitudes towards childhood obesity to the turnaround in the way society views smoking. But the movement towards healthier kids is not without controversy; critics point to the BMI report cards as potentially detrimental to a child's self-esteem, and question the reports' viabilty as a means of determining the state of children's health. (Yeah, that Obesity Myths website was fascinating, until I clicked on the About Us button. Looks like Nick Naylor is now working for the fast food industry.)   Posted Jan 31 2007, 12:44 PM by JasonAvant with | with no comments Filed under: healthy eating, health, education, health and well-being of children., childhood obesity

• PA Kids Like "Mystery Fat" in School Lunches

  Mmm. School lunches.  Just thinking about then makes you a little nostalgic, doesn't it?  That particular smell found only in school cafeterias (was it the tacos?  the green beans? the tater tots?  what?); the scowling fat ladies in hairnets wielding large spoons behind the counter; it all just brings you right back to the 3rd grade.  Yum.  So when I read that a Pennsylvania school district replaced its popular but high-fat ranch dressing with a version chock-full of "Mystery Fat", I couldn't help but remember the time when that kid, what was his name?  Tim something?  When Tim hurled up his breakfast (Cheerios, judging by the evidence there on the floor) right in the cafeteria line, setting off a whole unfortunate chain reaction that set the entire janitorial staff to scurrying for their mops and buckets and eventually took out the entire 2nd grade plus half the third. Read More... Posted Jan 21 2007, 07:27 AM by Karen Murphy with | with 4 comment(s) Filed under: children, kids, health, nutrition, pennsylvania, fat, health and well-being of children., obesity, pittsburgh, z trim, mystery fat, school lunches

• Finding Childcare as Challenging in Canada as in U.S.

  One you've experienced the challenge of finding affordable and high quality child care, you begin to understand why so many families opt to have one parent stay home and care for their children.  And you also appreciate the popularity of grassroots movements such as MomsRising, that champion high quality child care as one of the cornerstones of their legislative agenda. Since I favor universal health care and higher taxation in order to create a stronger social safety net for lower and middle class families, I have often assumed that Canada would be a better place to raise children than the U.S.  Apparently, when it comes to childcare, this isn't the case.   Read More... Posted Jan 20 2007, 10:22 AM by Rachael Brownell (Redsy) with | with no comments Filed under: parents, health and well-being of children., Momsrising, childcare, Canadians, social safety net, universal health care, health care, I Saw Your Nanny

• "Bubble Boy" Disease Test 30 Years in the Making

  Every year between 40 and 100 babies are born with what is known as "severe combined immunodeficiency disease" -- though doctors believe many more babies might have died due to undiagnosed complications. It sounds scary enough, but it gets worse. John Travolta made a movie about it -- "The Boy in the Plastic Bubble." In all seriousness, the movie was made in 1976. It's been 30 years since that catastrophe and doctors are just now working on an early screening test for newborns? What gives? It turns out that the disease has been too complicated to detect in the early, blood droplet screenings given to newborns. Until now. Wisconsin is set to become the nation's first state to screen for the disease, potentially followed by other states if a pilot program works. People, get on it. Early testing is key to fighting the disease, because if an infant becomes too sick too soon, surgery becomes more and more risky. That doesn't even take into account the hundreds of thousands of dollars it costs to cure if the disease is detected later -- or the sad prospect of forcing a child to live in a bubble. (I mean besides those created every day by pushy albeit deluded parents.) All I'm saying is I just hope it doesn't take another 30 years. Or another John Travolta movie. Posted Jan 16 2007, 04:00 PM by Mike Adamick (Cry It Out!) with | with no comments Filed under: health, news, infant, newborn, hospitals, medicine, babies, health and well-being of children.

• Back Away From The Big Mac: Weaning Your Family From Fast Food

  Full disclosure: Fast Food Nation and Super Size Me didn't completely turn me off of fast food. They did help encourage me to dial my consumption back a notch, and they did make me appreciate living in a region that has In N Out Burger, but we still get the odd Happy Meal now and then, and as the rainy season impends, we'll probably be logging some time at the Play Place (whither the indoor playspaces in the Bay Area? Why so few and far between? But that's another post). That said, I plan menus weekly and I cook dinner pretty much from scratch almost every night of the month. That said, I'm a stay at home parent, I don't have kids old enough to have a heavy schedule of events in the late afternoon and evening (or, at their ages, any schedule at all), so it's hard for me to get my head around a calendar so busy that I feel I have no choice but to go out for fast food five nights a week. Yet such busy parents exist, and actually have to write for advice to get out of their ruts. And the expert's answer is, well, DUH, don't do it so much. I'd have taken my response a little further. What, you can't make a stack of (fresh-ground, sugarfree) peanut butter and (natural all-fruit) jelly (on whole grain bread) to bring along? You don't have a crock pot? You can't cook up a pot of spaghetti sauce or chili on Sunday afternoon and freeze half of it for Thursday? You're the only living person in North America who has somehow avoided knowledge of Rachael Ray? Get a wok! Have big salads for dinner! Freakin' Taco Night, lady! It takes five minutes to open a can of beans and heat it! Save your damn dinner, at least most of the time! Yes, your kids' sports activities are important and it's great that they're active, but one of the most crucial jobs we have as parents is to provide our children with healthy and nutritious food. If your schedule prevents you from providing a basic need, you need to revisit it! "Skip the fries and ask for extra lettuce and tomato" is practically giving this mother a pass to carry on as she's been doing, despite the rational advice that preceeds it. Those kids are still going to be eating food laced with high-fructose corn syrup every night, and they're athletes. They need to be eating healthy foods. Fast food, if it must be anything at all to your family, is a treat or a last resort. It's not what's for dinner. Posted Jan 11 2007, 08:00 AM by Patti with | with no comments Filed under: healthy eating, health, fast food, nutrition, eating, health and well-being of children.

• Father's Rights: Part II

  As previously discussed on Babble, father's rights groups have made a name for themselves in Britain climbing the Tower of London dressed as superheroes, but in the States, a more low-key approach has been used to mixed effect.  Groups such as the American Coalition for Fathers and Children have lobbied hard to get legislatures, the courts, and the public to recognize the impacts divorce has on all parties, particularly fathers.  Like other father's rights groups, the ACFC's mission includes eliminating gender bias in the legal system, and the importance of both parents in the emotional and psychological development of their children. And like their British counterparts, this group identifies equal shared parenting as the optimal arrangement for all involved, rather than the current standard of deciding custody based on the best interests of the children. Regardless of what you feel is "fair" and "optimal" vis a vis shared parenting, the advantage of using the "best for children" test to decide custody is that it requires placing the child's needs before those of the parents.  I find it hard to believe that 50% custody (one week at mommy's house followed by one week at daddy's house) is optimal for as many children as many father's rights groups claim.  It doesn't pass the laugh test (small infant spends one week with Dad then one week with Mom), let alone the basic developmental and attachment needs of small humans. There is no question that fathers and mothers are crucial to raising healthy attached children.  There is also no question that divorce has an impact on children (much of it negative).  But to throw out the current standards of family law in favor of a utopian ideal of fairness, is throwing the baby out with the bath water. Posted Jan 04 2007, 08:18 AM by Rachael Brownell (Redsy) with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: fathers rights, custody battles, health and well-being of children.