WebMD reports on a new study in their article “TV Linked to More Child Aggression”, that shows that children who watch more television exhibit higher levels of aggression:

Researchers examined data on 3,128 3-year-olds. Mothers of the tots answered questions about how much time their children spent watching television during a typical day, as well as how much television the children were indirectly exposed to. Also, the children’s level of aggression was evaluated. The children in the study were born between 1998 and 2000 and came from 20 U.S. cities.

Researchers concluded that 3-year-olds “exposed to more television, directly and indirectly, are at increased risk for exhibiting aggressive behavior.”

Possible reasons are that children who see violence on television become desensitized to it; parents who don’t have limits on television may be less likely to have other rules, such as regular bedtimes; and when children are watching television, they are not participating in other activities that may benefit their social development, such as playing.

Read more about the study on WebMD

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children under 2 do not watch television at all and that children 3 and up be limited to 2 hours of media time per day.

I try to limit my 4 year old to 1 hour per day of screen time, but it sometimes exceeds that on days when I have a lot of work to do.  My 2 year old has very little interest in television but she is  exposed to it through her sister’s viewing habits.  This study is a good reminder for me and for all parents that it’s time to turn off the tube and go outside to play!

Yesterday it was announced that Baby Einstein DVDs are recalled due to claims that the videos are “educational” and that they are marketed to babies and children alike, despite American Academy of Pediatrics policy that television in any form is not recommended for babies under age 2.

Disney will refund up to 4 videos purchased between June 5, 2004 and September 4, 2009.   You have several options with regard to the refund:

• One (1) Baby Einstein book of your choice
• One (1) Baby Einstein music CD of your choice
• One (1) coupon for 25% off the purchase of one Little Einsteins product. Redeemable with promotion code only at DisneyStore.com
• Refund of the current retail value of the DVD ($15.99)

Submit your claim and find out more information about the Baby Einstein Recall here.

From EWG.com

Written by Alice Shabecoff, co-author with her husband Philip of Poisoned Profits: The Toxic Assault on our Children

As we watched each of our five grandchildren and their friends enter this world and begin their life’s journey, it became more and more clear that something is amiss with this generation. How are your children and your friends’ children doing?

Most likely, one in three of the children you know in this generation suffers from a chronic illness. Perhaps it’s cancer, or birth defects, perhaps asthma, or a problem that affects the child’s mind and behavior, such as Downs Syndrome, learning disorders, ADHD or autism. Though one in three may sound exaggerated, unbelievable, the figures are there amidst various government files.

This generation is different.
Childhood cancer, once a medical rarity, has grown 67 percent since 1950. Asthma has increased 140 percent in the last twenty years and autism rates without a doubt have increased at least 200 percent. Miscarriages and premature births are also on the rise, while the ratio of male babies dwindles and teenage girls face endometriosis.

The generations born from 1970 on are the first to be raised in a truly toxified world. Even before conception and on into adulthood, the assault is everywhere: heavy metals and carcinogenic particles in air pollution; industrial solvents, household detergents, prozac and radioactive wastes in drinking water; pesticides in flea collars; artificial growth hormones in beef, arsenic in chicken; synthetic hormones in bottles, teething rings and medical devices; formaldehyde in cribs and nail polish, and even rocket fuel in lettuce. Pacifiers are now manufactured with nanoparticles from silver, to be sold as ‘antibacterial.’

What’s wrong with rinsing a pacifier in soapy water?

Despite naysayers (who pays them to say nay?–that’s a whole story in itself), it’s clear there is both an association and a causative connection between the vast explosion of poisons in our everyday lives and our childrens’ “issues.”

Over 80,000 industrial chemicals (tested only by the manufacturer) are in commerce in this country, produced or imported at 15 trillion pounds a year. Pesticide use has leaped from the troubling 400 million pounds Rachel Carson wrote about in the 1960s to the mind-boggling 4.4 billion pounds in use today. Nuclear power plants, aging and under-maintained, increasingly leak wastes, often without notifying their community.

What could be more elemental than our desire to protect our children? Children and fetuses, because of their undeveloped defense systems, are ten to sixty-five times more susceptible to specific toxics than adults. These toxics diminish the capacities of our children…the future of our families, our communities, our nation.

Illness does not necessarily show up in childhood. Environmental exposures, from conception to early life, can set a person´s cellular code for life and can cause disease at any time, through old age. This accounts for the rise in Parkinson´s and Alzheimer´s diseases, prostate and breast cancer.

A message of hope and optimism
Yet this is not the dispiriting ‘Bad News’ it might seem. It is, actually, a message of hope and optimism. We are fearful only when we are ignorant and powerless. Now that we know what is happening, we can determine not to let it happen further.

These poisons are manmade; manufacturers can take them out of our children´s lives and make profits from safe products. ‘Green chemistry’ can replace toxic molecules with harmless ones. We can connect global climate change actions to environmental health strategies. If we replace coal-fired power, in the process we reduce not only carbon but also emissions of the tons of lead, mercury, hydrochloric acid, chromium, arsenic, sulfur and nitrogen oxides that cause autism, Alzheimer’s and other public health menaces.

In a riff on Pogo, let’s say, “We have met the heroes and it is us.” We cannot bury our heads and hope it will all go away. We cannot leave the job to someone else. Some may feel the problem is so massive, it’s best to pretend it doesn’t exist. But it isn’t more massive than we allow it to be. It’s totally within our reach.

We can make each other smarter and stronger. It is in our power to learn about what harms our children and to share our knowledge. It is in our power as a community of citizens and parents to demand action against the current harmful policies and practices and against the indiscriminate use of processes and practices that destroy and degrade all life on our planet.

Read EWG’s review of the book and learn more about the Shabecoffs and Poisoned Profits here.

I’m working with a company, BioVeda Technologies, that has a revolutionary new alternative therapy for stress symptoms associated with seasonal allergies, food allergies, chemical sensitivities and other chronic conditions.   Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and ADHD are often more prone to food allergies and chemical sensitivities.  The doctors who use the BAX 3000 Neurological Stress Reduction Therapy for these children are experiencing tremendous success, and families are noting big improvements in their affected child’s response to these stresses.  Overall behavior is improving, and the children who receive this therapy are feeling better in general.  BAX 3000 has also shown success in reducing symptoms of eczema and other chronic skin conditions in children.  Here are a few success stories!

Dr. Fetzer with BioVeda of Hermitage TN Reports Boy’s Reduction of ADHD Symptoms after BAX 3000 Therapy
“5 year old Boy was tested and treated for a number of allergy reactions. He was treated for food dyes & food colors with good results but not totally better. He was then treated for sugar which improved his ADHD. Then he was tested for vaccines which was positive. His mother said his ADHD problems & his allergies to food dyes & food colors started after having his vaccinations when he was 2 and1/2. When he was treated for the vaccines his allergies to food dyes & food colors resolved. Plus he had no ADHD.”

After BAX 3000 Therapy, Girl with Celiac Disease Finds Relief
14 year old girl with Celiac Disease off of Gluten free diet after BAX 3000 Neurological Stress Reduction Therapy. She shares her allergy relief in a hand written letter.

After BAX 3000 Neurological Stress Reduction Therapy Mikey is a New Boy
Autistic Boy shows marked improvement in communication and no longer has diet restrictions related to gluten and casein. He’s like a new boy!

After BAX 3000, Asthmatic Boy Can Play Baseball!
Doctor testimonial about a 6 year old boy with severe allergies and asthma who can now go outside and play baseball.

Doctor Reports BAX 3000 as a Life Changing Machine for Boy with Autism
Dr. Larry Kahn reports success story for profoundly autistic boy who speaks after receiving first round of BAX 3000 therapy.

BAX 3000 Child Patient Testimonial from Dr. Starr at BioVeda of Roswell
BAX 3000 Patient Testimonial from BioVeda Health and Wellness Center in Roswell, GA – Child with Allergies is Much Improved!

Want to know more about BioVeda Health and Wellness Centers & BAX 3000 Therapy?  Visit BioVedaWellness.com

It’s been a busy time for my business and as a result I have neglected Babyminding.com.  There is so much to talk about as related to green parenting for healthy children and I apologize to my readers for not being more persistent with my posts.  However,  a recent story came to me from the Autism Research Institute Newsletter that I must share:

Study Shows Newborn Monkeys Given Vaccines Do Not Develop Normally
Dr. Laura Hewitson to join Science lineup at next week’s conference in Dallas to present Hep B findings

Newborn monkeys in the wild depend on the strength of a few survival reflexes; when a human baby can’t figure out how to nurse, the hospital staff steps in and offers help, but a baby monkey, lacking such assistance, will die. The sucking reflex, common to all mammals, must be present at birth; it drives the newborn to suck at anything touching the roof of the mouth. The rooting reflex is closely linked, and assists in breastfeeding–a newborn instinctively turns its head toward anything that touches its face. These reflexes are controlled by the brainstem, a very important part of the brain that regulates autonomic functions such as breathing, heart rate, and intestinal activity.

We have standardized neonatal tests (modeled after T. Berry Brazelton’s Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale, 1995) that measure a range of abilities, including reflex strength, visual alertness, and response to social stimulation. While designed for human babies, these assessments are commonly used in clinical and research settings on primates, as an early screening measure for developmental problems.

These tests were essential for researchers at the University of Pittsburgh in designing the study: “Delayed Acquisition of Neonatal Reflexes in Newborn Primates Receiving a Thimerosal-Containing Hepatitis B Vaccine: Influence of Gestation Age and Birth Weight” (NeuroToxicology e-pub 9/30/09).

The primary researcher on the paper, Laura Hewitson, PhD, now at Thoughtful House Center for Children, wanted to see if the development of survival reflexes of the 13 newborn male rhesus macaques that received a weight-adjusted thimerosal-containing Hepatitis B (Hep B) vaccine at birth were delayed compared with the four animals who received a saline placebo, or the three who received no injection at all. In vaccinated animals there was a significant delay in the acquisition of three survival reflexes: root, snout, and suck, compared with unvaccinated animals. (No neonatal reflexes were significantly delayed in the control animals.) Also, in some areas, the animals with the lowest birth weight and / or shortest time in the womb were more severely affected. (Note: the researchers assessing the monkeys were blinded.)

When asked about the relevance of the study, given that Hep B is now free of thimerosal (nearly 50% ethyl mercury by weight), Dr. Hewitson replied, “Our study design does not enable us to determine whether it was the vaccine itself, the exposure to thimerosal, or a combination of the two that caused the observed effects. While thimerosal is no longer used in Hepatitis B vaccines given to American infants, thimerosal-containing Hepatitis B vaccines are still widely used in many countries. Furthermore, all multi-dose flu vaccines contain thimerosal.” (Note: the influenza vaccine is recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) for both pregnant mothers and for infants at 6 months of age.) “Clearly, more research into the safety of the Hepatitis B vaccine is a matter of some urgency,” said ARI’s Director, Dr. Stephen Edelson.

Thimerosal is still a concern to me, especially as the H1N1 Vaccine becomes available in early October.  I urge all parents to read more about this before they make a decision on whether to vaccinate their family for Swine Flu.  Dr. Sears has some very useful information related to the H1N1 and flu vaccines on his website.

I promise to try and be more diligent in my updates!

A recent study “Probiotic Effects on Cold and Influenza-like Symptom Incidence and Duration in Children” published in the Journal of Pediatrics found that probiotics reduce symptoms and duration of colds and flu.  The study involved 326 children ages 3-5 treated with either a placebo, a single probiotic or a combination of probiotics twice daily for 6 months.   The probiotics used were Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM, or L acidophilus NCFM in combination with Bifidobacteriumanimalis subsp lactis.  Results indicated that the probiotics reduced the duration and incidence of fever, coughing, runny nose.   The study concluded:

“Daily dietary probiotic supplementation for 6 months was a safe effective way to reduce fever, rhinorrhea, and cough incidence and duration and antibiotic prescription incidence, as well as the number of missed school days attributable to illness, for children 3 to 5 years of age.”

Probiotics can be found in most yogurts, however you can also purchase a supplementation in powder form perfect for adding to your child’s juice or cereal.

Related Posts:

Natural Alternatives to Children’s Medications

Vitamins and Supplements for the Family

As reported in The Huffington Post in the article “Top US Panel: Some Vaccine-Autism Research is “Appropriate,” “Worthwhile” and “Warranted” by David Kirby:

“On Tuesday, the Federal Government’s leading immunization advisory panel unanimously approved a sweeping list of vaccine safety research recommendations for the US Department of Health and Human Services, including several that are directly or indirectly linked to the vaccine-autism debate. The endorsement, from the highly influential National Vaccine Advisory Committee, will surely intensify the argument.”

In my humble opinion this is a big step forward and way overdue.  The proposed study is to be an observational one, looking at the outcomes of children who were vaccinated according to the recommended immunization schedule, children who were not vaccinated and children who were alternatively vaccinated.  And their reason for not looking at this sooner… for fear that a study of this kind may be unethical!  

“How and whether to conduct such studies — which would be costly, complicated and subject to ethical questions — is a hot-button question in itself. For example, prospective clinical trials, where children would be randomized into vaccinated and placebo groups, would be patently unethical, and therefore impossible.

But public participants in the NVAC process suggested an alternative plan: An “observational study” to look at “natural variation in vaccination schedules, including some children where vaccination is declined through parental intent,” the NVAC wrote. In other words, if parents decided not to vaccinate their kids on time, or at all — even after they had been strongly urged to do so — then it would not be unethical to enroll their children in an observational study of health outcomes.”

PUHHLEEZ…I find it unethical that our children are getting sicker and no one “official” is willing to  listen, until now.  I think the bottom line is and always will be cost and liability, not ethics. 

I commend the hard work of a passionate community who’s endless questioning is finally seeing results:

“Without influence from autism and vaccine safety groups, it is unlikely that the august NVAC (see roster of NVAC members, including experts from CDC, HHS, academia and the pharmaceutical industry) would have unanimously endorsed first-step measures to study and compare vaccinated, unvaccinated, and “alternatively vaccinated” groups of children for a number of immunological and neurological disorders — including autism.”

Keep fighting for what you know is right for your child!!

I also encourage you to read Dr. Sears’ take on these recent events in his article, “Government and CDC Finally Agree to do Extensive Research into Vaccine Safety . . . Maybe“.  He provides a great perspective on the issue.

Related Posts

The USDA’s school nutrition standards were developed in the 1970’s and aren’t consistent with current nutritional science. USDA doesn’t even consider candy bars, snack cakes or french fries to be junk foods. The standards don’t even address calories, saturated and trans fats or sodium.

I added my name to a petition calling for an update to these standards and I hope you will too.

Please SIGN THE PETITION!

The petition will be hand delivered to Congress June 24th. The more signatures we have, the greater our impact.

Thanks!

While I don’t want to add to the hype any more than necessary when it comes to the potentially pandemic swine flu, I still feel it’s important to be informed on the issue to protect the health of your family. Treehugger recently posted an article that gives a unique point of view on this outbreak.

Even if global coverage on the potential swine flu pandemic may be an over-reaction, it’s clear that the outbreak is still a serious issue (which you can now follow via Google Maps). All things considered, the outbreak seems to be the tip of the proverbial iceberg. In addition to the other questionable agribusiness practices of “confined animal feeding operations” – a new study by the Soil Association suggests that the overuse of antibiotics could be a major factor in creating antibiotic resistant super-pathogens.

My family plan when it comes to swine flu prevention (same as during flu season; see related post):

• Wash Hands Frequently
• Plenty of Sleep
• Immune System Support Supplements (Immu-Max by Springboard & Vitamin C)
• Watch & Wait

Related Post: Surviving Cold & Flu Season with Kids

I believe that every day should be Earth Day in the sense that we should always be thinking of our impact and footprint on the environment in some way.  Afterall the earth sustains life and can’t be replaced, so it’s important to take care of it.   Today is a perfect time to start your new green resolutions.  Below are some ways to celebrate.  Feel free to share your own in a comment.

• Get Outside and Play – What better way to show appreciation for the Earth than to enjoy its wonders?  Take your kids out on a nature walk and discover all that mother nature has to offer.  Take binoculars or a camera and encourage your children to spot various items, scavenger hunt style.  It’s amazing the wonderment a simple  grasshopper can create for your children.  This is also a great way to encourage your child to appreciate nature and understand the importance of preserving it.
• Pick-up Litter – This activity is better suited for older children but young children can participate as “spotters”.  Go for a walk and pick up all the litter that you see.  And take the lesson further by sorting the trash and recycling what you can.
• Plant a Garden – We started our seasonal vegetable garden over the weekend.  The kids had so much fun digging in the dirt and are looking forward to harvest time.  It’s a great way to let your children know where healthy foods come from and reiterates the importance of preserving the earth so that nature’s abundance remains intact.
• Plan an Organic Feast of Whole Foods - Food processing takes it’s toll on the environment and our bodies.  Try creating a meal solely from whole foods (unprocessed in their natural form).
• Switch to Green Cleaning Supplies - Both my girls love to help me clean.  If I were using toxic conventional cleaners, I would never allow them to participate.  Since we use green cleaners, baking soda and vinegar, they are encouraged to do everything from spray windows, clean appliances and sweep the floor.  And even when they don’t participate, I’m left with the peace of mind that they won’t be exposed to a toxic residue.
• Sponsor an Environmental Cause - The threats are real.  Consider contributing to an environmental cause in honor of Earth Day.  Organizations such as World Wildlife Federation, National Wildlife Federation and even Healthy Child, Healthy World are great ways to make a difference!

I look forward to reading your ideas, please leave a comment!