From Medscape.com:
(You'll need to register with Medscape to view the full article)
Exposure to Secondhand Smoke Among Students Aged 13--15 Years --- Worldwide, 2000--2007 Secondhand smoke causes heart disease and lung cancer in adults and increases risk of SIDS, ARIs, middle-ear disease, worsened asthma, respiratory symptoms, and slowed lung growth in children.
MMWR 56(20) 2007
Here is a link to the MMWR article:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5620a2.htm
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Many Americans Lack Knowledge to Make Weight-Loss Efforts Successful
From Channing Bete e-Newletter:
Nutrition and Fitness
Many Americans Lack Knowledge to Make Weight-Loss Efforts Successful
When it comes to losing weight, what people don't know can hurt them -- and their weight-loss efforts. The second annual Food & Health Survey, given to 1,000 American adults and conducted by the International Food Information Council (IFIC) Foundation, has found six major "diet disconnects" among consumers. For example, while 56 percent of Americans are trying to lose weight, 9 out of 10 don't know how many calories they should be taking in each day. "This survey is an important snapshot highlighting the gap between Americans' desire to have a more healthful diet and the reality of converting this desire into day-to-day behavior," said Susan Borra, registered dietitian and IFIC Foundation president.
Read the full article at: http://ific.org/newsroom/releases/2007foodandhealthsurvey.cfm
Nutrition and Fitness
Many Americans Lack Knowledge to Make Weight-Loss Efforts Successful
When it comes to losing weight, what people don't know can hurt them -- and their weight-loss efforts. The second annual Food & Health Survey, given to 1,000 American adults and conducted by the International Food Information Council (IFIC) Foundation, has found six major "diet disconnects" among consumers. For example, while 56 percent of Americans are trying to lose weight, 9 out of 10 don't know how many calories they should be taking in each day. "This survey is an important snapshot highlighting the gap between Americans' desire to have a more healthful diet and the reality of converting this desire into day-to-day behavior," said Susan Borra, registered dietitian and IFIC Foundation president.
Read the full article at: http://ific.org/newsroom/releases/2007foodandhealthsurvey.cfm
More Adult Smoking May Be Contributing to Rise in Childhood Asthma
From Channing Bete Healthy Communities e-Newsletter
Childhood Asthma and Smoking
More Adult Smoking May Be Contributing to Rise in Childhood Asthma
Childhood asthma has been on the rise in the past century, and researchers have discovered a potential contributing cause. "We have identified parallel increases in childhood asthma and cigarette use among adults during the past century in the United States," said study author Renee D. Goodwin, Ph.D., M.P.H., assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health. "These parallel trends suggest that the increase in cigarette use may be a contributing factor to the rise in asthma among children during the same period through increased exposure to environmental tobacco smoke." Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) is higher in some toxins than smoke inhaled directly from cigarettes by smokers, and because children breathe more air than adults and have narrower airways, they are more vulnerable than adults to ETS -- a risk factor for developing asthma and a trigger for worsening symptoms.
Read the full article at:http://www.mailmanschool.org/news/display.asp?id=546
Help smokers kick the habit with the resources at:http://channing-bete.com/public-health/smoking-cessation.html?src=em
Childhood Asthma and Smoking
More Adult Smoking May Be Contributing to Rise in Childhood Asthma
Childhood asthma has been on the rise in the past century, and researchers have discovered a potential contributing cause. "We have identified parallel increases in childhood asthma and cigarette use among adults during the past century in the United States," said study author Renee D. Goodwin, Ph.D., M.P.H., assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health. "These parallel trends suggest that the increase in cigarette use may be a contributing factor to the rise in asthma among children during the same period through increased exposure to environmental tobacco smoke." Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) is higher in some toxins than smoke inhaled directly from cigarettes by smokers, and because children breathe more air than adults and have narrower airways, they are more vulnerable than adults to ETS -- a risk factor for developing asthma and a trigger for worsening symptoms.
Read the full article at:http://www.mailmanschool.org/news/display.asp?id=546
Help smokers kick the habit with the resources at:http://channing-bete.com/public-health/smoking-cessation.html?src=em
Monday, June 25, 2007
KIDS COUNT Infant Mortality Data Brief
KIDS COUNT Infant Mortality Data Brief
We are delighted to release a new data brief entitled Infant Mortality – Understanding the complexities of death among Virginia’s youngest citizens.
Although Virginia ranks well among the states on most indicators of child well-being, Virginia ranks 31st on infant mortality (KIDS COUNT online data, 2004). We hope this brief will help advocates, policymakers, and the media understand more about the causes and complexities of infant mortality. As we point out in the brief, rates vary by locality and by race. The infant mortality rate for African Americans was 14.4 deaths per 1,000 births in 2005 compared to 5.9 for Whites.
Public Comment to Include Graduation Rates as a Requirement for Standards of Accreditation
Please submit public comment to the Board of Education in support of including graduation rates as a requirement for schools to meet their Standards of Accreditation. Comments are due July 13, 2007. For a copy of our public comment letter and talking points, courtesy of JustChildren, please contact voices@vakids.org
Send your letter to:
Mrs. Anne D. Wescott
Assistant Superintendent for Policy and Communications
Virginia Department of Education
P.O. Box 2120
Richmond, VA 23218-2120
Policy@doe.virginia.gov
Fax: 804.786.5389
We are delighted to release a new data brief entitled Infant Mortality – Understanding the complexities of death among Virginia’s youngest citizens.
Although Virginia ranks well among the states on most indicators of child well-being, Virginia ranks 31st on infant mortality (KIDS COUNT online data, 2004). We hope this brief will help advocates, policymakers, and the media understand more about the causes and complexities of infant mortality. As we point out in the brief, rates vary by locality and by race. The infant mortality rate for African Americans was 14.4 deaths per 1,000 births in 2005 compared to 5.9 for Whites.
Public Comment to Include Graduation Rates as a Requirement for Standards of Accreditation
Please submit public comment to the Board of Education in support of including graduation rates as a requirement for schools to meet their Standards of Accreditation. Comments are due July 13, 2007. For a copy of our public comment letter and talking points, courtesy of JustChildren, please contact voices@vakids.org
Send your letter to:
Mrs. Anne D. Wescott
Assistant Superintendent for Policy and Communications
Virginia Department of Education
P.O. Box 2120
Richmond, VA 23218-2120
Policy@doe.virginia.gov
Fax: 804.786.5389
Friday, June 22, 2007
Changes in Kellogg Company Marketing Practices
Please go to http://www.kelloggcompany.com/ and scroll down to latest news to see the press release about the changes in their marketing practices.
SCHIP - Need help with Advocacy!!
This message from our Friends at the Virginia Poverty Law Center.
PLEASE TAKE ACTION TODAY!!! OUR CHILDREN NEED YOUR HELP!!
The Senate Finance Committee is expected to report SCHIP legislation before the July 4th recess. And things are getting dicey.
You may have read that HHS released a report stating there are millions fewer uninsured children than previously believed. The response to this report has been angry and swift.
This should get your blood boiling and motivate you to write a letter to the editor and call our Senators again to support:
1. $50 billion in new funding for SCHIP (and Medicaid) over the next 5 years. Funding should come from an increase in federal tobacco taxes and the elimination of overpayments to Medicare Advantage Plans (which cost at least 12% more per patient than traditional Medicare)
2. Restore flexibility to states to determine how they want to verify citizenship and identity of Medicaid applicants. Virginia’s net enrollment of Medicaid children is still 10,000 lower than a year ago, as a result of the unduly restrictive federal documentation requirements.
3. Restore flexibility to states to cover more legal immigrant children and legal immigrant pregnant women.
Please take action TODAY!
Senator John Warner (R) 202-224-2023 202-224-6295 http://www.warner.senate.gov/
Senator Jim Webb (D) 202-224-4024 202-228-6363 http://www.webb.senate.gov/
Thanks!
Jill
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Implementing the New Childhood Obesity Recommendations
Greetings!
NICHQ’s Childhood Obesity Action Network is pleased to bring you exciting news in the field of childhood obesity. On Friday, June 8th, the recommendations on the Assessment, Prevention, and Treatment of Child and Adolescent Overweight and Obesity were released. These recommendations were made by the Expert Committee, convened by the AMA, CDC, and HRSA.
At a very exciting time in pediatric health care, the Childhood Obesity Action Network has launched an implementation strategy to help clinicians make these recommendations come to life. NICHQ, together with key partners, is creating an Implementation Guide to accompany the recommendations of the Expert Committee. This comprehensive Implementation Guide is for health care providers and will include detailed tools they can use with their patients.
The key to making these recommendations a reality is for providers to have easy access to tools and resources that they can start using immediately in their practice. The Implementation Guide will bring these together from successful practices that clinicians can easily adapt to their own patient population. To develop a guide that best serves you, we’d love to have input from you and your colleagues. Click here to complete a short survey, letting the team know what you would like to see in the Implementation Guide.
NICHQ’s Action Network works to ensure that providers have access to the best available evidence and promising practices on prevention and treatment of childhood obesity and the tools necessary to implement these recommendations. The Implementation Guide is kicking off a series of upcoming changes and developments in the Action Network that will help clinicians work together to make a strong impact on the childhood obesity epidemic. The Implementation Guide will be available on the NICHQ website the week of June 25th.
To learn more about the Childhood Obesity Action Network and other NICHQ programs, please visit www.nichq.org.
NICHQ’s Childhood Obesity Action Network is pleased to bring you exciting news in the field of childhood obesity. On Friday, June 8th, the recommendations on the Assessment, Prevention, and Treatment of Child and Adolescent Overweight and Obesity were released. These recommendations were made by the Expert Committee, convened by the AMA, CDC, and HRSA.
At a very exciting time in pediatric health care, the Childhood Obesity Action Network has launched an implementation strategy to help clinicians make these recommendations come to life. NICHQ, together with key partners, is creating an Implementation Guide to accompany the recommendations of the Expert Committee. This comprehensive Implementation Guide is for health care providers and will include detailed tools they can use with their patients.
The key to making these recommendations a reality is for providers to have easy access to tools and resources that they can start using immediately in their practice. The Implementation Guide will bring these together from successful practices that clinicians can easily adapt to their own patient population. To develop a guide that best serves you, we’d love to have input from you and your colleagues. Click here to complete a short survey, letting the team know what you would like to see in the Implementation Guide.
NICHQ’s Action Network works to ensure that providers have access to the best available evidence and promising practices on prevention and treatment of childhood obesity and the tools necessary to implement these recommendations. The Implementation Guide is kicking off a series of upcoming changes and developments in the Action Network that will help clinicians work together to make a strong impact on the childhood obesity epidemic. The Implementation Guide will be available on the NICHQ website the week of June 25th.
To learn more about the Childhood Obesity Action Network and other NICHQ programs, please visit www.nichq.org.
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