It’s National Infant Immunization Week

The Orange County Health Department, in recognition of National Infant Immunization Week, is working to raise awareness of the importance of childhood immunizations.

Each year, thousands of children become ill from diseases that could have been prevented by basic childhood immunizations, and the health department wants to remind parents to check their children’s shot record to make sure it is up-to-date.

For more information, go to the Orange County Health Department website.

Whole Foods Market Hosts Hunger Banquet With Local High Schools

Whole Foods Market in Winter Park, in collaboration with Winter Park and Timber Creek High Schools, will present a Hunger Banquet to benefit the Whole Planet Foundation at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, May 3 at Glenridge Middle School.

A Hunger Banquet illustrates the disparity in distribution of the world’s resources by randomly assigning attendees to dinner tables representing different areas of the world to highlight the circumstances involved in the distribution of food in those areas. The event is open to the public, ages 12 and over.

For more information, go the the Whole Foods Market website.

New Lead Alerts

The latest lead alert from the Orange County Health Department (OCHD), which includes items such as water bottles, toy robots, fake teeth and seasonal writing pens, notes lead poisoning can affect nearly every system in the body.

“Because lead poisoning often occurs with no obvious symptoms, it frequently goes unrecognized, the alert states. “Lead poisoning can cause learning disabilities, behavioral problems, and at very high levels, seizures, coma and even death,” according to OCHD officials.

Click here to read more about the alert on the OCHD website.

Early Child Neglect Can Lead to Aggressive Behavior Years Later

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) reports that child neglect “may have the most profound effect on development of aggression if it occurs before age two, according to the study ‘Importance of Early Neglect for Child Aggression.’”

An AAP summary of the study says “researchers found that physical neglect reported to child protective services before age two was a stronger predictor of later aggression than either neglect at older ages or abuse at any age.”

The authors conclude that solving the problem of early neglect has the potential for immediate and intermediate and long-term benefits in reducing youth violence.

Click here to read more on the AAP website.

Girls Playing Sports in Record Numbers But Barriers Remain

A new report from the University of Minnesota’s Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport shows that girls are participating in sports in record numbers, but their participation in physical activity outside organized sports is declining, especially as they move from childhood into adolescence.

The report, “Developing Physically Active Girls: An Evidence-based Multidisciplinary Approach,” summarizes the most recent research on the physical, psychological, social and cultural benefits girls get from participating in sports and physical activity, the  barriers that prevent them from reaching their full potential and the kinds of environments in which girls learn how to develop and foster the best parts of themselves on and off playing fields.

Click here to read the complete story from the University of Minnesota.

Parents Wise to Keep TVs Out of Kids’ Bedrooms

While kids may beg to have a TV in their bedrooms, new research indicates this can not only lead to more time spent watching TV, but also less time spent with the family and on exercising, lower fruit and vegetable intake, more consumption of sweetened beverages and lower grades.

“The big take-home message from our study is that TVs should be removed from kids’ bedrooms, and it could have a positive effect on kids’ health,” said the study’s lead author, Daheia Barr-Anderson, at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health in Minneapolis.

Read more on the Healthfinder.gov website.

EPA Issues Rules to Protect Kids From Lead-based Paint

To further protect children from exposure to lead-based paint, the EPA is issuing new rules for contractors who renovate or repair housing, child-care facilities or schools built before 1978.

“While there has been a dramatic decrease over the last two decades in the number of children affected by lead-poisoning, EPA is continuing its efforts to take on this preventable disease,” said James Gulliford, EPA’s Assistant Administrator for Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances.

Click here to read more on the EPA website.

Are Cavities in Kids Related to Weight?

You might think overweight children would have more cavities than normal weight friends, but that isn’t necessarily so, and they might even have fewer, according to the results of two national studies.

Researchers who reviewed the results of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys say results are inconclusive and raise a lot of questions.  ”Are overweight children eating foods higher in fat rather than cavity-causing sugars?” asked researcher Dorota Kopycka-Kedzierawski. She says more study is needed.

Click here to read the story from WebMD.com.

Poll Finds Most Americans Don’t Know How to Report Bad Drug Reactions

A new “Consumer Reports” poll shows that one in six Americans who have ever taken a prescription drug experienced a side effect serious enough to send them to the doctor or hospital, but the majority of consumers don’t know how they can report them to the FDA, which is responsible for tracking drug safety problems.

To help make the public aware of the FDA’s reporting program for drug side effects–known as MedWatch–Consumers Union recently gave the FDA a petition signed by nearly 56,000 consumers asking that a toll-free number and website be included in all TV drug ads so people can easily report serious side effects to the agency.

Click here to read the complete story.

Giving is a Key to Happiness

It IS better to give than receive when it comes to personal happiness.

Researchers involved in a study published in the March 21 issue of “Science” magazine concluded that people found it more satisfying to spend money on others than on themselves. And this was something most people didn’t recognize, according to study authors.

Read more about this story by clicking on the Healthfinder website.