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• A Cheap Step Toward Healthier Living

  I am about to save you a small fortune in vitamins, herbs, antibacterial products and cleaning supplies. You can thank me later.   Read More... Posted Jul 02 2008, 02:00 PM by Adrienne Martini with | with 6 comment(s) Filed under: health, germs, shoes, E. coli, bare feet

• Are bananas the new oil?

  Everyone who thought bananas were this wonderful and inexpensive food that we stumbled onto here in the States – you were wrong. Very wrong. At least that's what Dan Koeppel said in the New York Times this week. His OP-ED piece, "Yes, We Will Have No Bananas," is currently the most emailed article at nytimes.com. According to this extremely interesting essay, bananas are more exotic than we realize and shouldn't be so cheap. Fruit stands on the streets of Manhattan typically sell the yummy yellow-skinned fruit at 3 or 4 for a buck, which is a great deal by New York standards. There are various reasons, Koeppel writes, why bananas... Read More... Posted Jun 20 2008, 10:00 AM by Brett Singer with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: new york city, food, health, business, new york times, NY Times, fruit, banana, NYTimes, Brett Singer, Dan Koeppel, bananas

• Babble Talk: Could Your Child Have Sensory Processing Disorder?

  I am still somewhat new to this whole motherhood thing. So I was not familiar with sensory processing disorder until I read this interesting essay in which writer Vivian Manning-Schaffel explains SPD  -- it's a condition that causes children to over- or under-respond to certain stimuli -- and notes that one in 20 people has this it. My initial reaction? This sounds like another case of overdiagnosing, or possibly placing a convenient label on behavior just because it strays ever-so-slightly outside the norm. But the deeper I read into Manning-Schaffel's piece, the more convinced I was that SPD is a legitimate disorder. Read More... Posted Jun 19 2008, 12:34 PM by Jen Chaney with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: health, autism, medical issues, babble talk, Vivian Manning-Schaffel, childhood conditions, sensory processing disorder, SPD, overstimulation

• Walgreens Sued Over Infant Death Caused by Cold Medicine

  Natural News.com reports that an Illinois woman has filed a lawsuit against both Walgreens and McNeil PPC Inc., parent company of Tylenol, because her son died after consuming cold medicines made by both companies. Devon Mehlberg-Alvarez died Oct. 8 -- three days before various infant and children's cold medications were pulled from store shelves -- due to dextromethorphan intoxication. The boy had taken both Infant Tylenol Cold and Decongestant Plus and Walgreen Pediatric Drops-Cough Plus Cold in the days preceding his death. Read More... Posted Jun 09 2008, 08:03 AM by Jen Chaney with | with 6 comment(s) Filed under: health, lawsuit, FDA, Tylenol, walgreens, Devon Mehlberg-Alvarez, Dimitria Alvarez, children's cold medicine, infant cold medicine

• Fear of plastic + timing = big bucks

  Interesting article over on Forbes.com about the BornFree people. Turns out they not only make the bottles, they help make sure that people know how dangerous the BPA-filled versions are. Apparently, when BornFree began back in 2006, very few people cared about BPA. So what does a dadpreneur (that's a dad entepreneur – see how dumb it sounds?) do? Make sure that everyone knows how bad plastic is. According to Forbes, BornFree's President Ron Vigdor "sometimes exaggerates when comparing bisphenol A-free bottles to polycarbonate versions. 'One is with arsenic, one without. Which one would you like to buy?'" So what's wrong with that? Read More... Posted Jun 08 2008, 10:30 AM by Brett Singer with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: children, kids, health, baby, mother, business, babies, mothers, mompreneurs, infants, nursing, breast milk, breast feeding, bottles, formula, BPA, Bisphenol-A, plastic, feeding, milk, Brett Singer, Bisphenol free, Bisphenol-A free, born free, Bisphenol, forbes, entepreneurs, bornfree, bpa free

• Healthy Eating Leads Children to Porn

  We try to do the best for our best for our kids. Make them brush their teeth, look both ways before crossing the street. But are we trying too hard to protect our kids? Could these well intentioned acts actually have a negative effect? Perhaps, as some parents are learning encouraging their children to eat healthy is leading the kids to pornography. To be specific, it leads them to, and I quote, “Hot Gay Bareback” porn… Read More... Posted Jun 04 2008, 09:30 AM by Cole Gamble with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: kids, health, gay, porn, new zealand, naughty, xxx, hard core

• FEMA Trailers Making Children Very Sick

  Tens of thousands of children may face a lifetime of health problems due to living in FEMA trailers in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. Formaldehyde, a cancer-causing substance, has been found in FEMA trailers at levels five times what is considered safe.           Months after Katrina I remember... Read More... Posted Jun 03 2008, 11:31 AM by Cole Gamble with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: children, kids, health, Cancer, tragedy, new orleans, asthma, hurricane katrina, FEMA, sick, formaldehyde

• Top Ten Awareness Month Candidates--Save July!

  I wanted to raise awareness about a very important issue. While looking into the fact that June is Potty Training Awareness month, I discovered something tragic. While we are just finishing National Teen Self-Esteem month and Hepatitis Awareness month in May, and are looking forward to International Men's month, National Safety month, and Children's Awareness month (aware that they exist?) in June, it's going to be a slow slog after that. Because July, as it turns out, is hardly gonna make anyone aware of anything at all! While most of the other months, weeks, and days of the year are so jam packed with awareness that you can hardly tell which end is up, July only has, like, Family Reunion month and Herbal and Prescription Awareness month going for it. (Hmm, are those two only coincidentally linked?) So I think it's time we call attention to this by nominating some things for July to cover. Here's the top ten candidates for an Awareness month: Read More... Posted May 31 2008, 10:31 AM by Kelly Mills with | with 4 comment(s) Filed under: parenting, children, health, potty training, disease, lists, top ten, awareness month, july

• Pregcellent: Are Breastfeeding Extremists Endangering Babies?

  The Daily Mail has this typically hysterical and annoying headline for a recent story: "No, breast ISN'T always best for baby...whatever the extremists tell you". Ba ba buuuum. That's right, lactation consultants pose major threats to infant health and welfare! Talk about selling a story. But then the article goes on to cover the views of Clare Byam-Cook, a retired midwife who has helped loads of people (including Kate Winslet and Helena Bonham-Carter--celebrity nipple alert!) learn to breastfeed. And frankly, I think she has some good things to say. Byam-Cook says some midwives are so dogmatic that they simply push breastfeeding, meaning moms with problems... Read More... Posted May 28 2008, 05:03 PM by Kelly Mills with | with 23 comment(s) Filed under: health, infant, newborn, midwives, breastfeeding, nursing, lactivism, bottles, breasts, formula, controversy, pregcellent, lactation, daily mail

• Gasp! Childhood Obesity Not Exploding

  Hey, remember how a little while back we were told childhood obesity was a horrific epidemic ravaging the land? And then every thirty seconds or so a study and accompanying news story would appear, saying that juice or distant mothers or text messaging was one of the causes? (Side note: News outlets almost always use one of maybe three pictures of overweight kids for these stories. I do hope those kids are getting royalties or something.) It seemed like you almost couldn't go a week without at least one "such-and-such is contributing to the fattening of our youth" story appearing somewhere. Well, now there's more news in the kid and weight front. Apparently... Read More... Posted May 27 2008, 07:10 PM by Kelly Mills with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: kids, food, health, research study, racism, nutrition, childhood obesity, diet, overweight, weight, experts, activity, sedentary, poor, disparities, economic

• That Unfresh Feeling

  I've now rewritten the first sentence of this post four dozen times. If there is a tasteful way to broach this topic, I apparently can't figure out what it is. So, I'll be blunt: your vagina may be imperfect.   Read More... Posted May 23 2008, 11:00 AM by Adrienne Martini with | with 7 comment(s) Filed under: health, vagina, perfect, vaginal, bait-and-switch, eHow

• Baby's Got Blue (or Green or Brown or Lazy) Eyes

  As part of my court-ordered free-will community service, let me pass some little known knowledge on to you. If you have an infant between the ages of 6-12 months, you can take him or her to a free puppet show that might have long-term benefits to his or her later health.   Read More... Posted May 22 2008, 02:00 PM by Adrienne Martini with | with no comments Filed under: health, babies, infants, puppets, free, eyes, strabismus, InfantSee

• Celebrity Tips For Losing the Baby Weight! (BARF)

  Omigod, Forbes has this ah-mazing article on how celebrities lose the weight right away after they have their cute little babies. Oh, sure, the article acknowleges right away that famous mamas have all this pressure to drop pounds immediately, and that can be frustrating for regular old moms to watch. And yeah, we'll all admit celebs have personal trainers and chefs and full-time nannies and so on to help with the baby weight loss endeavor. But that doesn't mean we common folk can't learn from celebrities, right?  And the first big thing we learn is that... Read More... Posted May 16 2008, 04:33 PM by Kelly Mills with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: Celebrities, celebrity, health, newborns, mothers, fitness, infants, baby weight, weightloss, postpartum, fame, famous moms, jlo, dinners, trainers

• 3-year-old boy has never slept

  I don't know what to make of this story. I do know that I'm unlikely to ever complain about Thing 2 waking up in the middle of the night. A little boy in St. Petersburg, Florida hasn't slept in 3 years. Not "oh, he woke up last night at midnight." No sleep. At all. For 3 years. Read More... Posted May 12 2008, 12:00 PM by Brett Singer with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: health, sleep, florida, sleeping, surgery, brain, Brett Singer, chiari malformation, mind, not sleeping

• Babble Talk: The Worst Food to Feed Your Kids

  Amy Kalafa and Dr. Susan Rubin recently spoke to Babble about their documentary, Two Angry Moms, in which the pair investigate cafeteria junkfood. Some of the offending school lunch offerings the two mentioned by name: Blue slushies, candy and the balanced meal of chicken nuggets and tater tots. Not exactly the nutritionally sound stuff we would hope our kids get every day. All of which got me to thinking about the food we serve our children at home: Do we do better than some of the schools Kalafa and Rubin describe? Read More... Posted May 12 2008, 10:03 AM by Jen Chaney with | with 5 comment(s) Filed under: health, nutrition, junk food, diet, babble talk, Amy Kalafa, Two Angry Moms, Dr. Susan Rubin

• Weekly Check-Up: Laugh Your Yoga Off

  I swear every day a new kind of yoga is created by someone. Guess one growing trend is laughter yoga, where you, you know, laugh as part of the practice. "'Kids laugh about 400 times a day, and adults only about 15,' notes Barb Fisher, a certified laughter yoga leader..." Yes, you can get certified to teach people how to giggle in a healing way, and once again, children hold the answers. Oh, help me see the world through the eyes of a child. Hey, if you aren't a class kind of person, may I suggest you read my stuff, cuz I guarantee to make you laugh as much as your average kid or I'll give you your money back. I know I'm far too curmudgeonly for my own good, and why I'm picking on yoga with all the injustice in the world is beyond me, but... Read More... Posted May 08 2008, 07:01 PM by Kelly Mills with | with no comments Filed under: kids, health, yoga, fitness, trends, weekly check up, benefits, shape, laughter yoga, constipation

• Disease Killing Kids in China

  Officials in China are getting aggressive about fighting a hand, foot and mouth disease that already has killed 24 children and infected more than 3,000. With the Beijing Olympics right around the corner, doctors have been ordered to seek out potential patients rather than waiting for already ill kids to show up at the hospital. Read More... Posted May 04 2008, 12:59 PM by Jen Chaney with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: health, China, olympics, hand, foot and mouth disease

• Mom Gets Fifteen Years For Unnecessary Surgeries on Son

  From the department of "Eeeeesh!" comes this story: Two of Laurie Williamson's children were in wheelchairs and had feeding tubes. Her three kids altogether had at least 500 doctor's appointments in ten years in connection with a rare illness. And Williamson raised $150,000 between 2000 and 2005 from individuals and organizations for her kids' health issues. One problem with this scenario: Prosecutors say she fabricated the illnesses to get the money. And she was... Read More... Posted May 02 2008, 06:34 PM by Kelly Mills with | with 6 comment(s) Filed under: health, mothers, crime, money, child abuse, moms, illness, surgery, sick, neglect, doctor, munchausen by proxy

• They Say: The Five-Second Rule is B.S.

  I have based my life on certain principles. That hard work always pays off, in ways sometimes tangible and sometimes intangible. That you should treat others with the same respect you expect from them. And that as long as something has been on the floor for five seconds or less, it's not really dirty. Now this article in the Sydney Morning Herald -- courtesy of MomLogic -- says that's not true, although in Australia, they call it the three-second rule. Apparently the Aussies don't have the patience (or low hygiene standards) to take things to the five-second level. Read More... Posted Apr 30 2008, 06:33 PM by Jen Chaney with | with 9 comment(s) Filed under: health, nutrition, eating, five second rule, cleanliness, MomLogic, feeding

• Two Girl Scouts Won't Sell Cookies Because of the Orangutans

  Okay, for the record, I was a Girl Scout. I sold the cookies, I got the badges, I went to the camp. I was never super into it, nor did I hate it. It was just one of the activities I did growing up. I'm saying this because I want you to know I have no personal vendetta against the Girl Scouts, even though I keep reporting on the downsides of their damn cookies.   So two Michigan Girl Scouts are refusing to sell cookies, because they care about endangered orangutans. The cookies... Read More... Posted Apr 18 2008, 04:32 PM by Kelly Mills with | with 4 comment(s) Filed under: health, environmentalism, cookies, activism, Girl Scouts, green, palm oil, badges, species, rainforest, orangutans

• Strollerderby Playdate: Shape It Up, Maggot

  When I grow up, I want to be tough. Not like a motorcycle riding mama or anything, but a strong, athletic chick who can scoop up my kids and save them from a fire or scary pervo if need be – and hell, avoiding diabetes and heart disease would kind of rock.  Back when I was a young, single slip of a girl, I was a pretty avid exerciser. I ran five days a week and did races and was really pretty buff, at least for someone who is a big fan of carbs and beer and chocolate and whose genes give her the build of her Polish washerwoman ancestors. Then I got married... Read More... Posted Apr 18 2008, 07:31 AM by AmyinMotown with | with no comments Filed under: health, fitness, exercise, fitness fixation, strollederby playdate, Doctor Mama, badass, workouts, getting in shape

• Weekly Check-Up: Wii Fit Gets Pumped

  In case you haven't heard, Wii Fit is going to be released next month, and it's already a huge hit in Japan, according to CNN. Is it going to replace the exercise video and save our children from obesity? Well, it's being touted as the next big thing in part because it has a sensor-riddled balance board that tracks and analyzes your movements. It will assess your fitness using your Body Mass Index (BMI--a measure I despise, BTW) and then it will run you through some drills to see how you do. After that, you can choose from a bunch of games focusing on strength training, aerobics, balance games and yoga. Wii Fit will also track your progress over time. Now maybe it's just me, but that article sounds more like a press release than reporting. I have... Read More... Posted Apr 17 2008, 08:31 AM by Kelly Mills with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: health, video games, technology, BMI, fitness, CNN, exercise, boxing, weekly check up, physical activity, wii fit

• Call in the Baby Bath Police

  Are you raising dirty kids? Apparently Kristen, a guest blogger over at MomLogic, is not ashamed to admit that she is. As she says in this post, she doesn't bathe her three-year-old son every day. "Sometimes I give him a bath and sometimes I don't," she writes. "Mostly I don't. After all he's not a car mechanic. He doesn't get that dirty. I do touch up work, wiping his face and hands throughout the day." Read More... Posted Apr 14 2008, 01:32 PM by Jen Chaney with | with 15 comment(s) Filed under: health, hygiene, cleanliness, baths, bathing, MomLogic

• Group Asks For Ban On Food Additives Linked to Hyperactivity

  Those wacky Europeans. When a bunch of food additives were linked to hyperactivity in children, the UK Food Standards Agency actually asked that the EU ban those additives, and that UK food manufacturers sign a voluntary ban on the chemicals in effect by the end of 2009. Talk about drastic. All because some researchers at the University of Southampton said the number of hyperactive kids could be cut by a third if the additives were banned. But how are Brits going to know something is cherry-flavored if it isn't colored bright red?  The industry Food & Drink Federation spokesperson says... Read More... Posted Apr 11 2008, 05:03 PM by Kelly Mills with | with no comments Filed under: children, food, health, Europe, safety, EU, UK, chemicals, rules, drink, ban, industry, additives, hyperactivity

• Blame the Teeth

  Without old wives and their many tales, new parents would never know that every physical ailment of their infant can be chalked up to teething. Diarrhea? Must be teeth. Constipation? Teeth. Mysterious rashes? Teeth. Drool? Fussiness? Cradle cap? Sleeplessness? Teeth, teeth, teeth and teeth.   Read More... Posted Apr 09 2008, 02:29 PM by Adrienne Martini with | with no comments Filed under: health, babies, science, teeth, teething, fevers, old wives' tales

• How to Get a Flat Tummy Post-Pregnancy

  Obviously I did something very wrong after delivering my son a year ago. If only I had followed the advice of Brooke Burke  -- you know her as the actress and former hostess of E!'s "Wild On" -- maybe I'd be rocking tight abs and an itty-bitty waist. Burke, who delivered her fourth child (yes, I said fourth) a month ago, recently wrote a blog post that shared her secrets to slimming down after having a child. Indeed, as FameCrawler recently pointed out, she does look fab. So what's her secret? Well, for starters, follow a solid meal plan, something she helpfully outlines in her post. Nothing earth-shattering here, just lots of fresh vegetables and fruits, a healthy amount of protein and a series of reasonably portioned meals and snacks throughout the day. In other words, this is dieting from the department of No Duh. Read More... Posted Apr 07 2008, 09:33 AM by Jen Chaney with | with 17 comment(s) Filed under: health, nutrition, exercise, post-partum, body image, brooke burke, belly binding, post-pregnancy body, appearance

• Should an "Overweight" Beauty Pageant Contestant Be a Role Model for Young Girls?

  Monica Grenfell is horrified. Why? Well, see, this year's Miss England contest has a fairly unique finalist: Chloe Marshall, a size 16 (about a size 14 in U.S. sizes.) Seventeen-year-old Marshall has been quite outspoken about wanting to be "an ambassador for curves" and demonstrate to young girls that it isn't necessary to be a size zero. She says she eats healthy food and exercises regularly. Grenfell, however, is a dietician and she hopes Chloe doesn't win. "It would send an appalling--and very dangerous--message to other young women that it's OK to be fat." She adds that Chloe is a terrible role model and says charmingly, "Who on earth does she think she's kidding? What she's demonstrating isn't bravery but a shocking lack of self-control. Instead of flaunting her figure, Chloe ought to own up to the truth. She is fat and she got that way by over-eating." Nice. Grenfell makes the point that we don't have an anorexia epidemic, we have an obesity epidemic, and that the last thing girls need to hear is that it's okay to be overweight because it puts you at risk for health problems like Type 2 diabetes and heart attacks. Mmm hmm. Well... Read More... Posted Apr 04 2008, 05:02 PM by Kelly Mills with | with 31 comment(s) Filed under: health, teens, girls, media, diversity, beauty pageant, exercise, research, daughters, eating disorders, weight, body image, messages, self esteem, obesity epidemic, chloe marshall

• Weekly Check-Up: Energy Drinks Are Bad For Kids

  Um, maybe it's because I have a very high energy child (sometimes called "spirited" meaning "is there a 'pause' switch cuz mama's so tired") but the idea of children consuming energy drinks is totally appalling to me. And of course, the Red Bulls and Rockstars and Monsters and Pimp Juices (ahem) are quite popular with the kids. Some have 350 milligrams of caffeine--equal to the amount in ten cans of Coke. Let's think about it: A 170-pound adult consuming that amount of caffeine is going to have a different reaction than a 60-pound kid doing the same. In fact, the whole thing kinda makes me wish I wasn't (cough) so hooked on sugar-free Rockstar.  Last month four kids in Florida were hospitalized for... Read More... Posted Apr 03 2008, 07:01 PM by Kelly Mills with | with 4 comment(s) Filed under: health, florida, schools, caffeine, drugs, anxiety, doctors, weekly check-up, physicians, energy drinks, problems, ban, redline, rockstar, red bull

• Adult "Bimbo" Players Mad at Parents

  There's no such thing as bad publicity, right? In the wake of the widespread hand-wringing over the Miss Bimbo game--hand-wringing I partook in as well--there's an article on how regular adult users are peeved because the site is now getting so many hits people can't log in. Aw, poor locked out Bimbos. And let's face it: After watching a few news clips, it's clear the site creators have been intentionally milking the media attention. I mean, they say ridonkulous stuff about how the game promotes good values because you can send your Bimbo to university instead of the more obvious damage control things like, "It's intended for grown-ups," and no one is actually that stupid, are they?  One irate Bimbo user says that only the worst parents ever would actually let their kids play the game, and... Read More... Posted Mar 31 2008, 06:33 PM by Kelly Mills with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: health, news, disney, teens, barbie, internet, girls, media, bratz, daughters, online, plastic surgery, body image, controversy, preteens, game, diet pills, avatar, miss bimbo

• Your Girls Can Be "Bimbos" Online!

  Sometimes you see stuff and think, "Is this fer real?" When I read about the Miss Bimbo game, I kept thinking, "Oh, in a minute they'll say the game is for adults." But no, in fact the majority of the 200,000 players are between the ages of 7 and 17. But let me back up: There's a virtual "fashion" game for girls where they get a "Bimbo" and have to navigate her through boob jobs and diets and so on to make her the coolest bimbo of all. Girls can dress their dolls in sexy outfits for clubbing, and are encouraged to keep them waif thin through diet pills and plastic surgery. Niiiice. Most of the accounts I read focused on the weight and cosmetic horrors of the game, but I personally was more disturbed by the fact that... Read More... Posted Mar 25 2008, 07:02 PM by Kelly Mills with | with 7 comment(s) Filed under: health, teens, internet, girls, diet, daughters, online, self-esteem, plastic surgery, eating disorders, weight, sexism, virtual reality, body image, boob job, dolls, computer games, misogyny, sugar daddy, self image