Tag: children

bookmark_borderChildren And Malnutrition

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By President Obama

Last June, the United States, India, Ethiopia, and UNICEF hosted the Global Child Survival Call to Action event in Washington, DC. In India, 43% of children under the age of five are underweight and 48% are chronically undernourished. To address this and other causes of child deaths that can be prevented, India issued a national Call to Action for Child Survival and Development to end all preventable child deaths by 2035.

Yesterday I wrote about my time in Kachhpura and how they are working to end malnutrition. Today I attended a roundtable discussion with Government of Maharashtra Officials, USAID, UNICEF, Indian civil society and private sector representatives to learn about their efforts to improve nutrition across the country and to make available other proven health interventions to prevent child deaths, such as immunizations, clean water, and treatment of pneumonia and diarrhea.

As a mom, this is a personal issue for me as no parent wants to see her child go hungry or be sick. I am inspired by how the communities that I have visited have launched into action to tackle this problem. I am heartened to learn of the joint efforts of the Indian government, civil society and private sector in close collaboration with the U.S. and UN Agencies to target children between 0 and 35 months old, one of the most vulnerable groups. I look forward to seeing their continued progress in the future.

After leaving the roundtable discussion, I continued on to The Dilaasa Crisis Intervention Department for Women in Bandra, an area in Mumbai. The center is the first hospital-based crisis center in India for female survivors of domestic violence and came out of a partnership between the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, a public entity, and the Center for Enquiry into Health and Allied Themes, a private trust. This relationship illustrates how dedicated both the people and the government are to creating a safe space for the victims of gender based violence and to ensuring that this nightmare ends for so many women.

In Hindi, Dilaasa means “reassurance,” and it seems that the center has gone above and beyond that mission for each of the 2,000 women it has cared for so far. Dilaasa provides a safe and anonymous space for women to seek support, a promise the women I met with were so appreciative of. The center focuses on empowering these women by helping them understand that the cause of violence is external to them. I could see the power of this approach in my conversations with the center¹s survivors. I am still amazed by the incredible strength of each woman I was able to meet.

bookmark_borderDangers to Children: Sun, Bugs and Breathing

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Dangerous Air Quality Due to Ozone Levels
Dangerous Air Quality Due to Ozone Levels

What are three of the most dangerous natural threats to children? Exposure to the sun, mosquitoes (West Nile Virus), ticks (Lime Disease) and breathing. However, reducing your risk to these can create health risks as well. Too much sunscreen may prevent the body from producing vitamin D. The chemicals in insect repellent can pose a slew of long term health risks.

Obviously, not breathing results in death.  For instance, the day this article was in Philadelphia the government issued an “Action Day” where they advise active children not to breath outside.

Learn More About the Dangers of the Sun, Mosquitoes and Breathing
Philadelphia’s Air Quality

 

bookmark_borderGardening Resources

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Whistle While You Work Gardening
Guide To Edible Plants

The United States Department of Agriculture is offering these interactive and exploratory lessons as a creative way to connect gardens with nutrition messages in the classroom, cafeteria or lunch room, and at home. Whether your garden is large or small and your growing season is long or short, these materials can help you:

  • Change how children think and feel about fruits and vegetables.
  • Foster an awareness of where foods come from.
  • Get kids’ attention with colorful visuals, games, and activities that are age-appropriate and fun.
  • Integrate gardening and nutrition into English Language Arts, Math, Science, and Health lessons.
  • Provide nutrition messages that are consistent with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010.

For Use with Preschoolers

For Use with Elementary School Age Children

bookmark_borderTen Reasons to Fix School Lunch and Save Our Children’s Future

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Reposted From “Nutrition In The Schools”
Originally Posted on Chef Ann Cooper’s Blog

Ten Reasons to Fix School Lunch and Save Our Children’s Future

Five Facts to Motivate Us

1. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has stated that of the children born in the year 2000, one out of every three Caucasians and one out of every two African Americans and Hispanics will contract Diabetes in their Lifetime – most before they graduate high school.

2. The achievement gap, which is truly a social justice issue will never be shrunk unless we clearly understand that healthy food is linked to academic performance. Hungry or malnourished students cannot learn to the best of their abilities.

3. Studies have shown that a diet consisting of foods high in fats, sugars, food additives and artificial colors, and low in vitamins, minerals and other protective factors such as fiber and phytochemicals commonly found in fruits, vegetables and whole grains can negatively impact learning.

4. National Institutes of Health has stated that, of the six leading causes of death in the United States, four are linked to unhealthy diets. The gap in life expectancy between the rich and poor has widened by almost 50% in the last 20 years – much of that can be attributed to diet and exercise.

5. Exposure to pesticides, antibiotics, hormones and other chemicals through our food supply is being increasingly linked to such conditions and ADD, ADHD, antibiotic resistance and early onset of puberty, as well as diseases such as cancer and diabetes.

Five Facts to Give Us Hope

6. Because Harry S Truman was right when he said; “No nation is healthier than its children or more prosperous than its farmers.”

7. A study done by Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School and the CDC of a school in New York showed that 80% of the children and or parents changed the way they cooked, ate or shopped because of the school’s food program.

8. A recent study in Berkeley CA done by the UC Berkeley Center for Weight and Health provided findings that children in the school districts program ate three times as many vegetables when eating school lunch as those students who brought their lunch from home.

9. A study done by Massachusetts General showed that children served a nutritious breakfast were better able to learn and had less behavioral problems.

10. Removing chocolate milk from schools could remove 4 – 6 pounds of sugar from children’s diet every year.

All facts attributable to Chef Ann Cooper and citations can be found on this http://www.chefann.com/