March ’17 Newsletter

Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds is a vigorous, collaborative, long-term effort to transform community health in South County. Our initial focus: Childhood obesity and children’s mental health.

A website just for South County…

Full of fun facts, news, resources and more, on all matters health and mental wellness

South County Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds has a brand new website (bodiesminds.org) just for you: lots of short, “edible”, mostly entertaining pieces on four topics you care about.

  • Eat Right, Eat Smart, what parents want to know about good food for their children, from directions to local farmers markets to links to the best children’s cooking sites
  • Get Your Body Moving, fun and engaging advice to get both you and kids off the sofa and away from the screen onto your feet and bicycles, and into your swimsuits, and into the parks, lakes, and lanes
  • Mental Wellness reassures South County parents with quizzes, resources and activities, so you can create a nurturing, empowering environment for your young one
  • Your Thriving Child presents the best of what we know in child development, from where to get advice on breastfeeding in South County to remarkably easy ways to entertain your baby.

There’s a LOT more, including what South County Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds is up to. So visit today and often; we’ll be updating the content and calendar regularly.

Surf the new South County Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds website at bodiesminds.org.

Bad experiences can last a lifetime

Even the brains of babies and toddlers can be affected forever when their environments are threatened

The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University lists this finding as the first of “8 things to remember about child development”.

Here’s the full text for #1:
    ” Adverse fetal and early childhood experiences can lead to physical and chemical disruptions in the brain that can last a lifetime. The biological changes associated with these experiences can affect multiple organ systems and increase the risk not only for impairments in future learning capacity and behavior, but also for poor physical and mental health outcomes.”

Why kids shouldn’t sit still in class

They just won’t learn as well

“Sit still. It’s the mantra of every classroom.”
     That’s how The New York Times began its recent feature on the mounting evidence that physical activity is just what children need to learn. In fact, says one school superintendent, “We sometimes are pushing against human nature in asking them to sit still and be quiet all the time.” Boys especially, no surprise, do particularly better with daily physical education, according to two studies cited by the article.
     “Adults aren’t wired that way either,” adds Steve Boyle, a co-founder of the National Association of Physical Literacy. NAPL is circulating free videos called BrainErgizers to schools and kids groups around the world.

State’s recovery support line goes 24/7 

942-STOP connects people in crisis with treatment and recovery supports

Started less than a year ago as a “Warm Line”, meaning available during limited hours, the state’s dedicated recovery support line has gone full time.
     Managed by the state Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities & Hospitals, the phone line – (401) 942-STOP (7867) is staffed by licensed chemical dependency counselors (including Spanish speakers) who can connect callers with necessary supports.
     According to the Department, more than 1,000 Rhode Islanders have died from drug overdoses in the past five years alone.
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