Author: David Hartley

December ’17 Newsletter

Every month Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds & Director Susan Orban likes to connect you with current articles, events, and resources to help you keep your family healthy and informed!

Holding your baby: it’s a molecular thing

The first-ever study of the biology of children who are hugged

More than 4-1/2 years ago, the University of British Columbia asked 94 families to carefully record their newborns’ behavior and how they, the parents, responded.

When the children were nearly 5 years old, the researchers took a simple mouth swab for DNA.

Through new technology, they found that the children who had been distressed as babies but whose parents had not held them had a molecular profile in their cells that was underdeveloped for their age – suggesting they might be lagging biologically.

   Science Daily, which outlines the research, wrote: “This is the first study to show in humans that the simple act of touching, early in life, has deeply-rooted and potentially lifelong consequences on genetic expression.”

Read the entire story in Science Daily, with links to the original research.

School success starts at home: the video

Play with kids and provide books and crafts; it’s a headstart for school

“Parents who play with their kids and provide learning materials like books and craft supplies help ensure that their kids get started on the right foot,” reports Child Trends, and they’ve got an entertaining video to show how.

Researchers found it particularly valuable for more challenged families. They followed 2,200 children from ethnically diverse, low-income families and found that those from a household with reading and storytelling, learning materials in the home, and parental interaction, performed better in the fifth grade than children from middle-income households.

The YouTube page will connect you directly to the full research paper as well.

Proposed legislation will limit kids’ time in cars alone

Children under age 7 may soon have the same rights as dogs. If proposed legislation passes, their caretakers won’t be able to leave them alone in a car for more than 15 minutes.

According to the Patch newspapers, State Senator Leonidas P. Raptakis (D-Dist. 33, Coventry, West Greenwich, East Greenwich) will re-introduce a bill in the upcoming session to make it illegal to leave a child under age 7 unattended in a car for more than 15 minutes.

The penalties could include up to a year in prison and a $1,000 fine.

Ironically, a similar law has already been passed for animals, Raptakis pointed out.

Channel 10 notes that Rhode Island would join 19 states that have laws against leaving young children in cars alone. 10’s story, however, also notes there is loud opposition to the bill, as well.

He went to help his godmother, but stayed to help Puerto Rico

Dr. Francisco Trilla found himself stranded in Puerto Rico, so he put his skills to work.

In the wake of Hurricane Maria, Neighborhood Health Plan Chief Medical Officer Dr. Francisco “Paco” Trilla went to Puerto Rico to rescue his godmother. When he found himself stranded there, he immediately put himself to work, and then returned again weeks later to do more.

In 2013, more than 36,000 Puerto Ricans lived in Rhode Island, a number which has no doubt grown since then. But we suspect Dr. Trilla and everyone at NHP are helping folks wherever and whenever they can.

Read the story as told by NHP and broadcast on WJAR.

Buy safe toys for the children in your life

Are you giving safe gifts to the ones you love this season? Use this checklist.

Whether you’re buying gifts for the children in your life or for the children who otherwise won’t have any for the holidays, you need to do it right, for their sakes.
Under the wrong circumstances, e.g. a toy meant for a 6-year-old given to a 3-year-old, a gift can blind, choke, poison, or cut a child, among other accidents.
 
The good news: Prevent Blindness has a list of suggestions for toys of all kinds, and the organizations recommendations are common sense and do-able. Advice like: buy age-appropriate, check for the ASTM safety label, feel the toy for sharp edges, etc.
 
Let’s keep the holidays happy!

Feels like the flu? 11 “genius” tips for managing it

Don’t let a winter cold or flu own you.

Okay, so you and/or your child simply couldn’t avoid getting the flu or a very nasty cold this season. You can still manage the symptoms, reports the Huffington Post.

“You want to make sure that your immune system, which absolutely depends on getting the right nutrients on a daily basis, is being nurtured and supported,” Jonny Bowden, a health expert and board-certified nutritionist, told the Huffington Post.

Bowden names 11 “must-do” behaviors, among them:

  • Get more rest than usual
  • Keep your stress in check
  • No school (or work)
  • Keep up the basic hygiene, maybe even more so.

Read the entire article at Huffington Post.

Low-income families spend $123k in SNAP benefits at farmers markets

When eligible families buy fruits and vegetables at farmers markets with their SNAP benefits, everyone wins.

It’s great news for everyone. Families are able to buy and eat homegrown and the freshest, healthiest food available. Local farmers have a new group of consumers to whom to sell. Economic development has another boost.

We’re talking about the $123,000-plus that low-income individuals and families spent in SNAP benefits at Rhode Island farmers markets and Food on the Move trucks in 2016, described in the November 2017 Rhode Island Monthly.

Yes, farm-grown food can be more expensive than the mass-produced fat- and salt-heavy offerings at the supermarkets and fast food joints. But organizations like Farm Fresh Rhode Island are working with farmers and the state to make it much more affordable.

RI Monthly describes one such case:

“Because she is enrolled in Healthy Foods, Healthy Families, every time Angela swipes her SNAP EBT card at the Farm Fresh RI welcome desk, she also gets a double bonus, which means she gets 80 percent extra in Bonus Bucks to spend on fresh fruits and vegetables. Last week she exchanged $20 in SNAP benefits on her card for $20 in tokens and she gained an additional $16 in tokens to spend specifically on fruits and vegetables. Other SNAP recipients get a 40 percent bonus in tokens to spend on local produce.”

 

November ’17 Newsletter

Every month Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds & Director Susan Orban likes to connect you with current articles, events, and resources to help you keep your family healthy and informed!

Steps to ensure your child is never a #metoo

Child sexual abuse is down, but vigilance should never be

The good news is that reported cases of child sexual abuse have dropped 75% over the past 25 years.

The bad news is that it continues, even into adulthood, as too many people know. #metoo is making that clear.

You must help your child become aware, reports Rachel Rabkin Peachman in a recent New York Times. Children must know “their body belongs to them,” one professor told her.

The article offers concrete steps for parents, as well as how to watch for signs of possible abuse.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Access the New York Times article via our website.

A challenge: recommend your favorite children’s book

Rhode Island Reads campaigns to have all 3rd graders succeed

Rhode Island Reads has set a big goal for Rhode Islanders: to double the number of 3rd graders reading at grade level by 2025.

It’s a tough challenge. Experts know the first five years of a child’s life can determine school success. Yet only one in four low-income 4-year-olds in Rhode Island can access public childcare.

Rhode Island Reads has a packed advocacy and education agenda, which you can find on its website (see below). One of its fun activities, though, is asking you to post your favorite childhood book using the hashtag #RIReads. A photo would be great. Your post will help bring awareness to the challenge.

Rhode Island Reads is led by the United Way of Rhode Island and RI KIDS COUNT.

For more information, as a parent, educator, policymaker, or health provider, visit the Rhode Island Reads website.

Ashaway Girl Scouts welcome friends with “Buddy Benches”

A place on the playground for those who have been alone

Remember the solitary child on the playground, the one who never seemed to fit in with any group. Maybe they were too shy, maybe they were too new, maybe no one every invited them.

Major credit to the Ashaway Girl Scout Troop 1288 for building a “Buddy Bench” at Ashaway Elementary. Like magic, when someone sits there, other children appear!

Thanks to the Home Depot in Coventry, which provided all the materials, all the Chariho schools now have Buddy Benches.

The Westerly Sun tells the story and took the photos.

Ensuring your child doesn’t become a #metoo

The numbers are way down, but you have an essential role to play

The good news is that reported cases of child sexual abuse have dropped 75% over the past 25 years. The decline could be attributed to greater awareness of the problem and/or better education and training. Many of the terrible stories we hear today date back long before.

But that means nothing unless your child is similarly aware, reports Rachel Rabkin Peachman in the November 16 New York Times WELL section. They should know “their body belongs to them,” one professor told Peachman.

Rachel Simmons of Girls Leadership adds that kids should trust their feelings and intuition, and that both should be respected by others. “Self advocacy can only happen when you authorize your own feelings.”

The article suggests many wise steps, as well as how to watch for possible signs of abuse.