About Parenting: messed-up parenting

The blog is still at it's new site: http://parenting201.org but as some still come here to look - I do want you to know about my recent parenting e-book.

You can buy it or enter a contest to win a copy.

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Read to bottom for contest and rules for winning a copy in the

Honor your tax deduction contest

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Can you mess up in your parenting and still have great kids?

Of course you can!

Parenting is not a science but if you know about child development and read this book - you'll realize you can do it with

less anxiety and much less guilt.

Buy online at e-junkie VIA PAYPAL

Only $9.97 [USD] for an instant pdf file download

99 pages packed with useful information

Buy it here:

FYI - you do not need a paypal account to use paypal

YOU CAN TOTALLY SCREW UP AS A MOM AND STILL RAISE GREAT KIDS

If I, a Developmental Psychologist with an expertise in early childhood, messed up – why should you expect to be perfect?

And while the title is directed at mommies; all I have to say here is meant for daddies too. In most homes still, yet, whatever; mommies are the major child caretakers.

This book was written to hopefully help alleviate the guilt that parents feel before during and after raising their child.

caveats - please be sure to read

If you are a person who thinks daddy or mommy is not to be questioned - do not buy this book - you will be offended..I also have a New York style sense of humor [sarcastic and odd] so if that offends you - please do not buy my book...you'll be unhappy.

Excerpts

From the Introduction

Another parenting book? Yup!

But this one is different – why? Because I am writing it and I have great ideas that I don’t mind sharing with anyone who asks and even with those who do not ask! And at 70 years of age I am entitled to say what I want .

I’ve long been a Dr. Seuss fan and love this:

Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.

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For those who don't know me, I have been in the field of Developmental Psychology since the early 60's when I entered graduate school. I was a college professor, wrote a few text books and edited a life span series. Now I want to get information out in a more readable and less paper intensive fashion so I am authoring e-books about psychological development.

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Conversation with my son

My son read the manuscript, of course, and so I asked him for comments.

First he said he did not remember all that I wrote about his early years but he was sure I was accurate about them...

What he did recall was that he felt I was unique because he had a say in decision-making and some of his friends seemed not to have that say. Not that we did as he suggested but that his voice was heard. I was not a totalitarian!

He still calls me his “parental unit” and said that while he is not all that keen on my writing about parenting him, “it’s my life and whether or not I like it, you were there too.”

Yes he has known this book was in the works and has hinted that he may comments to make if I do the parenting teen one.

[not so sure I want to hear those comments again ]

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This is an honest, thought provoking, informative, inspiring book!

The exercises are great for self-reflection/examination, and the writing is very accessible. This book will help many new and veteran parents better understand their children - even if you are not a parent this book will help you understand children and their worlds.

Well done! This is amazingly awesome :)

Rabbi Shai Specht

RabbiShai.com

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You can buy it here now

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from Chapter 1

Lynn’s take on family labels

I hate the term “broken” family. No family is broken. Families are all different. Broken implies a negative that may or may not be there – much as a family that stays married can be either a positive or negative environment. Marriage and divorce are not the biggest factors that define the quality of a family.

The same goes for adopted children – they dislike being asked about their “real” parents when one means the birth parents. The real parents are the ones raising them.

I felt this way before I had a child and I certainly came to dislike the labels more after his father and I divorced. We may have been dysfunctional – but we were not ‘broken.”

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It's excellent. I wish there'd been something like it when I was raising mine.

She pulls no punches. Straight to the point. Hope parents buy it.

She deserves to be heard.

Mara

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from Chapter 6 Behaving

To behavior “properly,” that is in accordance with the rules of one’s culture,
people need to know what the rules are. Then they can distinguish right
from wrong.

But, and as they say this is a big but, they also need to want to act in
the correct way and they need the ability to control themselves.

So ask – can young children even be considered as having morality or being
capable of behaving in the adult definition of these terms?

I think not.

The start of this process of moral development and behaving is the ability to
put yourself in the place of another - and that’s a high level cognitive
concept.

I’ve written before that cognitive growth is at the root, so to speak, of all
development – and here it is again. You need a certain amount of complex
cognitive ability to behave in what we call a moral fashion.

But being moral is not the same as being well behaved. In fact many of what
we call “well behaved” children are only behaving out of fear. An older study
indicated that scaring children into behaving as the adult wishes them to
behave tends to result in the behavior only happening when that adult is
around.

For example – if a parent threatens or scares a child about crossing streets –
that child is more likely to look around for the parent – and NOT look at the
traffic. The same can be true for school behaviors. “Well behaved” children
tend to be loved by teachers but it does not mean the child is sitting there
learning academic material – they may be sitting there with all their thoughts
focused on keeping still because they were scared into thinking that was
“correct.” This behavior takes up a lot of mental energy – energy that is not
going toward learning school material.

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From Hayley in Perth

http://allthingswomen.blogspot.com/

You just never know where your words are going to end up!
I was on Twitter chatting with a friend and I told her about my daughter and something she had said when she was a young child. She'd drawn a picture of the family but her younger sister was missing from the picture. When asked where she was, she replied with a very serious face, "She's still in the pencil, silly." We all erupted in laughter because she was such a funny little thing.

Well, Dr Lynn Dorman Phd, an American Psychologist was in the process of writing her e-book, "You can totally screw up as a mom and still raise great kids!" She sent me a direct message asking if she could use that quote in her e-book.

Well, surprise, surprise, her e-book is finished and there is Sarah's quote on Page 84.

I love the thought that a 70 year old woman would take the time to share her wisdom with the younger generations. There is just something very special about our Elders and it touches my heart when they desire to reach out and pass on what they know.

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Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction
Chapter 1 Before We Talk Babies And Children Let’s Talk “Uniqueness”
Chapter 2 Okay Now Let’s Talk Babies
Chapter 3 Early Infancy
Chapter 4 Infancy 1-3
Chapter 5 Those Developmental Tasks
Chapter 6 Behaving - What On Earth Does That Mean?
Chapter 7 Putting It All Together And Taking It On The Road
Chapter 8 Those “Pesky” Other “Things” That Raise Your Children
Chapter 9 Conclusion

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You Can Buy the Book Right Here:

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Or you can enter the

Honor your tax deduction contest.

Win a free copy of You Can Totally Screw Up As A Mom And Still Raise Great Kids

How?

Write a short vignette about the ways in which you screwed up as a parent and how your kid came out okay anyway.

Or write a short vignette about how your own parents screwed up raising you and how you turned out fine.

All entries must be emailed to contest@parenting201.org and sent in by April 24^th at 9PM PDT

[This allows the last-minute tax doers to have time to write theirs]

By submitting an entry you are agreeing that what you write and submit can be posted on the website http://parenting201.org and possibly be used, with attribution, in other written formats.

A panel of judges will read all the entries and one daddy and one mommy winner will be chosen by Mother’s Day 2010 [May 9^th]

Go and have fun writing.

BLOG HAS MOVED

If you are here looking for posts on child development, parenting or healthy children - all is now on a new website:

http://parenting201.org

it's still in development so go tell me what you want to read

Late December Thoughts

As we wind down another year we tend to do as the god Janus did [hence January] we look both forward and backward and see a door to a future. This time of year can be depressing for many; it’s dark in some parts of the world, it’s a time for recounting [Janus looking backward], a time for family gatherings [and all those potential conflicts] and this year it is the middle of a long drawn out primary season that has yet to see a primary vote. But votes will occur when Janus looks forward.

For those of us with birthdays in December and January there is the additional counting and re-counting. Not only is the year changing – we are adding another year to us at the same time. So on this nearly eve of Janus – I am reflecting doubly – as I am one with a January birthday. After many decades of life – I still see a positive future for us all – but we need to envision it and work toward its effect.

I have been known to get pessimistic about the sorry state of our country but I take heart form my son’s hypothesis that everything has a way of balancing itself out. Guess that comes from having a psychologist for a mother. It’s the homeostatic idea of life, ecology, biology, etc. But I never applied it to politics like he does and that’s why he’s a sociologist ☺

My optimism for 2008 and beyond is that we, as a country, will do more to take care of our own citizens; the young, the middle and the older ones.

That we will protect our food supplies and stop allowing foods in the system that are rife with pesticides, bacteria, hormones and worse.

That we will protect our farm land and stop poisoning the grounds that are so vital to growing good foods.

That we stop poisoning the air we breathe.

That we stop feeding hormones to our food supply.

I could go on - but in short: That we will love, nurture and provide for all people from cradle to grave by giving food, shelter and medical care so that all can experience the most optimal development that is possible.




Besides when you see this symbol outside your house on a cold December morning – you just have to have a positive outlook.

Vaccine recalls

Merck is recalling 2 vaccines used for children under the age of 5....

Merck is pulling 11 lots of PedvaxHIB and two lots of COMVAX. PedvaxHIB is a vaccine that protects against infection with haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib), the bacteria that causes meningitis, pneumonia, and bloodstream infections. The COMVAX vaccine protects against haemophilius B and hepatitis B, a virus that can cause liver disease.

Full article HERE

Information about unsafe toys

With holiday season in full sales-display mode it’s time to really pay super attention to what you buy for your children – especially if buying toys.

22 toys were recalled in October – and with more and more hitting the stores form now until January sales time – I’m guessing more will be recalled – but you might already have bought them or are in a hurry and get caught up in the shiny pretty mode...and not the look at where it is made mode.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission and the recalls can be found here: http://www.cpsc.gov

Click on the tab for recall and product safety – you can then look by month or by products.....

You can also sign up for email recall notices at the site.

Also there is a toy recall site: http://toyinfo.org - but beware - it is a site of the Toy Industry Association.

I can’t tell you what to buy or not buy for your children – but please – place your child’s health above all else. Children do not care how much you buy them or what you pay for it – that’s all hype put out by the toy companies and the stores and why? They want you to go into debt before January 1 only because they ant to make tones of their yearly income before January 1.

Yes I am a cynic. But I am also a parent and a developmental psychologist and my goal as both is to have optimal development and that, to me, does not mean caving in to the ads. It means teaching children the difference between want and need – and that means you have to disagree with the TV programs that keep preaching to children to tell your parents you need...x,b,y,z,a,c,d,etc,etc.

But do remember you are the adult and you are in charge; your children and your wallet will be the happier.

Another toy recall alert!

Please read and check to see if you have Aqua Dots [US name] or Bindeez [Australian name] in your child's toy collection.

These are very dangerous as they contain a chemical that if swallowed converts into what is called the "date rape drug."

Full article HERE.


If I still had a child at home - I would not buy anything made in China - China does not inspect these nor it seems does the US and now Australia. The corporations and mr failure's cronies are happy to make money and wait to see if kids get sick or die!

Breast feeding

Go ahead and breast feed - it's the best food for a baby

From an op-ed in the L.A. Times ...

What science the Bush administration chooses to stifle or promote seems to be a matter of politics and economics. According to a recent story in the Washington Post, the multibillion-dollar baby formula industry pressured the Department of Health and Human Services to weaken a 2004 public-service campaign promoting breast-feeding -- and it worked, even though the science supported the other side.

Numerous studies suggest that breast milk protects infants from developing certain illnesses and that formula-feeding increases their health risks.

The ad campaign was designed to drive home that point. Now the health of millions of infants is at risk because mothers don't have the scientific knowledge the ads would have conveyed to make an informed choice between breast- or formula-feeding.

According to the Post, a recent report by an agency within the Health and Human Services Department makes the same point as the canceled ads but has also been downplayed by the government because of pressure from the formula industry.

Full article http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/sunday/commentary/la-op-orent30sep30,1,5921620.story

As a Developmental Psychologist who advocates "real" science and breast feeding for optimal development in infants - this is sickening!

Don't children count anymore? Rhetorical question - of course they don't...they don't vote!

Recall alert - CRIBS - September 21

Now it's cribs from China that are being recalled:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Simplicity Inc, a supplier of baby furniture to Wal-Mart Stores Inc and other big retailers, is recalling about 1 million Chinese-made baby cribs that have been linked to at least two infant deaths, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said on Friday.

The drop-side can detach from the crib, which can create a dangerous gap that leads to an infant being trapped and suffocated, the safety agency said in a statement. It urged parents to check all Simplicity-made cribs to ensure the drop- side is installed correctly.

The cribs, priced between $100 and $300, were sold by U.S. retailers and chains, including Target Corp's Web site, Big Lots Inc and family-owned Meijer Inc.

Full article HERE

Are you a worrier?

I was talking recently to some parents and to-be parents who say they worry...worry about doing the "right" thing, worry about their child's future, worry about their own life now that parenting is upon them...or about to be upon them.

I know my book will be of value to these parents and others....

It will soon be ready...and I'm thinking of a tentative title along this line:

I'm a child psychologist and I screwed up:
so why should anyone expect to be a perfect parent?

And I have asked my son to write a testimonial....

Lead in toy products

Children and lead do not mix...young children put everything in their mouths so lead in children's toys is very BAD

Here is another Mattel toy recall:

The latest recall involves three Fisher-Price toy models and eight Barbie brand playsets. No Barbie dolls were included.

Mattel instructs people to go to its Web site (click HERE) to establish whether they own an affected toy. After they fill out a form and send back the affected parts, Mattel will send them replacement and bonus parts.

What to do when......

I am often asked “what do you do when....?”
Or “What do you do to get [child] to do [x]?”
Do you reward, punish, time out, ignore, etc.
And if so, what do you do to punishment, to reward etc.

It’s a long list of questions when you fill in the blanks – and there are no specific answers that I can give you...

How you raise your child is up to you – assuming you do not abuse or neglect.

For each question asked, I can pose back a whole lot more:

Why do you ask?
What about the situation is important for your child?
Is this your issue or the child’s?
What else is going on in your home? Work?
Is this issue worth a big fight?
In the long run is it really that important?

I do not know your families and cannot answer specific questions...but I can give some education and advice.

Your child is yours; he/she is an individual with a set of experiences, feelings, thoughts and interests that are different from yours and different from all the other children in the class or neighborhood.

If you read some earlier posts, you saw that I wrote about uniqueness, cultural, familial and other differences. All these factors go into making your child one special being who is, at the same time, a citizen of your home, neighborhood and universe.

It’s tough being a kid – you need to learn a lot, to practice what you are learning and to ultimately make your own way in the world while still being a social creature who lives among parents, family, classmates and all.....

Here is a personal example... my son was never a good student in his early years. Did I punish him for failing classes or not doing homework? No - I explained that these were his choices and that no matter how he did in school I loved him – but that I was disappointed about those choices he was making.

Years after finishing high school, he finally decided he really wanted to go to college and was turned down in his first application due to his high school grades..[I did not say I told you so.]

So off he went to a community college and then transferred to the school that had turned him down - where he is now on the Dean’s List and invited to be part of the Honors College....

Would he be here now if I had forced the issue when he was younger? I don’t think so – neither does he...

One of his comments to me a few years ago was that I picked my fights carefully as he was growing up. There were issues I ignored and some I did not – but to the now grown-up him the one’s I picked as issues were the ones that he now knows are important as values to live by.....and it was great to hear him say that – because for me, in the long haul, having an adult child who is a caring, thoughtful human is the important part of child rearing.

Others may disagree -- but go back to where I started this post – how we raise our children is a choice we make. The scary part is that we do most of it in hopes that it works out.

But I am also a believer in the idea that we can always change - so if you make what you consider a mistake with your child – you and your child can always make changes in what you are doing.

More lead in toys

Again if you have young children around - or know of any with Mattel toys in the house - please read and take action if necessary...

If this weren't so serious, the saga of ongoing recalls of products made in China would be a running joke..... Today's recalls are about toys - again...from Mattel - again.....


One recall is due to lead; the other due to small magnets....

The company, in a statement issued from its headquarters in El Segundo, Calif., said it was recalling a total of 436,000 Chinese-made toys, more than half of them marketed in the United States, that had “impermissible levels of lead.” The toys are die-cast vehicles featuring the Sarge character from the movie “Cars.”

Mattel said the hazard in the products, made between May and July, was discovered as part of an investigation of all its toy manufacturing that began in July after it received a tip about lead-based paint. The latest move involves toys from a different Chinese contractor than the one that produced toys recalled earlier this month, it said.

The separate action today involving a design flaw in 18.2 million magnetic toys, about half of them sold in the United States, expanded a recall initiated last year after reports of deaths and injuries to children who ingested magnets that had come loose. Mattel said the recall covered 63 varieties of toys, made since 2002 and sold before January of this year, including 44 Polly Pocket toys, 11 Doggie Day Care toys, 4 Batman toys, a One Piece toy, and two Barbie toys.

Here is a link to the Consumer Product Safety Commission listing all recalls [so far] for this month

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prerelaug07.html

Beware- more leaded toys

This in the news today:

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Mattel Inc.'s Fisher-Price division is recalling almost 1 million toys made in China because their paint may contain too much lead, marking the latest in a string of recalls that have fueled U.S.-China tensions over the safety of Chinese products.

Mattel said the 967,000 plastic toys, which include popular preschool characters like Elmo, Big Bird, and Dora, were made by a contract manufacturer in China using a non-approved paint pigment containing lead, which is in violation of its standards.

Full article HERE

Why are all these dangerous products still coming in? We have had bad pet food, bad people food and bad children's toys. No one seems able to stop them because no one is monitoring our safety! We have few person who do the actual inspections - in fact there are fewer food safety inspectors than back in 2002 and we import more and more stuff - with fewer and fewer inspections!

This from an administration that pretends to be concerned with public safety - when they are in reality more concerned with scare tactics and keeping people afraid.

After all - Fear is good for republicans...

Toss these children's snacks!

If you have any of these Veggie Booty snacks around - throw them out!

Snack implicated in 17-state Salmonella outbreak

Jun 29, 2007 (CIDRAP News) – An epidemiologic investigation of 52 cases of Salmonella infection in 17 states, most of them in children, has prompted a nationwide recall of a snack called Veggie Booty, federal health agencies reported yesterday.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advised consumers to throw away any Veggie Booty on hand. The snack is made of puffed rice and corn with a vegetable coating and is sold in flexible plastic foil bags in 4-ounce, 1-ounce, and half-ounce sizes, federal officials said...The FDA listed the states and numbers of cases in the outbreak as follows: California, 7; Colorado, 5; Connecticut, 1; Georgia, 1; Indiana, 1; Massachusetts, 3; Minnesota, 2; New Hampshire, 2; New Jersey, 2; New York, 13; Oregon, 1, Pennsylvania, 3; Tennessee, 1, Texas, 1; Vermont, 3; Washington, 4; and Wisconsin, 2.

Full article HERE

Sad statistics

In Oregon, where I now live, the number of neglected and abused children has risen...in fact it reached a 10 year high in 2006...

I am a believer that much abuse comes about due to lack of knowledge of basic child development. While working in this field in Washington, D.C., I saw abused infants - abused because parents thought that the baby was "disobeying" them or was "out to get" them. Many also expected children less than one-year-old to be completely toilet trained!

If those parents had known that infants don't have the capacity to "disobey" and their bodies could not be toilet trained in infancy - maybe those children would not have been hurt?

I also believe that the increase in poverty rates is a factor and that won't change until we have people in Washington,D.C. look at the human effects of the outsourcing of many jobs and the stress on families trying to work and raise children with little support.

Beware what toys you buy!

In other of my blogs I have info about recalls on pet food, people food and products but now it's time for a toy recall.

I have taken to looking carefully on products to see from whence they come - if it's made in China - it stays in the store..Why tae chances with anyone's health..clearly the Chinese manufacturers are learning form us - if the bottom line s good for the company - who cares how many people/children/pets are damaged!

From the NY TImes

June 15, 2007
Thomas the Tank Engine Toys Recalled Because of Lead Paint
By ANGEL JENNINGS

The toy maker RC2 Corporation pulled a number of its Thomas & Friends trains and accessory parts off the shelves yesterday after learning that the red and yellow paint used to decorate more than 1.5 million of the toys contained lead.

Lead, if ingested by children, can cause long-term neurological problems that affect learning and behavior.

“Parents should not delay in getting these toys away from their kids,” Scott Wolfson, spokesman for the Consumer Product Safety Commission, said yesterday.

An alert posted at a Web site devoted to the toy line, www.totallythomas.com, included a list of more than two dozen items affected by the recall. The company noted that toys that bear a code containing a “WJ” or “AZ” on the bottom of the toy or the inside of the battery door are not included in the recall.

Full article HERE

What is a family?

Back again - but I haven't stopped writing about child development - it's just that I am busy on doing it in book format and got on a roll with this and other writings....

So here is a draft chapter on: What is a family?

First answer this for yourself......

What is a family? Whatever is your first definition – write it down and hold it in mind.

Now mentally add in-laws – then add children –[ and we’ll keep it at two kids for now]

Next we will have that couple divorce as that’s fairly common.

Then – we’ll have it be an amicable divorce and have each former spouse re-marry and remain in communication with their former spouses.

Now mix in the new in-laws and the already existing children of the “new” spouse.

Go back to your original family – the one with two kids – now how many “grandparents” do they have - how many aunts and uncles and cousins?

How does this “new” family allot time for everyone to spend with the “birth grandparents?” How do the divorced parents allot time so all kids get to spend time with “birth” parents all the while they try to have time to spend with each other? What if for some reasons they cannot coordinate their schedules with those of the other “birth” parent?

Now have these two new couples each have a child – does the new addition get to go visiting with it’s siblings when they go off to the “birth” parents home? Or does this new addition get to stay “home” and feel different?

This is a common scenario if you start with one divorce with each parent re-marrying. What if anyone of the members of the above family divorces again? And remarries again and again? What if the grandparents divorce? What if aunts and uncles divorce?

Can you visualize the amount of decision making that must go on to keep this “family” in contact with all its parts? It can get mind-boggling but many children live in this kind of complicated world and come out fine. For them – this IS their family. It may be different from that of their friends but it is a family.

I hate the term “broken” family – no family is broken – families are different – broken implies a negative that may or may not be there – much as a family that stays married can be either positive or negative. Marriage and divorce are not the biggest factors that define the quality of a family.

The same goes for adopted children – they dislike being asked about their “real” parents when one means the birth parents. The real parents are the ones raising them.

Our choice of words about families and relationships can create issues that are not there.

There are various family formations – the one we have in the USA is usually the nuclear family – two parents and their kids in one house. This is very rare in the rest of the world – it accounts for only about 1/3 of the world’s families. The rest of the world lives in many different arrangements and now even in the USA we are seeing more of those other arrangements. We have our parents move in with us to help with childcare – we live near our parents so they can provide childcare. We have live-in help or daily help for our children if both parents work.

We have single parents, gay and lesbian parents, dual career parents, couples who choose to not marry even when there are children, and couples who choose to remain childless. They are all “families.”

Now ask yourself: Is your definition of family the same as it was when you started reading these notes?

Lastly we now have a “new” generation – parents with their own minor children who are also the caregivers for their aging parents. Many are having children in their 30’s and 40’s [some even in their 60’s!] and as we are all living longer, the aging grandparents are in need of more support just as the children are in their teens or in college but still in need of parental support. I like the term “sandwich generation” as that is what it feels like – as opposed to the other term – middle generation squeeze. I speak from my own experience and that of many of my friends – it is a sandwich-like feeling – and one is emotionally torn.

Many of us who went through some trying times with our own aging parents have had long conversations with our own children about end of life issues and how to deal with potential changes in mental status, etc. It is an issue that many will be facing as we stay alive longer.

Happy family!

Increases in infant mortality

From the New York Times

For decades, Mississippi and neighboring states with large black populations and expanses of enduring poverty made steady progress in reducing infant death. But, in what health experts call an ominous portent, progress has stalled and in recent years the death rate has risen in Mississippi and several other states.

The setbacks have raised questions about the impact of cuts in welfare and Medicaid and of poor access to doctors, and, many doctors say, the growing epidemics of obesity, diabetes and hypertension among potential mothers, some of whom tip the scales here at 300 to 400 pounds.

“I don’t think the rise is a fluke, and it’s a disturbing trend, not only in Mississippi but throughout the Southeast,” said Dr. Christina Glick, a neonatologist in Jackson, Miss., and past president of the National Perinatal Association.

For the full article click HERE

Childhood Obesity

Childhood obesity has become a much more serious health problem than we want to admit.

Look at the news about the 200 pound 8-year-old in England who made international news. It was such a serious problem that the British agencies held a hearing to determine if the child should remain with his mother. It was considered a case of abuse/neglect.

We think of abuse/neglect as severe punishment or locking kids in closets - but it will only be a matter of time before obesity is on the list of what is considered neglect on the part of parents here and elsewhere.

No government yet wants to start removing children to foster care due to obesity - but we as a culture have to look out for children - society has an interest in its children...and obesity is shortening lifespans - isn't that abusive?

Do we allow children to eat what they want? Or do we as adults control what food they eat?

What's your take on it?

Comment below

Vitamins

For those who have been regular readers of this blog, you know I prefer "real" food to products with unpronounceable names in them....It's why I have been taking a daily vitamin that is food based - and not one "made" in a lab with who-knows-what in it.

I was alerted to an article about vitamins - which you can read it here

In short it's an article about food-based vitamins v. synthetic ones and contained information I was not aware of concerning the synthetics and the idea of talking in terms of milligrams.

It's worth a read if you take vitamins and especially if your children take synthetic ones.