White bread has nutritional value. Yeah, I meant to type white. That soft, marshmallowy, oh so yummy bread that your mom always felt guilty about making your sandwiches with because it was supposed to have no nutritional value. Well, it does. It contains folic acid. And the past decades of eating Wonderbread and all of those white hamburger and hot dog buns have one positive aspect - it has contributed to the decline in cases of Spina Bifida in America. The March of Dimes is now going to put a special label on bread containing at least 40 micrograms of folic acid. They are doing this to increase awareness of the benefits of folic acid, and are not suggesting that a woman needs to eat 10 slices of white bread per day to get the recommended daily allowance of 400mg. There are many “healthier” sources of folic acid found in other foods as well, such as leafy green vegetables, fruits, dried beans, peas and nuts.

Childhood obesity not related to poverty. It was thought by some that childhood obesity was higher in poorer areas where the families has lesser access to healthy foods. A new study that just came out challenges this idea.

Previous research has suggested that poor children weren’t getting nutritious food and instead ate junk food, such as hot dogs. Or that children may have eaten well when money was available, but would skip meals when cash was short, a cycle that could slow their metabolism and cause them to gain weight.

The new research indicated that this is not necessarily the case, and that it could be possible for the government to move ahead with possible plans to increase food assistance programs without being worried about additional obesity problems.

Top kids websites. While browsing the net, I happened on a fun little site called GeekParenting.com. They have listed their top 10 favorite kid’s web sites. Their number one site, BrainPOP, is a cool educational site that I will be showing my bigger kids tonight!

More on childhood obesity. The news reports are sounding like a broken record regarding this, but it bears repeating because it is one of the most important things that could impact your children. About one-third of children and teens in the USA — about 25 million children — are overweight or on the brink of becoming so, government data show.

• Excess body weight in children dramatically increases their risk of developing heart disease in adulthood, research shows, including a decades-long study in Denmark that tracked what happened to 277,000 children as they grew up.

• Childhood obesity could decrease life expectancy by two to five years if something isn’t done about the epidemic, according to provocative research by pediatric endocrinologist David Ludwig, an associate professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School.

• One in three obese children have excess fat in their liver, which could lead to hepatitis, cirrhosis or liver failure, Ludwig says.

The article gives tips to help motivate positive lifestyle changes:

1. Stock up on good food - Fill your house with foods that are both delicious and nutritious (fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, beans, fish, lean protein, reduced-fat dairy products) and don’t bring home junk food such as cookies, cakes, sweetened cereals and sugary drinks.

2. Make sweets a treat - Save treats for special occasions. You don’t have to give up sweets entirely, but go out for them instead of having them at home, he says.

3. Ditch the drive-through - Avoid fast food, he says. Ludwig did a study that showed overweight teens consume about 400 more calories on a day when they consume fast food compared with a day in which they don’t.

4. Turn off the TV - Make physical activity the focus of the home instead of television. Don’t allow TVs in the kitchen or bedrooms.

5. Equip for exercise - Give older children the basic tools to be active: jump ropes, balls, baseball gloves, Frisbees.

6. Shake it! - Encourage them to dance. Dancing is an excellent activity, he says. “Kids love to dance in a non-judgmental setting. When they are having fun, they are not thinking about it as exercise.”

Some hearts might be broken… Matthew McConaughey has impregnated his girlfriend. He is gonna be a daddy and he is thrilled. The little one is due in about 6 months. Sorry Tab…

Night Terrors linked to infant’s temperament? Researchers have found that some preschoolers may be more vulnerable to having nightmares, and it could be linked to their temperament as infants showing even as young as 5 months old. More anxious or difficult children appear to be more prone to these nightmares.

In this study, “bad dreams” as early as the age of 2 1/2 were predicted by signs of anxiety at the ages of 5 months and 17 months, explained Nielsen, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Montreal. It goes on to explain that as a child grows older, some “minor traumas”, such as the first days of school, can subsequently trigger these nightmares again.

You are what you eat. Even children who are overweight, yet not technically obese, are at increased risk for serious heart problems as they get older. To me, what it comes down to is not only the child’s weight, but WHAT they eat that is important. We have seen as adults that there are adults who are not overweight that have serious heart issues as well. It is tempting to feed children empty, fat-filled calories. Especially with all the packaged and pre-prepared junk food out there - and it is impossible not to notice with all of the advertising campaigns these days. But getting down to food basics and feeding children fresh foods filled with vitamins and all the “good” things they need to grow healthy is an essential building block for a child’s future.

FTC cautions movie marketing to young children. The FTC is asking the Motion Picture Association of America to reconsider their advertising recommendations for some PG13 movies. This was brought to their attention after merchandise for the somewhat violent Transformers movie was marketed to children even as young as 2 years old. This includes restaurant advertising (children’s meals toys). I tend to agree with their recommendation - parents can do their best to protect their children from more mature themed toys and such, but it sure can be difficult when these days advertisers are very clever in their abilities to keep their products right in front of our faces everywhere we turn. I am seeing a constant theme in today’s post…

Elective C-sections gain popularity. It seems as though this is a topic that a women usually have a very passionate stance about - one way or the other. Some wonder why in the world a woman would actually elect to have a C-section over a vaginal birth, others consider it a perfectly acceptable way to give birth and wonder why everyone else, stranger or not, feels free to weigh in (and often criticize) their personal decision to have this elective surgery.

The safest way to give birth is an uncomplicated vaginal delivery. The problem is, that is an impossible thing to predict in advance. More and more women these days are electing to have a C-section, even first time mothers with no previous birthing experience. Doctors are not sure why this is gaining in popularity. As the rate of elective C-sections has increased, so has the rate of maternal mortality. At least it has in 2003 and 2004, data from 2005 and onwards is not yet available. But it has not been proven that the maternal mortality rate is linked to the increase in C-sections.

Doctors and researchers would really like to figure this out and have a factual basis to the question “which one is safer”, however structuring how to research this as an unbiased test proves very difficult - it basically would amount to a large group of women agreeing to being randomly chosen to give birth either vaginally or by C-section.

My bet is that this will remain the topic of heated discussion for years to come - research will not change women’s passion regarding this. In the end, it is the woman’s body and her individual choice as to her birthing plan. So please be supportive of your friends and loved ones no matter what they decide!

A girls self-esteem impacts her chances of obesity. A study shows that girls who consider themselves to be “popular” gain less weight as they grow up then those who consider themselves “unpopular”. What is interesting is that researchers now see that a girl’s perceived social status is not just something she can grow out of as she grows up, it can as well have future health impacts. On a somewhat related note, studies have shown that obese girls also more likely to avoid going to college. Having a tween daughter myself, I am always hopeful that she will not grow up to be one of those uber-popular girls a-la the “Mean Girls” movie. But I do hope to instill in her a healthy dose of self-esteem, and I hope that her teen years aren’t too dramatic. Time will tell…

Is she or isn’t she? She IS! Nicole Kidman’s publicist just announced that the actress and her husband, Keith Urban, are expecting their first child later this year. See, I told ya so! *wink*

What a year it has been!

We had some sad times - including the Utah mine disaster, the California fires, and the Virginia Tech shootings.

We also said goodbye to Harry Potter and the Sopranos.

It was not all bad though… 2007 did bring us the iPhone!

We were informed again and again that obesity is ever increasing and it is a serious threat to our future health and our medical system.

And we learned that many toys aren’t safe and it is perhaps time to make a stand to ensure the safety of our children.

Women’s health has made many advances this past year, and I wish all of us wonderful women good health!

On the entertainment side, we bid a sad farewell to Anna Nicole Smith, and we watched with our boxes of popcorn in hand how Lindsay Lohan is seemingly crawling out of her dependency hole, while Britney Spears is diving deeper down.

For sports, we saw Tom Brady pull a nice one out of somewhere to lead the Patriots to a perfect season (that’s for you Supa!), and college football was a rollercoaster ride that has sparked many passionate debates about the BCS system. But many of our favorite athletes fell to scandals - Michael Vick, Floyd Landis, Marion Jones, and a whole lotta baseball players… leaving a lot of wide-eyed kids disappointed by their heroes.

We also watched our politicians gear up for the presidential race that has us wondering if we will see the first female President next year. (BTW - this is not an endorsement!)

Over on the boards, we celebrated the births of many future squawkers, we watched our precious ones grow a year older, we supported each other through the sleepless nights, potty training, magic marker mishaps and terrible two’s. And we marvel at the strength of our guy, Mikey. We shared the good times and the bad, laughed and cried and we can’t wait to do more in 2008!

Love to you all and all the best for 2008!

Posted by Meganlux

Even more outsourcing to India. First it is all those telemarketers and customer service lines… now baby-making is being outsourced to India as well! “rent-a-womb”, as it is being referred to, gives Indian women a chance to make an equivalent of 15 years salary with one pregnancy.

But India is the leader in making it a viable industry rather than a rare fertility treatment. Experts say it could take off for the same reasons outsourcing in other industries has been successful: a wide labor pool working for relatively low rates.

Is this creative entrepreneurship, or exploitation of the poor? What do you think?

Parents in denial. The disturbing results of a childhood obesity study show that nearly 50% of parents with obese or severely overweight children ages 6-12 consider their children to be “about the right weight”. Isn’t the first step in getting help and fixing an obesity problem recognizing that there is a problem there in the first place? Perhaps they think their children will outgrow their weight issues. They probably won’t. And these children will be at increased health risks as they grow up. And this will cost our country billions and billions more in healthcare costs. 2008 starts tomorrow… a good opportunity to make lifestyle decision to change the health and happiness of our children.

Is she or isn’t she? There have been multiple reports of a Nicole Kidman pregnancy. Even moreso, people are wondering what “really” went on with her decade long childless marriage to Tom Cruise. There was always speculation it was a fertility issue, however with Suri’s birth and Nicole possibly pregnant, tongues are wagging. Nicole did help the rumor along recently when she said that “someday, maybe, that story might be told.”

Just a spoonful of honey… In a three-way test between children’s cough medicine, honey or nothing, honey was the most effective at calming children’s coughs and helping them to sleep better. This is good news for parents seeking alternative remedies to help their children, following the recent warning not to give children under the age of 6 years old OTC medicines. Please note that honey is not recommended for children under the age of one due to a rare risk of contracting botulism.

Obesity risk. Half of maternal deaths occurred with overweight women. Maternal obesity was now a “major and growing risk factor for maternal death.” Nearly 40% of these deaths could have been prevented with proper diagnosis and treatment. The study encourages pre-conception awareness to help prevention.

But death is not the only problem. Obese pregnant women are more at risk of dying, suffering heart disease, miscarriage, diabetes, infections and blood clots. Related obesity issues are becoming more and more understood and confirmed. It is time to focus hard on the root cause… obesity itself.

Struggling to find lead-free toys for Christmas? You are not alone. Many charities, including the Salvation Army and Goodwill are struggling to ensure that the toys they receive and distribute are safe for children. Please, remember that this is the time to spread holiday cheer and help a child. If you are aware that a toy has been recalled, please do not “regift” it to a Christmas charity.

Foreign adoptions on the decline. Foreign adoptions have decreased for the third year in a row. Foreign adoptions have gained popularity since the early 90’s, with the peak year in 2004. The decline is probably due to stricter adoption regulations, especially in China and Russia. Also, UNICEF could have an influence in declining numbers, as their approach is to take care of orphaned children in their homeland rather then have them sent abroad for adoption.

Childhood obesity struggles. The American Medical Association is setting out new guidlines for obese children.

“The specialists, convened by government agencies and the American Medical Association, call for weight checks at least yearly, counseling about weight even if children aren’t overweight, and a four-stage treatment plan that could end in medication or surgery for the most persistently obese children.”

Nearly 17% of all American children are obese. To date, it has been difficult and frustrating for parents and doctors to diagnose. Surprisingly, only 50% of obese children are properly diagnosed. This should be discussed with every child at their check-ups regardless if they are overweight or not. Treatment is the responsibility of the entire family, as obesity is linked to lifestyle and not only genetics.

According to new research, children who do not get adequate sleep are more likely to be overweight by middle school. (Say what??) Researchers have found that every additional hour per night a third-grader spends sleeping reduces the child’s chances of being obese in sixth grade by 40 percent. The ideal sleep period for these kids seemed to be about nine hours and 45 minutes.

Lack of sleep plays havoc with two hormones that are the “yin and yang of appetite regulation,” said endocrinologist Eve Van Cauter of the University of Chicago, who was not involved in the new study.

Another explanation: Tired kids are less likely to exercise and more likely to sit on the couch and eat cookies, [Dr. Julie] Lumeng said.

Every child is different, but kids who don’t get enough sleep risk far more than just nodding off in class. Fair enough…but how can parents help their kids sleep better? A related article suggests several tips for parents, including:

Keep electronics (tvs, video games, cell phones, etc.) out of the bedroom.

Don’t let kids sleep too late on the weekend.

Keep a consistent wake-up time during the week.

Have a regular bedtime routine for them.

Posted by Sunshining.

TV and Hypertension: A new study published in the current issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine finds an association between television viewing and hypertension in children. TV viewing time has already been associated with obesity. Data was gathered regarding 546 subjects, aged 4 to 17 years, who were evaluated for obesity at pediatric subspecialty weight management clinics in San Diego CA, San Francisco CA, and Dayton, OH, from 2003 to 2005. Children and their parent(s) were given a written questionnaire, which was used to estimate the average daily time spent watching TV, and then a physician verbally reviewed and confirmed the time estimate. The height and weight of the children were measured to determine a Body Mass Index (BMI) and their blood pressures were recorded.

Investigators determined that TV time was positively correlated with the severity of obesity. After controlling for race, site, and BMI score, both the severity of obesity and daily TV time were significant independent predictors of the presence of hypertension. Children watching 2 to 4 hours of TV had 2.5 times the odds of hypertension compared with children watching 0 to <2 hours. The odds of hypertension for children watching 4 or more hours of TV were 3.3 times greater than for children watching 0 to <2 hours of TV.

Autism Screening: The American Academy of Pediatrics is recommending that all children be screened for autism spectrum disorder twice before age two. “If you recognize it earlier, you get them into treatment earlier,” said Dr. Scott Myers, a pediatrician who specializes in neurodevelopment and who helped write two clinical reports designed to help pediatricians identify and manage autism.

“Kids who start (treatment) earlier do better in the long run,” Myers said in a telephone interview.

Preemie Medical Miracle: The current issue of the journal Fetal Diagnosis shares the story of a one-year-old who was operated on in utero after her mother’s membranes broke in her 22nd week of pregnancy. During the surgery, a balloon was inserted into the baby’s developing lungs that kept the fluid in there from draining away. The build up of pressure stimulated lung growth. The baby was born at 33 weeks, and was able to go home with her parents two weeks before her due date.