Archive for January, 2010

Harper should focus on Canada if he wants to better child health: Inuit leader

Northern leaders say Prime Minister Stephen Harper should look to the Arctic if he wants to improve the health of newborn children.

“We’re hopeful he’ll tackle this issue in his own backyard,” Pita Aatami, head of Makivik Corp. which oversees the land claim of Inuit in Quebec, said Friday.

“If you’re going to talk the talk, you might as well practise it in your own country.”

On Thursday, Harper repeated his pledge before international leaders in Davos, Switzerland, to make child and maternal health in developing nations a priority at the G8 summit in Canada later this year.

It’s a note Harper has been hitting all week. In an op-ed piece published in Canadian newspapers Tuesday, the prime minister said the health of young children and mothers in many places is “not acceptable.”

“The solutions are not intrinsically expensive,” he wrote. “The cost of clean water, inoculations and better nutrition, as well as the training of health workers to care for women and deliver babies, is within the reach of any country in the G8.”

But the day before Harper’s article was printed, two major studies were published showing that Inuit infant mortality is nearly four times the Canadian average and 70 per cent of Inuit preschoolers live in homes where there isn’t always enough food.

In Aatami’s home community of Nunavik, in northern Quebec, the infant mortality rate is 18.1 per 1,000 babies born, almost the same as the rate in Mexico.

In a blog post Friday, the head of Canada’s national Inuit group pointed out the contradiction. Mary Simon of Inuit Tapirisat Kanatami wrote: “(We) question why, if these solutions are not expensive, and are ‘within the reach of any country in the G8,’ the situation in (the) Inuit (homeland) remains what it is today?

“Canada, as one of the eight most prosperous countries in the world, has a significant responsibility in assisting those in the world’s poorest regions. We hope the Inuit region in Canada is included on a similar list to take care of the issues inside our own country.”

There was no immediate response from federal officials.

Inuit children have the highest rate of hospital admission for lower respiratory tract infections in the world. The rate of premature delivery is three times what it is in the south. Many Inuit youngsters live in overcrowded, substandard homes.

Inuit suicides – 43 per cent of which are committed by youth under the age of 20 – are 11 times more common than the Canadian average.

Aatami said he’s written a letter to Indian and Northern Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl asking if Harper’s statement means the Inuit can expect to see more action on their concerns.

“We’re hopeful, after that announcement, that (Harper) wants to tackle this issue,” Aatami said. “Canada, being one of the richest G8 countries, should have some money for its own backyard. I’m hopeful they’ll do something.”

The federal government does fund maternal and infant health programs for Inuit. It also runs programs to try to reduce the incidence of diseases such as diabetes and tuberculosis.

Ottawa spent $58 million subsidizing the availability of healthy food through its food-mail program last year. As well, federal cash for renovating and building homes – a major health concern – has totalled about $500 million over the last three years.

Health Canada says the First Nations and Inuit portion of the Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program has an annual budget of $14 million and reaches more than 9,000 women.

Health Canada is also investing $16 million annually to help prevent fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and improve those born with it.

The federal government is by far the largest revenue source for territorial governments, which have primary responsibility for health services in the North.

Aatami said southerners wouldn’t tolerate conditions that many northerners are forced to bear.

“We’ve been telling this story over and over, over the years, but unfortunately they have been falling on deaf ears.”

Inuit infant mortality three times Canadian average; children go hungry: Study

Inuit infants die at well over three times the rate of other Canadian babies, according to a massive new study published Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

And as if to underscore the tough situation facing aboriginal children in Canada’s North, a second study in the same journal found that 70 per cent of Inuit preschoolers live in homes where there isn’t always enough food.

“Inuit children in Nunavut are faced with health challenges that are more severe than those in Southern Canada due to the socio-economic conditions facing the entire territory,” said Dr. Isaac Sobol, the territory’s chief public officer of health.

To study the Inuit infant mortality rate, University of Montreal researcher Dr. Zhong-Cheng Luo looked at all four million births in Canada between 1990 and 2000. He then broke out those that occurred in 53 predominantly Inuit communities in the Arctic, from Labrador in the east the Mackenzie Delta in the west.

After comparing those births with deaths in the first year of life, Luo found the mortality rate for Inuit infants was 16.5 per thousand live births – a rate not seen in Southern Canada since 1971 and 3.6 times the Canadian average of 4.6 deaths.

Luo’s data are at least a decade old, but more recent information isn’t encouraging.

“If you look at the trends over time, you do not see any improvement,” he said.

The lowest rate was in the Inuvialuit region in the Northwest Territories, at 13.4 deaths per thousand births. The highest rate was in the Nunavik region of northern Quebec, where 18.1 babies out of every thousand die before their first birthday.

The study also found a high rate of stillbirths, at 1.7 times the Canadian average.

Luo said many of the deaths are preventable.

Inuit mothers and pregnant women have high smoking and drinking rates. As well, emphasizing the importance of measures such as placing infants on their backs to sleep could reduce the incidence of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, now seven times more common among the Inuit.

But Luo said poverty, overcrowding and generally poor living conditions in the North are likely taking their toll.

“Improving socio-economic indicators is of fundamental importance,” he said. “That’s the root cause. Infant mortality is a mirror of socio-economic conditions.”

Sobol said that there is a midwifery program in the two Nunavut regions that do not have a hospital. He said smoking and drinking among pregnant and new mothers is a problem that community nurses have been trying to deal with for a long time.

Similar issues surfaced in the second study.

Grace Egeland of McGill University surveyed 388 households in 16 Nunavut communities in 2007 and 2008. She found that 41 per cent of children between age three and five lived in homes where they either had no food for an entire day or where their parents couldn’t afford to feed them at least part of the time. Two-thirds of the parents said there were times when they ran out of food and couldn’t afford to buy more.

In all, she concluded that 70 per cent of Nunavut’s Inuit children sometimes don’t have enough to eat.

“We had an anticipation that we had a problem with the food security issue, but I didn’t realize the extent of it,” said Egeland.

Consequences range from poorer overall health to lower school achievement, she said. Paradoxically, one of those consequences is higher rates of obesity.

“It’s easier to eat a lot of high-energy, nutrient-poor foods,” said Egeland. “We find that obesity seems to track with food insecurity in developed countries.”

Egeland pointed out some households may not be spending grocery money wisely. Cigarettes are expensive, and soft drink consumption in the North is about three times Southern Canada’s rate.

Still, she said measures such as higher income support, food banks and milk programs could go a long way toward keeping young bellies full.

Sobol said food security is a complex issue in Nunavut.

“This problem is multi-faceted, involving issues such as poverty, rapid cultural change and education, and has had a profound influence on the health of Inuit in Nunavut.”

Nunavut funds a variety of food security programs, such as school breakfasts, said Sobol. Other programs such as “Drop the Pop,” which encourages people to consume fewer soft drinks, occur across the North.

“Food security is a public health issue,”said Egeland. “I’m hoping this leads to a really good assessment of health and health policy.

“Inuit are Canadians too, so let’s look after each other.”

5 Useful and Practical Gift Ideas For A Baby Shower

A baby shower is the most common form of celebrating the arrival of your bundle of joy. If you are going to attend a baby shower, it is expected that you are going to bring some gifts for the soon-to-be parents and their baby. And if you have a hard time thinking of what gift you will buy, this article will give you some baby shower gift ideas which will be useful for the parents and the baby.

1. Diapers. It may not be the most interesting gift for a baby shower but it is the most practical and most appreciated gift for the new parents. They will be happy to receive lots of diapers because the baby will needs tons of this up to his toddler stage. It is also safe to buy the larger size since babies grow rapidly.

2. Baby Bathroom Essentials. Giving bathroom essentials such as towel, baby cologne, lotion, body scrub and bubble bath will also be useful for the baby. You may buy these items in sets, which may cost cheaper rather than buying them in pieces. It is also a good idea to buy items with interesting designs.

3. Bottles and Pacifiers. These are also usable items. However, some babies want to use only a specific shape or brand. It is safer to check with the parents-to-be if they have specific choice for these items.

4. Baby Clothes. This is one of the basic necessities of a baby. It is a good idea to buy clothes, which the baby may use later than buying sizes for the newborn. After all, babies will grow fast and their clothing size change very quickly.

5. Baby Toys. If you prefer to give baby toys or something entertaining, it is a good idea to give something educational and will stimulate the mental power of your child.  You can buy baby storybooks or educational compact disc. In buying books, choose those that have large and colorful pictures.

There you have some useful and practical gift ideas, which you may bring to a baby shower. If you still cannot decide, a gift certificate would be the safest gift you can give. The new parents will also be able to buy items which they really need.

Baby Monitor Robs the Parents of Their Worry on Babies

Babies are the pieces of the parents’ heart. Parents will fell annoyed if they can’t learn what’s going on with babies. Sometimes when you are busy with your work in your study, prepare supper in the kitchen, take a walk in the park, or chat with your neighbor, anytime when you are not around your baby, how can you be out of worry? Now the new kind of electronic product – baby monitor is of your help.

With a baby monitor, though you are not staying with your baby, you can still keep an eye on him or her, you even can hear his or her voice. You will feel assured and safe as you can deal with any occasional cases in time. The baby monitor is indeed a kind of worry-robbing electronics.

The baby monitor is a pair of small wireless transmitter which contains two parts, the launcher and receiver. You can put the launcher beside the baby. As there is a built-in sensitive microphone in the launcher, any voice from the baby, no matter his or her crying or muttering can be recorded accurately. Even the slight sound will not be missed. The launcher will send out clear FM signal through the antenna. Then the receiver kept by parents will receive the signals.

There are many kinds of baby monitors on the present market. You can purchase the baby monitor which can satisfy your needs. Generally the effective monitor coverage is 100-150 meters and 30-40meters if walls exist. Both battery and A.C. power supply can be used.

The IR light enables the camera capture clear picture in the case of no light available. The IR light will be on work automatically as there’s a transducer. That’s to say you will know whether your baby is sleeping well at night. In order to avoid interference, two additional video camera at most. Thus it’s effective to observe your baby in different direction or different room.

Different from the traditional baby monitor, there is a small lens added to the launcher, the indicator including the palm LCD indicator takes the place of the receiver. The built-in IR detector of the launcher makes you have a clear look on your baby with power off.

It’s beyond doubt that the application of the baby monitor enables the parents to have a freer and more flexible life. With a baby monitor, parents can deal with other matters in a different place and know what’s going on with the baby like the palm of one’s hand. There are no possibilities for parents to be in worry every minute.

The new electronics–baby monitors help you to be a qualified mummy. It will keep your baby safer and make you rest assured. You can have a look at the wholesale electronics webpage and choose one baby monitor which is suitable for you. As you can gain an overall look of the latest electronics here, you are sure to get the one you like.

The right nanny for your child

When you need to find a nanny, you are looking for someone who will fit in with your family. It is important that you and they can get on well and like each other as you will not want to leave your child with someone you don’t like. This means that when you set out to find a nanny, you will have a number of questions to ask the people who are looking for nanny jobs. You will want to know some basics, such as what are their qualifications and what experience do they have of looking after children. Some quite young people may have more experience than you would expect, for example, if they have regularly been responsible for younger siblings or have worked in summer camps and play schemes. Beyond these basic requirements, you need to know that once you have found your nanny, the household and family will run comfortably. While you are still in the process of looking, find out about the nanny’s interests and see if you and they have any common pursuits, such as sport or theatre. Even if they are passionately keen on something to which you are totally indifferent, this need not be a bad thing as it will open up a whole new world to your son or daughter that they otherwise would never have known about. On the other hand, if your children have a fervent desire to go horse riding every week, you probably do not want a nanny who is so nervous of horses that she discourages them from going. While you are still at the find a nanny stage is the time to sort out these out all these details about the nanny as a person and Nannywage Ltd can help with all the formalities about tax and national insurance so you will have no worries.

When you need to find a nanny, you are looking for someone who will fit in with your family. It is important that you and they can get on well and like each other as you will not want to leave your child with someone you don’t like.

This means that when you set out to find a nanny, you will have a number of questions to ask the people who are looking for nanny jobs. You will want to know some basics, such as what are their qualifications and what experience do they have of looking after children. Some quite young people may have more experience than you would expect, for example, if they have regularly been responsible for younger siblings or have worked in summer camps and play schemes.

Beyond these basic requirements, you need to know that once you have found your nanny, the household and family will run comfortably. While you are still in the process of looking, find out about the nanny’s interests and see if you and they have any common pursuits, such as sport or theatre. Even if they are passionately keen on something to which you are totally indifferent, this need not be a bad thing as it will open up a whole new world to your son or daughter that they otherwise would never have known about.

On the other hand, if your children have a fervent desire to go horse riding every week, you probably do not want a nanny who is so nervous of horses that she discourages them from going.

While you are still at the find a nanny stage is the time to sort out these out all these details about the nanny as a person and Nannywage Ltd can help with all the formalities about tax and national insurance so you will have no worries.

Bed Wetting Facts

Many kids and even teenagers seem to dread still experiencing bed wetting. It can sometimes be a cause of concern for parents. But there are some facts that both parents as well as their kids should know about bed wetting. Here are some of them.

Bed wetting, also known as nocturnal enuresis or simply enuresis, is a condition wherein children and even some adults have the inability to control urination while in their sleep. The result is that they end up wetting their bed and only realize that it has happened after they wake up in the morning. It is actually a common problem among children three years old and below.

After that time, kids develop the ability to control their urination and sometime even wake up in the middle of the night every time they feel like urinating. But unfortunately, there are other kids who may not be as lucky. They may still experience the inability to control or even feel that they are urinating during their sleep. Around 15 percent of kids may still experience bed wetting after the age of three.

Studies have shown that boys are more likely to wet their beds than girls. Enuresis has also been found to run in the family. Kids who have parents with a previous history of bed wetting when they were young are more likely to also develop the problem. Bed wetting usually stops by the time children reach the age of puberty.

In kids, bed wetting rarely is associated with a kidney or bladder problem. The usual case is that some kids may develop bladder control at a slower pace than normal. But there might be possibilities that some cases may be caused by certain infections. That is why it may also be a good suggestion to consult with a doctor to determine the actual cause of bed wetting in kids just to make sure.

Some doctors also believe that certain cases of bed wetting may be rooted in certain emotional or psychological issues. A kid suddenly experiencing bed wetting after a certain period of dryness mat be a reflection of certain new fears and insecurities that the child may have. Certain situations such as moving into a new home, the parents undergoing divorce, or losing a loved one may sometimes affect children in such a way as to cause them to wet their beds at night.

It is also important to note that making children feel embarrassed or shameful with their bed wetting experience would not be an effective way to help them stop the habit. What it may do is develop certain insecurities as well as make kids feel bad about themselves for bed wetting. Bear in mind that children do not wet their beds on purpose.

Instead of making their children feel ashamed and embarrassed, parents should try to encourage and express confidence in their children that they will eventually out grow this condition. Positive reinforcement would usually work better in trying to stop bed wetting in children.

WARNING Don’t Take Antioxidants

WARNING Don’t Take Antioxidants

Did You Know…

…that taking high doses of antioxidant supplements — such as beta carotene, Vitamin A, Vitamin E, ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) and selenium — does not reduce the risk of acquiring diseases, but has also been shown to be poisonous to the human body and may even increase the risk of death?

 As long ago as the 1950s, antioxidants became known as miracle supplements because they “reportedly” promoted good health and prevented a host of diseases, including cancer

and age-related diseases.  According to some estimates, approximately 50% of the adult population in the U.S. take antioxidants on a daily basis for this reason.

    Here’s a wake-up call:  Every long-term study involving antioxidant supplementation provides proof that people get sicker — not healthier — when they take antioxidants.  In fact,

beta carotene, vitamin A, and vitamin E, taken individually or in combination with other antioxidant supplements, are associated with increased all-cause mortality. [Source:  The

Journal of the American Medical Association - based on 68 randomized trials with 232,606 participants (385 publications).]

     In case you were wondering … this information is not just another propaganda employed by the medical and pharmaceutical industries to prevent people from using natural

therapies, or to deceive people into thinking that drugs are the only solution to disease.

     Over the last several decades, supplement manufacturers (and even health practitioners) have urged people to take large amounts of antioxidants such as Vitamin C and Vitamin

E because scientists had observed that people whose diets were rich in fruits and vegetables had a lower incidence of heart disease, diabetes, dementia, stroke and certain types of

cancer.  They formed the hypothesis that since fruits and vegetables are a rich source of antioxidants (which neutralize free radicals in the body), then taking antioxidant

supplements would have the same effect.

  That hypothesis has been proven wrong.  Here’s why:    http://scrnch.me/82ya4

Fruits and vegetables produce antioxidants for good reason — that is, to protect themselves from oxidative stress.  Without antioxidants, oxygen destroys food by combining with

elements and burning them up — hence, vitamin destruction in food (or decay) occurs. 

However, dietary antioxidants have virtually no nutritional benefit to the human body.  Antioxidants such as ascorbic acid and tocopherols, for instance, are not essential nutrients

– and as such, they should not even be called vitamins at all. 

     While antioxidants serve their purpose WITHIN a fruit or vegetable, in the human body, they only disrupt normal oxidative reactions in the cell.  This is why they are dangerous

to consume (except in the minute amounts ingested from food).

     In summary, if you want to stave off disease and premature aging, there is no substitute to eating fruits and vegetables that are rich in antioxidants instead of taking antioxidant 

supplements.     http://scrnch.me/82ya4
Think-Outside-the-Book Publishing LLC

I thank you for taking the time to read this short report
JanuszJanulis
© 2003-2010 World Marketing Media, Inc.
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Understanding Bed Wetting: What Is It?

By the time a child reaches the age of two, he could usually can keep himself dry during the day.  It make a while, a year perhaps, to help him keep dry over the night. However, even the best potty-trained child could still fail this expectation.  Bed wetting is common for young children. Bedwetting is also called nocturnal enuresis or involuntary passage of urine.

Bed wetting is among the most problems parents face.  Rather than an emotional and physical defect, bed wetting can be considered a developmental delay.  Frequently, bed wetting is associated with how it runs in the family or its family history.  A parent who is a bed wetter as a child has 45 % of passing it to his chid.  Aside from family history, bed wetting could also be a neurological delay.  There are studies showing that girls could stay dry by the age of six and boys by the age of seven.  Adult bed wetting occurs by 0.5 to 2.3 %.

There are two types of bed wetting:  primary and secondary nocturnal enuresis.  Primary enuresis is bed wetting for babies and young children.  Primary nocturnal enuresis (PNE), as some medical guidelines and insurance company defines, is diagnosed when children ages 4 to 5 still persistently bed wet.  

About 20% of children no longer wet their bed by the age of five.  The percentage of bed wetters is reduced as much as 50% each year after the child turns five.  Upon reaching the age of six, only 10 % still wet the bed, most of them are boys.

Secondary enuresis is a kind of wetting that developed after being dry for a minimum of six months. Most of the times, it is referred to be brought about by emotional stress or medical condition that has bladder infection.  

About 2 to 3 % of children who wet their bed have medical reasons for doing so.  Some causes of  secondary nocturnal enuresis are metabolic disorders, urinary track infections, the bladder experiences too much pressure, and neurological disorders of the spinal cord.   To identify if bed wetting is caused by a medical condition, urinalysis and urine culture is done along with medical evaluation and further laboratory tests.

Some would say that children would outgrow bed wetting.  However, it could interfere or affect your child’s confidence and self-esteem or daily activities, which is why some parents are anxious for their children to stop bed wetting.  When thinking of stopping or addressing bed wetting, it is best to consult your child’s doctor.  Your doctor would need to identify first if the bed wetting accidents are primary or secondary nocturnal enuresis.

Different children undergo different development.  Patience is important when training children to stop wetting the mattress.  Reassurance and a good word to encourage them will keep the children on track.  Aside from that, there are general tips that could help in managing bed wetting, like restricting intake of fluids, having a plastic covered mattress, using bed wetting alarms, exercises to stretch the bladder, and at certain times, the use of   medications.

Bed wetting could be a passing problem parents could deal with using encouragement and sometimes a system of rewards.   Bu parents need to understand that children who continuously wet their beds are not abnormal and can be best treated without shaming, embarrassing and even professional medical help.

Designer Baby Clothes Can Be Yours In A Few Clicks

The fact that your little boy or girl is so young doesn’t mean that fashion and style should be ignored. Because fashion didn’t seem to exist for infant wear, top-notch designers have now decided to turn the tide. Thanks to companies like Album di Famiglia and Nolita Pocket, both of which make the most adorable designer baby clothes imaginable, this year your new addition to the family can flaunt more than your average wear. Finally, baby girl clothes can come in more than merely pink footed pajamas, and baby boy clothes can be more than a simple pastel blue snapsuit.

Before you head down to the local department store, where are you going to get your hands on an Italian-designed tunic from designer Album di Famiglia? What about a cute pink ruched jersey cotton dress from Nolita Pocket? Most local stores don’t even come close to mimicking or putting out the quality that your fine tastes demand.

Local stores don’t normally bring world fashion to the babies department. Online shopping, at a designer baby clothes store like Estella of New York City, is your second-best bet to an Italian vacation.

With a few clicks of the mouse, you can have the baby girl clothes that your daughter deserves to sport. But can you actually put your son in these designer baby clothes when he’s simply going to soil them the way babies tend to do? Don’t worry, most designers of baby wear will design the clothes to be machine-washable.

Of course, that may not be true for everyone, but you don’t want to shop for clothes that will put your son or daughter in the harsh chemicals used in most dry cleaners. No worries with Estella, they only sell machine washable designer clothing.

Can you imagine the stares that your little precious will garner when she struts her stuff in the finest of fashion? How sweet she’d look in an angora dress, or cashemere sweater! But you don’t have to merely dream it. You can have the best in baby couture from the top design houses, even without leaving your home. It’s all just a few clicks away.

Free Information about Colics in Babies

Baby colic is a condition in which a baby cries or screams frequently and for longer periods without any apparent reason. This situation usually occurs within the first month of life the child is almost always immediately had just finished in time to approach the child in the eight months of its existence in the world. Baby colic is more common in bottle-fed babies, but can also occur in the breast, babies. The crying frequently occurs during a specific time of day, usually in the afternoon.

Because the cause of colic infant mortality is not yet fully determined and the amount of difference between babies crying, there is general agreement on the definition of infant colic. But parents must remember that there is only one condition, the passage in time and can not be a problem requiring immediate treatment. The only way to tell if the baby suffers from colic and excluding other causes of crying too. A rule is possible if the baby cries intensely for more than three days a week for over three hours of any outbreak and crying more than three weeks a month.

Although the underlying cause of child mortality is not present with colic, doctors have been some comments about why the situation can be experienced by children is not known. At birth, babies still an immature digestive system, which has not begun food processing.

The digestive system is literally starting to learn the operation. Digestive muscles can not develop even the type suitable for the efficient movement of food through the digestive tract. This can cause problems and upset stomach common in infants and might be able to explain why there is such a situation as infantile colic, and why almost all children cope with colic in the first six or seven months.

Another explanation for infant colic can affect the mother. There4 some food for lactating mothers of dangerous chemicals and allergens, which may contain the discomfort of colic and digestive problems in children results should be eaten.

Through lactation, trace elements of cruciferous vegetables and other gases that produce food for your baby with breast milk of the mother and cause bloating is passed to the child. Babies often swallow air during feeding or crying, which continues to expand to increase gas and bloating, and adding some concern over, baby.

There is currently no generally accepted medical treatment for infant colic. Health professionals may have different approaches to address the situation. Many doctors believe that infant colic is not currently curable, and it is better to run the usual course. What mothers can do is try, the baby comfortable. Calming measures, such as the use of pacifiers and gentle rocking can soothe a crying baby during periods effectively.

Some parents may keep the baby, that seems to relieve the pain and the cries of the child. Some homeopathic remedies can also be used as an excellent option to treat the symptoms of colic baby. Homeopathic treatment is safe and completely allergen is not known side effects. It is for parents to keep that option, since they consider to be very effective in treating the symptoms of colic.

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