See what fast foods a watch group says are bad for kids.

Posted Aug. 5, 2008 – Most fast food for children is unhealthy, loaded with too many calories and too much fat and salt, says a report by the Center for Science in the Public Interest.  ”You can hunt around and you will find a few [kids'] meals that are nutritionally pretty good,” says Michael Jacobson, Ph.D., executive director of the center, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group. “But the vast majority of meals are too high in calories, saturated fat, or sodium. They are all made with refined white flour rather than whole wheat flour – not the kind of meals we ought to be encouraging people to eat.”

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The next possible first lady is taking it from all sides.

Posted July 29, 2008 -She’s been called unpatriotic, an “angry black woman,” the “b” word and much more. But we’ve watched with pride and a little fear as the wife of the first serious African American presidential contender, Michelle Obama, came into her own, weathering the critics and media onslaughts and gracefully soften her image. But we know the attacks will only become more swift and ugly as the campaign gets underway. Will she still be as graceful in her handling of the Republican right’s vitriol? And, what is all of this doing to how Black female’s see themselves?

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The Bronx native learned to swim in Newark after nearly drowning

Posted July 23, 2008 – It took a near-drowning experience to get Cullen Jones to become a swimmer. Now Jones, 24, is not only hoping to win Olympic Gold, but also to help young African American boys and girls champion over their own water fears.

“It’s just a torch that was passed on to me by many other Black swimmers that have been before me — Maritza Correia, Byron Davis. It’s something that we’ve all tried to push and try and get more and more kid,” he told ABC’s Good Morning America. “It’s definitely not a burden; it’s just a cause of mine.”

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Teens, Get Those Bodies Moving!
Posted July 16, 2008 – The lack of activity among today’s teens shocked even the researches who studied them in one of the largest survey’s to date to show that as children age their exercise levels is nearly nonexistent. At 9 years old, the kids got on average about three hours of moderate to vigorous physical activity a day from activities like bike riding, skate boarding, jump rope or basketball. But, by the time they turned 15, their activity had dropped down to about 49 minutes a day. On the weekends, it was even worse – kids got about 35 minutes a day. “What shocked me was the sharp decline in activity,” said Dr. Philip Nader, a former pediatrics professor at the University of California-San Diego and the lead researcher for the study. The truth of the matter is that this inactivity has led to too many teens being entirely too fat. Teen obesity has tripled in the last three decades, government figures show. If that’s not a signal that there’s an epidemic I don’t know what is. Yes, the government is partly to blame for kicking exercise out of our schools. But, what ever happen to dance, and cheerleading practice, and basketball? Aren’t those things cool anymore? Teens: PICK UP THE iPOD AND START DANCING. STEP AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER AND GET MOVING. And if you have a computer, go to an exercise site like at Men’s Health or the hollywoodtrainer.com and kick it to a couple of online videos before you go to school. You can even download a free workout to your iPod here. Walk, ride a bike, get the water gun out, do some calisthenics, do something because fat ain’t sexy. It not only is’t cool, but it’s not healthy. Want to find some activities to get you and your children out of the house and moving? Go to BET.com/Body & Soul.

Stress-and-lifestyle-related heart disease is preventable, one doctor told the NAACP
Stress, unequal treatment in the U.S. healthcare system and couch-potato/video-game lifestyles are killing Black Americans, health professionals told an audience at the NAACP on Saturday.

“We have a heart-obsessed society, but not a heart-healthy society,” Dr. Pamela Redden, former chief of staff in the Huron Hospital, a part of Cleveland Clinic Health Systems, said during a health symposium at the 99th Annual NAACP National Convention downtown.”It’s the organ that keeps us alive, but it’s the No. 1 killer in America.”

As you know by now Black Americans — particularly Black women — are more likely to die from heart-related illnesses, such as coronary heart disease, than all other Americans. But what’s different about the message at the NAACP convention is that many of the medical professionals pointed out that stress – worrying over whether you’ve got enough money to take care of your kids, or how you’re going to get done all you need to do, or whatever – is one of the things that’s killing us. Dr. Fleda M. Jackson found that a leading cause of infant mortality was elevated stress levels of Black women.

“We need a revolution. We need a radical change in the way we view our health,” said Dr. Marilyn Gaston, former U.S. assistant surgeon general and one of the panelists Saturday. “These are preventable. They’re not just statistics … They represent us when we fail to make a change.”

And, of course, one of the number one solutions for that stress: GET FIT. That doesn’t mean losing a bunch of weight all at one time, or trying to run a marathon. What the medical experts urged was just start gradually to do something for your health, whether it’s taking a walk after you eat or popping in a 20-minute workout video before you go to work, or taking a boxing class. They drove home the point that women should put their own health first (instead of the well-being of others); determine their own risk factors, like family history; practice prevention; get fit and manage their stress levels.

Find out more about what’s happening at the NAACP Convention here.

June 26, 2008 – A group of African-American pastors, apparently led by the niece of civil rights giant the Rev. Martin Luther King, is expected to come to Washington, D.C., today to demand that Democratic and Republican Party candidates refuse donations from Planned Parenthood. They are reacting to YouTube Videos that alleged that a Planned Parenthood worker agreeing to a racist donor’s demand that his donation be spent to abort Black babies. Planned Parenthood, which provides contraception education and services across the country, denies the charges. In a statement to a Washington blogger, the organization said: “Planned Parenthood does not tolerate racism of any kind. For more than 90 years, Planned Parenthood has worked to address racial and economic bias in access to healthcare and ensure that all women receive care. We are committed to providing basic and preventative health services to women, men, and teens, especially in underserved communities.” But the ministers say they have  proof Black babies are being targeted. “We are very concerned that Planned Parenthood is targeting African American communities and African American babies,” said Alveda King, niece of the slain civil rights leader. Don’t these charges seem a bit outrageous? Why would Planned Parenthood, a group that has been the only refuge for pregnancy prevention advice in many communities and been headed over the years by Black women, be complicit in a plan to target Black babies? Plus, aren’t we too often seeking abortions on our own as a means of birth control? Federal figures show African Americans make up 12 percent of the population and account for 36 percent of abortions. I’m not sure of the source of the videos, or what impact the ministers actions will have, but wouldn’t their efforts be better served if they spent making sure young women and men had more incentives to delay sex and pregnancy as teenagers, and that if they are sexually active that they used condoms? Wouldn’t those actions make the whole issue mute? Watch the video, and you be the judge.

May 24, 2008 – So, you think you can swim? That’s what a lot of other people think, until trouble surfaces at a swimming pool or other body of water.

Did you know Black men die from drowning more often than people from other ethnic groups, and Black children are three times more likely to drown to death than White children? 

Think you can swim?

Here are a few more tips to keep you safe around water this summer:

• If you plan to be around water this summer, take a swimming class to learn the basics. It’s never too late to learn to swim.

• Try to swim in areas protected by a lifeguard.

• If you’re swimming in unguarded water, make sure someone with you knows how to swim and is certified in CPR.

• If you’re going boating, wear a life jacket.

• Don’t dive into unknown waters. There could be rocks, shallows or other dangers.

• Whether you can swim or not, don’t jump into the water first to try to save someone if they’re struggling. Get a long stick or pole and reach it toward the drowning person. Tell him to grab it, and pull him to safety.

• Watch out for the dangerous “too’s” – too tired, too cold, too far from safety, too much sun, too much strenuous activity.

• Don’t swim drunk or if you’ve been drinking a lot of alcohol.

• Don’t let children swim unsupervised, particularly young children. African American children ages 5 to 14 die from drowning three times more often than Whites.

For more tips, go to the American Red Cross.

Everybody’s talking about the Orlando, Fla. incident. That’s where six girls lured a “friend” to a house and proceeded to pummel her – because she talked trash on myspace.com

The reactions are predictable: horror, astonishment and comments about family failures and parental dysfunction. But this kind of violence isn’t just an individual failing; it’s a public health issue.

Consider this: according to the Centers for Disease control, youth violence is the second leading cause of death for youngsters between the ages of 10 and 24. In addition, 30 percent of students between the 6th and 10th grade report being involved in bullying, and in 2005, 36 percent of high school students said they’d been in at least one fight the previous year.

Do the numbers point to an epidemic? I hate to use such loaded words. But the emotional and physical harm violence causes requires that we do more than shake our heads and cluck our tongues when we hear about situations like the Orlando beating.

The first step is education. The Centers for Disease Control have published a fact sheet for anyone interested in learning more about the problem.

If you know of someone who is involved in bullying, either as a victim or perpetrator, read the information at stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov. This site is for kids and adults, so visit it with a child you care about.

Remember, the best defense is a good offense. That’s especially true when it comes to preventing or coping with youth violence.

For another cautionary tale about over-the-counter medications for children, read this story in the (Cleveland, Ohio) Plain Dealer.

A new study from the Centers for Disease Control found that incorrectly using over-the-counter medications sends 7,000 children under the age of 11 to emergency rooms each year. Many of the overdoses occurred because the kids took the medicine on their own.

This is the latest piece of evidence against treating children’s colds with OTC remedies. If you’re still not convinced  think about this piece of advice from Dr. Lawrence Quang. He’s a pediatric emergency doctor and the medical director of the Greater Cleveland Poison Control Center.

“If you have (over-the-counter children’s cold remedies ), throw them away,” Quang told the newspaper reporter.

We’re in the midst of cold season now, when chills and wind bring coughs and sniffles that invariably hit children.

If your child is a victim, don’t head to the drug store. The Food and Drug Administration warns that children younger than 2 should not receive over-the-counter cough medicine. Even though the agency hasn’t decided whether medicine is safe for children aged 2 to 11, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Substitute a taste of honey.

Researchers found that doses of buckwheat honey worked as well as cough syrup when it came to easing children’s coughs and colds, according to an article in the December, 2007 issue of the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine.

Doses were small: a half-teaspoon for children aged 2 to 5, a teaspoon for children 5 to 11 and two teaspoons for children 12 and up. For more information about the study, stop by Dr. Alan Greene’s blog at the New York Times. (registration may be required.)