Healthy Living

Until a few decades ago, recess breaks at school were the norm.  Morning recess, lunch, then afternoon recess gave kids time to have a break from the classroom. Now, many schools don't have periods known as recess.  Yes, there might be organized PE, but what about the childhood play of being able to play for 15 minutes with your friends, talk to them and run around with them.  Time for socialization, which is essential to development.

Kids in elementary school need to expend their energy in order to concentrate better in the classroom.  Studies have shown that by having breaks, children can perform better on-task and will be less restless. It helps a child's attention span.  Also, the benefits of being outside, in the sunlight, are both mental and physical.  Letting kids run around, without a structured play plan, is stress-reducing. 

We worry about our children becoming obese, well this is one more reason to make sure schools keep recess or reinstitue recess.  Speak up at your PTA meetings and let your children's teachers know your feelings about recess.  Think how hard it is for an adult to sit for even an hour in a meeting.  Kids do need Recess.

By Sharon Pierce McCullough

It has just been brought to our attention that some children's face paints contain lead, which is a neurotoxin that can harm the brain at low doses.  So, the face is the last place you would want to be applying this stuff ... and certainly not on our children!  This info comes from a report by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, a national coalition of nonprofit health and environmental groups.

In some of the paints tested, the lab identified the heavy metals nickel, cobalt and chromium, which are skin allergens, even in products labeled "non-toxic" and "hypoallergenic."  Since these metals are not listed on product labels, parents shopping for Halloween makeup have no way of knowing which products are safe. The only way to know if a cosmetic product contains lead or other heavy metals is to test the product at a laboratory, which the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics did for their report.

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics sent 10 children's face paints to an independent lab to test for heavy metals.

The lab test results found:

The most important thing you can do to fight againt getting the Swine Flu is to teach your family, and all children you come in contact with,  proper hand washing.  Many kids have already been doing this as a regular part of normal hygiene but there are many who do not, primarily because they haven't been taught or have no good parental example.

I'm sorry to say that I know plenty of adults that don't take the time to do good hand washing, on a regular basis. Yes, they swish a little water onto their hands and that's it.  But with proper instruction, we can do something positive about spreading germs this flu season. It's a proven fact that we all touch our faces all during the day ... rub our eyes, scratch our nose, touch our lip. And hand-to-face contact is one of the ways we contract illnesses.  Germs can enter the body through breaks in the skin or through membranes of the eyes, mouth and nose.

So ... How should we Teach Children to Wash Hands ?

• Wet Hands.  Soap Hands. And wash for 10 seconds.  You can tell them to count to 20 or say the alphabet to figure out if they have washed long enough.
• Rinse Hands well.
• Dry Hands well, using a paper towel if one is available.
• Use the paper towel to turn off the faucet.
• Throw paper towel in trash.

Give kids a good demonstration so they truly understand.  Explain that we get colds and coughs from other people, and other kids, when we don't wash our hands thoroughly.  Let them know that this is one way that germs get spread.

We all worry about what we put into baby's mouth but do we think about what is right next to baby's skin, the clothing and bedding that they are layered in 24 hours a day?  Well, we all need to give this serious consideration, as many articles of clothing contain dyes and chemicals that can seep through skin and into the body.  Consider how fragile a baby's skin is and I think you will be trying to find clothing and bedding that is "pure" for your baby.  We love the organic cotton baby clothes, organic children's clothes, organic bedding, layette and gifts that can be found at Sage Creek Organics.  They offer only pure cotton clothing and bedding for infants and toddlers that has been stringently tested.  And the designs are as cute as can be!

Sage Creek Organic cotton products go through many steps. From the farmer's field, to the mill where the cotton is processed, to the tailor's room, all the cotton and cotton fabric is tested, and certified to be organically grown and processed by ECO CERT, a well respected and trusted governing body in organics. The standards are so strict that commercial cotton or cotton fabric cannot be transported nor stored in the same building, to avoid cross contamination. The cotton, colors, snaps and zippers are all tested to ensure the absence of contaminants such as nickel, lead, formaldehyde, amines, pesticides and heavy metals.