Because natural isn't always possible — or easy.
Posted in Environment, Health, Illness, Pop Culture, Toxins, parenting on Aug 10th, 2010
A Facebook friend posted a link today. It was from The Today Show — a segment about early puberty. It was pretty shocking. The segment was based on a new Pediatrics study — Pubertal Assessment Method and Baseline Characteristics in a Mixed Longitudinal Study of Girls — looked at girls ages 6 to 8 who [...]
Posted in Food on Aug 4th, 2010
I bought a sandwich today. It came on a square roll dotted with poppy and sesame seeds. The roll was crunchy on the outside but fresh and yummy on the inside. I got honey turkey on it. I picked my own accompaniments: tomatoes, lettuce, salt and pepper and mayonnaise. It cost $5.97, which may not seem [...]
Posted in Consumer Packaged Goods, Favorite Things Friday, Food, Health on Jul 30th, 2010
I’ve been complaining about the quality of kids’ snacks for a while now. Many traditional manufacturers seem to put little if any thought into the ingredients. High fructose corn syrup. Preservatives. Artificial colors. Artificial flavors. Hydrogenated oils. The more unpronounceable the ingredient, the better. Case in point: traditional General Mills Fruit Roll-Ups. Check out the [...]
Posted in Eating Healthy, Food, Health on Jul 28th, 2010
Dear Self, Hey, I know you work at night. Working full-time at home WITH kids means you have to do a little creative scheduling. However, your lack of planning shouldn’t mean your kids suffer. For example, when you don’t get out of bed until 8:30 and you’ve got to get Big Girl to camp by [...]
Posted in Environment, Health, Preventative medicine, Safety, parenting on Jun 7th, 2010
Sunday was overcast and windy. Still, we made plans to celebrate a good friend’s birthday so we were all sitting on the beach. I was covered head to toe. Spinster hat (a phrase coined by my friend because he says it makes me look like a spinster) on head. Towel over legs. Umbrella attached to [...]
Posted in Consumer Packaged Goods, Eating Healthy on Jun 1st, 2010
This isn’t a shocker. A recent study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association found that television ads promote poor, imbalanced diets. Researchers analyzed 84 hours of television on the big four networks — ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox. According to researchers, if someone selected only foods advertised on TV during that time [...]
Posted in Eating Healthy, Food, Going Green, Health, toddlers on May 12th, 2010
Keira had her 21-month well visit a few weeks ago. The nurse came in to take height and weight. She put her on the scale. “She didn’t gain an ounce since her last check up,” explained the nurse. Then she got measured. She only grew 1/2 inch since her last visit, which was three months [...]
Posted in Environment, Going Green, Health, Illness, Organic, Preventative medicine, Safety, Toxins on May 8th, 2010
Yesterday the President’s Cancer Panel — I can’t believe I didn’t know it existed — released its most recent annual report, Reducing Environmental Risk: What We Can Do Now. Download it. It’s worth a read. The report explains that, in 2009, more than 1.5 American men, women and children were diagnosed with cancer, and 562,000 [...]
Posted in Going Green, Health, Vaccines on Apr 29th, 2010
Full disclosure: I did not see PBS’s The Vaccine War. I was asleep by the time it came on, a rarity for me. But I did read many of the blog posts about its production and editing. The producers went out and interviewed two doctors — M.D.s — who aren’t necessarily for or against vaccines. [...]
Posted in Eating Healthy, Health, Illness on Apr 1st, 2010
I went for a bunch of blood tests about a week ago. Again, nothing serious. Just a check up. The doctor’s office called this morning. Everything was normal except my Vitamin D levels. I was stunned. Well…maybe not. Vitamin D comes from two main sources: Sun exposure and certain foods like milk and fish. Most [...]
