Hoping To Make Kids’ Health As Easy As ABC
Posted on October 30th, 2009 - 10:30 AMEven though Children’s Health Month is nearing its end, I have plenty of reasons to stay invested in the well-being of kids. Aside from working in the children’s environmental health field, I am a parent to a toddler and pregnant!
This viewpoint has its pros and cons. On the one hand, I have access to the latest science and advice about how to protect my children from environmental health threats. On the other hand, all this information can make me a bit paranoid!
For instance, pregnant women can no longer worry only about eating sushi or soft cheese. Moms also have to watch for toxins in our water bottles, personal care products, household items, food and the baby’s toys and plastic bottles. It is overwhelming and confusing—even to a person who works on these problems.
During my first pregnancy, I was the model pregnant woman—I ate organic, didn’t use plastics and bought the “right” products. However, when my first daughter was born extremely premature – she was born 3 ½ months early and weighed 1 ½ lbs.—I realized just how little control I really had over her health and exposures. She had plastic tubes all over her and inside her keeping her alive and was pumped full of antibiotics and medications that saved her life. All of these early exposures have risks associated with them, however.
Millions of parents can tell a similar story. Try as we may, we can’t control many of the factors that affect the health of our children. What we can do is be educated and proactive. It is part of my job to help elevate the discussion among researchers, environmental health professionals, and healthcare providers about children’s health. More importantly, I want to bring the discussion down to the street level where I and millions of other parents and parents-to-be are looking for guidance.
Moms and dads should not have to be toxicologists to protect their children. My hope is that we can advance science in these areas and make good use of the knowledge between doctors, scientists, policymakers and parents to better protect the health of our kids.
About the author: Margo Young is the Children’s Health Coordinator for EPA Region 10. She works in EPA’s Seattle office.
Tags: Childrens Health
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Question of the Week
October 30th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
Children health has been play a preponderant role for my intention because earlier children receive better care; the best adults’ images repertories and behavioral attitude we will observe in different factors in tomorrow society.
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October 31st, 2009 at 11:05 am
The only effective way to insure children’s health is to return planet Earth to its naturally healthy condition. But EPA bureaucrats will not even admit corporate responsibility for the ecocidal disaster that today threatens us all, especially the children. Instead, they focus blame against the citizens themselves who are the victims of the pollution, as though they could stop it by cleaning their homes and back yards. EPA treats the symptoms, but never the cause.
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November 1st, 2009 at 6:04 pm
It is of critical importance to have the doctors and researchers on the same page. And, then, it is just as important to get information down to the parents level in formats they can easily understand and make since from. Probably the best way to get the information out is to distribute it through the pediatricians offices at about the 4th grade reading level to make sure every parent gettinga copy gets the maximum benefit from reading it. At least things are getting better than they used to be. I was born in 1956 and my mother kept the information the doctor gave her when she was pregnant. It said it was fine for you to have one drink of alcohol a day while pregnant and to smoke one to two cigarettes a day while pregnant, and diets that today we might consider unhealthy were seen as fine back then. So we have come along way but still have a ways yet left to go. Best wishes, Michael E. Bailey.
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November 2nd, 2009 at 6:54 am
I found a website that is perfect to compliment this article. It’s about the baby feeding bottle and has some pretty awesome information.
I think it is definitely worth starting young with their health. Humanity itself depends on it.
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November 2nd, 2009 at 1:46 pm
Dear Margo,
When my son was not feeling that great a friend dropped her son off to visit so she could do some chores.She phoned me that night to tell me,oh by the way my son was contagious for 5th disease.My son got so sick Drs didnot know what was wrong .Please test him for parvo,no children hardlly get sick.Do it my neice is 7 months pregnant and we are having a reunion.That Friday positive parvo once in awhile a child will get very sick,but my neice who was pregnant could not be around my family.That was okay I would rather be safe then sorry.As you must know 5th disease can hurt the fetus.Please take a survey or just ask Moms and Dads should know please get the word out.
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