The Dangers of Lead Paint

(MS) - By now, most parents are fully aware of the recalls involving toys contaminated with lead-based paint. While few parents are likely to take such recalls lightly, some might not be aware of the specific dangers lead-based paints present, whether it's on a child's toy or on the walls of a home.

While everyone would like to think their homes do not contain any lead-based paint, older homes very well might, making it all the more important that all people understand just what hazards this substance presents.

What Are the Dangers?

The dangers associated with lead-based paints are many, and none should be taken lightly. Because lead paint can harm both the brain and the central nervous system, the negative consequences of exposure can be very damaging. Among those consequences are:

· decreased intelligence scores

· learning disabilities, attention deficit disorder (ADD), hyperactivity, problems with memory

· impaired hearing

· decreased growth, poor coordination, muscle and joint pain

Who Is In the Most Danger?

Perhaps the scariest part about lead-paint exposure is those who are most at risk to its negative consequences: children 6 years of age and younger, including the unborn. This is because a child's brain and nervous system are undergoing more rapid changes than those of an adult, and as a result their systems absorb more lead than an adult's.

Adding to the risk factors for children is the typical lifestyle of a child, one that involves playing on the ground or floor. Younger children, especially, frequently put things (such as toys) in their mouths. This makes them more likely to inhale or ingest lead dust. Unborn children are at risk because mothers with elevated levels of lead in their blood can very well pass that lead on to their unborn child. If this occurs, low birth weight, premature births and even miscarriages could result.

How Can Kids Be Protected?

Most homes built before 1978 will have lead-based paint, and nearly all built before 1960 will. However, the presence of lead-based paint alone is not necessarily hazardous. If the paint is intact, meaning it hasn't deteriorated or cracked, then it's likely harmless. People living in older homes should make it a priority to not allow their paint to deteriorate. Chipped paint and any areas, such as windows and doors, where painted surfaces rub together are high-concern areas.

To protect children, first and foremost have them tested. For infants, have them tested before their first birthday and then once more a year later. If you're still concerned, have children under the age of 6 tested annually.

Another way to keep kids safe is to keep them out of work areas around the home. Ward off rooms that are under construction, and keep furniture in such rooms covered in plastic to avoid lead dust. Spray all surfaces with water once the room is ready for use again.

While getting kids to wash their hands can sometimes be a chore, this is also an effective way to protect them from exposure. Lead gets into the body through ingestion or respiration, so kids should wash their hands before eating and going to bed.

A healthy diet can also protect kids from possible exposure to lead. Children who get sufficient calcium, vitamin C and iron in their daily diet will absorb less lead. Consult a physician to put together a diet for a child that will provide healthy levels of all three.

CAPTION: While a child's toy can seem harmless, a recent rash of toy recalls should have parents on the lookout for lead-based paint in toys.

Keywords:
toys lead-based paint parents child brain central nervous system kids children healthy diet

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Healthy Kids Start With a Healthy Diet

(MS) - As many parents can attest, a big problem facing today's youth is the epidemic of obesity. Particularly in industrialized nations, the number of obese children continues to rise, as more kids are living unhealthy and sedentary lives.

When it comes to childhood obesity, the numbers don't lie. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 16 percent of young people (ages 6 to 19) are overweight or obese. That translates to roughly 9 million kids across the country who are overweight or obese. In addition, the CDC reports indicate that another 15 percent of children are at risk of becoming overweight, meaning roughly 30 percent of American children are either overweight or obese, or at serious risk of becoming overweight.

Those numbers, while startling enough on their own, are even more so when considering the effect overweight or obese youths are having on the American healthcare system. While hospital costs for children used to be associated with a broken bone here or there as a result of physical activity, a large portion of the youth-related hospital costs nowadays are the result of obesity. In a 2005 report, the Institute of Medicine, a nonprofit organization started to provide unbiased science-based advice on science, medicine and health, noted that youth-obesity-associated hosptial costs from 1979 to 1981 were $35 million. Twenty years later, the same report notes, those costs had more than tripled to $127 million.

Perhaps most damaging is the likelihood many of these children will be overweight or obese when they grow up. The United States Department of Health and Human Services reports that overweight adolescents have a 70 percent chance of becoming overweight or obese as adults. For parents of overweight or obese children, this is certainly cause for concern. In addition to the physical consequences of being overweight or obese, both children and adults who are obese often pay a big price socially as well. For concerned parents, the good news is that many of the following risk factors are entirely within a parent's, and even a child's, control.

· Diet: What a child eats has a major impact on his or her chances of being overweight or obese. Regardless of how active a child is, a poor diet can be very damaging. Foods and beverages that are high in sugar and calories, such as soft drinks and candies, lead to weight gain. Regular consumption of fast foods and baked goods, both of which are high in calories, is also detrimental to a child's health. Snacks, unless they're healthy, moderately-proportioned snacks such as fruit, are also typically loaded with calories.

· Sedentary lifestyle: As technology has advanced, the rate of childhood obesity has risen. While there may or may not be a direct correlation between the two, the increasingly sedentary lifestyle that technological advancements enable suggests there certainly is a correlation. Time kids are now spending playing video games or watching more and more television is time that kids used to spend outdoors playing and exercising. In general, parents should encourage leisure activities that involve exercise, whether that exercise is structured or not. Parents who live in households where both parents work should consider placing younger children in afterschool programs where video games and television are not available. Older kids should be encouraged to participate in extracurricular activities that promote exercise.

· Genetics: The genetic risk factor for obesity is arguably the hardest to control. Children who come from a family of overweight people might be genetically predisposed to putting on extra pounds. In such families, diet and exercise need to be emphasized even more than normal, and parents, if overweight or obsese, should explore losing weight themselves in an effort to provide a better example to children.

· Psychology: Nearly everyone has heard the term "comfort food." Coping with emotional problems, stress or even just a rough day at the office by eating is unhealthy. If kids have a rough day at school, it can be tempting to take them out for pizza or ice cream. However, this sets a dangerous psychological precedent, one that could turn food into a crutch for kids during difficult times. This can be an especially unhealthy habit to adopt during the difficult period of adolescence. In lieu of using food as a means of coping, consider taking kids on a hike or with you to the gym. Exercise is known to relieve stress, and if kids associate exercise with relieving stress at an early age, they're more likely to make exercise a part of their daily lives.

While technology continues to make it easier for children to become overweight or obese, parents need to recognize the longterm results of being overweight or obese, and do what's necessary to help their children avoid the difficult road that awaits if certain lifestyle choices aren't changed.

Keywords:
healthy kids diet obesity overweight parents

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