Of the approximately four million babies born in the United States every year, only about 14 percent are born in Baby-Friendly hospitals, The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative established 10 Steps to Successful Breastfeeding in 1989, which were endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2009. However, a recent study found that many hospitals still do not implement these 10 Steps. Breastfeeding has numerous health benefits, including reduced childhood obesity, but many mothers face challenges to breastfeed. Maternal experiences during the birth hospitalization show that a hospital's policies and practices affect a mother's ability to establish and maintain breastfeeding. In the six-year study, Maternity Practices in Infant Nutrition and Care, investigators compare ...
The Endocrine Society recently published research that reveals exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) is associated with increased risk of developing diabetes and obesity. These common chemicals are found in everyday items like food can linings, cash register receipts, plastics, cosmetics, flame retardants and pesticides. “The evidence is more definitive than ever before – EDCs disrupt hormones in a manner that harms human health,” said Andrea C. Gore, Professor and Vacek Chair of Pharmacology at the University of Texas at Austin, in a recent Newswise article. Gore went on to state that, “Hundreds of studies are pointing to the same conclusion, whether they are long-term epidemiological studies in human, basic research in animals and cells, or research into ...
Some children between the ages of 0-5 are at a higher risk than their peers for being overweight. Research shows that breastfeeding may be one important way to promote a healthy weight for both moms and their babies. Yet, while breastfeeding is strongly encouraged up to 2 years of age, many moms lack the support they need to continue breastfeeding. Join us for a #SaludTues tweetchat on August 25, 2015, to learn more about the importance of breastfeeding and how to support an environment that encourages moms to continue breastfeeding. • WHAT: #SaludTues Tweetchat: “The Nursing Mom: A Look at Benefits & Barriers to Breastfeeding”
• DATE: Tuesday, August 25, 2015
• TIME: 1-2 p.m. ET (Noon-1 p.m. CT)
• WHERE: On Twitter with hashtag #SaludTues
• HOST: ...
Policies to accommodate breastfeeding are extending beyond hospitals and workplaces and into professional baseball parks. The Cinncinati Reds opened the Pampers Nursing Suite at the Great American Ball Park in March and the Washington Nationals opened the Lansinoh Nursing Lounge at the Nationals Park during National Breastfeeding Week. These lounges or suites provide mothers with the option to nurse or pump in a cool, quiet and private place, rather than in the rowdy stands or in a public restroom. The purpose of breastfeeding policies are to make breastfeeding more accommodating and acceptable in order to support mother's breastfeeding goals, no matter what they are. Policies supporting mother's options to breastfeed could influence a shift back to breastfeeding, which has ...
More education and counseling is needed to teach overweight women in the U.S. with hopes to become pregnant about the dangers of being overweight during pregnancy, Reuters reports. A new study published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics revealed that 31 percent of overweight women hoping to get pregnant “mistakenly thought their weight was 'about right' and 47 percent thought their diet was healthy and saw no reason to adjust what they were eating.” “Overweight women trying to conceive largely misperceive their weight, which is concerning because they may not try to adopt healthier behaviors,” study author Mahbubur Rahman of the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston told Reuters. The study administered questionnaires to 1,726 women ...
El ejercicio puede reducir la probabilidad de padecer de diabetes gestacional, reporta Health Day. En un estudio reciente por investigadores españoles publicado en BJOG: an International Journal of Obstretics and Gynaecology, encontró que dentro de 2,800 mujeres que participaron en el estudio, las que ejercitaron durante su embarazo redujeron su riesgo de padecer de diabetes gestacional por más del 30 por ciento. Mujeres embarazadas que combinaron aerobics, pesas, y flexibilidad durante sus ejercicios redujeron su nivel de riesgo aún más. "El ejercicio no es algo que se deba temer durante el embarazo. El nivel moderado de ejercicio usado en estos estudios tuvo efectos significativamente positivos sobre la salud, y se encontró que eran seguros tanto para la madre como para ...
En Texas, el 18 por ciento de la población viven en hogares que no siempre tienen los medios económicos para poder comprar comida. Con esto en mente el departamento de agricultura de Estados Unidos (USDA, por sus siglas en inglés) ha financiado una línea telefónica para que los residentes de Texas tengan un acceso más fácil a recursos gubernamentales y privados. Llamando a la línea creada por USDA, las personas que llamen podrán tener acceso a proveedores de comida en casos de emergencia, programas de asistencia nutricional y otros servicios. Durante los meses de verano la línea de llamadas también provee información de lugares donde jóvenes menores de 18 años y niños pueden recibir comida gratis. “El programa de nutrición de USDA provee una ayuda invaluable, ...
Hispanic children who participated in a unique weight-maintenance pilot intervention were more likely to adopt healthy lifestyles, resulting in healthier weights, than children who didn’t participate, according to a UT Health San Antonio study in the June 2015 issue of the journal Childhood Obesity. The pilot study, which paved the way for a new $2.9 million grant to test the intervention on a larger scale through 2019, was implemented with parent-child pairs in a rural clinic in New Braunfels, Texas. Children who participated were Hispanic, ages 5-14, and obese/overweight. “Comprehensive behavioral programs have been shown to help these children improve their weight status. However, more efficient interventions that can be done in primary care clinics must be developed for ...
Un tercio de los adultos en Estados Unidos sufre de síndrome metabólico, siendo los Latinos los más afectados, reporta Latina Magazine. Cerca del 39% de los Latinos sufre de este síndrome a comparación con el 37.4 % de los blancos y 35.5% de los Afro-Americanos. El síndrome metabólico es también conocido como la “tormenta perfecta,” ya que representa una serie de enfermedades cardiovasculares como alta presión, altos niveles de azúcar y colesterol. Lo que es alarmante para los médicos e investigadores es que la probabilidad de padecer de síndrome metabólico incrementa con la edad. La mitad de las mujeres latinas mayores de 60 años padece de este síndrome. “Esto es concertante porque sabemos que la población de los Estados Unidos está ...