The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans advise us to “Choose wisely within a food group.” When we’re faced with each day’s array of food choices, what does “choosing wisely” mean?  Researchers at The University of Montana Rural Institute created the Wise Choices Food Pyramid as a tool to help individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) and others have healthier diets by making better choices within food groups.

The Wise Choices Pyramid ranks foods based on recommendations from the USDA MyPyramid, the American Heart Association, the American Dietetic Association, and other scientific organizations. Then, within each food group, the ranked foods are placed according to their nutritional benefits.

For more information, please read our latest Practice Guideline: The Wise Choices Food Pyramid: What if We Did Compare Apples and Oranges? at http://mtdh.ruralinstitute.umt.edu/Publications/WiseChoices.htm

Also, please visit http://www.goodnutritionideas.com for free education materials and full-size posters to help consumers and students learn to make wise diet choices.

A FREE Recovery  Rally and Cruise hosted by Friends of Addiction Recovery-New Jersey , in partnership with A&E Network will take place on September 26-27, 2008. Liberty State Park is the departue point for this year’s all-day free event. There are free gifts and other goodies waiting for you But YOU MUST REGISTER in advance. 
Register here for the friends of addiction recovery website for registration information.
 

More people had measles infections in the first seven months of this year than during any comparable period since 1996, and public health officials blamed growing numbers of parents who refuse to vaccinate their children.

Many of these parents say they believe vaccines cause autism, even though multiple studies have found no reputable evidence to support such a claim. In Britain, Switzerland, Israel and Italy, measles outbreaks have soared, sickening thousands and causing at least two deaths.

From January through July, 131 measles cases were reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 15 states and the District of Columbia. Fifteen people, including four infants, were hospitalized. There were no deaths. Nearly all the cases resulted when people traveling abroad or visiting from a foreign country spread the illness to others. In Illinois, 30 people were sickened in one outbreak.

To read the full story from the New York Times, click here. To read an important editorial on this issue, click here.

Teenage drivers have the highest motor vehicle crash and fatality rates of any demographic group, partly because they woefully underestimate driving risks. Injury prevention programs can change their perspective, a new study shows — at least for a while.

Toronto researchers studied 262 high school students participating in a one-day injury prevention program sponsored by their school and a local hospital. In addition to lectures about safety, the program included a tour of an intensive care unit, where students met young persons who had suffered a mild traumatic brain or a spinal cord injury.

A control group of teens were quizzed about driving safety before the talk, while others completed questionnaires about a week or a month afterward.

Their answers were troubling.  To find out why, click here

Getting to Zero: Eliminating Childhood Lead Poisoning is the topic of the conference to be held in Rhode Island on October, 24, 2008. 

This insightful event is one of many that will be held during National Childhood Lead Posioning Prevention  Week across the nation.
 The Conference will bring together all sectors of the community to share strategies for eliminating lead poisoning through collaboration, education and public policy change. Parents, lead inspectors, contractors, lawyers, social
workers, public health officials, health providers, advocates and elected officials will engage in workshops and panel discussions on best practices for lead poisoning prevention.

Getting to Zero  will help participants tackle critical issues through morning workshops and an afternoon panel discussion. The conference will also include an inspi rational 16th anniversary luncheon, featuring Lois
Gibbs, Community Leader of Love Canal, NY and currently the Executive Director of the Center for Health, Environment, and Justice (CHEJ), an organization that has assisted over 10,000 grassroots groups with technical
assistance nationwide.

Registration fee is $90; $50 half day. Scholarships will be available.

You can get more information at the Lead Safe Kids site. or contact
Sojaili Gomez at Sojaili@leadsafekids.org; 401-785-1310.

If you want to share other events that are scheduled during National Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention week please send them to support@beintheknownj.org 

The Work Group on Women, Drinking and Pregnancy of the Interagency Coordination Committee on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders will be presenting a two day conference.  Preventing Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Substance-Exposed Pregnancies: A Family Affair will be held at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) in Rockville, Maryland on September 23 - 24, 2008.

Click 2008-draft-wdp-symposium-agenda.doc to view the agenda.  For more information, click here or contact sharley@lclmllc.com

The President signed a federal bill today that bans six toxic phthalates from children’s products. His signature bolsters Congress’ overwhelming support for this legislation, and sends a clear message that toxic chemicals have no place in toys.

The phthalate ban, a provision of the Consumer Product Safety Commission Reform Act, will protect children from these harmful plastic-softening chemicals which are linked to breast cancer, decreased sperm counts, birth defects and other health problems. Advocates see this legislation as a first step toward broader chemical policy reform. “Congress got a glimpse into how chemicals are regulated in this country and saw how broken the system is,” said Janet Nudelman, director of program and policy for the Breast Cancer Fund. “The phthalate ban is only the tip of the iceberg of what’s needed to protect Americans from unsafe chemical exposures.”

The Breast Cancer Fund led a national coalition of parents, health care professionals and environmental health advocates that convinced Congress to pass the phthalate ban, despite aggressive lobbying by the chemical industry. “This is a David and Goliath victory,” said Nudelman. “Public health advocates and parents were up against big oil and the chemical industry, and we won. This should serve as a wake-up call to industry: chemicals linked to cancer and birth defects have no place in consumer products.”

Key legislators heeded parents’ and advocates’ concerns and brought the issue into the legislative arena. Champions include Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who authored the original Senate amendment on phthalates, as well as Sen. Barbara Boxer and Reps. Henry Waxman, Jan Schakowsky and Diana DeGette, who strongly advocated for the ban among their Congressional colleagues.

This legislative action is a direct response to a growing movement of parents, scientists and advocates who are raising concerns about unsafe chemicals in consumer products. Months before Congress took action, retailers and manufacturers including Wal-Mart, Toys-R-Us, Lego, Evenflo and Gerber responded to consumer outcry by announcing plans to phase out phthalates in toys. In the past year, California, Washington and Vermont restricted phthalate use in children’s products.

“Public awareness is at an all-time high,” said Nudelman. “Consumers are saying that the products we buy must be safe, period. The phthalate ban is a great start, and an indication that Congress is ready to consider the kind of sweeping chemical policy reform that is needed.”

For more information on child health and environmental contaminants, visit the Consumer Produce Safety Commission

Methadone, once used mainly in addiction treatment centers to replace heroin, is today being given out by family doctors, osteopaths and nurse practitioners for throbbing backs, joint injuries and a host of other severe pains.

A synthetic form of opium, it is cheap and long lasting, a powerful pain reliever that has helped millions. But because it is also abused by thrill seekers and badly prescribed by doctors unfamiliar with its risks, methadone is now the fastest growing cause of narcotic deaths. It is implicated in more than twice as many deaths as heroin, and is rivaling or surpassing the tolls of painkillers like OxyContin and Vicodin.

To read the full article published in the New York Times, click here.

Reported August 13, 2008