Unfortunately Under-Reported

29,000 children under the age of 5 have died in in Somalia the past 90 days. That should be front page news for every newspaper in the world. Another 640,000 small children are acutely malnourished. That should be enough to call everyone to action. You can help stop babies from dying! At Oxfam, your $100 donation will feed a family of six more than two weeks!

It's easy to feel like you never have quite enough money coming in for all the things you want, or even the things you need. But if you're well-off enough to be reading this blog -- you have access to a computer with internet -- I'm betting (and hoping) you will never truly know what it means be truly starving. While Americans are busy struggling with chronic overeating and obesity, throwing away tons of spoiled or leftover food, and holding eating contests; 13 million people in the Horn of Africa are experiencing the horrific effects of famine. Every day, 1,600 starving Somali refugees pour into Kenya, and another 200 into Ethiopia.

CNN says The United Nations needs $2.5 billion to cope with the crisis. But so far, it has only received 48 percent of that figure. And the health sector is also an area of concern. During famine, people die of epidemic diseases like measles and malaria. If relief organizations don't also have the resources to support health-promotion and disease-prevention activities, then a lot of lives will be unnecessarily lost.

Charles Kenny calls this disaster a crime against humanity. In Foreign Policy he says:

Deprived of food long enough, the bodies of starving people break down muscle tissue to keep vital organs functioning. Diarrhea and skin rashes are common, as are fungal and other infections. As the stomach wastes away, the perception of hunger is reduced and lethargy sets in. Movement becomes immensely painful. Often it is dehydration that finally causes death, because the perception of thirst and a starving person's ability to get water are both radically diminished.

Make a difference! Organizations and funds you can donate to (If you're worried about your money making it to where it will really matter, most of these organization's websites have information about the breakdown of where your donation money goes.):

The World Food Programme is appealing for $342 million to feed 11.3 million people in Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia. The organization plans to airlift high energy biscuits and nutritious supplementary foods to those most in need.

UNHCR has asked for $136.3 million and suggests donations such as $7, which provides therapeutic food for a malnourished child.

The British Red Cross and The Kenya Red Cross are both accepting funds online or through mail to first mitigate the crisis and then help people in the region restore their livelihoods.

Mercy Corps has helped deliver water to 16 Kenyan villages in the last few days, providing relief to almost 120,000 people. The organization is accepting donations to continue expanding its work.

Oxfam, in conjunction with Save The Children, is appealing for $144 million. Any amount is welcome, but the Oxfam site suggests $50 to provide 200 people a day's supply of clean water or $100 to feed a family of six more than two weeks.

The International Rescue Committee is accepting donations that will provide medical screenings, expand water-supply systems and offer help for pregnant women, among other efforts.

The ELCA World Hunger Relief is accepting donations to provide immediate aid to refugee camps in the Horn of Africa. 100 percent of donations used for regional relief, including filling a food distribution gap by providing enriched porridge to children/elderly who are too weak to eat dry food.

A donation to Action Aid will help deliver emergency supplies of food and water, and provide support, ensuring people don't become reliant on food aid.

The U.N. Children's Fund asks for help in assisting the more than 2 million children who are malnourished.

International Medical Corps' is accepting donations as it ships food and oil to four refugee camps. The Corps will also construct additional latrines and bathing areas.
--(Organization list taken from the Huffington Post's Impact section)

Finally -- preventative care for women!

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) tasked the Institute of Medicine (IOM) with identifying critical gaps in preventive services for women and recommending measures that will ensure women's health and well-being. Basically the government asked them to decide which women's preventative health services they should require insurance plans to cover under the Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA). The results of that report should for all intents and purposes be a non-issue -- an incontestable and universally lauded revelation in American health care history. Seriously, who could argue with coverage for PREVENTATIVE medicine? Apparently, lots of people (mostly hyper-conservative people, and even some WOMEN!)

The ACA requires plans to cover (at no cost to patients) the services on the HHS's comprehensive list of preventive services. The IOM report -- released July 18 -- recommends eight preventive health services for women be added to that list:

· screening for gestational diabetes

· human papillomavirus (HPV) testing as part of cervical cancer screening for women over 30

· counseling on sexually transmitted infections

· counseling and screening for HIV

· contraceptive methods and counseling to prevent unintended pregnancies

· lactation counseling and equipment to promote breast-feeding

· screening and counseling to detect and prevent interpersonal and domestic violence

· yearly well-woman preventive care visits to obtain recommended preventive services

The recommendations were based on existing guidelines and an assessment of the effectiveness of services. The committee identified diseases/conditions more common or serious in women, or for which women experience different outcomes or benefit from different interventions.

The press release also notes: "Although lactation counseling is already part of the HHS guidelines, the report recommends comprehensive support that includes coverage of breast pump rental fees as well as counseling by trained providers to help women initiate and continue breast-feeding. Evidence links breast-feeding to lower risk for breast and ovarian cancers; it also reduces children's risk for sudden infant death syndrome, asthma, gastrointestinal infections, respiratory diseases, leukemia, ear infections, obesity, and Type 2 diabetes.

To reduce the rate of unintended pregnancies, which accounted for almost half of pregnancies in the U.S. in 2001, the report urges that HHS consider adding the full range of FDA-approved contraceptive methods as well as patient education and counseling for all women with reproductive capacity. Women with unintended pregnancies are more likely to receive delayed or no prenatal care and to smoke, consume alcohol, be depressed, and experience domestic violence during pregnancy. Unintended pregnancy also increases the risk of babies being born preterm or at a low birth weight, both of which raise their chances of health and developmental problems.

The report addresses concerns that the current guidelines on preventive services contain gaps when it comes to women's needs. Women suffer disproportionate rates of chronic disease and disability from some conditions. Because they need to use more preventive care than men on average due to reproductive and gender-specific conditions, they face higher out-of-pocket costs, the report notes."

Leave your colon alone!

This just in from the Tufts Health & Nutrition Newsletter:

No Proof of Colon-Cleansing Benefits - Just Risks
Does your system occasionally need a complete cleaning out? Despite the health claims for "colon cleansing" and similar procedures, a new review of the scientific evidence concludes there's no proof of any benefit - and there is a risk of pain, vomiting and fatal infections. The reviewers noted that practitioners may be certified by groups such as the International Association for Colon Hydrotherapy, but are not necessarily licensed healthcare providers and may have little more than a high-school diploma plus CPR training. The FDA, the report added, has issued numerous warning letters over unapproved use of colon-cleansing equipment. The review concluded that physicians should warn patients of possible adverse effects and that "colon cleansing is not medically advisable, particularly for patients who have had any gastrointestinal disorder or other health problems." - Journal of Family Practice

Why I Rarely Wear Makeup

When I was younger, I asked my mom why she wore makeup. She said when I was older I'd understand. Well now I'm older, but I still don't get it. The most I do on a daily basis, besides wash and moisturize my face, is wear organic powder and curl my eyelashes. I feel this makes me "vaguely presentable" for work. I'm not sure if it's my inherent laziness with a touch of feminism or what, but I know that I will never wear makeup every day.
Here are my reasons:
1. This is what my face looks like. Get used to it.
2. I am not looking to impress anyone or hide behind anything.
3. Makeup is expeeeeennnsive.
4. Makeup is generally full of yummy chemicals. As a rule, I like to keep crap like that off my face - especially around my eyes! (check out the Environmental Working Group's Myths on Cosmetic Safety)
5. I'm gonna wager a guess that since makeup is made in tiny containers and contains yummy chemicals (see above), the production and subsequent associated waste products are not all that great for the environment.
6. Raccoon eyes.
7. My skin breaks out less when I don't wear makeup.
8. One less thing to worry about. I get to skip over the makeup section of magazines!
9. Lighter bag on weekend trips.
10. On that rare "nice occasion" that I do decide to use organic mascara (Not really that great - sacrifice performance for organic I guess.), eyeshadow and blush, you can actually see a difference. "wow you look really nice" is the reaction I'm looking for - not "oh you look the same as you always do." This way, I don't have to try very hard to look extra-special.

Babies induced early at greater risk

Check out this crazy article: Doctors Reccommend Mothers Wait All 39 Weeks, which was featured on NPR's All Things Considered. It's about women who are choosing to be induced (to deliver their babies early) for no medically sound reason. Being born even a few weeks early can be dangerous for a child's health and development.

Article author Gretchen Cuda Kroen writes:

"From 1990 to 2006 the percentage of women who induced labor more than doubled, and nearly a third of women were having cesareans. The increase wasn't because of emergencies, says Jay Iams, a specialist in maternal fetal medicine at Ohio State University, but rather because women and doctors began scheduling deliveries for convenience.

... when it comes to the arrival date of your bundle of joy, experts now say that planning too far ahead can do more harm than good. A full-term pregnancy lasts 40 weeks, but elective deliveries are often planned for two or three weeks earlier. And even though 37 weeks is also still considered full term, studies show that babies born even a few weeks too early are at greater risk for health problems than those who are born later. That has some doctors campaigning to curb the trend of scheduled labor and delivery."

A healthy example

This week I have renewed my efforts to lose weight. I am very sick of being a few pounds overweight, and as a health writer, I feel a certain obligation to be an example of health. I like to think I eat pretty well, but I must be eating too much of it. Since getting a part-time desk job almost a year ago, I've gained about seven pounds. Not to mention that I was already about 15 pounds heavier than was healthy for my height. I was down to a great weight at the height of my son's breastfeeding at around 18 months. But as he weaned, I started slowly gaining it all back. By the time he was done nursing at 2 1/2 I was back to the same weight as when I got pregnant. So here's my goal: Lose 2 pounds a week until I've lost 30 pounds. The addition of two gym trips a week a few months ago have yet to have an impact, so I either need to go more frequently or step up my workouts. I'd love to start dancing again, but until I lose the first few pounds I'm too embarrassed to go anywhere near a studio. Finding time to get exercise as a parent can be tricky, and I'm thankful to have a hubby who doesn't mind that I run to the gym in the evenings. I just need to find some fun exercise we can all do as a family (that doesn't involve too much outdoor time since I'm at increased risk of skin cancer) so I can help my hubby get healthier too. Any suggestions? 

Dangers of Diet Soda

I rarely drink soda. When I do, it's never diet. I cringe at the flavor of artificial sweetener. Now, I'm even more glad I do. At the recent American Diabetes Association Scientific Sessions conference, researchers from the School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio warned that diet sodas might be free of calories but not of consequences. Their research points to artificial sweeteners being linked to increased waist size and increased risk of Type 2 diabetes.

They presented two studies: The first looked at diet-soda consumption among 474 older adults in the San Antonio Longitudinal Study of Aging (or SALSA) over a period of 10 years. The results were rather startling: Diet-soda drinkers experienced 70 percent greater increases in waist circumference than non-drinkers. Those downing the most diet sodas (2 or more a day) saw 500 percent greater increases in waist circumference than non-consumers. Researchers adjusted their results for factors such as diabetes, physical activity level, and age.


The report didn't explain why diet soda plays a role in weight gain. It could be that people feel like they are allowed to eat more because their drink is calorie-free. Other research has shown that your brain expects you to be taking in a lot of calories when foods taste sweet or fatty, so when diet foods don't fulfill that promise, your brain gets confused, which can lead to your body storing more calories as fat or eating more to finally feel satisfied.

The second study the researchers presented found that diabetes-prone mice given aspartame and a high-fat diet for 3 months had higher fasting-glucose levels (an indication of a pre-diabetic or diabetic condition) than mice on the same diet high-fat diet not given artificial sweetener. 

Personally, I drink a lot of water, home-brewed green or herbal tea, coffee, and unsweetened seltzer water. I don't feel like I'm missing anything without soda. Except maybe a few more extra pounds.