As some of you may know, we recently lost our beloved dog and friend, Reiley this past month. She passed away with Matt and I by her side on October 30th, just a week after her 9th birthday. We miss her so very much and love her with all of our hearts. She lived a wonderful life and brought so much joy to everyone that got to see her smiling face and her wagging tail.

She contracted a liver infection as a result of cirrhosis of the liver, a very rare and mostly unknown disease in dogs.

As I was researching her condition, I found little to no information on canine liver disease and even fewer veterinarians that could help us. After she passed away I decided to try to reach out to other owners in similar circumstances to be able to provide them with information and educate them about diagnoses & treatment options. I also hope to educate the general public about the warning signs of liver disease to prevent what happened to Reiley from happening to other dogs.

In Reiley’s memory I am launching the Canine Liver Disease Foundation to educate dog owners about this serious but silent disease. I am working with canine liver specialists, naturopathic veterinarians and other leaders in the field to provide THE premier non-profit informational website on canine liver disease.

Our website will be launching in early 2009 & in order to raise money to promote the website, participate in local animal events and print materials for distribution to vets, groomers, pet stores, etc. Regionz Kidz will be giving away any of our in stock tees for the price of shipping and a donation to the Canine Liver Disease Foundation.

If you are interested, please email me at:

lisa@regionzkidz.com

and I will send you a list of in-stock tees in the size you need. All payments will be handled through paypal.

Please help me in spreading the word about this fundraiser and visit the Canine Liver Disease Foundation site frequently to see our progress and learn more about how you can prevent canine liver disease.

With your help, Reiley’s passing away will not be in vain.

I love you so very much my baby girl and will miss you always.

After three months of roasting triple digit temperatures, we are finally in the early stages of fall here in Arizona or wherever you might live (except for those people who reside south of the equator.) Now is the time of year when we can go outdoors without wearing oven mitts to touch the interiors of our automobiles and can really utilize all that the great outdoors has to offer. HOWEVER, now is the time of year we allow ourselves to partake in the consumption of unhealthy treats while simultaneously decreasing the amount of time we usually spend exercising.

What I am going to discuss with you today is how we can make smarter food choices during a time where that task seems daunting. This will become more evident especially with Halloween coming up at the end of the month. In addition to giving you nutritional guidance, I will also be giving you tips on how to stay active throughout the remaining months of this year.

During Halloween night, in a matter of a few hours, kids can accumulate more candy for themselves than they know what to do with. In that same time span, some children can eat enough candy to fulfill their caloric intake for several days (Americans consumed nearly 8 billion pounds of sugar last year with the youth demographic being responsible for that number being so high). Whatever they can’t eat that night is then distributed in high quantities for days and weeks.

With that said, I am not going to tell you not to go out trick or treating this Halloween. However, I can tell you which types of candy are not so bad, which ones are bad and which should be avoided at all cost. So parents, this will require you to be proactive when it comes to going through all the candy your kids accumulate while trick or treating. Even though they may be unhappy with you when you confiscate half of their loot, I promise you they will get over it shortly. Also, knowing what candy to avoid will hopefully inspire you to purchase healthier items to hand out to the kids in your neighborhood.

Here are some of the candy items that make it onto the “Not So Bad” list. One small box of Wonka Nerds, Jolly Rancher candies, Sweet Tarts, Smarties, Dum Dum Suckers, Now and Laters, Tootsie Pops, Neccos, Blow Pops, Candy Canes, Peeps, Salt Water Taffy, 3 Musketeer Bars, Candy Corns and Welch’s Fruit Snacks.

I was really shocked to see which candies made it onto the “Bad List.” Here they are in no particular order; Tootsie Rolls, Dots, Jelly Belly Jelly Beans, Jawbreakers, Ferrero Rocher Hazelnut Chocolates, Milky Way Bars, Snickers, Starbursts, Skittles and Butterfingers. By no means are these the worst kinds of candy out there. If you must consume something on this list, then do so in moderation. Don’t buy the King Sized Snickers Bar anymore. Buy either a regular size Snickers or purchase a small bag of the Snickers Miniatures.

Nothing is totally off limits unless you happen to be one of the candies on the “Worst List.” Brach’s Milk Maid Caramels, Peanut Brittle, Airheads, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Hershey Bars, Cadbury Milk Chocolate Mini Eggs, Cadbury Cream Eggs, Hershey Kisses, Twizzlers, Twix and Russel Stover Chocolate Bunnies are some of the items nutritionists have deemed as the worst kids of candy we all have access to. These items were higher in sugar, calories and fat than their competitors, which is why they are on this particular list.

Now that you have a basic idea of what is acceptable in moderation and should be avoided almost completely, you can make healthier choices for the kids in your area without them knowing the difference. That’s the good news. The bad news is, the majority of Halloween candy has one or more of the “Bad” or “Worst” items in variety packs sold almost everywhere. For example, Tootsie Pops aren’t too bad for you, but Tootsie Rolls are. Chances are they will be sold in the same bag together making it nearly impossible to get one without the other. I recommend going to your neighborhood .99 cent or discount store and looking for the bags of candy that aren’t variety packs. If you just want to hand out Blow Pops, you can buy bags and bags that contain only Blow Pops. Variety packs are often times more convenient and more affordable than buying individual bags of each kind of candy. If that is the case, still avoid buying the variety packs and instead buy fewer bags of the individual items. This will help you be more mindful of the amount of candy you are giving to each child. If you have a good relationship with your neighbors, let them know what you are trying to accomplish. They may want to do the same thing.

Another way to reduce the amount of candy your child gets trick or treating is to reduce the size of the bag they are carrying. The bigger the bag, the more candy is needed to make it look full. Get your child smaller trick or treating pails, and don’t allow your kid to use a pillowcase as a goody bag. Grab novelty gift bags in the party planning section of your local party supply store or discount retailers. The bags will seem more full giving your child the impression they made out like bandits when in actuality they have less candy than previous years. The excitement of getting to trick or treat will deflect attention away from the smaller bag and put it back on enjoying being outside with friends and family.

That brings me to my next tip. Make trick or treating and Halloween festivities about the experience and not about the candy. Get the entire family involved in the trick or treating process. Not only does it give you all quality time to bond, it gets you moving and will help keep your kids safer having you around. Don’t underestimate your child’s ability to look past the candy benefit that Halloween provides them once a year. Kids are more excited about strutting around in costumes that show off how much they admire their favorite childhood icons. If you look at it that way and help emphasize that with your child, you will find their attention to the candy has waned allowing them to focus on how cool they look all dressed up and how much fun they are having with you.

People underestimate how much walking you do in one night of trick or treating. If you want to know approximately how far you will walk, plan out the route you intend to take when trick or treating. Drive the route in your vehicle and you can get a better estimate of how much ground you will actually cover. Try to make the route a least a mile long and a minimum of 30 minutes. Feel free to go farther or longer if you feel up to it. Sometimes it helps to go to a new part of your neighborhood so you have to walk a bit farther. It helps you become more familiar with the area your child is growing up in and increases the number of calories you burn throughout the night.

I hope you find these tips both informative and easy to follow. In reality, I am not asking you to make monumental changes to your Halloween plans. The small, seemingly insignificant changes are the ones that add up over time and help create healthier, more lasting habits. Next month we will talk more in depth about how to have a healthier Thanksgiving so you avoid gaining those unwanted holiday pounds. As always I would love to hear your feedback or answer any of your questions.

Christopher Hillery has been a Certified Personal Trainer for 9 years and is the owner of Transformer Fitness in Phoenix, Arizona. He was once an overweight child and knows first- hand how the effects of being overweight can be damaging. It is his goal to help overweight children and adults develop lasting healthy habits and a positive body image. Chris can design a full workout program for parents and children which can include a nutrition program, along with equipment to use at home. He can be reached via email at: christopher_hillery@yahoo.com

Are you wondering how to make your Halloween greener this year? You might also be cringing at the thought of your kids eating all of those sugar filled treats and wondering what you can offer as a healthier option. A mom in Seattle also thought about these things a couple of years ago and that was the start of a grassroots initiative to create healthier and more Earth-friendly holidays, beginning with Halloween. Now known as Green Halloween, the movement officially began in 2007 and is backed by companies like Whole Foods Market. It was a huge success in Seattle last year so the group is working to make this a nation-wide initiative for 2008. Visit them online and get all the info you need to make your holiday greener.

If you are thinking about handing out treats that are healthier for our children and our planet this year, the Green Halloween website has a long list of items that sound delicious. They include treats like certified organic fruit leather by a company called Fruitabu that contain only natural sugars and no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. There is even an all natural chewing gum called Glee Gum. It is made with sustainably harvested rainforest chicle and is available in six flavors. They also list some simple solutions that you may not have thought about like organic applesauce snack packs, organic juice boxes and organic granola bars. Additionally they offer some wonderfully creative suggestions for non-food treat items that you can give instead of sweet treats that will still delight the little ones. They will love getting treasures like spinning tops, soy or beeswax crayons, stickers and whistles.

Maybe you prefer to stick with tradition and still want to hand out candy. If you look for organic, all-natural, dye-free ingredients you can offer a healthier sweet treat. The Green Halloween site also includes a number of companies that provide all natural candy, such as, Endangered Species Chocolate. Their chocolate is certified organic and ethically traded with 52% cocoa content. The company also donates 10% of their net profits to help support species, habitat and humanity. Another company topping the list is Pure Fun. They make a variety of individually wrapped organic, fair trade, vegan and dye-free hard candies. They only use organic sugar cane and never use pesticides, Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO’s), synthetic flavors or artificial FD&C colorants.

Of course it is going to be almost impossible to keep your children from all of the sugary sweets that are handed out on this holiday, but if you think outside of the box, there are some ways to limit the amount that they actually eat. The folks at Green Halloween have come up with some great ideas like the Halloween fairy. Tell your child a story about the Halloween fairy that turns candy into magic fairy dust. Explain that she needs as much candy as she can get her hands on so if a child leaves candy outside on the porch, the fairy will come to take the candy and leave a special gift of thanks. Another of their suggestions is to have a candy trade. Kids receive a “pumpkin point” for each piece of candy they collect and then trade the points for a toy or special activity. Use these ideas to start some new holiday traditions for your family. Instead of throwing the un-eaten candy in the garbage, save it for special treats or check with your city to see if they will use it for compost.

In addition to offering healthier treat options, Green Halloween also suggests many other ways that you can make this holiday more eco-friendly. Consider the bag your children are using to collect their treats. Are you purchasing something that will just be thrown away when the candy is all gone? As an alternative, let your children make their own bag from things around the house. You can use pillow cases, shopping bags, purses, or sew them out of fabric. They will love getting creative with their bags and making them their own. If you or your children are not the crafty type, there are some cute reusable bags on the market such as the Chico Halloween bag that was designed by kids.

The Green Halloween site also includes some great tips for greening your costumes. Instead of buying a new one, borrow from a friend, rent one or make one from reusable materials. They give some very original green-themed costume ideas that you can create from things around the house. For example, make a Mother Earth costume by painting yourself blue, brown and green (with non-toxic body paint of course) and wearing wispy clothing in the same colors. Attach paper or stuffed animals to your body and weave flowers and plants throughout your clothing and hair. Give your children a chance to use their imaginations, ask them what they would like to be and their answers will probably surprise you. They will enjoy coming up with ways to create their costume and you will both have Halloween memories to last a lifetime.

Volunteers across the country are helping to spread the word about Green Halloween in their communities this year. If you want to get involved you can become a volunteer simply by sending them an email. You can help by doing things such as talking to your local schools and community business about celebrating a Green Halloween, handing out informational post cards or even by hosting a Green Halloween party or neighborhood bash. Every participating community also has the opportunity to raise funds for a chosen local beneficiary. There are events planned across the country this year so be sure to check out the online map to see if there is one near you.

Michele Dupper is Mom to her 1 ½ year old son and the owner of Truly Organic Beauty. She lives in sunny FL and has been transitioning to a green lifestyle since starting a family. Michele enjoys educating others about living a more natural lifestyle that is beneficial for the health of our bodies as well as our planet. She can be reached via email at mdupper@trulyorganicbeauty.com

This month’s article is really geared towards mothers and fathers who have sons, but I encourage everyone to read the information contained here. I want to talk about a growing epidemic that is plaguing the young boys in this country. It is called Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD).

BDD is defined as an excessive preoccupation with perceived flaws in the male subjects appearance. For example, guys may obsess over their calves being too small, their abs not being defined enough or feel as though their chests are not as bulky as they feel it should be. By everyone else’s standards the guys look physically impressive. Outside observers perceive these guys as being fit and healthy specimens and greatly admire the amount of effort it took to look the way they do. To the guy who perceives his body as being flawed in one way or another, these outside opinions do not matter. They silently detest their appearances and will most likely take drastic measures to fix the “problem.”

The first question we all need to ask ourselves is why is BDD becoming such an epic issue for the boys of the world? Thankfully I have at least part of the answer. Before the 1990’s, the main icons for boys were Superheroes like Batman, Superman, G.I. Joe, He-man and the Thundercats. Do you remember what they looked like? They were muscular but not in an unnatural way. Back then, their physiques were physically achievable without the use of steroids, growth hormones or fat burners. In 1991, the G.I. Joe action figures had the equivalent measurements to have a 30-inch waist and a 16.5-inch biceps/triceps circumference. Those are goals that could easily be achieved naturally by exercising and eating a healthy diet. The current G.I Joe figure would have the equivalent chest measurement of at least 55-inches and an arm circumference of roughly 27-inches. I have muscular legs and at the thickest part of my thighs I measure only 25-inches! The new G.I. Joe’s body type would be IMPOSSIBLE to achieve naturally and may not even reach those standards with the use of steroids or human growth hormones. I hear five-year-old boys saying they want to look like G.I. Joe one day, but no one tells them how unrealistic it is to look like that. They see themselves as being a grown up version of their plastic hero and are disappointed and frustrated when their bodies fail to look that way. Additionally, we as a culture have sensationalized the subject of doping in sports. It has become commonplace on the TV to hear stories about professional and Olympic level athletes being suspended or kicked out of their sports due to the use of banned, illicit substances. The sad thing is, we hear a great deal about the use of the drugs, but very little about the harmful effects they have on the body or the negative consequences they face years after the usage. This puts the idea in our kids heads that hard work and effort in the gym will not be sufficient to be a top performer and will need to subject themselves to using performance enhancing drugs. We all need to realize these things and help our children understand why those body types boys are admiring are not healthy expectations and with hard work they can be competitive without the use of any performance enhancing drugs. Kids need role models with naturally athletic physiques in order for them to see the difference between a healthy body type and one that cannot be achieved naturally. By no means am I saying you should take away all of your sons toys that represent unrealistic body images. What I am saying is that it is important to instill healthy body expectations in your sons while still supporting their personal health and fitness goals.

The effort to prevent our sons, nephews and students from developing the early signs of BDD starts at home. For the most part children learn by example. What I mean by that is, we as adults need to show our children that following a healthy exercise and diet plan will be sufficient enough to help them achieve healthy and impressive physiques. If we tell kids that working out and eating properly will be sufficient methods to achieve our goals and then we sit around without putting effort into exercising and eating well, then we have done them a great disservice. By not practicing what you preach, you are saying that kids need to follow the old adage “do as I say not as I do”. That philosophy never produces good results. Include your children in your personal health and wellness goals and allow them to participate in the activities that support the active lifestyle. Take them on jogs, walks and family hikes. If you are an avid weight lifter, keep a few weights and/or bands around the house so you can show your children what you do to keep yourself in shape. Children are infamous for asking the “Why” question and will most likely inundate you with countless questions regarding your workout regime. When they ask, make sure your explain to them why you think it is important to maintain a healthy and active lifestyle. Saying things like, “This is what mommy and daddy do to stay strong and keep up with you,” are comments that inspire kids to continue putting forth an effort to be active so you as parents have something to work towards. They see that working out is an essential part to being involved in their lives and will subsequently inspire similar actions in your kids.

When you are inspiring your children to be more active, make sure you are choosing age appropriate activities. For example, allowing a five year old to start a regimented weight lifting routine would be counterproductive. However, allowing that same five year old to partake in running or jogging activities with you would not be ill advised. Children develop abilities to run and improve cardiovascular fitness around age three. You may have a 13 or 14 year old male who decides he wants to embark on a rigorous weight lifting routine so he can emulate his favorite superhero. Do not discourage him from starting a weight lifting routine, but you should sit them down and explain to them the logistics. At that age, guys skeletons have not finished maturing. They still have another growth spurt or two to go through before they have reached their adult heights. This means their growth plates have not yet solidified and are at great risk for injury if they lift too much weight improperly before they are ready. Consult a fitness professional before allowing your sons to begin a weight lifting routine. If one is not available and unwilling to assist you, please feel free to email me with any questions or concerns. My advice is free and I would prefer that if your sons start a workout regime that they learn to do things the right way. I learned the hard way that doing too much too soon can cause you great amounts of trouble down the road.

There may come a time where your child starts asking for a variety of supplements from the vitamin stores. It is important not to just shrug your child’s interest in these items off to swiftly. Listen to their requests and tell them that you will check into the benefits and potential side effects that come along with starting a supplement program. By not telling them no right away, you will potentially prevent the child from defying you and purchasing the supplements without your consent. Many supplements are not age specific and can be sold to any customer regardless of their ages. Your best bet is to research the supplement your child is interested in taking and sharing all the information directly with your child. If you find they supplement may do more damage than good, try and find another supplement that offers similar benefits without the harmful side effects. Putting the effort into this will pay off in two ways. First it builds a circle of trust between you and your child by opening a healthy dialogue about which supplements are beneficial and which one will cause harm. Second, it will educate you and your child so that you both can pass on your wisdom to other who may be involved in similar discussions. We have all heard about the major league baseball players who have died from using excessive amounts of fat burners and creatine products. Don’t let your child become one of the victims of supplements side effects. Take an active role in their supplementation plans in order to reduce the risk of a potentially life threatening effect.

For years now we have given ample attention to eating and body image disorders that effect females on a daily basis, My reason for writing this article is not to detract from those issues that girls face but rather to shine the light on a problem plaguing young boys for years and years. On a personal note, I know exactly what it is like to suffer from this disorder. It has taken me years and cost me hundreds of dollars to combat BDD and my battle still is not over. Guys are overwhelmed by images of guys who have perfect bodies but no one tells us what sacrifices must be made in order to achieve those unrealistic physiques. Please remember this is not something that can be cured in a matter of months. It takes constant effort and reinforcement of positive, healthy behaviors. There will come a point where you will no longer be required to instill those values in your sons at a young age. Do what you can now to show them what healthy living and realistic body expectations are all about so they will be less influenced by mainstream media. Practice what you preach and if you are ever in doubt, please don’t hesitate to email me with questions or concerns. For more information about BDD, check out the book “Adonis Complex” written by Harrison Pope, Katherine A. Phillips and Roberto Olivardia. It is a great resource and will give you an incredible insight into the world of BDD. I hope this helps you all in some way, shape or form.

Christopher Hillery has been a Certified Personal Trainer for 9 years and is the owner of Transformer Fitness in Phoenix, Arizona. He was once an overweight child and knows first- hand how the effects of being overweight can be damaging. It is his goal to help overweight children and adults develop lasting healthy habits and a positive body image. Chris can design a full workout program for parents and children which can include a nutrition program, along with equipment to use at home. He can be reached via email at: christopher_hillery@yahoo.com

This post is from our guest blogger, Christopher Hillery, a certified youth fitness trainer and the owner of Transformer Fitness. He will be posting monthly articles about healthy kids and activities for parents and children to do together. For more information on Christopher’s personal training programs, check out his website at: http://www.transformerfitness.com

Is Using Food as a Reward for Good Behavior a Good Idea?

The other day at a department store I accidentally overheard a conversation between a mother and her son who looked about two years old. Ok fine, I was eavesdropping when I heard the mother say, “That’s not how a nice boy acts when he wants candy bar.” I admit that the child’s actions required some form of discipline since he was throwing books off the nearby bookshelf with little regard for the other store patrons, but holding a food-based reward over his head can potentially start a chain reaction that can effect the rest of her son’s life.

Using food as a part of a reward or disciplinary system can have damaging effects on your child’s psyche. By rewarding or disciplining your child with food, they form an emotional attachment it. Think about all the times you have said, “I accomplished (insert goal here) this week so I’m going to consume a whole pint of Ben and Jerry’s as a reward for a job well done.” I won’t lie I do the same thing on occasion. Once I became aware of my actions, I thought about how I could help my clients (most of whom are mothers and fathers) change the emotional relationship they had with food so they could educate their children on how to reward themselves without the use of food.

Start a reward system that promotes more active benefits like taking them to the park to play, miniature golfing or to a water park. All of these activities will form emotional bonds between your child, an active lifestyle and most of all you. If activities or “movement experiences” become the basis for rewarding good behavior, your child will form emotional bonds with exercise and activity rather than with food. Both food and activity rewards create motivation for good behavior but the food based reward only lasts as long as it takes the child to eat it. Once the food is gone, so is the motivation to be well behaved. Whatever activity you or your child chooses as reward will be more of a positive impact, meaning the positive feelings the child gets from the prolonged activity will make a much more effective and lasting impression. That positive impression will lead to more positive behaviors in your child since they are now motivated by an experience that lasts longer than a few bites of a Butterfinger.

Here are some additional tips that will help you create a healthier reward system:

1) Remember that the purpose of food is to give our bodies the necessary fuel to get through each day. I am NOT discounting the importance of food tasting good and being enjoyable. I am saying that food should be looked at as a physical necessity rather than an emotional one. Your child doesn’t deserve food because they behaved at the grocery store. They need food to grow up healthy and that fact should be instilled in them at all times.

2) Schedule meals and snack times at the same time everyday. By doing this, you are getting your child on a guess-free eating schedule. They know each day that lunch is at noon regardless of how they behave. This helps your child view food as a daily requirement rather than benefit that accompanies good or bad behavior/feelings.

3) Talk to you child about the importance of eating healthy and being active. This may seem like a no-brainer but most parents avoid talking to their children about living healthy lifestyles. Make the discussion fun and easy to understand so your child retains the information more effectively. For more information on how to talk to your child about health and nutrition, check out http://www.fitnessforyouth.umich.edu/.

4) Recognize and address your own emotional ties to food and make changes to your behavior. Children often adhere to the “monkey see, monkey do” philosophy and may adopt behaviors of yours. If they see or hear that you are rewarding yourself with chocolate cake for a job well done, then they may start expecting similar rewards for their accomplishments.

I hope this article has provided you with some helpful tips on how to create your own activity based reward system for your child. My gut told me I should have shared this pearl of wisdom with the mother of the book hurling child, but I kept my mouth shut as I tried to avoid a hardback copy of the latest Elmo book

We’ve all heard the recent reports of companies claiming to have all natural and organic products, increasing their prices to the consumer and then failing the independent testing done to assure that products are indeed as “Organic” as they claim to be.

How are consumers protected from this scam?  Many shoppers accept paying higher prices for higher quality products, and that usually means healthy, natural, and organic.  People purchase these products for a reason; they do not want the harsh chemicals, by-products or preservatives typically found in run-of-the-mill items.  I am one such mom that is adamant about organic products for my daughter, especially in the Health and Beauty Care section.  Too many of the well-known manufacturers use science-based rather than nature-based components in their baby lines.  I purchase my baby products at Sprouts or Whole Foods stores with the belief that they are indeed safer and subject to more stringent testing but…one never knows for sure, until now!

I recently came across the website called Skin Deep Beauty which evaluates every ingredient in most every product on the market when it comes to health and beauty care.  After evaluation, it then give the products a ranking from 0-10 with 0-2 being low-hazard, 3-6 being moderately hazardous and 7-10 being highly hazardous.  It breaks all of the items down into categories and then into further subcategories to help consumers search.  You can also enter specific ingredients to see what testing has shown regarding their safety and you can search by product name to find specific items you are currently using.  This site evens breaks down every ingredient and states what problems, diseases, etc. each of its ingredients have been linked to in testing.  It is truly a wealth of information about what we are putting onto and into our bodies.

Thankfully, the products that I have purchased were all in the very low hazard group, meaning they are indeed what they claim to be; organic, natural and SAFE.

This company is not for profit and they are funded by donations and sponsorships only.  They do some political work trying to get laws changed for testing, producing and manufacturing of health care products as well.  They offer companies a Compact for Safe Cosmetics that they can sign to declare:

That all of the cosmetics and personal care products made by our company anywhere in the world meet the formulation standards and deadlines set by the European Union Directive 76/768/EEC to be free of chemicals that are known or strongly suspected of causing cancer, mutation or birth defects.

To implement substitution plans that replace hazardous materials with safer alternatives within three years. We will accomplish this by:

• Conducting an inventory of potential chemicals of concern in our products (or byproducts) to determine their toxicity to living things, their persistence in the environment, their ability to increase in concentration in the food chain, their contamination of our bodies, or qualities they possess that pose hazards including carcinogens, endocrine disrupters, sensitizers, mutagens, reproductive toxins, developmental toxins and neurotoxins

   

• Developing an aggressive substitution plan and timeline: to move to safer materials, prioritizing for substitution those compounds internationally recognized as most toxic; to provide for an ongoing review of safer materials and chemicals as effective, cost-competitive alternatives are available, and; to work with upstream suppliers to provide toxicity data on chemicals in products.

   

• Publicly reporting on progress to meet these goals.

You can search the signers to see if companies that produce your most widely-used health and beauty care products have agreed to the compact.

By utilizing this resource and others like it, consumers have a watch-dog that can alert them to the dangers and false-claims by untrustworthy manufacturers trying to make a quick buck off of the “green” movement.  Thank you to Skin Deep, please keep up the wonderful work!

I have a three year old who loves the water. Seeing the pool everyday gets her so excited and she can’t seem to think about anything else but jumping in that water. She just loves paddling the length of the pool and floating on the raft with me, but her favorite part is jumping off the pool deck to fetch her chew toys…Did I mention my three year old happens to be a Golden Retriever? My point in sharing this tale (or should I say tail?) is to discuss one of the summer activities kids enjoy more than anything. What could be better on a hot summer day than to splash around with friends and family in a cool body of water?

Swimming is a phenomenal way for your kids to expend some energy and burn calories. The best part about it is, they don’t even recognize they are exercising. When you introduce a child to a new “movement experience” like swimming, running or biking, it needs to be as enjoyable as possible. If the act feels like a chore, the child will lose interest and enthusiasm almost immediately. That is the great thing about swimming. 99% of the time, the child is begging for you to let them get in the water. Many, if not all of them, are hard to pull away from the water once they get in. They could be as wrinkly as a Shar Pei and they would keep on treading water.

Of course before you can allow your child to swim without parental assistance, they will first require some swimming instruction. Although the tried and true method of throwing your child into the deep end of the pool to “sink or swim” was once a popular method of swimming instruction, most people today (including the local law enforcement) would say that is an antiquated and ineffective approach. The best way to teach your child to swim is to enroll them in a professional swimming instruction class. These classes are taught by well-qualified instructors who can teach your child to be a successful swimmer. They create a fun and supportive environment that teaches children to be less fearful of swimming. Throughout the classes, your child will develop the skills necessary to become stronger swimmers. Don’t wait too long to get your child acclimated to the water. They say that if you haven’t learned to swim by the time you are 15 years old, chances are you never will.

If you can’t find a credible swim school in your neck of the woods, try looking at your local municipalities’ recreation calendar; many offer swim classes year round for kids of all ages. Check with your local Parks and Recreation Departments to see if they can send you out a listing of all the swim related classes they have available.

Once your child has mastered the basics of swimming including floating, treading water, kicking, paddling, submerging their faces under water, jumping off the sides of the pool and using their arms and legs to swim to you, they can be introduced to more diverse and advance swimming activities. If you child shows an athletic disposition to swimming or diving, find a local swim team for them to belong to. Swimming laps is a great total body cardiovascular workout for kids to be involved in. They get to meet other kids who share their love of the water, learn proper breathing techniques that can transfer into any other endurance sport and will get a great resistance training workout. When you swim, you use your arms and legs to displace the water around you. The water acts as a form of resistance which helps build muscle while you swim around the pool. It really is the best of both worlds. You can get a great total body resistance training and cardiovascular workout at one time. What could be more efficient than that?

While all the information listed above is designed to encourage your children to become comfortable in the water, I must stress the EXTREME IMPORTANCE of water safety. Each year approximately 830 children ages 1-14 die as a result of unintentional drowning. That statistic is for Maricopa County in Arizona. You can only imagine what that number is on a nationwide or on a global scale. In order for you to keep your kids, and your kids’ friends safe around the pool this summer, please make sure you take the necessary safety precautions. For some of the best tips on how to keep your children from becoming another drowning statistic, check with your local fire departments for a checklist of important safety tips you can implement around your home.

Have fun swimming and keep up the good work!

Christopher Hillery has been a Certified Personal Trainer for 9 years and is the owner of Transformer Fitness in Phoenix, Arizona. He was once an overweight child and knows first- hand how the effects of being overweight can be damaging. It is his goal to help overweight children and adults develop lasting healthy habits and a positive body image. Chris can design a full workout program for parents and children which can include a nutrition program, along with equipment to use at home. For this and other services visit http://www.transformerfitness.com Chris can be reached via email at: christopher_hillery@yahoo.com

For some parents across the country, weekends are measured in soccer game start times, baseball innings and tournament scores. Researchers estimate that over 14 million children play one type of organized sport and several of those youngsters play multiple sports depending on the season. Sports are important for teaching good sportsmanship, goal-setting, teamwork, and for encouraging children to have an active lifestyle. Aside from these obvious advantages, organized sports can also play a much larger and culturally significant role as well.

Sports combine athletic as well as social skills and mix them up into an organized framework. Children are often required to put aside their own desires and ego for the sake of their team. They spend time learning from and befriending teammates who often are more like brothers and sisters than mere friends. Team uniforms are worn to signify solidarity and equality; everyone’s uniform looks the same. Children learn to play, strategize and communicate with people from all walks of life; those of different religions, race, ethnicity, gender and culture and work toward a common goal - winning. They are often exposed at an early age to those that are different from themselves but possess equal or greater skills and they come to realize that everyone is different, but differences can be strengths as well. Consider the following sports when looking for a diverse team activity for your child:

1. Baseball - - Baseball not only requires good communication from all team members; pitcher and catcher, outfielder to infielder and between the out and in-fielders themselves, it also encourages children to assist struggling teammates who are not performing well. By succeeding individually, children help contribute to a winning team environment and each child knows that even though he or she may not have their best game that day, one of their teammates will pick up the slack.

Major League Baseball also has many international stars and role-models that children of different ethnicities and nationalities can look up to and admire. There are players from Japan, Korea, Canada, the US, Australia, Mexico, Cuba and several other countries around the globe. MLB has training centers in a number of Central and South American countries and are constantly providing instruction and education for their players. The teams play exhibition games overseas and have created a World Baseball Classic which features international teams competing against each other for the title.

2. Basketball - - Basketball requires communication as well. While on the court, players make each other aware of their positions as well as the position of the defenders. It also encourages and rewards players for unselfish play in passing the ball to others to score. It necessitates an understanding between all players and the coach when plays are created in practice or called out during the game. Basketball is a game of camaraderie and the more time a team spends together practicing, the better they know where teammates will be during any given play in the game.

Recently, the National Basketball Association has seen an influx of international players as well. There are players from all different walks of life and several different age groups, as the NBA allows high school players to participate. Basketball is a very popular international Olympic sport and thousands of fans from every different country come out to support their team during the trials and 2 week events.

3. Football - - In football, we truly see the uniform disguising all differences. The helmets children wear to protect themselves also offers a mask to hide skin color, gender differences and cultural distinctions as well. Everyone looks the same on the football field; there is no one better than another; the great equalizer. This helps children to be judged more on their ability to play, rather than what they look like or where they come from. Football, like Baseball and Basketball requires communication skills between teammates as well as a desire to unselfishly sacrifice oneself for another teammate.

4. Other Sports Programs - - There are a number of other special sports programs in communities across the country that focus on helping children with disabilities participate and establish relationships. Special baseball fields, basketball courts and tennis facilities allow children in wheelchairs, walkers and on crutches to play sports alongside of their peers. Mixed leagues provide children without physical disabilities the chance to participate and learn about children that are different from themselves.

Although many people may consider sports divisive and ego-driven with all players performing for themselves, parents can use sports as an opportunity to teach children about the satisfaction that comes from being part of a team. Children can learn life lessons as they play; leadership, teamwork, social skills and they can also learn that people that look, speak or play differently from themselves are people that they want to get to know and become friends with. Children are open to learning about others and accepting those who are different. We as parents need to be conscious of what we are teaching and the opportunities that we provide to them for doing just that.

It’s almost summer! That means it’s time for splashing around in the pool and escaping the heat by heading to the cool mountains for some outdoor fun. The products we use to protect us from the sun and from the pesky outdoor pests that we encounter during our summer activities can have less than desirable ingredients and chemicals listed on their labels. In order to avoid harmful substances that are absorbed into our skin, what should we look for to know we are using safe products for ourselves and our children?

Protection from the sun is important, but so is knowing what types of things to avoid in commercial sunscreens. Remember, our skin is our largest organ and anything absorbed into the skin can be transported to other organs in our body in about 7 seconds. In recognition of that fact, try to avoid the following common sunscreen ingredients:

PABA: Many people are very sensitive to this ingredient and can end up with red, itchy skin.

Benzophenone (benzophenone-3), homosalate, and octy-methoxycinnamate (octinoxate): These chemicals have shown estrogenic activity in lab tests. Oxybenzone is a derivative of benzophenone and it is linked to allergies, hormone disruption, and cell damage. According to the CDC 97% of Americans are contaminated with this widely-used sunscreen ingredient.

Parabens (butyl-, ethyl-, methyl-, and propyl-): Parabens are common in sunscreens so avoiding them may prove difficult. They are preservatives that have estrogenic qualities. They have produced abnormal hormonal effects following on laboratory rodents, particularly male, resulting in decreased testosterone levels and other abnormalities. They have also been found to accumulate in the breast tissue of women with breast cancer.

Padimate-O and Parsol 1789 (Avobenzone): While on the surface of the skin these chemicals appear to prevent UV damage but when absorbed into the skin they can actually damage DNA. There is evidence that the sun’s light may cause these chemicals to become reactive and cause free-radical damage.

Safe sunscreen components include any zinc oxide or titanium dioxide products that scatter, rather than absorb the sun’s rays. In addition, you can use protective sun clothing to keep your skin shielded when you are planning to be outside. Hats, sunglasses and UVA/UVB repellant swimwear are widely available and provide the safest protection for kids and adults alike.

To combat those pesky mosquitoes and other biting insects, we need to once again, examine what it is that we are using on our skin. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency suggests the use of “non-chemical” methods to deter biting insects before any consideration of chemical insect repellents. Most bug sprays and repellents contain DEET. DEET is a pesticide that is considered HIGHLY toxic. Experts report that up to 56% of DEET applied to the skin penetrates the skin and about 17% is absorbed into the blood stream.

One of the major adverse effects of DEET exposure to children is seizures and brain damage. As parents, it is wise to utilize caution, care and knowledge in your approach to protecting your children from dangerous insect bites.

Consider using barriers like window screens and netting to shield your children and protect their skin with long-sleeve shirts, long pants and socks. Other commercial products with safe and effective ingredients are:

MiEnviron Certified Organic Personal Bug Spray
SmartShield
California Baby SPF 30 + Bug Repellent

Now that warmer weather is here, families can spend time together enjoying being outside. If we can do a little bit of label reading before purchasing some of the summer necessities, it will be a safer and “greener” season for everyone!

Moms deserve a special day all to themselves. Being a mom myself, I am probably biased, but… I believe that being a mother is the most difficult thing a woman can do & the accomplishment is something to be celebrated!

The origins of Mother’s Day have roots in the 1600s. Mothering Day as it was called in England, became an especially compassionate holiday toward the working class women. On the Sunday of Lent, servants and trade workers were allowed to travel back to their towns of origin to visit their families. Mothering Day also provided a one-day reprieve from the fasting and penance of Lent so that families across England could enjoy a sumptuous family feast—Mother was the guest of honor. Mothers were presented with cakes and flowers, as well as a visit from their beloved and distant children.

The modern day US celebration is very similar to the celebrations of the English so long ago. We shower our Mothers with flowers, greeting cards and gifts to thank them for their devotion and love. However, the Holiday is not specific to the United States and is celebrated all over the world in a number of different ways.

• 1. Argentina: During Día de la madre, young children gather their mothers together and read them poetry.
• 2. Japan: On haha no hi, families prepare traditional dishes that their mothers taught them to cook. The Japanese give their Mothers flowers (especially red carnations), scarves, handkerchiefs and handbags.
• 3. United Kingdom: The Mother’s day traditions include a gift of violet and the customary Simnel Cake, a glazed fruitcake inspired by a folk tale about a married couple, Simon and Nell. So the story goes, this pair could not decide bake or broil a cake. So in the end they did both. Thus Simnel Cake was born.
• 4. Finland: Mother’s Day is called aidipayiva and in the morning the family takes a walk, picks new flowers and makes a bouquet for their mother. A particular flower called the valkovuokko is favored. Mom is then presented with a decorated bouquet, while also being served breakfast in bed.
• 5. Sweden: Mother’s Day takes a charitable course; the Swedish Red Cross sells small plastic flowers leading up to the holiday, and the proceeds raised are given to poor mothers and their children.

This year to celebrate our wonderful Mothers in a new and different way, perhaps we can adopt a few of the unique customs that are celebrated around the world. Read a poem to your mom, bake a cake, serve her breakfast in bed, or make a charitable donation in her name. Take it from someone who knows, she will appreciate the originality and thought that is put into making Mother’s Day such a special and wonderful day of celebration!

Lisa Smith has a BA in Psychology & is the Owner/CEO of Regionz Kidz, a multi-cultural infant & toddler clothing line featuring ethnically diverse characters and designs. She publishes a blog on her website http://www.regionzkidz.com that discusses cultural diversity & children & is a frequent guest blogger on other blogs and websites regarding parenting and children’s issues. She is also a monthly contributor to Educated Mommy Magazine. You can contact Lisa directly at: lisa@regionzkidz.com