February is Dental Health Month

Your Child's Smile

Nothing is sweeter than your child's smile. This smile starts with healthy teeth.

• Help your child brush and floss teeth until 6 or 7 years old.
• Brush teeth twice a day, in the morning and before bedtime.
• Offer water between snacks and meals.
• Don't let your child go to bed with a bottle or sippy cup.
• Don't let your toddler walk around the house with a sippy cup.
• Wean your toddler from the bottle by 1 year of age.
• Have 2 to 3 planned snacks during the day. Snacking all day long is not good for your child's teeth and can cause cavities.

February is American Heart Month

Have you taken care of your heart today? Cardiovascular diseases are the biggest killer in the United States and February is American Heart Month. February is declared to be American Heart Month in order to draw more attention to cardiovascular diseases such as heart disease, high blood pressure and stroke.


Part of taking care of your heart includes eating healthy foods and watching your weight.

Ten Foods for a Healthy Heart:
Dietary advice for reducing heart disease risk includes eating a balanced diet with less saturated fat from red meats, more fresh fruits and vegetables, more fish, less sugar, more fiber and for many people, fewer total calories. Then you can make your heart and the rest of your cardiovascular system even healthier by adding more of these foods:

Salmon                                Red Wine (In moderation 4-8oz/day)
Olive Oil                              Whole Grains
Oats                                    Green Leafy Vegetables
Apples                                 Tomatoes
Almonds                              Soy

Surgeon General Issues Support for Community Breastfeeding Initiatives

Breastfeeding Will Gain National Support as WIC Strategic Plan is Released to Improve State and Local WIC Clinic Breastfeeding Services
WASHINGTON, DC, 21 January 2011 — Surgeon General Regina M. Benjamin released “The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Support Breastfeeding” on January 20, which defined evidence-based strategies for communities to promote breastfeeding and reduce barriers that new mothers face. The issuance aligns with the release of the National WIC Association’s (NWA) Breastfeeding Strategic Plan to encourage all WIC programs to improve breastfeeding initiation and duration rates. State and local WIC clinics will aim to increase breastfeeding rates through NWA’s “Six Steps to Achieve Breastfeeding Goals for WIC Clinics,” which promote breastfeeding as the infant feeding norm, provide breastfeeding-friendly environments, ensure access to well-trained breastfeeding clinic staff, develop procedures to accommodate breastfeeding mothers and babies, train all clinic staff members to become breastfeeding counselors and advocates, and support exclusive breastfeeding through assessment, evaluation, and assistance.

“The National WIC Association is proud of WIC’s role in promoting breastfeeding to the nation, indeed WIC breastfeeding rates have been on the rise since 1990 and NWA’s Breastfeeding Strategic Plan and Six Steps to Achieve Breastfeeding Goals for WIC Clinics will help to assure WIC’s role as the nation’s go to source for breastfeeding promotion and support,” said the Rev. Douglas A. Greenaway, NWA’s President & CEO. “Moreover, exclusive breastfeeding plays a key role in reducing childhood overweight and obesity, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), respiratory ailments, allergies, ear infections, along with many other illnesses, and has been linked to a lower risk of type 2 diabetes and certain breast and ovarian cancers for breastfeeding mothers.”

WIC serves children to age five, including roughly 50% of all infants born in the United States. And 61% of WIC participants reside in families with incomes below the poverty level. WIC helps to ensure infants’ and children’s normal growth, reduces levels of anemia, increases immunization rates, improves access to regular health care and social services and improves diets.

NWA endorses breastfeeding as the optimal nutrition choice through the first year of a child’s life and promotes the associated health benefits for the mother and infant. NWA is the education arm and the advocacy voice of the 9 million mothers and young children who participate in WIC and the nation’s 12,200 WIC service provider agencies. NWA is in full support of “The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Support Breastfeeding” to reduce barriers in communities for women who want to breastfeed.

National WIC Association Washington Update

President Issues Breastfeeding Workplace Accommodations Memo for Federal Government


Washington, DC, 21 December 2010 – President Barrack Obama issued a Memorandum yesterday to the Director of the Office of Personnel Management requesting that the Office develop new guidelines for "appropriate workplace accommodations" for federal employees who are nursing mothers.

The Order, required by the Affordable Care Act mandating new breastfeeding rights primarily for hourly workers in the private and public sectors, requests that the federal government take a further step by establishing new guidelines for all federal employees, no matter their status.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-CA, established special nursing rooms in 2007 for House staffers. Senate offices and committees must make similar breastfeeding accommodations for staffers.

Much of the original Breastfeeding Promotion Act sponsored by NWA Leadership Award Recipient Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-NY, and Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-OR, that ensured that women cannot be discriminated against or fired for breastfeeding or pumping breast milk during breaks or lunch and provided tax breaks to employers who establish special rooms for breastfeeding mothers or that rent lactation-related equipment was incorporated into the Affordable Care Act.

New Year's Resolutions

Your young child is learning habits that will last a lifetime.

Eat at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables each day.

Serve at least 1 fruit or vegetable at every meal.

Snack on fruits and vegetables.

Drink more water.
Water is a healthy choice.

Limit soda and other sweet drinks.
Order milk or water if you eat away from home.
Serve milk with meals at home.
Do not keep sweet drinks in your refrigerator.

Choose whole grains for at least 1/2 of your grain foods.
Eat more whole grain breads, pasta and breaskfast cereals.

Play together as a family.
Go for a walk, visit the park or play in the yard.
Enjoy a sport together.
Try skating, biking or hiking with your child.

January is Healthy Pregnancy Awareness Month

HEALTHY PREGNANCY:

1. Make some healthy changes
• Eat nutritious foods and be physically active
• Before and during pregnancy, try to find ways to make healthy changes to lifestyle
• Example: Quit Smoking
• Stick with those changes after baby is born can set a positive example for your new family
2. Eat well
• Not a time to diet
• To maintain a healthy weight and get the nutrition needed, eat well-balanced meals and a variety of different foods
• Keep healthy snacks on hand throughout the day
3. Drink up
• Aim for at least 8 to 10 full glasses (64 to 80 ounces) a day
• Drinking enough fluids = less dehydration, constipation, urinary tract infections, preterm, or premature labor
• Avoid alcohol and caffeine
4. Take your vitamins
• Best way yo get your vitamins is to eat well-balanced and varied meals
• Check with your Doctor for supplement(s) type(s) and how much to take
5. Be active
• Physical activity helps prepare your body for labor by improving circulation, increasing muscle strength, and boosting energy level
• Helps to feel better, sleep better, and reduces some of the discomforts of pregnancy, like constipation
6. Get the support you need
• A good relationship with health care team is important
• Attend regular prenatal visits and discuss questions and concerns openly with Doctor, which can help prepare for the birth of baby

"September is National Fruits & Veggies - More Matters Month!"

Vegetable of the Month: Chili Peppers
Hot peppers (chilies) are often used to spice up dishes, and they are especially popular in ethnic cousine including Mexican, Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, Arab and Spanish cooking. Chiles are an excellent source of Vitamin C if you can withstand their powerful bite.

Recipe: Cherry Pepper Salad                                                                                                     
Makes 4 servings, Each serving equals 1 1/2 cups fruit or vegetables
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup fresh sweet cherries, pitted
1 cup each thinly sliced sweet yellow and green peppers
1/4 cup thinly sliced mild chili pepper
2 Tbsp finely chopped onion
2 Tbsp white wine vinegar
1/2 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp sugar
salt and pepper to taste
1 Tbsp pickled ginger strips, optional
4 cups mixed greens

Toss together all ingredients except greens; refrigerate 1 hour or longer. Serve on mixed greens.

Nutritional Analysis per serving: Calories 80, Protein 2g, Fat 2g, Calories From Fat 23%, Cholesterol 0mg, Carbohydrates 15g, Fiber 3g, Sodium 100mg.

Fruit of the Month: Figs
Figs, one of mankind's oldest fruits. Although considered a fruit, the fig is actually a flower inverted into itself. They are the only fruit to ripen on the tree. Orginally native from Turkey to northern India, the fig fruit spread to many of the Mediterranean countries. The primary producers of dried figs today are the United States, Turkey, Greece, and Spain. This highly nutritious fruit arrived in the United States by Spanish missionaries settling in Southern California in 1759. Fig trees were soon planted throughout the state.

Recipe: Fig Banana Smoothie
Makes 4 servings, Each serving equals 1 cup of fruit or vegetables
Ingredients:
1 cup chopped dried figs (stems removed)
1 cup 1-inch banana slices
1 cup plain non-fat yogurt
3 cups crushed ice
1 Tbsp honey
mint leaf or berry garnish

Place all ingredients except garnish in a blender (not a food processor), and blend until smooth, approximately 2-3 minutes. Strain liquid and pour into tall, chilled glasses. Add garnish.

Nutritional Analysis per serving: Calories 178, Protein 2g, Fat 1g, Calories From Fat 4%, Cholesterol 0mg, Carbohydrates 44g, Fber 9g, Sodium 9mg.