What Is Secondary Drowning?
By Christina Quick | June 4, 2008
A frightening story in today’s news draws attention to a phenomenon called secondary drowning.
Ten-year-old Johnny Jackson died Sunday several hours after inhaling water in a swimming pool at his South Carolina apartment complex. (The Associated Press story says he “swallowed” the water, but apparently it was aspirated into his lungs.)
After returning from the pool, the boy complained he was tired and took a nap. When an adult later checked on him, he was in respiratory distress.
The Post and Courier of Charleston, S.C., reported when the boy was found his lips were blue and he was foaming at the mouth. He later died at a local hospital. A coroner said there was water in his lungs, which caused asphyxiation.
“I’m still trying to wrap my mind around this,” the boy’s mother told the Charleston paper. “It’s really bizarre.”
Secondary drowning occurs in approximately 5 percent of near-drowning victims. Experts recommend medical attention for anyone who experiences breathing difficulty, pain, or other worrisome symptoms after being submerged, even if they seem to recover.
Though secondary drowning is somewhat rare, drowning in all its forms is the second leading cause of accidental death among children ages 1 to 14. As the swimming season gets underway, such tragedies serve as a reminder to parents to be vigilant about water safety, supervising kids in and around the water and insisting on lifejackets when boating.
Topics: Health | No Comments »
Obesity Epidemic Doesn’t Slow Kids’ Soda Consumption
By Christina Quick | June 3, 2008
In spite of dire warnings about childhood obesity in recent years, kids’ sugary soft drink consumption has been on the rise, a new study reveals.
Between 1988 and 2004, calorie intake from sugar-sweetened beverages rose 20 percent among kids 6 to 11 years of age, according to researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.
Consumption of sugar-laden beverages — including sodas, sports drinks and sweetened fruit drinks — also increased among the 2- to 5-year-old set.
The most common sugar-sweetened beverage was soda, and most of it was consumed at home.
“The amount of empty calories that children and adolescents consume each day is very disconcerting,” says Y. Clair Wang, one of the study’s authors. “Parents, school administrators, policy-makers and leaders in the restaurant and beverage industry can all play an important role in reducing sugar-sweetened beverage consumption.”
While another recently released study reported that obesity rates may be leveling off after surging for more than two decades, Columbia researchers caution that the pace at which young people are becoming overweight remains alarmingly high, with approximately one of every three American children and teens overweight and 16 percent reported as obese. The childhood obesity rates remain more than triple the rates recorded in the 1960s and 1970s.
In addition to adding empty calories to a child’s diet, soda may contribute to tooth decay and other health problems, such as diabetes.
“Soft drinks are very destructive to children’s teeth,” according to an article in Journal of Dentistry for Children. “Many of them contain not only processed sugar, but also carbonic acid, citric acid, and phosphoric acid. The acid in sodas slowly dissolves the enamel of children’s teeth.”
It doesn’t help that sugary drinks are heavily advertised to youth and prominently displayed on popular television shows like American Idol. But it’s up to parents to draw the line and place limits on the consumption of this liquid candy.
Topics: Health | No Comments »
Don’t Cling to Me
By Christina Quick | June 2, 2008
“I hope you used bug spray,” a woman said cheerfully as she passed my family on a local nature trail yesterday afternoon. “This place must be the tick capital of the world.”
We hadn’t thought to apply insect repellant. But I wasn’t too concerned. After all, the gravel path was wide and we had already warned the kids to stay away from the tall grass. She had to be exaggerating, right?
Twenty minutes later, our son noticed a moving speck on his pants leg. Then another. And another. Pulling up his shirt, he found three more ticks crawling on his bare skin! That’s when we realized we were all covered with the things — from tiny deer ticks to larger spotted ones. Resisting the urge to panic, we hustled back down the trail toward the mini-van, brushing and picking at each other as we went.
We spent ten minutes in the parking lot trying to rid ourselves — and our poor dog — of the unwelcome hitchhikers. Though the vast majority had not yet latched on, the sheer numbers were disturbing. At one point I literally shook several small ticks from my shoes. How we had failed to become aware of these sooner is almost beyond me.
At home, the next several hours were consumed with shaking out and washing clothes, using tweezers to remove the pests from the dog, and making sure everyone was bathed and tick-free.
I was amazed at how quickly this army of tiny parasites had invaded our space and wreaked havoc on our peaceful afternoon. Later I thought about how easily “little” things that often escape notice creep into people’s spiritual lives — things like envy, doubt, resentment, greed and lust. Once attached, these sins can drain the very lifeblood from an individual.
In the future, I imagine my family and I will stay off that particular trail during the summer months. And when we venture into the woods elsewhere, we’ll remember the repellant.
Similarly, as Christians we should steer clear of places where we know we’re likely to be bombarded with temptation. And we should remember to cover our lives with the “sin repellant” of God’s Word.
“I will set before my eyes no vile thing. The deeds of faithless men … will not cling to me.” (Psalm 101:3).
Topics: Faith | 1 Comment »
Alternatives to the Spam Diet
By Christina Quick | May 29, 2008
Sales of the canned meat product Spam are on the rise, according to an Associated Press story. The writer attributes the increased popularity of the processed pork in part to higher food costs.
“The Austin, Minn.-based company, also known for the Jennie-O Turkey Store, has embarked on its first national advertising campaign for the 71-year-old brand in several years,” the article says. “They’ve credited the sales increase to that, along with new products like individually packaged ‘Spam Singles’ slices. Also helping sales, executives said in an earnings conference call, was the fact that people looking to save money are skipping restaurant meals and eating more at home.”
According to the story, the average price of a 12-ounce can of Spam is $2.62.
I find this news disturbing, especially considering the high rates of obesity among children and adults. While it’s probably good that people are cutting back on eating out, especially where fast food is concerned, Spam is not what I would call a healthy alternative. The stuff is loaded with saturated fat, not to mention sodium and preservatives. Ingredients include pork parts, sugar, salt, starch and sodium nitrites. Not an ideal diet staple.
Hormel’s Spam Web site boasts, “In a perfect situation, Spam could last forever. It’s like meat with a pause button.”
I’m thinking “meat with a pause button” seems a bit frightening. Does a family really have to sacrifice nutrition to make ends meet? With a little creativity, no. For the benefit of those who may be considering stocking up on Spam, I’ve put together a list of things I do to cut grocery costs without relying on heavily processed foods. If you have some additional ideas, please share them with Refrigerator Art readers.
• Scan grocery ads. Some stores will match competitors’ sale prices on items like meat and produce.
• Use coupons wisely. They’re often issued by manufacturers of high-priced junk foods. Just because an item is 75 cents off doesn’t mean it’s the best value or healthiest choice.
• Shop the local farmer’s market. Not only are the fruits and vegetables fresher, they’re sometimes a fraction of the cost of supermarket produce.
• Select a whole chicken and cut it up rather than buying precut parts. Use the breast in a stir-fry, salad, or casserole and freeze the legs and thighs for later use. Boil what’s left and freeze the broth for soup.
• Have meatless meals, such as baked pasta and sauce topped with low-fat cheese.
• Plan meals that yield leftovers. This can spare you the expense of eating out for lunch the following day.
• Buy family packs of fresh meat when they’re on sale and freeze meal-sized portions.
• Grate your own cheese.
• Stretch a pound of ground beef into two meals by using half in spaghetti and saving the other half for pizza toppings.
• When forming hamburger patties, make the ground beef go farther by mixing in an egg and some oats or bread crumbs. (Chances are, your mom did it.)
• Before cooking a roast, slice off a piece of the meat to use later in fajitas.
• Instead of buying bottled water, invest in a reusable water bottle (be sure it’s BPA-free) and fill it with tap water.
• Plant a vegetable garden, or grow tomatoes in planters on the patio. Grow potted herbs in a windowsill.
• Use brown rice or beans as low-cost fillers in soups, wraps and casseroles.
• Give up sodas and substitute unsweetened iced tea or water with a fresh lemon slice
• To avoid the temptation of running to a restaurant when you’re pressed for time or dinner burns, keep ingredients on hand for at least one extra, easy-to-prepare meal. But please, no Spam. At least not very often.
Topics: Health | 2 Comments »
Parental Involvement Tied to School Success
By Christina Quick | May 28, 2008
A recently published study confirms what many parents and educators have known all along: students perform better in school when their parents play an active role in their education.
Researchers at the University of New Hampshire collected data from more than 10,000 eighth-grade public and private school students, their parents, teachers and school administrators. The study examined how frequently parents attended meetings and volunteered at school, and how often they discussed school activities and academic issues with their children.
Researchers weighed the benefits of parental involvement against other factors that could influence student performance, such as a school’s budget and resources.
“Parental effort is consistently associated with higher levels of achievement, and the magnitude of the effect of parental effort is substantial,” says Karen Smith Conway, a UNH professor of economics and one of the study’s authors. “We found that schools would need to increase per-pupil spending by more than $1,000 in order to achieve the same results that are gained with parental involvement.”
I think Conway’s figure is too low. No amount of funds or programs can take the place of parents who are invested and involved in their children’s lives. That may explain why homeschoolers outperform many of their peers.
How do you stay involved in your children’s education? Post a comment below.
Topics: Education | No Comments »
Sex Changes For Kids?
By Christina Quick | May 27, 2008
A pediatric endocrinologist at the Boston Children’s Hospital is creating controversy after recently launching a clinic where he prescribes hormone-blocking drugs for children as young as 7 to make it easier for them to get a sex change when they’re older.
According to a Liberty Counsel press release, Dr. Norman Spack administers either luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) or medroxyprogesterone, which blocks estrogen or testosterone to delay the onset of puberty. The drugs, which can cause permanent infertility, are meant to stop girls from developing their menstrual cycle, breasts and other normal female characteristics, and prevent boys from developing a deeper voice, facial hair and other normal male characteristics.
Shortly after halting puberty, cross-hormones would be administered to simulate the puberty of the opposite sex. Estrogen is given to boys and testosterone to girls. The final step would involve removal of male or female organs and plastic surgery.
Gender Identity Disorder (GID), which these children allegedly experience, is classified as a mental disorder. A GID diagnosis involves someone whose biology and physiology is indisputably male or female, but subjectively this person has a desire to be the opposite sex. Children who are diagnosed with GID later in life often abandon the desire to be the opposite sex.
In 1966, Johns Hopkins University started performing the nation’s first “sex reassignment” surgery in its Gender Identity Clinic. In 1979 the university hospital stopped performing these surgeries when it was discovered that the patients’ well-being did not improve and the procedures were destroying healthy organs. The hospital decided the best treatment was through psychology, focusing on healing the mind.
“Seven-year-old children are thinking about video games and riding their bicycles, not about artificially transitioning to the opposite gender,” says Mathew D. Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel and dean of Liberty University School of Law. “Since Gender Identity Disorder is purely subjective, it is dangerous and unethical to give drugs to children to block the onset of puberty. Gender Identity Disorder is a mental, not a physical disorder. We do not treat anorexia with liposuction and we should not treat gender confusion with plastic surgery.”
If this is allowed to continue, I shudder to think of the long-term physical and emotional repercussions this will have on children and families. Drastically altering a growing child’s chemistry like this is wrong on so many levels and will likely unleash a host of devastating side effects. I wonder how long it will be before one of these young patients grows up and sues the people responsible for maiming him or her.
Topics: In the news | No Comments »
Chapman Tragedy
By Christina Quick | May 22, 2008
Below is another, older photo of the Chapman family. Maria is the one in her father’s arms. At Fox News, you can listen to a recent interview with Steven Curtis Chapman in which he talks about his daughters and how they inspired him to write the hit song, “Cinderella.” It’s a moving song and a poignant interview. Watch a YouTube video of Chapman performing the song here. (See the story about the Chapman tragedy below.)
Topics: In the news | No Comments »
Steven Curtis Chapman’s Young Daughter Killed
By Christina Quick | May 22, 2008
I was saddened to hear of the tragedy in Christian singer Steven Curtis Chapman’s family.
Chapman’s 5-year-old daughter, Maria Sue Chapman, was fatally injured Wednesday afternoon in the family’s driveway in Franklin, Tenn., when she was hit by a sport utility vehicle driven by her teenage brother, according to the Associated Press.
The child was airlifted to Vanderbilt Medical Center’s Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital, where she died Wednesday.
A Tennessee Highway Patrol spokeswoman told the AP the teenager apparently did not see the girl and that several members of the Chapman family witnessed the accident.
Maria was the youngest of the Chapman’s six children and one of three adopted daughters.
“Just hours before this close knit family was celebrating the engagement of the oldest daughter, Emily Chapman, and were just hours away from a graduation party marking Caleb Chapman’s completion of high school,” Chapman’s manager, Jim Houser, said in a statement sent to media. “Now, they are preparing to bury a child who blew out 5 candles on a birthday cake less than 10 days ago. These words are unthinkable to type. And yet we trust in a God who was not surprised by this and because of Jesus I am certain through faith in Him we will see Maria again.”
More than five years ago, Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife Mary Beth founded The Shaohannah’s Hope Ministry after bringing home their first adopted daughter, Shaohannah, from China. The ministry’s goal is to help families reduce the financial barrier of adoption. The organization has provided grants to more than 1,700 families wishing to adopt orphans from around the world.
Chapman is a five-time Grammy winner and 54-time Dove Award Award winning artist who has sold more than 10 million albums and garnered 44 number-one hit singles. He also authored a book about the bond between fathers and daughters, “Cinderella: The Love of a Daddy and His Princess.”
As a parent, I can only imagine the heartache this family is facing. Please remember to hold them up in prayer. A memorial service is planned for Saturday morning at a Nashville church.
Chapman’s Web site features a video in honor of Maria. The clips show the young girl playfully helping her dad wash dishes and swimming in a pool. Click here to view it.
TPE featured Chapman in a 2006 interview in which he talked about adoption and his daughters. Read it here.
In the photo below, Maria is the one on her father’s lap. The other children are (from left) Will; Shaohannah, also known as Shaoey; Stevey Joy; Caleb; and Emily.
Topics: In the news | 1 Comment »
Picnic Season
By Christina Quick | May 20, 2008
I love picnics. There’s something about eating in the midst of God’s creation that just makes food taste better — whether it’s a gourmet basket of goodies or a sun-warmed PB and honey sandwich.
This past weekend, I took time for a picnic while rock climbing with my family. A cool, flat rock in the shade made the perfect dining hall for a backpack feast of peanut butter and crackers, dried fruit, gorp, Rice Krispies treats and sports drinks.
With Memorial Day just a few days away, picnic season will soon be in full swing. For inspiration, I’ve been perusing a new book I recently received in the mail. “Picnics,” by Hilary Heminway and Alex Heminway, is a celebration of the portable meal. Filled with colorful photos and contemplative thoughts on the natural world, it’s sprinkled with suggestions for everything from a romantic outdoor dinner for two to a picnic in the rain.
Some of my favorite picnic ideas gleaned from the book include:
• Use cowboy bandanas for napkins — or plates.
• Tote a thermos of fresh-squeezed lemonade.
• Bake your own granola for a trailside snack.
• Spruce up a peanut butter sandwich with a layer of marshmallow cream or apple slices.
• Plan a sunrise picnic on the beach.
• Have a mountain picnic in the snow.
• Take the kids to the woods for a wildlife-spotting picnic. Leave behind a little birdseed for the feathered inhabitants.
I’m already planning my next picnic. Click the comments button below to share your thoughts and ideas on picnics.
Topics: Family fun | No Comments »
Anti-Bullying Program Promotes Gay Agenda
By Christina Quick | May 15, 2008
I think everyone can agree bullying is a bad thing. With an estimated 30 percent of U.S. youth affected by it — either as aggressors or victims — it’s clear more needs to be done to prevent this schoolyard plague.
So when an organization offers to partner with schools to combat bullying, it seems like a good thing. But sometimes looks can be deceiving.
The Human Rights Campaign, a Washington, D.C.-based gay rights organization, is trying to push its liberal agenda on young children under the guise of an anti-bullying program.
Called “Welcoming Schools,” the curriculum apparently has more to do with normalizing gay and lesbian lifestyles than preventing bullying. Three Minneapolis elementary schools are scheduled to pilot the new program, a plan that is sparking controversy among parents and community leaders.
In last Sunday’s edition of the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune, columnist Katherine Kersten wrote: “Teachers begin lessons by questioning students to identify their current beliefs. Then they use group exercises, films and books to convince the kids that any traditional attitudes they harbor about family structure and homosexuality are harmful ‘stereotypes.’ At the end of a lesson, teachers ‘evaluate’ students to ensure that their views now pass official muster.”
According to Kersten, students are to fill out worksheets that ask what they used to think about homosexual issues and what they now “know” after having completed the exercises.
The program teaches vocabulary words like lesbian, gay, bisexual, dyke, and transgender. It uses books such as “The Sissy Duckling,” and “King and King,” a story about two men who fall in love and marry.
It also employs a puzzle in which students are asked to arrange pictures of children and adults into families. The catch, as students are meant to discover, is that the puzzle doesn’t form seven traditional families. Placing same-gender adults together is the only way to complete it.
The curriculum “does not address bullying until its third and final section,” Kersten wrote. “It says relatively little about bullies’ traditional targets — kids who are overweight, short or the wrong skin color, for example…”
The Alliance Defense Fund recently sent a letter urging Minneapolis Public Schools to reconsider its decision to allow “Welcoming Schools.”
“According to its own statistics, HRC represents only 4.1 percent of American adults who identify themselves as homosexual, but it is attempting to implement its agenda on our children and the remaining 95.9 percent of American adults who don’t identify themselves as either gay or lesbian,” says ADF Senior Legal Counsel Austin R. Nimocks.
When children are forced to embrace ideologies that are in opposition to their families’ moral beliefs, it sort of makes you wonder who the real bullies are.
Topics: Trends | 1 Comment »
