Letter to Industry on Cigarettes Containing Certain Characterizing Flavors

Click on this link for more information about the FDA's ban on flavored cigarettes.
http://www.fda.gov/TobaccoProducts/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/ucm182186.htm

Hydrocephalus and how it affects children as they grow.

Hydrocephalus is a chronic neurological condition characterized by an abnormal accumulation of cerebral spinal fluid in the brain, leading to increased pressure. Hydrocephalus can be congenital (present at birth) or acquired at any stage of life. This invisible disability occurs in about 2 of every 1,000 live births and affects an estimated one million Americans. There is no known way to prevent or cure hydrocephalus. The most effect treatment is surgical insertion of a shunt, a flexible tube that diverts the flow of fluid from the head to another region of the body where it can be absorbed.

Teachers and school administrators may not know that a student has hydrocephalus until a shunt malfunction occurs (headaches, vomiting, swelling, etc) and even then the child may be asymptomatic. However, this chronic condition may affect the student’s ability to learn and mature intellectually, socially and emotionally. Most children with hydrocephalus have normal or above-average intelligence and are eager and willing to learn and succeed. It is not uncommon, however, for them to have learning disabilities that have the potential to hinder their overall development if not recognized and remediated in a timely manner. There is no standard profile of “the child with hydrocephalus” – just as there is no standard profile of “the typical child.” However, by understanding more about hydrocephalus and its physical, cognitive, and behavioral effects, you can ameliorate areas of weakness and vulnerability to positively affect a students learning style and social and emotional growth. Collectively, we can improve the lives of all children diagnosed with hydrocephalus, beginning with their education. Please contact the Hydrocephalus Association for our teacher’s guide to hydrocephalus and other resources at www.hydroassoc.org or info@hydroassoc.org.

Bonnie Hom
Youth and Community Coordinator
Hydrocephalus Association
870 Market Street, Suite 705
San Francisco, CA 94102
Ph: (415) 732-7040
Fax: (415) 732-7044
www.HydroAssoc.org

FDA Statement on the Regulatory Status of “Electronic” Cigarettes, Cigars and Pipes

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has reviewed several electronic cigarettes, cigars, and pipes, and refused their admission for import into the United States. The agency has acted because the products offered for import are unapproved new drugs requiring FDA approval to be legally marketed in the U.S. Additionally, because they are drug-device combinations under U.S. law, they are also adulterated devices (see 21 U.S.C. 351(f)(1)(B)).

These products are devices in which nicotine and other chemicals are turned into a vapor to be inhaled by the user. They are typically designed to look like conventional cigarettes, cigars, and pipes, and be used the same way.

The FDA is concerned about the potential for addiction to and abuse of these products. They may also be perceived as safer alternatives to conventional tobacco use and possibly initiate nicotine use among those who have never smoked, or among former smokers. This could then lead to an increase in the use of conventional tobacco products by young people, with well-known adverse health consequences.

As of March 1, 2009, the FDA has refused 17 shipments of various brands of these "electronic" cigarettes, cigars, and pipes, and their components. The agency will continue to evaluate these products on a case-by-case basis.

Action for Healthy Kids Applauds Senate Focus on School Environment

Chicago, IL. (March 31, 2009) -- Action for Healthy Kids applauds Senate attention to the impact of the total school environment on the overall nutritional and physical health of our nation’s children and youth. A diverse group of individuals with links to parents, education, nutrition and physical activity, and the food industry, among others will appear before the Senate Agriculture Committee today at the hearing, Beyond Federal School Meal Programs: Reforming Nutrition for Kids in Schools. Speakers will share perspectives about ways to bring better nutrition and health to students through efforts across the school setting.

“Action for Healthy Kids was founded on the vision to improve the school environment so that all kids will develop the lifelong habits necessary to promote health and learning, and as a nation, we can address the epidemic of overweight, undernourished and sedentary youth,” said Rob Bisceglie, Action for Healthy Kids executive director. “We urge the Committee Members and speakers to take a holistic approach toward this challenge, seriously examining what our kids eat and drink while at school, and the physical education and activity opportunities available to them.”

As an organization, Action for Healthy Kids also has worked to draw attention to the documented relationships between what children eat, how active they are, and their performance in school. “We know that children who eat poorly or who participate in too little physical activity do not perform as well as they could academically. Conversely, it has been shown that improvements in nutrition, in particular eating breakfast, and physical activity can result in improvements in academic performance,” said Bisceglie. “As our policymakers look at ‘reforming nutrition for kids in schools’ it’s critical that school breakfast and other efforts to make nutrient-rich foods more available receive high priority and adequate funding.”

“Our children deserve decisive action supported by our best thinking to give them a fair chance as they grow up,” Bisceglie added. “We hope that today’s Senate hearing will add meaningful substance to the child health discussion.”

About Action for Healthy Kids Action for Healthy Kids® is a national nonprofit organization that addresses the epidemic of overweight, undernourished and sedentary youth by focusing on improving nutrition and physical activity policies and practices in schools. This grassroots public-private partnership of 65 organizations and government agencies supports the efforts of Teams comprised of more than 11,200 volunteers in all states and the District of Columbia. Action for Healthy Kids was founded in 2002 by former U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher, in response to the Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity, which identified the school environment as one of five key sites of change. To learn more, visit www.ActionForHealthyKids.org

Food Additives and ADD/ADHD: What's the Connection?

The role of food additives including dyes, sugar, or preservatives — even such everyday substances as milk and wheat products — in causing or worsening ADD/ADHD is a controversial topic. Can removing these items from your child's diet really help?
Check out this link for answers to this question:

http://www.everydayhealth.com/adhd/treatment-and-diagnosis/food-additives.aspx?xid=nl_EverydayHealthChildrensHealth_20081227

New Recess Guidelines for Bad Air Days

Things are easier today for school leaders and parents who want to keep children safe on bad air days. The Utah Department of Health (UDOH), the Utah Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and other community partners have updated air quality guidelines for recess during inversions.
“As a mother, I don’t want to send my children out to play when it isn’t healthy for them,” said Cherise Udell, a mother in Salt Lake School District. “This guidance is important because it lets me know schools are aware of the air quality and that they are trying their their best to protect kids.”
The guidance recommends that when pollutants known as particulate matter (PM 2.5) measure 35.5–55.4, micrograms per cubic meter of air (ug/m3), sensitive students should avoid outdoor activities. Sensitive students may include those with poorly controlled asthma, cystic fibrosis, chronic lung disease, congenital heart disease, or compromised immune systems. For PM 2.5 readings between 55.5–90 ug/m3, outdoor activities should be restricted for any student experiencing respiratory symptoms like coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, and chest tightness. When the PM 2.5 level is above 90 ug/m3, all children should be kept inside for physical activity.
“The need for air quality guidance came to our attention in 2004 when we began to realize there was no coordinated source of information for Utah schools to address air pollution in relation to school activities,” said Dr. George Delavan, Director of the UDOH Division of ommunity and Family Health Services. “Changes were made to the guidance based on new science and experience,” says DEQ Toxicologist Steve Packham, Ph.D.
The new guidance offers three improvements:
1. It aligns with recommendations from the new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Air Standard for PM2.5;
2. It allows greater flexibility in allowing healthy students to benefit from outdoor exercise; and
3. It provides a conservative level of protection when outdoor activities are not recommended for all students.
The air quality guidance is not a law, mandate or policy, but was developed as a strategy for school districts to use when deciding whether to keep students inside or outside on poor air quality days.
For more information on the guidance visit http://health.utah.gov/asthma/ or
http://www.airquality.utah.gov/
For more information on how to improve air quality visit www.cleanair.utah.gov or
http://www.idlefree.utah.gov/.

New Truth in Tobacco Ads--Smokerman

It with great excitement that I share with you the new youth anti-tobacco campaign ads titled “Smokerman.” These ads are going statewide and feature a toy named Smokerman who can’t keep pace with other action figures because of the health effects from his tobacco use. The ads were designed to engage kids aged twelve-and-under and to stimulate conversation between parent and child about the dangers of tobacco use. You can view all 5 ads on Youtube at http://www.youtube.com/user/TRUTHAgainstTobacco. Please share this URL with your colleagues, friends, and family. And feel free to post comments there as well.

The Dangers of Energy Drinks--Part 1

The dangers of energy drinks - part 1
October 30th, 2008 @ 5:40am
By Becky Bruce
With 5 billion energy drinks sold in the U.S. just last year, it's a trend that isn't fizzling out anytime soon.
But how do you know what's in that can won't actually make you or your children sick? What you may not know could do more harm than good.

Korby Siggard
Reading the label doesn't necessarily give you what you need to know. No matter what the can or the ad promises, Korby Siggard would be the first to tell you sometimes the promise comes with a price.
Siggard, a father of three, was training for a marathon and looking for a little something to boost his run time. So when a health food store clerk recommended what was then a new energy drink called Redline he thought, why not?
"He said, ‘Oh this is the best. This will give you that kick in the morning,'" Siggard recalls. "First thing I noticed is, wow! I did, I felt heat, you know, kind of like your body just got increased in temperature and yet you got the chills at the same time. Just kind of a weird sensation, but definitely an energy boost."
It was one of his best runs ever. But at the 19.5 mile mark everything changed.
"All of a sudden, I felt like I was going to pass out. I mean, I could feel something going on in my brain and I was going to pass out," Siggard says. "So, I stopped running immediately, took off the headset, started just to walk, but I kept feeling like I was going to pass out. For that whole half a mile back to my house, I thought I was going to pass out."
Once home Siggard remembers, "I couldn't hold anything because I was shaking, and so I finally said, 'Man, maybe I just need to take a shower.' I jumped in the shower, and I started to black out in the shower. So, I jumped out of the shower and thought, I've got to go to the neighbor, because he's a doctor."
Siggard didn't sleep for three days, and at the emergency room, nobody could figure out what was wrong until someone put together the pieces of the puzzle: caffeine intoxication, ultimately a caffeine overdose.
"You have to remember that caffeine's a stimulant," says Kristi Spence, a sports dietitian. "I mean, it acts on your body like a drug does, and different people respond differently to caffeine."
Spence, who is also a researcher at TOSH (The Orthopedic Specialty Hospital) in Murray, says caffeine can actually improve performance but not in the way Siggard tried it.
"When we think of athletics and performance, caffeine is an ergogenic aid, but in small amounts. So, we're talking, gosh, a fraction of the amount that's found in an energy drink. And this is an area where it's absolutely true that more is not better," Spence says.
That's where the Utah Poison Control Center comes in. Director Barbara Insley-Crouch says caffeine-related calls aren't the norm, but they get them.
"In general, caffeine causes a lot of nausea, it might cause vomiting in large doses," says Insley-Crouch. "People really feel sick to their stomach, might have abdominal pain. But mostly they're very anxious. They might be shaky, if you will. They usually feel some palpitations. It increases the heart rate. It can also increase the blood pressure, and in really high doses, it can cause seizures."

Energy drink sales in the U.S.
The problem is, it's almost impossible to predict who's going to be able to tolerate more caffeine and who's going to get sick.
"It might be as little as 400 milligrams where people are starting to feel palpitations," says Insley-Crouch. "It might be a thousand milligrams before someone might have a risk for seizure, and it might be in between or greater than that. It really varies on the individual." [Click here for caffeine content breakdown in energy drinks]
But Siggard isn't the only person out there who was attracted by the promise on the can. From extreme games to the virtual reality kind, more and more young people are swallowing the gimmicks. Of those 5 billion energy drinks sold in the U.S. last year, teens picked up a third.
E-mail: bbruce@ksl.com

The Dangers of Energy Drinks--Part 2

The dangers of energy drinks - part 2
October 31st, 2008 @ 5:40am
By Becky Bruce
A hundred doctors are asking the Food and Drug Administration to crack down on the companies that make energy drinks. They want the manufacturers to be required to list caffeine content on the label.
In part two of our exclusive series, KSL found a key part of their push is the effects of caffeine on young people and a fear that drink manufacturers are marketing the drinks specifically to them.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University are behind a new study that raises questions about the regulation of energy drinks.
One of those researchers, Dr. Carl Reissig says, "If you look at the actual caffeine content, it's highly variable. So you could one day buy a small can of, say, Amp and get 75 milligrams of caffeine. But if you went to GNC and got something like a spike shooter, all of a sudden you're ending up with 300 milligrams of caffeine total."
Dr. Reissig is one of 100 doctors now asking the FDA to step in. And while the health consequences are a concern the marketing may be more so. [read the letter to the FDA]
"Unleash the beast, get amped up, get your wings; this sends a potentially harmful message to children that it's OK to use a substance for recreational effects, to use it to feel good," says Dr. Reissig. "And it also sends a message that it's OK to use some of these things for performance enhancing effects."
And that's exactly the kind of message certified athletic trainer Lisa Walker hopes isn't getting out there.
"Anytime you take a stimulant of any kind, and then go out and increase your heart rate, increase your blood pressure, put yourself in that situation on top of the stimulant you already did, you're looking for trouble," says Walker who works with kids at Springville High School. She's also on the President of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Trainers Association.

Various energy drinks currently available on the market
"You can easily die if you drink an energy drink and then go out on the field," she adds.

College students' reasons for consuming energy drinks courtesy The Brief Addicition Science Information Source (BASIS)
The American Beverage Association says people can call the "1-800" number on the can and find out anything they want to know about the caffeine content. But if grown-ups like Korby Siggard can make a mistake with an energy drink, teens might be even more likely to do so. Especially when the drinks are everywhere they look from the convenience store to the Internet cafe. [Read the response from the American Beverage Association]
The doctors who wrote the FDA don't expect the government to react quickly. Unlike the gamers, the government isn't spiked or juiced.
E-mail: bbruce@ksl.com

For Vaccination Coverage Among Adolescents Aged 13--17 Years--Check this link:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5740a2.htm

Red Ribbon Week official site

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has identified the National Family Partnership at www.nfp.org as the official campaign site for Red Ribbon Week.