Hand sanitizers: read the label

Today’s Health Matters guest writer Mylan Blomquist, a senior at Barry Goldwater high school, decided to get to the bottom of how hand sanitizers work, and which ones are most effective.    

As a high school student with a lot of obligations, I’m somewhat of a hand sanitizer connoisseur.

I’ve always carried a portable sized gel hand sanitizer around with me, hoping that it is effective in fending off illnesses that would force me to miss school. It seems like everyone else has one in their school bag, too, with a variety of scents and fun holders.

Recently, I received an assignment from my senior IB biology class –to design and carry out lab research on a topic of my choosing. I was about to stress over this, thinking about how hard it would be to come up with my own unique topic.

But I soon realized the answer has been hiding in all my purses, backpacks, and pockets for years!

Autism research: right here in Arizona

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Six seeds to boost vitamins and fiber

This week is National Public Health Week.

Since 1995, the American Public Health Association has encouraged communities across the country to observe National Public Health Week (NPHW) each April.

The big push this year is to highlight prevention and wellness.

One major theme of the campaign is to encourage healthy eating and regular exercise for families. Making small, everyday changes can go a long way toward decreasing the risk of preventable death from causes such as heart disease, cancer and stroke, says the APHA.

Adding seeds to the diet in moderation is one way to boost vitamins and fiber, says nutrition expert Michelle Gorman, RD, of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona.

Gorman, who has served as a nutrition supervisor for the Chandler School District, encourages families to give these six seeds a try in recipes and for snacking:

Urinary tract infections: Can you tell by the smell?

This article has moved to: http://www.raisingarizonakids.com/2012/04/urinary-tract-infections-can-you-tell-by-the-smell/

Reacting to an autism diagnosis: what’s next?

This article has moved to: http://www.raisingarizonakids.com/2012/04/reacting-to-an-autism-diagnosis-whats-next/

Paging Dr. Milk: How physician moms find breastfeeding support

Pediatrician and new mom Laurie Jones, MD, just couldn’t get her first-born daughter, Caroline, to latch. She’d been to three lactation consultants. Nothing worked.

“I knew how good it was for her,” says Jones, who practices at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix and is an AzAAP member. “I knew how important it was to breastfeed her.

“My mother had nursed me until I was a year old – my husband supported me.

Dr. Laurie Jones and her daughter, Caroline

But I was bleeding and engorged and exhausted.

Bike safety rodeo this Saturday, March 31

Every three days a child in the United States is killed while riding a bicycle. Every single day, 100 children are treated in emergency rooms for bicycle-related head injuries.

Proper helmet use reduces the risk of brain injury from these accidents by about 90 percent.

Why don’t more kids wear helmets? For some, it’s the cool factor. For others, it’s the expense.

This weekend, Cardon Children’s Medical Center along with Safe Kids Maricopa County will give away free helmets to the first 300 people to attend their Bike Rodeo.

It’s a chance to practice bike safety skills and to find out more about helmet use. Plus, there’s an opportunity to win a new bike.

More on how to fit a bike helmet

Cardon Children’s Bike Rodeo details:

• Saturday, March 31
• 9 a.m. to noon
• Cardon Children’s Medical Center
• 1400 S. Dobson Road, Mesa 85202
• For ages 3-16
• Bring your bike or scooter

Watch  injury prevention specialist Tracey Fejt, RN, of Cardon Children’s talk about an outreach program she designed that provides safety curriculum and free helmets to schools that agree to “helmet required” policies for students.