Skin Deep

Personal care product companies are not required to test their products for safety prior to selling them and can put in virtually anything they want. Not surprisingly, there are many ingredients that have been found to be harmful. To reduce your exposure to carcinogens, neurotoxicants, and reproductive toxicants, purchase products that do not contain:

*Parabens
*Formaldehyde
*Triethanolamine and cocamide DEA
*PEGs
*Isopropanol
*2-phenoxyethanol
*Benzethonium chloride
*Talc
*Phthalates
*Fragrance

The Skin Deep Safety Guide to cosmetics and personal care products (brought to you by researchers at the Environmental Working Group) is a great resource for what type of chemicals are in over 25,000 products - you can search by product type, by brand etc. To find out more, check out www.cosmeticsdatabase.com.

Household Cleaners

The EPA states that toxic chemicals in household cleaners are three times more likely to cause cancer than outdoor air pollution and the Consumer Product Safety Commission has identified 150 chemicals common in homes linked to allergies, birth defects, cancer and psychological abnormalities. Some of the most common culprits include household bleach, all-purpose cleaners, laundry detergent and dish detergent.

Make it a point to use non-toxic cleaners (i.e. Seventh Generation, Method, Ecover brands).

Did you know?

Bottled water is less regulated than tap water and can contain chemicals leached from the plastic. Bottle your own water and use a stainless steel or aluminum reusable water bottle.

What is the Issue with Exposure to Toxins in the Home?

Never before in human history have we seen such a dramatic rise in chronic childhood disease and illness as we do today in the US. Currently over 125 million children and adults suffer from disease and health conditions such as:

*cancer
*autism
*asthma
*birth defects
*ADD / ADHD
*learning and developmental disabilities

Scientific evidence increasingly points to environmental hazards and chemicals as causing and contributing to many of these childhood diseases. In the past 60 years, more than 85,000 new synthetic chemical compounds have been developed and released into the environment. Many products you'll find in your home, including cleaners, pesticides, carpets, paints, plastics, furniture, personal care, and others, contain these new ingredients. They have never been tested for potentially toxicity to adults, no less to children.

The health and well-being of children are uniquely vulnerable to potentially harmful environmental exposures. Children's bodies are still growing and developing. Pound for pound children breathe more air, drink more water, and eat more food than adults. Pollutants can disrupt development and cause far more harm to them than adults. Children's behavior also makes them more vulnerable to exposure. They put their hands in their mouths, spend 90% of time indoors, and play close to the ground, all of which increase their risk for being negatively affected by harmful exposures. Visit http://www.healthychild.org/ to learn more about how to reduce your family's exposure to these toxins.

What is HCHW?

Healthy Child Healthy World (HCHW) is a national non-profit organization dedicated to educating the public, specifically parents and caregivers, about environmental toxins that affect children's health. Their ultimate goal is to eliminate children's exposure to man-made toxic substances by ensuring everyone's right-to-know what is in their air, food, water and commercial products. They are working to achieve this goal through increased scientific research, government policies which are more protective of children, and educating and mobilizing individuals - like you - around the country. Visit the HCHW website for more information http://www.healthychild.org/

Luna is a proud partner with Healthy Child Healthy World in the "Change Agents" program - designed to build a strong community of women through social networking with the end goal of inspiring action and effecting positive change surrounding women's health.

Our playgroup, Mommies Lil Kisses will be hosing a Healthy Home Party on September 30th starting at 11:00 after our Stroller Strides class where we will learn how to reduce our household environmental toxins.

Check back here for daily updates and information.

Open a Window.....

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, indoor air quality is one of the top five environmental health concerns. Given that people spend about 90 percent of their time indoors, its important to do what you can to reduce indoor air pollution.

One of the simplest things you can do is open a window. Even if its chilly outside, you should open a window for five minutes a day to significantly decrease the concentrations of air pollutants in your home. Most home heating and air cooling systems, including forced air heating systems, do not mechanically bring fresh air into the house. Open a window and start breathing cleaner air.

More reasons to buy organic

Laboratory tests of 8 industry-leader baby foods reveal the presence of 16 pesticides, including three carcinogens.

Action: Buy certified organic baby food (Plum Organics and Happy Baby are great flash frozen organic brands).

Reduction of Household Environmental Toxins

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Academy of Sciences, standard chemicals are up to 10 times more toxic to children than to adults, depending on body weight. This is due to the fact that children take in more toxic chemicals relative to body weight than adults and have developing organ systems that are more vulnerable and less able to detoxify toxic chemicals.

What can you do? Detoxify your home by using environmentally-friendly products and eating organic foods whenever possible.

Luna Moms Club

At Stroller Strides of Hershey we have a weekly playgroup called 'Mommies Lil Kisses' which is sponsored by Luna Bars and Luna Moms Club. The two companies partnered up because they have a lot in common. They both focus on and are passionate about moms' health and well-being and strive to do more than provide fun exercise classes and healthy great-tasting food. Moms understand life is about finding balance and nurturing the mind, body and spirit.

Luna Moms Club consists of 3 essential components:

1. Playgroups (once per week) Fun for mom. Fun for baby. The goal is to provide meaningful experiences for both mom and baby.

2. Mom's Night Out (once per month) This is Mom's time. Its easy to put yourself on the back burner during the first few years of motherhood. Its hard to do, but its important to focus on yourself once in a while. Delight in your personal passions - whether its a fun night of dancing, dinner at your favorite restaurant or discussing a book from the best seller list. Doing so helps maintain a strong sense of self and ultimately helps you be a better mom. This month we will be hosting a Healthy Child Healthy World (HCHW) home party which is dedicated to educating the public, specifically parents and caregivers, about environmental toxins that affect children's health. More on that to follow....

3. 'Moms with a Mission' (once per quarter). One of the platforms of Luna Bar is to better the community where we live and play through organizing and participating in activities focused on giving back to children, families and the environment. Not only can we make a huge impact in our community, but our actions will teach and inspire the next generation to do so as well.

We hope you will join us at one of our weekly playgroups for fun, social networking and inspire action to effect positive change surrounding women's health.

Top 5 Reasons to Buy Local, Organic Produce

1. Taste: Conventionally grown produce is typically picked before its ripe and trucked thousands of miles; gas is used to trigger ripening. It lacks the flavor of local, organic produce thats picked days instead of weeks before you eat it.

2. Pesticides in Food: Conventional farming relies heavily on pesticides, which are poisons designed to kill living organisms. As far back as 1987, a National Academy of Sciences report estimated that pesticides are responsible for up to 1.4 million cases of cancer.

3. Pesticides in Water: When pesticides are sprayed on food, they don't just contaminate the food we eat, but seep into the soil and get into our groundwater. According to EPA estimates, pesticides contaminate the groundwater in 38 states, polluting the primary source of drinking water for more than half the country's population.

4. Safer food supply: Monocultures are notoriously susceptible to disease. Locally produced, organic produce involves a wider variation in seed stock and better control over the conditions in which animals live and breed, creating a better long-term food supply.

5. For our children: Modern agricultural strips the soil of nutrients, increasing the need for fertilizers, which further erods soil quality. Its an irresponsible way to treat the earth that our children will depend on for the lifetime of meals they'll need to eat. Transporting food long distances requires a great amount of fossil fuel energy, which pollutes our water and air, while adding to the harmful impacts of global climate change.

(source: SustainLane)

Eating Healthy - It's A Family Affair

We've all heard we should limit sugar and unhealthy fats and eat a diet consisting of grains, fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy and other protein-rich foods. Kids need the same nutrients as Mom and Dad, only in different amounts. So what do you do when your kids won't even look at a vegetable?

Do this.........

* Be a good role model - if your children see you drinking milk and eating vegetables, chances are, they will too.

*Talk to your veggies - before offering your child a new food, talk about its color, texture, smell, size and what it might taste like. Let your kids help prepare it. Getting them involved with the food makes them more likely to eat it.

*Make a snack - With their small stomachs, kids fill up fast at mealtime. Building healthy snacks into their menu ensures they're getting enough to eat, and provides another opportunity to eat fruits and veggies throughout the day.

not this............

* The clean plate club - Trust your child's appetite and watch for cues, like playing with food, that tell you they are full. Forcing kids to eat more can lead to overeating.

* Critical statements - Try not to label your child a "picky eater." It may actually encourage them to live up to the name! Instead of criticizing, focus on your child's positive eating behaviors during mealtime.

* Edible rewards - Don't reward your child with food, which can lead to emotional eating down the road. Instead, praise their behavior with words, a hug or a gold star on the calendar.