Red Hots - Get your Hot Dogs Here...

By Diane Forrest (and Terry)

Today is National Hot Dog Day.  When I think of hot dogs, several things come to mind, the first being America.  Ever hear the phrase 'as American and baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet”?  That was an advertisement slogan for Chevrolet back in the 70's and I guess it stuck with me, because I think of hot dogs as the all American food.   My son recently went to Atlanta to watch his first professional baseball game with the Braves playing.  The first thing I asked him was, "Did you get a hot dog?"   You could have heard my gasp across the house as he informed me that he had gotten a pretzel instead!  How was that possible??? Pretzels and baseball don't go together!!!

A hot dog is simply a sausage in a roll, usually topped with a variety of condiments.  It's hard to determine the exact origin.  One story states that street venders used to sell the sausages and provided customers with white gloves to use so they would not get burned.  However, they would leave with the gloves.  They began putting the sausages in rolls to save on the cost of gloves.  In 1893 they began selling them at baseball games and amusement parks.  Today, over 30 million hot dogs are sold at baseball games.

There have been many nicknames for hot dogs that have popped up over the years. A hot dog can often be seen under the names of frankfurter, frank, red hot, wiener, weenie, durger, coney, or just "dog". They are very popular with children for their easy handling and can be found on children's menus in several restaurants.

Many regional areas have their own signature hot dog.  Some different types include:

Chicago Dog - A beef hot dog made with 100% pure beef and topped with pickle, relish, tomato, sport peppers, celery salt and mustard all served up in a soft, warm poppy seed bun.

New York Dog - A beef hot dog made with 100% pure beef and grilled to perfection and topped with spicy brown mustard, grilled onions and crunchy sauerkraut in a soft, warm bakery bun.

All-American Dog - It's a beef hot dog made with 100% pure beef that's grilled to perfection and topped with ketchup, yellow mustard, and relish and chopped onions and served in a soft, warm bakery bun.

Chili Cheese Coney -  It's a grilled beef hot dog made with 100% pure beef and topped with warm chili and melted cheddar cheese served in a soft, warm bakery bun.

Baja Dog - This dog's got bite. With melted pepper jack, tomatoes, chopped onions and spicy jalapenos in a poppy seed bun.

On July 4th every year, Nathan's Famous hot dog company holds a hot dog eating contest.  This year the winner, Joey Chestnut, ate 62 hot dogs in 10 minutes making him the winner for the 5th consecutive year.

You can't watch an episode of Matlock without seeing him down a dog or two "all the way” My favorite way is simply a line of mustard down the middle of the wiener.  When I’m really hungry, I will get a chili cheese dog with a side of onion rings and a chocolate milk shake.   My husband liked his cooked on a stick over a campfire.   Since I couldn't build a fire every time he wanted a hot dog, but did have a gas stove, I would put a couple of dogs on a long fork and hold them over the flame until they were properly burned.

And lets up not forget Alice Cooper's monster hot dogs, just down the street from the Arizona D-Backs ball park in Phoenix, AZ.  A few years ago while visiting my sister, we tackled this monster...three of us...and could not finish it.

However you like your hot dogs, why not grab one today in honor of National Hot Dog Day and let us know your favorite way to eat them.

"HOT DOGS, Ar-mour HOT DOGS

What kind of kids love Ar-mour HOT DOGS?

Big kids, lit-tle kids, kids who climb on rocks

fat kids, skin-ny kids, ev-en kids with chicken pox

love HOT DOGS, Ar-mour HOT DOGS

The dogs kids love to bite!"

Car Seat Safety - Overview

Over the next couple of days, we will be covering Car Seat Safety for children.  As we found out during our research into the topic, lots of folks have distinctive view on what is and what they believe is right.  In general, we would consider that fine – but large percentages are putting their children and selves at risk.

As with most of our articles in July and with those planned for August are on Safety – Central Theme Safety First!

Infant and child car seats save lives. The laws in each state are different. Most states require them for all children under age 4 and those weighing less than 40 pound. But some states require car seats to be used for children up to age 6 or 60 pounds.

A child who is not in a car seat can be seriously injured or killed during a crash or an abrupt stop, even at low speeds. A parent's arms are not strong enough to hold and protect a baby during a car accident. Many unrestrained children die because they are torn from an adult's arms during an accident.

Here are some sobering statistics for parents: Motor vehicle crashes kill more children ages 14 and under than anything else, claiming nearly 2,400 lives and resulting in approximately 270,000 injuries each year. The vast majority of those crashes occur within 25 miles of home, and most occur on roads with posted speed limits of 40 mph or less. (edmunds.com)

The key to keeping your child safe when riding in a car is to use an age-appropriate child restraint that is properly installed and properly used. Proper restraints for your child when riding in a car depend on his age and size. (Children’s Hospital)

Perhaps the most important investment you can make in your child's future is a child safety seat. A child safety seat prevents your child from being thrown about or out of the vehicle.  Most communities have free Care Seat Safety Inspections- so find one close to your home and have them inspected!

Please take a few minutes to take the quiz and join us tomorrow for part two of this series.  Thank you.

http://pediatrics.about.com/cs/quizzes/l/bl_car_seat_qz.htm

References and good links:

1.       Consumer Reports.org http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/babies-kids/baby-toddler/car-seats/index.htm

2.       http://www.car-safety.org/faq.html

3.       A wide variety of training programs are available on child passenger safety.

4.    National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (www.nhtsa.gov)

Hammock Day - 2011

Terry's idea of relaxing

By Diane Forrest, 

Today is Hammock Day, when I think of hammocks; the first thing that comes to mind is Gilligan's Island.  Growing up watching Gilligan and the Skipper sleeping in their hammocks seemed like a natural way to sleep the night away.  I on the other hand could never quite get the hang of operating a hammock.  They look so uncomplicated, until you try to lay down on one.  They flip!  They never showed this with Gilligan.  When I would finally get laid out flat on one, after being thrown out several times, I would have to lay straight as a board so I would stay put.  Not a very comfortable form of sleeping for me.

A hammock is a sling made out of cloth or netting suspended between two points for the purpose of sleeping, or relaxing.  They were first used in the tropical islands to allow inhabitatants to sleep off the ground to avoid animal and insect bites.  Their use was discovered by Christopher Columbus, and he introduced them to the European countries.  Later they were used aboard Navy ships, not only for their comfort, but also because they maximize the use of space.  They were also used aboard the space flights for the same reasons.

In Venezuela, entire villages raise their families on hammocks.  They allow them to be out of danger from snakes and scorpions that inhabit the area.

My son traveled to Bolivia on two occasions with a mission group from our church.  They used hammocks for sleeping during their trip, and he liked them so much he brought one home for himself and some friends.  However they must have lost their appeal during the trip home, from the jungles of Bolivia to the back yard of Mississippi wasn't quite the same.  So, he took it down and packed it away for his next exotic adventure.

Today people use hammocks while camping.  They are easier to carry than a tent, and they don't cause any disturbances in nature while being used.  People also place them in their gardens at home to use for relaxing on warm summer days.  They come in several different styles, some are even built for 2 or more people.

If you have a hammock, take a few hours and go out and relax on it.  If you don't have one, try finding some old reruns of Gilligan's Island on TV, or hulu. 

Baby and Child Proofing around the House- Part Two

Prevent poisoning

According to the CPSC, more than 1 million possible poisonings of children under age 5 are reported and an average of 30 children die from poisoning each year.

Be prepared. Keep the number for the national poison control center — (800) 222-1222 in the United States — and your local emergency numbers close to every phone.

Store poisonous products out of your child's reach. Put safety locks on all cabinets and drawers that hold bug sprays, cleaning products, medications, and other potential poisons. Remember that even some houseplants can be harmful if ingested.

Dispose of old or outdated medications. But don't flush them down the toilet or pour them down the drain, as they could contaminate the water supply. If you live in the United States, ask your local waste disposal agency whether there's a program in place for safely getting rid of them. You can also ask whether your pharmacy will take back expired medication. If these options aren't available, you'll have to throw the drugs away in the trash — but first be sure to secure them so your little one can't get to them.

Watch out for hidden poisons. Not all poisons are easy to spot. Carbon monoxide is an odorless and colorless gas produced by malfunctioning fuel-burning appliances such as furnaces, water heaters, ovens, stoves, gas dryers, and emergency generators. Although you can't see it, smell it, or taste it, carbon monoxide gas can be deadly.

To protect your family, install a carbon monoxide detector in every sleeping area in your home, including the nursery. Check the batteries every spring and fall when you change your clocks. If the alarm goes off, leave your home immediately and call 911 or the local emergency number.

Look out for lead. If you live in a building constructed before 1978, it may contain lead paint. Lead paint is especially dangerous to your child if it's flaking or peeling. Lead can also be found in tap water from older pipes that are lined or soldered with lead. Breathing lead dust or fumes or swallowing anything with lead in it can give a child lead poisoning, which can cause learning disabilities, kidney disease, brain damage, growth delay, and other problems.

If there's exposed or deteriorating lead paint in your home, have a licensed professional either remove it completely or cover it with an approved sealant. Until the lead can be removed, wash your child's hands and face, as well as his toys, often to reduce his exposure to lead-contaminated dust. For information on how to get a paint sample analyzed, visit the National Lead Information Center's Web site or call (800) 424-5323.

Prevent drowning

According to the CPSC, about 115 children under age 5 drown each year — not in a pool, but in their own home.

Tubs, toilets, and even buckets of water are all potential dangers. That's why it's important to practice water safety at home.

Most in-home drowning deaths occur in bathtubs. Never leave your baby unattended in the tub — even if he's in a ring or bath seat. In fact, supervise your child whenever he's in the bathroom, and install a safety latch on your toilet lid to prevent him from accidentally falling in. For more helpful hints, see childproofing your bathroom.

Infants and toddlers can drown in as little as an inch of water, according to the CPSC. This seemingly unlikely scenario happens because young children are top-heavy. If they lose their balance (as they often do) while peering into a toilet or bucket, they can fall in headfirst and get stuck.

Never leave a bucket of water or other liquid unattended. If you're using a bucket of water for mopping or cleaning, pour out the water as soon as you're finished.

Finally, take great care around pools and hot tubs. If you have a wading pool, drain it and store it upright after each use. If you have a permanent pool, enclose it with a fence that's at least 4 feet high, and lock the gate leading to the pool after each use. Always secure the cover on your spa or hot tub.

Prevent fires

Nearly 2,500 children were injured or killed in residential fires, and more than half of those children were under the age of 5, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Experts say that a working smoke alarm can cut in half the chances of dying in a fire. Install smoke alarms in every room of the house. Check them monthly to be sure they're working, and change the batteries every year. Consider installing smoke alarms that use long-life (10-year) batteries.

If you have a fireplace, keep a fire extinguisher nearby, and have it serviced or checked according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Start talking to your child about the dangers of fire. Make an evacuation plan and practice your fire escape route regularly.

Do you hate the feel of flame-retardant sleepwear? Softer, non-flame-retardant garments can be okay under certain conditions. See our article Childproofing Your Nursery for details.

Prepare for an emergency

Program emergency numbers into your home phones and cell phone. Keep a list of these numbers close to each phone in your home and give the list to all caregivers. Have on hand the local poison control number, or the number for the national poison control center, (800) 222-1222 in the United States, which will immediately put you in contact with the closest center.

Stock up on first-aid supplies. Make sure babysitters and other caregivers know where to find these supplies in your home and how to respond in an emergency.

Baby and Child Proofing around the House - Part One

Parents worry endlessly about how to protect their children from stranger abduction and violence, but many overlook one of the biggest threats to their children's safety and well-being — their own home. Experts say that children between the ages of 1 and 4 are more likely to be killed by fire, burns, drowning, choking, poisoning, or falls than by a stranger's violence.

About 2.5 million children are injured or killed each year by dangers right in their own home, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). That's why it's so important to carefully childproof your home.

Because childproofing and other safety measures can seem overwhelming, we've created three checklists that let you see at a glance what to do before your baby arrives, before your baby crawls, and before your baby starts toddling and climbing. You'll also find safety tips in our articles about childproofing your nursery, kitchen, and bathroom.

Here are some additional recommendations — along with some revealing statistics — about what you need to do to keep your baby safe at home.

Gadgets galore

You'll find all kinds of gadgets for sale that can really help your home childproofing efforts. Or, if you can afford it, you can hire a professional childproofer to choose and install safety devices for you. But keep in mind: Gadgets are no substitute for your eyes and ears.

Scope out the territory

The most effective way to ensure your baby's safety is to take a baby's-eye view of your home. Get down on your hands and knees and see how things look from down there.

What's within reach? What looks tempting? Where would you go if you could crawl, toddle, or walk? This will help you figure out which cupboards, drawers, and other spaces your child might get into. As he starts walking and climbing, you'll have to reevaluate again, looking higher each time.

Carefully lock up or stow away every potential poison or other hazard, including cleaning products, medicines, vitamins, and knives. Another option is to use gates to limit your child's access to areas of your home that might contain dangerous items.

Keep an eye out for any tiny objects that your baby could choke on. Pick up any coins, marbles, beads, paper clips, and other small objects you find on low tables or the floor or in low drawers or cupboards.

Be watchful when you have visitors, too. No matter how carefully you've childproofed the house, Great-Aunt Jane probably hasn't applied your standards to her purse. Aspirin, lipstick, and other items that people typically carry with them are dangerous to small children.

(800) 222-1222 It's a good idea to protect electrical outlets with outlet covers. However, the removable little plug-in caps can easily end up in your baby's mouth. Instead, replace the outlet cover itself — at least those that are accessible — with one that includes a sliding safety latch. If you're using any extension cords in your home, you should insulate the junction points with electrical tape.

You'll have to reevaluate these precautionary measures as your child grows.  Childproofing is an ongoing process.

Use caution with furniture and fixtures

According to the CPSC, at least 5,000 children under the age of 10 go to the emergency room each year with injuries caused when television sets, bookcases, and other furniture and appliances have tipped over on them. About six people die from furniture tip-overs every year, most of them children under the age of 5.

Large or heavy bookcases, dressers, and appliances are real hazards: Bolt whatever you can to the wall. Push items like televisions back from the edge of the furniture they're on or move them out of reach, and then secure them, too. Always put heavier items on bottom shelves and in bottom drawers to make furniture less top-heavy.

Babies start pulling up on furniture shortly after they start crawling. And when they learn how to climb, watch out! Some children scale counters, bookcases, and anything else they can grab on to. Take care to place floor lamps behind other furniture so that their bases are out of your child's reach.

Be sure to keep dresser drawers closed when you're not using them — they make perfect ladders. And be particularly careful to fully close file cabinet drawers, since pulling out one drawer could cause the cabinet to fall over.

Furniture corners are another common hazard, especially those found on coffee tables. Cover all sharp corners and hearth edges with bumpers to soften the impact if your child falls.

Install gates

Most parents consider safety gates essential childproofing tools. They allow you to open outside doors for air while keeping your child indoors, they contain him within a designated room, and they block his access to dangerous stairways and forbidden rooms (such as the bathroom or kitchen).

Unfortunately, if out-of-date or used improperly, safety gates can themselves pose a hazard to children. In general, look for gates your child can't dislodge but that you can easily open and close. (Otherwise, you'll be too tempted to leave them open when you're in a hurry.) For the top of the stairs, install a gate that screws to the wall rather than one that stays put by using pressure — it's much more secure.

It's best to buy brand-new safety gates, making sure they display a seal from the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA). Choose a gate with a straight-slat design rather than an older accordion-style gate with V-shaped openings, says Altman. "They can pose an entrapment and strangulation hazard."

Check ties on blinds and curtains.

According to the CPSC, the cords on window coverings are a frequent cause of strangulation of children under 5. The younger victims, usually between 10 and 15 months of age, are typically in cribs placed near windows with pull cords.

Window blinds pose a particular hazard because a baby's neck could become trapped in the cords that raise the blinds or run through the slats. A child can become entangled in a looped window cord and strangle in a matter of minutes.

If the crib must be near a window, either cut off the pull cords or use cord shorteners or wind-ups to keep them out of reach. You can also replace a cord loop with a safety tassle. Window blinds sold since November 2000 have attachments on the pull cords to prevent a loop from forming between the slats.

If you bought your blinds before November 2000, visit the Window Covering Safety Council's Web site or call (800) 506-4636 to order a free repair kit.

National Junk Food Day

By Diane Forrest

Proper nutrition has been a very prevalent topic in the news lately.  Changes have been made to the food pyramid and the first lady, Mrs. Obama has made nutrition her top priority.  There have been changes made in school lunches as well as the removal of all snack machines in schools.  Better nutrition has been on a lot of minds lately.  Today however, you can forget about all that!  Today is National Junk Food Day, a day where you can eat whatever you want without feeling any guilt, as long as you return to a nutritious, healthy diet tomorrow.

What is Junk Food?   Junk food is a term that was coined in 1972 to describe food with empty calories, or no nutritional value.  People have different tastes when it comes to junk food.  Some like sweets, while others like salty.  Some like fried, some baked.  There was a study done that suggests that junk food alters the brain's activity.  To prove this they fed a diet of junk food to lab rats for many weeks, and then replaced the junk food with a healthy diet, and the rats starved for 2 weeks!!!

I don’t consider myself to be a junk food junkie, however one year while working on a portable health clinic I was invited to the annual conference in Tampa Florida.  It was a weeklong conference, and all the meals were provided.  The theme of the conference was healthy eating.  Well you can guess what the menu was like.  Needless to say my digestive system was all out of whack, and by Friday I was chowing down on some scrambled eggs, bacon, grits and biscuits, with a cream cheese Danish on the side!

So on Junk food day, throw caution to the wind and eat some of your favorite empty calorie, no nutrition foods and toss out the guilt, cause tomorrow it's back to healthy eating once again.

Did you know:

• The average American eats about 24.5 pounds of candy per year, with 11.6 pounds being chocolate candy
• There are 3,961 confectionery and nut stores in the U.S.
• The top five ice cream flavors are vanilla, chocolate, butter pecan, strawberry and chocolate chip mint
• More than 90% of households in the U.S. consume ice cream
• Not into candy or desserts? The U.S. has 12,804 McDonald's restaurants

Juvenile Arthritis Awareness Month

By Vivian Takafuji CMT, MQT, PhD

Arthritis describes a chronic inflammation of the joints of the body. Not just a disease afflicting the elderly, children can develop arthritis as well! Juvenile arthritis (JA) refers to any arthritis-related condition that develops in children or teenagers less than 18 years of age. According to the Arthritis Foundation, approximately 294,000 children are affected by some form of JA in the United States today. Localized pain and limited range of motion and flexibility in the joints are indications of JA progression. As a parent, if you notice a change in gait, the favoring of a limb over time, or persistent back or joint pain, a physician’s consultation will help determine a proper diagnosis and treatment for your child.

Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) is an arthritic condition in children (usually before the age of 16) that is characterized by long-standing joint pain, stiffness, redness, and swelling. JRA is considered to be an autoimmune disorder in which the child’s immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys healthy joint tissue. Body-wide symptoms can also be present, including high fever, rash of the trunk and extremities, and swollen lymph glands.

Treatment of JA should be conservative. When a few joints are involved, rest, gentle movement, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory supplements may be sufficient to control low-level pain and discomfort. Children who suffer with body-wide (rheumatologic) arthritis may require further medication such as disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs to decrease inflammation in the body. Natural supplements such as Omega-3 fatty acids, Glucosamine, and Chondroitin may also help to lower overall inflammation levels and to improve joint function.