I just had a chance to go through some of the online chatter about the announcement last week of the new Text4Baby mobile phone service that provides useful information for new and expectant moms. There are some more details on what this service means on the JNJ.com website (Johnson & Johnson is one of the founding sponsors) as well as on JNJBTW and BabyCenter, but I thought I would highlight a few of the posts I came across:

1) MobiHealthNews provides a snapshot of how mobile services are being used around the world to improve health literacy, highlighting a presentation made by Paul Meyer, co-founder, president and chairman of Voxiva, at a meeting last week in Nashville:

“Although there is a perception that everyone is on in Internet, only 31 percent of the population making less than $35,000 a year has broadband. Meyer pointed out that while only 51 percent of people with chronic illness have Internet access, 90 percent of Americans have mobile phones and 1 trillion text messages were sent last year.”

2) The Spohrs are Multiplying provides a personal perspective on the importance of quality care and information in ensuring healthy moms and babies:

“Information is power as they say, and this is rarely ever more true than when pregnant. An expecting mother who is informed about how to be healthy when pregnant greatly improves her chances of having a healthy baby.”

3) Ivy’s PPD blog highlights the kinds of messages distributed through Text4Baby, including support from Postpartum Support International:

“Yes, that’s right. PSI is an outreach partner of text4baby, which means that texts related to mom’s mental health will connect women to PSI resources. This ground-breaking inclusion of mental health messages in this program will help reduce stigma around, minimize risk for, and increase awareness about perinatal mood disorders.”

And of course, our own Margaret Gurowitz provided an historical perspective on Johnson & Johnson’s efforts to provide information for new and expectant moms on her KilmerHouse blog.

While we are making strides against HIV/AIDS, there is so much more than can be done to save lives around the world. In developed countries we’ve been able to nearly eliminate the chance of babies being infected with HIV, but this isn’t the case for all babies born in many countries in Africa.

Anu Gupta, Director Corporate Contributions, Johnson & Johnson, spoke to Pat Farnack at WCBS 880 about what can be done to help prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV in African countries. Anu says that more than 1,000 babies are born with HIV every day, and many of those babies unfortunately will not live very long. Of those born with HIV/AIDS who remain untreated, 1/2 die by the time they are one year old, and 1/3 of those remaining before their second birthday. The tragedy is that these deaths are completely preventable, because it is possible to prevent mother-to-child transmission of the disease in the first place. 

Moms around the world need to have access to the necessary treatments that can prevent them from spreading HIV to their babies. Anu explained that to help with this, Johnson & Johnson partners with different aid organizations and community groups such as mothers2mothers who know the best ways to reach these mothers. 

You can listen to the interview or download the podcast here – and if you’d like to read more about mothers2mothers, there’s actually an earlier post on JNJBTW about one of the co-founders of mothers2mothers, Robin Smalley, here.

It turns out that this year’s hottest holiday toy is safe after all. After the recent media coverage around toy safety, many parents are left wondering if other toys on their children’s wish lists are safe, too. I thought it would be helpful to share some tips for making sure children’s toys are safe during this holiday season, courtesy of Safe Kids New Jersey:

1. Before shopping for toys, consider the child’s age, interest and skill level. A fun, but inappropriate toy for a particular child can be dangerous.
2. Make sure toys intended for older children are stored separately from those for younger children.
3. Keep toys with small parts away from children under age 3. They can choke on small toys and toy parts.
4. Check regularly for damage that could create small pieces that are choking hazards. Make any necessary repairs immediately, or discard damaged toys out of the reach of children.
5. Actively supervise children when they are playing with riding toys as well as any toy that has small balls and small parts, magnets, electrical or battery power, cords and strings, wheels or any other potential hazard. Simply being in the same room as your child is not necessarily supervising. Active supervision means keeping the child in sight and in reach while paying undivided attention.

According to Safe Kids, most toys are safe, especially if you buy from a reputable retailer. Parents can stay informed about harmful products by visiting http://www.recalls.gov/ and signing up for email alerts on recalled children’s products.

 If secondhand toys are purchased, or received from friends or relatives, parents should visit http://www.cpsc.gov/ and make sure the toy hasn’t been recalled for safety reasons.

Safe Kids New Jersey has more tips and resources on toy safety to help parents keep kids safe this holiday season-as well as important information about kitchen safety and holiday decorating safety.

Parents and students have a reason to be extra cautious on their way to and from school. I was surprised to learn from a new Safe Kids study that one out of every six drivers in school zones is distracted. The Safe Kids New Jersey blog issued the following warning to drivers:

Almost one in six drivers in a school zone behaves like a drunk driver. Multitasking while driving can have deadly consequences. Drivers need to shut off their phones and pay attention to the road, especially in areas that are filled with children.

Here are a few points from the study that I found interesting (and alarming):

• Unbelted drivers are 34 percent more likely to be distracted than belted drivers, meaning they are engaging in multiple unsafe driving behaviors.
• Afternoon drivers are 22 percent more likely to be distracted than morning drivers, which is also the time of day when one in three child pedestrian deaths occur (according to Safe Kids New Jersey).
• Women are 21 percent more likely to be distracted than men, mostly by cell phones and grooming while driving.

I wasn’t too surprised when I read that the use of devices like cell phones, PDAs and Smartphones was the leading cause of distraction. In New Jersey, like many other states across the U.S., it is illegal to use a handheld cell phone and text while driving. But, every day on my way to and from work I see my fellow motorists with one hand on the wheel and the other holding a cell phone. I wonder why so many drivers risk their safety, and the safety of other drivers and pedestrians.

Spread the word and ask your friends and family members to turn off the phone and focus on the road while driving.

It’s back to school time, and many kids may find they can no longer see the blackboard as clearly as they did last year. Children that need vision correction and are active, or even those who just want a new look, may be asking their parents if they can wear contact lenses instead of glasses. 

According to a recent survey parents may be the largest barrier to children making the switch to contact lenses. Parents are sometimes concerned that contact lenses may be too difficult for their kids to take care of. Mary Lou French O.D., F.A.A.O., M.Ed. is an eye doctor that specializes in children’s eye care and offered the following tips to parents of children who want to wear contact lenses:

I find that parents do not think that their child is mature enough to wear and care for contact lenses. With the current lens modalities available, such as daily lenses and 2 week lenses, the worry about hygiene is minimized. If they want lenses they will listen to the instruction on the care and cleaning of the lenses.

If your child has an active lifestyle and requires vision correction then contact lenses could be the best choice. Contact lenses improve depth perception and peripheral vision, which is important for sports of all types. Contact lenses do not break, fall off of the face, or need constant adjustment and repair. And they can be worn just for that sport if needed, leaving the glasses at home. 

Recent research supports the fact that kids are successful contact lens wearers, and that has also been my experience caring for children’s eyes for the last 32 years!

Additionally, contact lenses may offer kids benefits beyond vision correction. According to the ACHIEVE study, contact lenses offer both girls and boys greater freedom in sports and other physical activities and may boost confidence in academic performance as well. For girls in particular, the switch from glasses to contact lenses can have a significant impact on improving self-esteem. To see one girl’s view of all this, check out the video that was just uploaded to the corporate website.

Hearing from Dr. French got me to thinking about eye health and kids. Now as you may know, I’m a big fan of Safe Kids, and I found they offer more information about children’s eye health and safety that parents should check out.

Update: This is a great piece about how one mother determined whether her daughter was ready to wear contact lenses.  

Safe Kids USA issued an important hot weather safety alert: 

Never leave your child alone in a car! Did you know that when left in a hot vehicle, a young child’s core body temperature may increase three to five times faster than that of an adult’s and can reach dangerous levels within minutes?

Watch the video for more information and safety tips:

Safe Kids has been keeping children safe for more than 20 years. Find out more about Raising Safe Kids, One Stage at a Time

Now that we are in warm weather season, I seem to be spending most of my weekends reminding my son — and his friends in the neighborhood — to WEAR THEIR HELMETS whenever they hop on their bikes, skateboards or scooters.
(This weekend, in fact, I had to add “go cart” to that list after my son and his friend threw one together using some of the scrap lumber in the garage.)

Most of the time, my pleas are met with blank stares or the occasional “why.” Well now, thanks to an article in today’s USAToday, I have yet another example of why they should keep their helmets on.

The article opens with the story of a mom who returned home to discover her 10-year-old son laid out in the street, his head in a neckbrace, his smashed bike beside him. Fortunately, her son remembered to wear his helmer. According to the article:

discover her son had that underscored the good work that Safe Kids has been doing to improve childhod safety. “The No. 1 killer of children is not cancer or diabetes or obesity,” Korn says. “It’s unintentional injuries, or accidents. And almost every single one of them is preventable.”

Having observed the efforts of Safe Kids for several years now, I know that by taking some basic steps you can greatly reduce the incidence of childhood injury. Yet as experts like Safe Kids have found, parents need to remain vigilant and to stay firm with their kids to ensure that they keep those helmets on. I know from experience that this isn’t always easy to do — but based on stories like the one related in the USToday, it is worth the effort.

I wanted to share an interesting idea we’ve initiated on the Johnson & Johnson health channel. It’s a series we call “Real Moms.”

I’ve invited Mommy Vlogers to submit videos on topics relevant to them, and which might be helpful to a larger audience.

So far, I’ve received videos on safety tips for toddlers, how to make homemade baby food, and teaching your kids to be ecologically friendly. They don’t have to be perfect — most have been made on a flip cam — and I do post most of the videos sent to me, as long as they don’t reference specific products. To compensate the vlogers I pay $100 for each video used.

One of my favorites was done by Colleen Padilla (Classy Mommy) on tips about how to keep from going stir crazy with your kids when stuck inside during bad weather.

I’m always looking for more content, so if you are interested, just let me know by clicking “send message” on the Johnson & Johnson health channel.

Since Monday, two more videos have been added to the Johnson & Johnson health channel on YouTube that help bring the report issued this week by Safe Kids USA to life.

The first provides different safety tips for parents of children who are between one and four years old:

The second video does the same for bigger kids, between five and ten years old:

As a parent of two kids, I find that much of my “parenting” energy is spent trying to keep them safe. This weekend, for instance, I must have told my 13-year-old about a dozen times to wear a helmet when cycling before he finally put one on. But my it wasn’t always just about wearing protective gear — as my children have grown up, the kind of guidance I’ve provided has changed.

This year (as Sarah Colamarino pointed out in an earlier post) Safe Kids USA issued a safety report that, for the first time ever, provides a road map for parents of different safety hints and suggestions that are age appropriate. The report is divided into different stages of development, and to help bring each section to life, several videos are being placed on the Johnson & Johnson health channel on YouTube. The first covers the first 12 months.