good to know The American Academy of Pediatrics wants moms and dads to call their pediatrician.
With lives upended by the pandemic and national data showing immunization rates dipping to dangerously low levels, the group is urging parents to call their pediatricians to schedule check-ups and vaccines for children of all ages. “Parents have a lot on their minds right now. We want them to know pediatricians are open for business, and we are ready to schedule visits to make sure their children are fully immunized,” said AAP president Dr. Sally Goza. “We want to reassure parents that pediatricians have taken every step to make these visits safe.”
Pediatricians around the country are worried that while staying home for the COVID-19 pandemic, children may be at an increased risk for drowning.
The AAP urges families to add extra layers of protection to keep children safe around all sources of water in the home this summer, as caregivers may be distracted by work and other responsibilities. Resources on drowning prevention can be found at aap.org/drowning.
Multigenerational households are on the rise in Massachusetts. That’s according to a new study by SmartAsset, which found the Bay State No. 7 on their list of states where multigenerational households are becoming more common. Almost one in every 25 households in America consists of three or more generations living under the same roof, they found.
6 JULY2020
Ready to resume playdates? Here’s CDC tips for staying safe
As the country begins to reopen and restrictions are lifted, some parents are beginning to also have less restrictions on their children having play dates with their neighbors and classmates. Here are the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendations for playdates with friends: • Limit social interactions: Encourage older children to meet friends outside rather than inside. It’s easier to keep and maintain space between others in outdoor settings like parks. • Practice social distancing: If you do have small meetups, consider hanging out with another family or friend who is also taking extra cautious measures to distance themselves from others like you. Always try to maintain a 6-foot distance from each other. • Clean hands often: Make sure children practice preventive behaviors every day like washing their hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. This is especially important every time you are in a public place. • Open spaces: Families can organize small play dates in big open spaces like parks. Encourage children to take turns and not play simultaneously on equipment.
Fish and pregnancy:
benefits outweigh the risks, new study says To eat or not to eat fish is a question that has long concerned pregnant women. Now, a new study shows that children whose mothers ate moderate amounts of fish during pregnancy were more likely to have a better metabolic profile -- despite the risk of exposure to mercury -- than children whose mothers ate fish rarely. The research, published in JAMA, looked at 805 mother and child pairs from five European countries participating in a collaborative research project known as the HELIX study, which is following women and their children from pregnancy onwards. During their pregnancy, the women were asked about their weekly fish consumption and tested for mercury exposure. When the children were from 6 to 12 years old, they underwent a clinical examination with various measurements including waist circumference, blood pressure, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglyceride levels and insulin levels. These measures were combined to calculate a metabolic syndrome score. The study found that moderate fish consumption during pregnancy was associated with less inflammation as well as improvement in the metabolic profile of children. Exposure to high levels of mercury, however, had the opposite association. “Results of this study suggest that moderate fish intake consistent with current health recommendations during pregnancy was associated with improvements in the metabolic health of children, while high maternal mercury exposure was associated with an unfavorable metabolic profile in children,” said the author. Pregnant and breastfeeding women should eat 8 to 12 ounces (that's two to three servings) of low-mercury fish every week, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
