April 7, 2013 - World Health Day Control Your Blood Pressure

World Health Day is celebrated on April 7 to commemorate the founding of the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1948. Each year a theme is chosen to address a significant global health concern. The theme for World Health Day 2013 is controlling high blood pressure, which affects more than one in three adults worldwide. High blood pressure or hypertension can lead to fatal heart attacks, strokes, and chronic heart and kidney disease.

Many people do not know they have high blood pressure because it does not always cause symptoms. Hypertension is easily diagnosed and treated if health care services are available. 

For many people, lifestyle changes are sufficient to control blood pressure. For others, medication is needed.
Early detection is key; all adults should know their blood pressure.

Salt Matters: Preserving Choice, 
Protecting Health

Where does sodium come from?

Sodium comes from natural sources or are added to foods. Most foods in their natural state contain some sodium. However, the majority of sodium Americans consume comes from sodium added to processed foods by manufacturers. While some of this sodium is added to foods for safety reasons, the amount of salt added to processed foods is above what is required for safety and function of the food supply.

Reading Labels
When you buy prepared and packaged foods, read the labels. You can tell the sodium content by looking at the Nutrition Facts panel of a food. Listed are the amount for sodium, in milligrams (mg), and the “% Daily Value.” Also read the ingredient list to watch for the words "soda" (referring to sodium bicarbonate, or baking soda), "sodium" and the symbol "Na" to see if the product contains sodium.

Salt and/or Sodium Descriptors
Salt Free:  Meets requirements for "sodium free."
Sodium Free: Fewer than 5 milligrams sodium per serving.
Very Low Sodium:  35 milligrams or less sodium per serving.
Low Sodium: 140 milligrams or less per serving 
Reduced Sodium:  At least 25 percent less sodium per serving.
Unsalted:  Has no salt added during processing. To use this term, the product it resembles must normally be processed with salt and the label must note that the food is not a sodium-free food if it does not meet the requirements for "sodium free".

The FDA and USDA state an individual food that has the claim "healthy" must not exceed 480 mg sodium per reference amount. "Meal type" products must not exceed 600 mg sodium per labeled serving size.

Sodium and Hypertension.
In order for a food to make an Allowable Health Claim it must contain a defined amount of nutrients. In relationship to sodium and Hypertension the amount is 140 milligrams or less sodium per serving.

American Heart Association (AHA)
The American Heart Association recommends you choose and prepare foods with little or no salt to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Aim to eat less than 1,500 mg of sodium per day (less that 3/4 teaspoon of salt).
The AHA is working with federal agencies to identify ways to reduce the amount of sodium in the food supply. The association is encouraging food manufacturers and restaurants to reduce the amount of sodium in foods by 50 percent over a 10-year period. AHA will help Americans lower the amount of sodium they consume by the following strategies:
 1. Reduce the amount of sodium in the food supply,
 2. Make more healthy foods available (e.g., more fruits and vegetables); and
 3. Provide consumers with education and decision-making tools to make better choices.

 Tips for reducing sodium in the diet
 1.  Choose fresh, frozen or canned food items without added salts.
 2.  Select unsalted nuts or seeds, dried beans, peas and lentils.
 3.  Limit salty snacks like chips and pretzels.
 4.  Avoid adding salt and canned vegetables to homemade dishes.
 5.  Select unsalted, lower sodium, fat-free broths, bouillons or soups.
 6.  Select fat-free or low-fat milk, low-sodium, low-fat cheeses and low-fat yogurt.
 7.  Use spices and herbs to enhance the taste of your food. 
 8.  Add fresh lemon juice instead of salt to fish and vegetables.
 9.  When dining out, ask for your dish to be prepared without salt.
10. Don’t use the salt shaker. 

Resources.
WHO, A global brief on hypertension

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). National High Blood Pressure Education Program

The International Society of Hypertension (ISH). ISH's main objectives are to promote and encourage the advancement of scientific knowledge in all aspects of research and its application to prevention and management of heart disease and stroke in hypertension and related cardiovascular diseases around the world. 

The World Hypertension League (WHL). The objectives of the World Hypertension League (WHL) are to promote the detection, control and prevention of arterial hypertension in populations.

November 20, Universal Children's Day

The future of tomorrow are the children of today.The world is fighting to meet the target of reaching the eight Millennium Development Goals by marking Universal Children's Day on November 20.

A review of organizations dedicated to improving the quality of Children's lives. Presented through songs, news reports, mission statements and children.

WHO (World Health Organization)

United Nation

UNICEF. Voices of Youth
Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Kids Eat Right 
Free the Children

We Day
Centre for Child Honouring

Universal Children's Day, 20 November
Produced by: Fabrica


The Meaning of Universal Children's Day

By resolution 836(IX) of 14 December 1954, the General Assembly recommended that all countries institute a Universal Children's Day, to be observed as a day of worldwide fraternity and understanding between children. It recommended that the Day was to be observed also as a day of activity devoted to promoting the ideals and objectives of the Charter and the welfare of the children of the world. The Assembly suggested to governments that the Day be observed on the date and in the way which each considers appropriate. The date 20 November, marks the day on which the Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, in 1959, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, in 1989.

In 2000 world leaders outlined Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – which range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education, all by the target date of 2015. Though the Goals are for all humankind, they are primarily about children.

UN launches new drive to protect children

Voices of Youth

More than ever before, young people are recognized as having rights -
and as having an active role to play in asserting those rights.

WHO (World Health Organization). 
10 Facts On Nutrition

1. Malnutrition is a major contributor to disease and early deaths for mothers and children. Undernutrition, including vitamin and mineral deficiencies, contributes to about one third of all child deaths, and impairs healthy development. At the same time, growing rates of overweight are linked to a rise in chronic diseases. The result is a double burden of malnutrition.

2. An indicator of chronic malnutrition is stunting. This is when children are too short for their age group. About 165 million children globally are stunted resulting from not enough food, a vitamin-mineral poor diet, inadequate child care and disease. As growth slows down, brain development lags and stunted children learn poorly.

3. Wasting and bilateral edema are severe forms of malnutrition - resulting from acute food shortages and compounded by illness. About 1.5 million children die annually due to wasting. Rising food prices, food scarcity in areas of conflict, and natural disasters diminish household access to appropriate and adequate food, all of which can lead to wasting.

4. Essential vitamins and minerals in the diet are vital to boost immunity and healthy development. Vitamin A, zinc, iron and iodine deficiencies are primary public health concerns. About 2 billion people are affected by inadequate iodine nutrition worldwide. More than one third of preschool-age children globally are vitamin A deficient. Vitamin A deficiency is the leading cause of preventable blindness in children.

5. Maternal undernutrition leads to poor fetal development and higher risk of pregnancy complications. Together, maternal and child undernutrition account for more than 10 percent of the global burden of disease.

6. For healthier babies, WHO recommends exclusive breastfeeding for six months, introducing age-appropriate and safe complementary foods at six months, and continuing breastfeeding for up to two years or beyond. Worldwide, about 20% of deaths among children under-five could be avoided if these feeding guidelines are followed. Appropriate feeding decreases rates of stunting and obesity and stimulates intellectual development in young children.

7. Nutritional problems in adolescents start during childhood and continue into adult life. Anemia is a key nutritional problem in adolescent girls. Preventing early pregnancies and assuring adequate intakes of essential nutrients for developing girls can reduce maternal and child deaths later, and stop cycles of malnutrition from one generation to the next. Globally, anemia affects 42% of pregnant women.

8. The rise in overweight and obesity worldwide is a major public health challenge. People of all ages and backgrounds face this form of malnutrition. As a consequence, rates of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and other diet-related conditions are escalating worldwide. These are very difficult to treat in places with limited resources and with already overburdened health systems. About 43 million children under age five are overweight, according to 2011 figures. 

9. Nutrition information is required to identify the areas where assistance is most needed. WHO released international child growth standards that provide benchmarks to compare children's nutritional status within and across countries and regions. 

10. Public education is another way to improve nutritional health. Starting in China during the Beijing Olympics, and continuing in other countries, WHO and Member States will promote "5 keys" to a healthy diet:

a. give your baby only breast milk for the first six months of life

b. eat a variety of foods

c. eat plenty of vegetables and fruits

d. eat moderate amounts of fat and oils

e. eat less salt and sugars

Resources

Kids Eat Right

November 2010, the American Dietetic Association (ADA) and ADA Foundation officially launched their first joint initiative, Kids Eat Right. The two-tiered campaign aims to mobilize ADA members to participate in childhood obesity prevention efforts, and to educate families, communities, and policy makers about the importance of quality nutrition.

Mission: The Kids Eat Right campaign was launched to support public education projects and programs that address the national health concern of obesity among our children.

. 

To learn more about the Kids Eat Right Campaign visit:

Website. Kids Eat Right

Facebook.  Kids Eat Right

Free the Children

Free The Children's We Create Change campaign is one of Canada's largest penny drives. The goal is to provide clean water to 100,000 people in the Adopt a Village communities around the world. 

We Day 

"Raffi" (Raffi Cavoukian), C.M., O.B.C. 

Founder and Chair, Centre for Child Honouring.

"Imagine a new idea as vital as democracy.
Now imagine helping it spread
quickly throughout the world! Child Honouring is one such idea,
an idea whose time has come.

 - Raffi

He is known to millions as "Raffi", a beloved songwriter and performer, author, ecology advocate and founder of Centre for Child Honouring. Child Honouring is a vision for creating a humane and sustainable world by addressing the universal needs of children.

Centre for Child Honouring and join "the compassion revolution."

Covenant for Honouring Children

 

Turn This World Around

Raffi's tribute to humanity's hero sprang from Mandelas call to global leaders in 2000 to turn this world around, for the children. In 2001, Raffi sang this for Nelson Mandela at Torontos Ryerson University. The song expresses the essence of Raffi's Child Honouring philosophy, a children-first paradigm for societal change. A child-friendly world enriches all of us, and offers the best chance to create sustainable cultures. All children want to live in peace, and to follow their dreams.

April 7, 2012 - World Health Day "Good Health Adds Life to Years"

Ageing and health - to which each and every one of us can relate - is the 2012 theme of World Health Day. Using the slogan "Good health adds life to years", campaign activities and materials focus on how good health throughout life can help older men and women lead full and productive lives and be a resource for their families and communities. 

Over the past century life expectancy has increased dramatically and the world will soon have more older people than children. This social transformation represents both challenges and opportunities. In particular, countries may only have a single generation to prepare their health and social systems for an ageing world. http://www.who.int/world-health-day/2012/en/index.html

Good Health and Staying Active
Adds Life to Years

World Health Day April 7, 2011

Antimicrobial Resistance and its Global Spread

World Health Day 2011 is dedicated to antimicrobial resistance, a major threat to patient care and disease control throughout the world. Antimicrobial resistance is a significant obstacle to success in controlling HIV, malaria and tuberculosis—three of the world's leading infectious killers. This serious problem also makes it more difficult to treat hospital-acquired infections, facilitates the emergence of "superbugs" that are resistant to major antibiotics, and creates the need for new, more expensive and more complex treatments.

For World Health Day 2011, WHO launchs a worldwide campaign to safeguard these medicines for future generations.

In recent decades, the development and spread of antimicrobial resistance has dramatically accelerated. This situation is related with the increased use of antimicrobials. An estimated half of the antimicrobials employed are used improperly. They are often prescribed to treat other health problems, which don't need antimicrobials, the treatment is not completed as indicated or the quality of the medicines is not adequate. World Health Day 2011 seeks to raise awareness of factors that contribute to antimicrobial resistance, to build commitment to common solutions across diseases, and to encourage the implementation of policies and practices that can prevent and contain antimicrobial resistance.

We live in an era of medical breakthroughs with new wonder drugs available to treat conditions that a few decades ago, or even a few years ago in the case of HIV/AIDS, would have proved fatal. Antimicrobial resistance and its global spread threaten the continued effectiveness of many medicines used today to treat the sick, while at the same time it risks jeopardizing important advances being made against major infectious killers.

Antimicrobial Resistance:
World Health Day 2011

The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Dr Margaret Chan, in a video statement to mark World Health Day 2011 and the theme, Combat Drug Resistance, has warned that "In the absence of urgent corrective and protective actions, the world is heading towards a post-antibiotic era, in which many common infections will no longer have a cure and, once again, kill unabated." The video statement was released to coincide with the launch of new WHO policy package and a call for action on antimicrobial resistance. For more information visit  http://www.who.int/world-health-day/2011/en/index.html

 

Universal Children's Day November 20, 2010

Universal Children's Day

The future of tomorrow are the children of today.The world is fighting to meet the target of reaching the eight Millennium Development Goals by marking Universal Children's Day on November 20th.

A review of organizations dedicated to improving the quality of Children's lives. Presented through songs, news reports, mission statements and children.

WHO (World Health Organization)

United Nation

American Dietetic Association, Kids Eat Right
UNICEF. Voices of Youth

Free the Children

We Day

Centre for Child Honouring

 

By resolution 836(IX) of 14 December 1954, the General Assembly recommended that all countries institute a Universal Children's Day, to be observed as a day of worldwide fraternity and understanding between children. It recommended that the Day was to be observed also as a day of activity devoted to promoting the ideals and objectives of the Charter and the welfare of the children of the world. The Assembly suggested to governments that the Day be observed on the date and in the way which each considers appropriate. The date 20 November, marks the day on which the Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, in 1959, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, in 1989.

In 2000 world leaders outlined Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – which range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education, all by the target date of 2015. Though the Goals are for all humankind, they are primarily about children.

WHO (World Health Organization). 10 Facts On Nutrition

1. Malnutrition is a major contributor to the total global disease burden. More than one third of child deaths worldwide are attributed to undernutrition. Poverty is a central cause of undernutrition.

2. A key indicator of chronic malnutrition is stunting - when children are too short for their age group compared to the WHO child growth standards. About 178 million children globally are stunted, resulting from not enough food, a vitamin- and mineral-poor diet, and disease. As growth slows down, brain development lags and stunted children learn poorly. Stunting rates among children are highest in Africa and Asia. In south-central Asia 41% are affected.

3. Wasting is a severe form of malnutrition - resulting from acute food shortages and compounded by illness. About 1.5 million children die annually due to wasting. Rising food prices, food scarcity in areas of conflict, and natural disasters diminish household access to appropriate and adequate food, all of which can lead to wasting. Wasting demands emergency nutritional interventions to save lives.

4. Hidden hunger is a lack of essential vitamins and minerals in the diet, which are vital to boost immunity and healthy development. Vitamin A, zinc, iron and iodine deficiencies are primary public health concerns. About 2 billion people are affected by iodine deficiencies worldwide; and vitamin A is associated with more than half a million deaths of under-five children globally each year.

5. The rise in overweight and obesity worldwide is a major public health challenge. People of all ages and backgrounds face this type of malnutrition. As a consequence, rates of diabetes and other diet-related diseases are escalating, even in developing countries. In a few developing countries, up to 20% of children under-five are overweight.

6. Good nutrition during pregnancy ensures a healthier baby. WHO recommends exclusive breastfeeding for six months, introducing age-appropriate and safe complementary foods at six months, and continuing breastfeeding for up to two years or beyond. About 20% of deaths among children under-five worldwide could be avoided if these feeding guidelines are followed. Appropriate feeding decreases rates of stunting and obesity and stimulates intellectual development in young children.

7. Nutritional problems in adolescents start during childhood and continue into adult life. Anaemia is a key nutritional problem in adolescent girls. Preventing early pregnancies and fortifying the nutritional health of developing girls can reduce maternal and child deaths later, and stop cycles of malnutrition from one generation to the next. For both girls and boys, adolescence is an ideal time to shape good eating and physical activity habits.

8. A lifetime of unhealthy eating and inactivity raises health risks over time - contributing to cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and other problems. The global population is ageing: the number of people aged 60 and older will jump from 700 million today to 1 billion by 2020. Nutritional health at older ages will be a critical factor in the state of global health.

9. Nutrition information is required to identify the areas where nutritional assistance is most needed and monitor the progress of change. In 2006 WHO released international child growth standards that provide benchmarks to compare children's nutritional status within and across countries and regions.

10. Public education is another way to improve nutritional health. Starting in China during the Beijing Olympics, and continuing in other countries, WHO and Member States will promote "5 keys" to a healthy diet:

a. give your baby only breast milk for the first six months of life

b. eat a variety of foods

c. eat plenty of vegetables and fruits

d. eat moderate amounts of fat and oils

e. eat less salt and sugars

Resources

Kids Eat Right

November 2010, the American Dietetic Association (ADA) and ADA Foundation officially launched their first joint initiative, Kids Eat Right. The two-tiered campaign aims to mobilize ADA members to participate in childhood obesity prevention efforts, and to educate families, communities, and policy makers about the importance of quality nutrition.

Mission: The Kids Eat Right campaign was launched to support public education projects and programs that address the national health concern of obesity among our children.

.

To learn more about the Kids Eat Right Campaign visit:

Website. Kids Eat Right

Website. Kids Eat Right Volunteers

Facebook.  Kids Eat Right

Voices of Youth
More than ever before, young people are recognized as having rights - and as having an active role to play in asserting those rights.

Free the Children

helping Children through Education. Break the cycle of poverty with more than a handout. Build a school or well. It's not charity. It's sustainability.

 

We Day - Your Actions, Your Impact
Thousands of young people went to We Day then stood up and took action. Learn more at We Day 2010 is created by "Free The Children" to celebrate the power of young people to create positive change, We Day is a day-long event that ignites a year-long program for change, called We Schools in Action. In cities across Canada, the event brings inspirational speeches and performances to young leaders. Students then bring that energy home to take action on local and international issues all year long. Free The Children's We Day is the celebration, the inspiration and the vehicle for young people to change the world.

 

"Raffi" (Raffi Cavoukian), C.M., O.B.C. Founder and Chair, Centre for Child Honouring.

"Imagine a new idea as vital as democracy. Now imagine helping it spread quickly throughout the world! Child Honouring is one such idea, an idea whose time has come.

 - Raffi

He is known to millions as "Raffi", a beloved songwriter and performer, author, ecology advocate and founder of Centre for Child Honouring. Child Honouring is a vision for creating a humane and sustainable world by addressing the universal needs of children.

To learn more about the Centre for Child Honouring, please visit the Centre for Child Honouring and join "the compassion revolution."

Covenant for Honouring Children

 

Turn This World Around

Raffi's tribute to humanity's hero sprang from Mandelas call to global leaders in 2000 to turn this world around, for the children. In 2001, Raffi sang this for Nelson Mandela at Torontos Ryerson University. The song expresses the essence of Raffi's Child Honouring philosophy, a children-first paradigm for societal change. A child-friendly world enriches all of us, and offers the best chance to create sustainable cultures. All children want to live in peace, and to follow their dreams.

Together We Can Change the World