Grown up little girls

By ⋅ August 10, 2010 ⋅

Little girls as young as 7 are entering puberty, leaving them vulnerable to depression, eating disorders, obesity, increased risk of breast cancer and other health problems.

Much of the problem is caused by our food supply. Milk and meats are laced with growth hormones, and our children ingest the hormones with the food. Burgers, milk, chicken, cheese, even ice cream and yogurt, contain the hormones, which make the animals grow faster so agribusiness can make more money with fewer animals and thereby increase their profits.

One study found that 15 percent of Latina girls, more than 10 percent of white girls, and 25 percent of black girls were beginning puberty at age 7. The study also found that by age 8, 10 percent of whites, 43 percent of Blacks and 31 percent of Latinas had entered puberty.

Another study found that girls with high exposure to plastics also tended to enter puberty earlier.
Thirty years ago, my mother, a marine biologist, wrote and spoke about the damage false estrogens, which are found in many plastics, were causing damage to the striped bass population in the Chesapeake Bay. She warned that the substances would affect humans too, causing early puberty in girls and lower sperm counts in men.
Our food supply is tainted by hormones, the plastics we use every day have false estrogens in them and we are being affected.
The solution? Only buy milk that says it is hormone-free on the carton. Organic is best. The same with meat. Look for labels that say no hormones or antibiotics have been added.Organic meat is more expensive, but most Americans eat far more meat than they should anyway. In fact, one study showed that the higher the content of meat in a girl’s diet, the more likely she was to enter puberty early.
We can control our diets better, and if big agribusiness sees it is losing share in the market, it will change its behavior eventually to stay in business. Meanwhile, eat local food whenever you can. That’s what we humans were meant to do.
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Patient Pals & Family Friends

Life o' Mike has a peer support program for people with one or more serious or chronic medical issues or disabilities.

We aim to reduce isolation and fear among people who have conditions, including psychiatric illness, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, mild dementia or other cognitive disorder or disability, thereby reducing depression and complications as people learn to improve self-management of their medical conditions.

Patient Pals help alleviate feelings of isolation and frustration. They can help people develop a list of questions to ask the doctor and then accompany the person to the doctor to make sure all the questions are answered, taking notes to be sure the person understands the doctor’s answers.

Our trained volunteers also accompany their “Pals” to art exhibits, movies and walks outdoors, meet for coffee, call to check in and more.

Our Pals have experienced weight loss, improvement in diabetes, HIV, psoriasis, depression and more, just because they have someone who cares about them. Some relationships develop into longer-term friendships; other Pals move on to more independent lives.

Family Friends are there to help caregivers and other family members grow into their new role.

We need volunteers, who are asked to donate a minimum of one hour a week. Training is free and includes information on active listening, ways to help and when to know more help is needed.

And of course, we need funding.

To learn more, call Leslie Boyd at 828-243-6712 or e-mail lifeomike@gmail.com.

Start From Seed

Life o' Mike has a new program- Start from Seed (SFS).
SFS is a volunteer doula program aimed at providing non-medical, comprehensive support to low income, high-risk women and families of Buncombe County focusing on three areas:

1. We help new doulas with certification and training in return for their participation as a volunteer doula for SFS

2. We mentor volunteer doulas with their first few clients

3. Our volunteer doulas provide birth and postpartum doula services to low income, high risk moms, providing support and tools to empower them as a new parent.

A birth doula is a trained and experienced professional who provides continuous physical, emotional and informational support to the mother before, during and just after birth; a postpartum doula provides emotional and practical support during the postpartum period.

Start from Seed clients are referred to us from the Buncombe County Department of Health’s Nurse-Family Partnership Program, Western North Carolina Community Health Services, and Mission Hospital. The Program is intended and designed for growing clients’ inner strength and helping them gain empowerment to help them cope with the emotional, physical and mental challenges of childbirth, labor, and motherhood.

To learn more, visit www.startfromseed.org, or call Program Director Chelsea Kouns at 804-814-9946.

Events in the community

Free birth and labor classes

Peaceful Beginning Doula Services holds free birth forums, Peaceful Birth, 6:30-8 p.m. the last Thursday of every month (except November) at Spa Materna, 640 Merrimon Ave., above The Hop, in Asheville.
All are welcome, expectant women and their partners are encouraged to attend anytime during their pregnancy. We also encourage doulas and other maternal/child professionals to attend and share in the discussions. The forums are "birth circle" style, focusing on normal birth which follows the Lamaze Six Care Practices for Healthy Birth. The forums are led by certified and experienced educators.

NAMI Family-to-Family Class

NAMI of Western Carolina holds 12-week classes for families and caregivers of individuals with a severe mental illness 6-8:30 p.m. Mondays at Charles George VA Medical Center, 1100 Tunnel Road in Asheville. The course covers major mental illnesses and self-care. Registration required. Info at 828-299-9596 or rohaus@charter.net.

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