Happy Healthy Kids Helpful Tips For Parents from Grassroots Environmental Education Happy Baby Food Mill Kids and Milk Having trouble finding affordable Many American moms believe kids need milk to grow. baby food that’s not packed with They don’t. There are lots of other sources of calcium in chemicals? Here’s a nifty a balanced diet. But if your kids like solution: the Happy Baby food milk, keep in mind that non- mill lets you custom grind almost organic commercial milk often any food into a texture that’s just contains residues of the myriad of right for infants. Let your child antibiotics and hormones used to experience the world of flavors make cows produce more milk while you control every than they do naturally. What do ingredient! Available from these chemicals do to our kids? happybabyproducts.com. No one knows for certain, but to be safe you can switch to organic milk (as well as cheese, yogurt and other milk products) and Glass Baby Bottles sleep a little better at night. After news that chemicals contained in plastic baby bottles were leaching into infant formula and other Water liquids, many mothers switched to glass bottles A safe source of drinking water is something every family to feed their infants.Today, needs. Many people buy bottled water, but it can be tempered glass bottles are expensive, and since the bottled readily available from water industry is largely Lamby and Evenflo. unregulated, you really can’t be sure what you’re drinking. Table Be aware: bottles marked “BPA-free” may contain BPS, a top or faucet-mounted water filters new chemical suspected of hacing the same hormone- can remove sediment and other disrupting capabilities as its chemical cousin. large particles, but only certain types of filters can remove pesticides, heavy metals and Also keep in mind that scratches, nicks and cracks in any type of bottle can be potential sites for bacteria to grow. other chemicals from water. Inspect the bottles frequently, and discard any which are The most effective long-term solution may be damaged. Avoid nipples and pacifiers made of #3 PVC. several Most children’s health experts recommend clear silicone filters: whole-house filters to remove chlorine and other nipples and pacifiers instead. persistent toxic chemicals out of the water, and another structured matrix or reverse-osmosis (“RO”) filter on the kitchen sink for drinking and cooking. It’s in the Bag! Microwave popcorn is fast, easy and convenient - a Bright Colors, Big Trouble nutritious snack, especially compared to the sweet, sugary snacks kids often clamor for. But there’s a problem: along Children naturally respond to bright with the popcorn, your kids will be ingesting chemicals colors: toys, books and even food with called fluorotelomers which break down into bright colors seem to attract their perfluorooctanoic acid, or “PFOA,” a suspected carcinogen. According to USA Today, microwave popcorn attention more easily than less vividly- bags have more of these chemicals than any other food colored items. But the chemicals wrapper (the chemical creates a grease-resistant coating), widely used as food coloring – the red and scientists suspect that high cooking temperatures may dye which makes maraschino cherries facilitate the migration of these bright red, for instance – have been chemicals into the popcorn. It is linked to potentially serious human estimated that microwave popcorn health problems including cancer and may account for more than 20% of behavioral problems such as ADHD. The good news is the average PFOA levels measured that there are plenty of safe, natural dyes which home in America s. So get out the blood of n cooks and food manufacturers can use: beets, carrots the old popper and enjoy old- fashioned popcorn again, without and blueberries all make great food coloring agents the risk! without any of the risks of eating coal tar or petroleum products. Happy Health Kids is produced by Grassroots Environmental Education, a science-based non- profit organization. For more informaiton, please visit our website, www. grassrootsinfo.org. © 2021 All Rights Reserved.