Tuesday 9 December 2014

Universal preschool education at 4 for all!

Universal preschool education at 4 should be adopted as a cost-effective way to improve outcomes for all

"Evidence shows large-scale, public preschool programs lead to better education, health, economic and social outcomes for children, families and countries."

Hirokazu Yoshikawa, Courtney Sale Ross Professor of Globalization and Education, and a University Professor at New York University

Stimulating and supportive interactions around effective curricula are the vital ingredients, requiring classroom-based coaching and mentoring of teachers.

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Wednesday 26 November 2014

Pregnancy, a missed opportunity to influence later health?


Report by the Infant & Toddler Forum calls for  nutrition guidance in pre-conception and pregnancy to be a public health priority

A report released today by the Infant & Toddler Forum (ITF)  highlights the need for pre-conception and pregnancy  to be seen as a critical ‘window of opportunity’ to improve the health of the next generation.

Backed by stakeholders in early life nutrition, including baby charity Tommy’s, Borne and the Pre-school Learning Alliancethe report, ‘Early Nutrition for Later Health: Time to Act Earlier’, acknowledges the emerging evidence that a mother’s weight and nutritional status before, during and between pregnancies can have a long lasting effect on the baby’s health and the risk of disease later in life. In fact how and what mothers eat could potentially affect the health of future generations. 

The reality, however, is that we are not doing enough to take advantage of this opportunity. The report paints a picture of confusion and lack of advice for mums on nutrition and healthy lifestyles in pregnancy informed by a survey of 1,000 mothers and over 150 healthcare professionals:

  • Just under half (46%) of mums said they made no changes to their diet after finding out they were pregnant
  • 64 per cent of mums would welcome more advice or support relating to their pregnancy, with another one in two confused about the correct diet or supplementation for breastfeeding
  • One in three healthcare professionals have had no training in nutrition in pregnancy or infant breast feeding and 43% had no training in obesity in pregnancy
“Pregnancy and pre-conception need to be our new focus.” says Dr Atul Singhal, Professor of Paediatric Nutrition at the UCL Institute of Child Health, and Chair of the ITF. “Although, the early years are now well-established as critical to influencing health outcomes in later life, and whilst the past ten years have seen a growing commitment to early years intervention, obesity is still a major public health issue that continues to threaten the health of younger people. England is the ninth fattest nation in Europe, and one in four seven to 11-year-olds are overweight or obese[i]. That is why we need to focus earlier on in the life cycle, to influence nutrition and life choices from before conception through to preschool.

As we celebrate our 10th anniversary there has never been a more crucial time to seize this opportunity for pregnant mothers to enhance the health of their child and for our health system to support them."   

In response to the findings, the ITF is expanding its educational remit to take a life course approach to nutrition and health, from pregnancy and infancy through to toddlerhood. The ITF’s aim is to support and empower healthcare professionals to help families to make healthy lifestyle choices by delivering clear, practical advice on those critical early windows of opportunity to provide children with the best start in life.

Gill Perks, Midwifery Matron, Antenatal and Postnatal Services, NHS, said: “This report supports the Department of Health’s mantra of ‘making every contact count’. In pre-conception and pregnancy we must not miss this opportunity to advise and influence a woman’s health, nutritional and dietary habits and midwives are in an ideal position to support women in this.

“The report supports greater emphasis within primary care of pre-conception clinics to guide all parents-to-be on nutrition and lifestyle. It also calls for action to increase the uptake of recommended vitamins and supplements during pre-conception, pregnancy and breastfeeding. It’s not just about giving information, we need to be able to support women to change behaviour by recognising what works for them and having the healthy conversation. A move I support.”

The first factsheet in the new pregnancy series, Healthy Eating in Pregnancy is available to download from the ITF website. To find out more information on health and development from pregnancy to preschool, visit the ITF website www.infantandtoddlerforum.org and sign up for monthly email bulletins with news and information about the Forum. 
If you have press office enquiries, please contact:
Louise Banks on 020 8971 6416 / lbanks@saycomms.co.uk, Samantha Williams on 020 8971 6420 / swilliams2@saycomms.co.uk  Neil Hardman on 020 8971 6419 / nhardman@saycomms.co.uk

Tuesday 25 November 2014

Is your little rascal Britain’s most mischievous child?


Is your little rascal Britain’s most mischievous child?

Parents offered three-night trip away with Wooden Blinds Direct
Have your children been driving you up the wall with their unruly behaviour? Are they more little devil than little angel? Could they be Britain’s most mischievous child?
Wooden Blinds Direct, an online window blinds retailer, is on the hunt for Britain’s most mischievous child, and to reward the exhausted parents they’re giving away a short-stay holiday to recharge their batteries.
To enter Britain’s Most Mischievous Little Rascal competition, parents simply need to tweet their funniest photos of their little monsters caught red-handed to @InteriorGoods using the hashtag #IGDLittleRascals.
Alternatively parents can post their photos on the Wooden Blinds Direct Facebook page, or send them by email to woodenblindspr@interiorgoodsdirect.com. The entry stage of the competition closes at midnight on 1 December 2014.
The 10 funniest photos of the most mischievous children will then be posted on the Wooden Blinds Direct blog and the public will vote for their winner.
The parents of the winning #IGDlittleRascals entry will be whisked away on a three-night break, courtesy of Parkdean Holiday Parks.
Lee Fisher, Marketing Manager at Wooden Blinds Direct, said: “Every parent will have experienced their child driving them mad or making them laugh with the ridiculous mischief that kids get up to – and we want to help celebrate these moments.
“We’re a family-orientated business so we wanted to do something to give back to worn out parents that deserve a break!
“We want parents to share the kind of photos that’ll be out to embarrass their sons or daughters at family gatherings.
“We’re looking for the funniest, most outlandish photos of children up to no good. 
Full Terms and Conditions of the Most Mischievous Little Rascal competition can be seen here.

Wednesday 19 November 2014

Silencing the mother tongue makes it harder for bilingual children to learn English

Silencing the mother tongue makes it harder for bilingual children to learn English

"If you downgrade your heritage language, you deprive a child of access to a whole lot of enriching experiences that can also impact on their reading ability and access to the school curriculum."

Allyssa McCabe, Professor of Psychology, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Pediatricians, teachers, speech-language therapists and other practitioners should encourage parents whose native language is not the one spoken by the majority of a society to speak that minority language with their children, especially if it is the one in which the parent is most fluent.

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Monday 24 March 2014

A Consumer Study Reveals Five Million Parents May Be Stopping Their Children’s Cows’ Milk Consumption Unnecessarily



In the UK, one in five consumers have ditched cows’ milk for a range of alternatives, however, a new study is set to help millions of people, and especially children, with undiagnosed intolerances get back to dairy.[1]

A study, published today by a2 Milk UK has revealed that out of all parents that consider themselves as dairy intolerant, 39 percent would not let their children drink cows’ milk, even if the child doesn’t suffer from problems with it – that’s 4.9million families in total nationwide.[2]

It also revealed that 57 percent of people that consider themselves as ‘dairy intolerant’, haven’t actually been diagnosed at all, meaning that at least 7.2 million people could potentially return to dairy and the health benefits it provides.

The study, which surveyed 300 people who consider themselves to be ‘dairy intolerant’, revealed that 82 percent of all respondents had not been medically diagnosed with a problem by their GP, so may unnecessarily be avoiding dairy products through fear of negative side effects.[3]

a2 Milk’s campaign is designed to educate people about the two types of cows’ milk available in the UK – each naturally containing a different protein.  The campaign is urging people who believe themselves to have a problem with dairy to simply try cows’ milk that contains the A2 protein only, instead of the regular cows’ milk that contains the A1 protein. 
Dr Hilary Jones, GP and TV doctor comments on the findings from the a2 Milk UK study: “In the UK, we know that only five percent of people are medically diagnosed as lactose intolerant[4] – that’s a reaction to the naturally occurring sugars in cows’ milk.  What this new study has revealed – is that 7.2 million people may have left dairy behind unnecessarily - this very concerning, given the nutritional benefits it provides.
“What’s even more concerning is the amount of parents that have stopped their children from drinking cows’ milk – 39% is an alarming figure, and could have a major detrimental impact on the next generation’s growth and general health.”
Scott Wotherspoon, CEO of a2 Milk, UK said: Our study shows that a large section of the UK population have stopped or dropped their consumption of cows’ milk.  This study now gives us the evidence we need to go out and educate people who may have turned their backs on cows’ milk unnecessarily, to come back and give it another go.
“Over the last two years we have helped 20 farms in the UK convert their herds from producing A1 milk to A2 milk from pure A2 cows, to enable people to come back to the pleasure of drinking real, fresh milk.” 
For more information on the study, and to find out more about getting back to dairy, consumers should visit www.a2.co.uk


[2] Calculated as follows: 20% of the UK population consider themselves dairy intolerant, amounting to 12.8 million people in the UK.  The a2 study revealed that 57% of all these people have not been diagnosed, which amounts to 7.2 million people.  Out of these, adults, 39% said they would not allow their children to drink cow’s milk, despite them not having an intolerance.

[3] Calculated as follows: The A2 study reveals that out of the 43% people that consider themselves as having been diagnosed as dairy intolerant, only 18% had actually been diagnosed ‘medically’ as dairy intolerant by their GP – this equates  to 2.3 million people in the UK