Safety

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Facebook launched a brand new Safety Page. The company plans to post content regularly to complement Facebook’s Safety Center introduced back in April, which has also been given a complete redesign.

“We regularly invite authors to blog about safety topics from cyberbullying to the importance of ‘Thinking Before You Post.’ ” said Joe Sullivan, Facebook’s chief security officer in a blog post. “We’ve partnered with organizations like MTV and the BBC to educate users about safe online behavior. We worked hard to make reporting abuse faster and simple.”

Since so many internet safety concerns like cyberbullying and privacy are Facebook-centric, it makes sense to keep up with those issues on Facebook, right? If you Like the page, you’ll get updates about internet safety in your News Feed. And while you’re at it, why don’t you Like Life360 too.

From the Facebook Blog.

Michelle Obama’s campaign against America’s obesity problem is starting with school lunches, but perhaps there’s an aspect of the obesity problem that no one’s focusing on: the socioeconomic element.

In a seminar covered by Lylah Alphonse at the Children’s Museum in Boston, two researchers — Dr. Elizabeth Goodman and Dr. Beth DeFrino — explained how social and biological factors affect the health of children, of which there are many. Mrs. Obama might be on the right track by improving school lunches, but it might be more difficult than it sounds. How is an already budget-crunched school system supposed to improve its cafeteria meals?

“With cash-strapped schools cutting recess and sports programs in order to make ends meet, children are spending more sedentary time at their desks and less time being physically active — if they’re at school at all,” Lylah writes.

She also cites a few startling statistics. Overweight/obese children are 59% more likely to miss more than two weeks of school, and since schools with low test scores due to No Child Left Behind, they are at even higher risk of obesity.

“Having to work to put food on the table trumps the hallowed family dinner hour, and if the only stores you have access to don’t carry fresh produce — or if it’s prohibitively expensive — you can’t tout ‘eat leafy greens’ as the solution.”

From In The Parenthood.

Does pregnancy demand that women give up their coffee? NO, NEVER GIVE UP YOUR COFFEE! EVER! (Sorry, I’m kind of edgy. I haven’t had my coffee yet.) But seriously, new research from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has found that there are no negative effects of coffee on mothers-to-be.

Actually, the ACOG looked at two studies. One found no increased rates of miscarriage for even high levels of caffeine consumption, while the other saw a slightly higher risk for women who consumed more than 200 mg of caffeine per day (that’s about one large cup).

Interestingly, we saw last week that drinking a lot of diet soda during pregnancy caused premature births because of the artificial sweeteners. I’m curious, though, if there would be any difference in the effects of drinking coffee if you used artificial sweeteners to sweeten up your cup o’ joe.

Did you drink coffee while pregnant?

From the Daily Mail.

After the death of an infant, the CPSC is recalling 30,000 Nap Nanny recliners made by Baby Matters. The four-month-old girl who died was caught between the Nap Nanny and the crib’s bumper. These were sold nationwide at retail stores and online since January 2009 and cost about $130. [ABC News]

46,000 Nissan Cubes are being recalled for possible fuel spillage problems that occur after rear-end collisions. Nissan’s recall is voluntary, and covers models from 2009 and 2010. [USA Today]

Proctor & Gamble is recalling Iams brand prescription renal dry cat food because it is potential contaminated with salmonella. These are only available by prescription through vet clnics, but if you have any of the food, you should throw it out immediately. [Kansas City Star]

Doctors take a lot of notes when you go in for a check up. But what do they say? Try asking for them, and more likely that not, your physician or nurse won’t let you see them. It’s just policy. But is it a good one? Shouldn’t we be able to read what our doctors have to say about us?

Actually, in the 1970s, a few states gave patients the right to see their patient file. Most physicians were opposed it, saying it would be another source of unnecessary stress, that without the experience of a clinician, the file might be misinterpreted. Do you know what S.O.B. stands for? (OK, you might know what it sometimes stands for, but in this case it’s “shortness of breath.”)

But at the same time, I can see the other side of the argument. It’s your file, your health. You do have the right to know, and in a way, if you misread your file, at least that’s on the individual and not the doctor.

Still, nobody has studied the effects of personal access to patient files. That’s why this summer, a yearlong study called Open Notes will “analyze the expectations and experiences of patients and physicians, as well as examine the number of additional phone calls, e-mail messages and visits that may arise as a result of more patients viewing their doctors’ notes.”

But of course, the study still won’t solve the ethical dilemma.

Should patients be able to read their doctors’ notes?

From the New York Times. Photo by ttcopley.

The Daily Beast gathered the top 25 least healthy (or most unhealthy, if you’re a pessimist?) kids meals available at franchise restaurants across the country. Number one? The Mac and Cheese Quesadilla Meal at Friendly’s, which features a whopping 2,270 calories (TWO THOUSAND AND SEVENTY CALORIES, if you’re a pessimist?). That is bananas. Never let your kids eat that.

And let’s not forget to give credit where credit is due. Chevy’s is responsible for four items in the top 10.

1. Friendly’s Mac and Cheese Quesadilla Meal (2,270 calories)
2. Houlihan’s Chicken Fingers Meal (1,293)
3. Chevy’s Flour Flautas (1,240)
4. Outback Steakhouse’s Kookaburra Chicken Fingers Meal (1,030)
5. Applebee’s Grilled Cheese Meal (1,020)
6. Chevy’s Quesadilla Meal (1020)
7. Chevy’s Bean and Cheese Burrito Meal (1020)
8. Culver’s Hot Dog Meal (991)
9. A&W’s Cheeseburger Meal (990)
10. Chevy’s Kiddie Cheeseburger Meal (1060)

Are you surprised by the calorie counts in these meals?

More at The Daily Beast.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 75% of car seats are installed incorrectly. A survey from AAA found that most parents don’t know what age a child should use a booster seat, the best place to install them, or what type is safest for their child. So let’s get educated right now!

Some quick tips:

1. Make sure your child fits the manufacturer’s weight, height, and age requirements.
2. Be sure it fits in your car’s back seat. Otherwise, return it. (The seat, no the car.)
3. Double-check to make sure it’s installed correctly.
4. Try it before you buy it. Most retailers will let you see if the seat fits your child before purchasing. Take advantage of that.

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More drop-side cribs, this time 82,000 of them from Pottery Barn Kids, are being recalled. If you own any drop-side crib from Pottery Barn Kids, you should stop using it immediately. [LA Times]

90,000 lbs. of frozen chicken nuggets from Perdue Farms are being recalled for being packaged with bits of blue plastic. They are sold at Wal-Mart stores nationwide. [CBS News]

44,900 baby “Karino” pacifiers recalled as choking hazards. [Business Week]

137,000 metal necklaces, bracelets, and earrings are being recalled for cadmium, the poisonous substance that causes kidney and liver damage. They are sold under the brand Justice. [CPSC]