My name is Jenny Salesa and I am the Health Specialist here at ECIC. The first thing I’d like you to know about me is that I am a mother. I have two daughters who are 4 and 6 years of age and they mean the world to me. I was passionate about children and driven to make a positive difference in children’s lives even before I had my own. I am originally from New Zealand where I was a Senior Policy Advisor to the Secretary of Health as well as an Advisor to the Director of Public Health before moving over to settle in Michigan where I have now been for 8 years. I worked for 5 years at a University as well as in the Private Sector, and in addition I’ve worked for 12 years as a health advisor/consultant/project manager.
I must admit that this is my very first blog… ever. I’d like to invite you to join me in this journey and for those of you who are expert bloggers; I look forward to your comments and advice on this blogging adventure.
I will be posting blogs every Wednesday on health issues that I am passionate about including but not exclusive to the following topics:
· Federal Health Reform – What does it mean for you and your family?
· Medical Home – What is it and why does your child need one?
· What is Social-Emotional Health and how does it affect school readiness?
· Childhood Obesity
· Oral Health
I hope this blog will have resources and information that is useful to you and I also hope it offers you new updates, ideas and new or alternative ways of thinking about child health. I encourage you to leave comments and feedback. Even if you disagree with the views expressed during these weekly blog entries - I would really welcome your opinion. Thank you for reading this blog and I look forward to discussing children’s health issues with you.
Timothy J. Bartik
Jenny Salesa
Karen Roback
Jeremy Reuter
Andrew Heller
Alissa Parks
Bryn Fortune
Joan Blough
Marissa Zamudio
Deb Weatherston, PhD
Children's Health
Hi Jenny,
I appreciate your efforts on kids and I love your health blog.
I recommend my friends to look in to this stuff.
Thank you,
Healthy kids
It all starts with health, doesn't it. If kids aren't healthy, learning is so much more challenging and sometimes downright impossible. I hope you get ideas from readers. We have so much to do in this area.
Obesity and Medicine
Hello, My 8 year old daughter has bad asthma, she was given a new prescription of Flovent HFA & ProAir HFA as well as the nebulizer at night if she needs it....in the past month she has gained 15lbs but still has the same diet. Is it the medicine that is making her gain weight?If so is there an alternative?Thank you and I am looking forward to your reply.
Shauna, thanks so much your
Shauna, thanks so much your comment on this new blog which I appreciate. I would highly recommend you seeking further advice from your daughter’s pediatrician or alternatively from her pulmonologist if she has been referred to one by her doctor. On the issues of obesity as well as asthma please check out the links below which would hopefully assist you as a parent with some useful resources for your consideration. However, this is something you need to ask your child’s doctor or health specialist about. Thanks again for your note and I look forward to your comments in the future.
Links:
http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/children/: Healthy Weight – It’s not a diet, it’s a lifestyle: Tips for Parents and ideas to help children maintain a healthy weight
http://pediatrics.about.com/cs/growthcharts2/1/bl_bmi_tables.htm: Children’s BMI Calculator
http://www.nationwidechildrens.org/managing-obesity
http://www.jaredfoundation.org/kids: Provides children with fun facts about food and exercise that your daughter may be interested in.
http://www.pulmonaryreviews.com/jul05/obesityasthma.html: How does obesity affect asthma?
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081212153208.htm
Weight gain and Asthma
I was going to ask the same question as Shauna but you've answered it already. Thanks for the research. By the way,you guys have a great website here, I hope more States could adopt this model for the sake of all our children,it's time for the Country to invest in our children. Keep up the good work!