American kids seem to grow a foot on average bigger every generation. We all attribute meat and chicken, probably with extra hormones for the change in body size over generations. And as my teen boy starts his big growth spurt I try to feed him meat so he can reach his height potential. I remember by friend Ofer, a vegan, worried about his boy growing. His son Kai is now over 6 feet tall. The kid wasn’t growing along with his peers, so Ofer thought the vegan diet might be slowing his son down.

Is there something to risk when feeding our children a plant-based diet? The science now has answers, and it comes from a country of more vegans per capita than anywhere in the world.

A new study from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) researchers and the Nutrition Division of the Israeli Ministry of Health suggests that a vegan diet can support rapid growth in children and that infants and toddlers who are vegan catch up with their peers by the time they are aged two.

The research was published last week in JAMA Network Open. It’s yet to give answers about growth and vegetarianism in teens.

This study analyzed a decade of records (2014–2023) of 1.2 million children provided by the Israeli Ministry of Health, which tracks the development of approximately 70% of the children in the country.

This massive dataset allowed the team—led by Kerem Avital, MPH, and Prof. Danit R. Shahar, PhD, of BGU —to move beyond small-scale debates and provide population-level evidence. They found Infants from vegan households closely tracked their omnivorous peers across all measurements, weight, length, and head circumference, with mean differences that were clinically minor (WHO z-score <0.2) and diminished further when adjusted for birth weight.

By age 24 months, stunting rates remained low across all dietary patterns (3.1% for omnivores, 3.4% for vegetarians, and 3.9% for vegans) with no statistically significant differences in odds between groups.

“In the context of developed countries, these findings are highly reassuring,” said Kerem Avital, lead researcher and PhD candidate at Ben-Gurion University. “The data suggests that with the proper environment, plant-based diets do not compromise the fundamental physical development of infants.”

As veganism moves from a niche lifestyle to a global health trend, BGU’s research provides the scientific “bridge” needed to inform international public health policy and nutritional counseling for the next generation.

As for now, we only have anecdotal information that a high-protein vegan or vegetarian diet does not impact growth heights in teens heading into adulthood. Michael Peterson, a father of 2 teenage boys in Ottawa, Canada, wondered if being a veggie kid might affect the growth patterns of his kids.  

“My kids both went vegetarian for a number of years during some formative time,” Peterson tells Green Prophet. “I have a 6’1” 18-year-old and a 5’7” 15-year-old who I am sure based on his griping about body ache is about to burst up again.

We try and feed them wholesome, home made, veggie-based with mixed protein. With the youngest’s rock climbing obsession we have had to up the protein which he prefers getting from animals, however, he is very conscious of getting from multiple sources. Grains, nuts, etc.”

Rebecca Wolf, a mom and occupational therapist in Arizona shares her experience raising vegetarian kids: “My kids have been raised vegetarian/pescatarian since birth. They also eat eggs and dairy. They are all in the 95%+ height category for their ages.”

Skipping steak, we find out from science and anecdotes, may not stunt a child’s growth; it might challenge our assumptions about what fuels it.

The post Are vegetarian babies at risk for being shorter than meat eaters? appeared first on Green Prophet.

We used to be shocked to hear about gender selection in India (female feticide), while the same practice is now available globally through a gender test. A prick of your finger and you send it back to the company and they can tell you if your blood contains a Y chromosome, suggesting you have a boy.

It used to take an ultrasound and a lot of patience, waiting and time to determine the gender of a child. And even then mistakes were made. But now with Canada is one of the few countries in the world where abortion has no legal gestational limit the question about sex selection of a child has become a national issue. Since the 1988 Supreme Court decision that struck down federal restrictions, abortion is regulated purely as a health service. In practice, most clinics stop at 20 to 23 weeks, but hospitals may go later depending on medical judgment, maternal health, or severe fetal anomalies.

There is no law that prevents an abortion at any stage of pregnancy.

Into this uniquely permissive environment enters a booming American industry, which is also available in Canada: at-home fetal sex tests promising gender results as early as six weeks. One of the most visible brands, SneakPeek, markets itself with bright images of happy parents, its website promising “99% accuracy”, and the ability to bond with your child early.

The test uses a blood draw or lancet sample to detect Y-chromosome fragments in maternal blood — a form of consumer-grade cell-free DNA screening. But there’s an open secret behind the marketing: women aren’t only using these tests for bonding. Some are using them to determine whether to continue the pregnancy.

SneakPeek isn’t alone. Competing brands such as Peekaboo, eGenderTest, and a growing niche of boutique prenatal labs offer early gender testing from six to eight weeks, far earlier than the traditional ultrasound window of 14 to 20 weeks.

Their common denominator: they operate in a largely unregulated consumer space. Unlike full prenatal diagnostic tests, which fall under medical oversight, early gender kits sit in a grey zone — sold directly to consumers without clinical counseling, follow-up, or safeguards against misuse.

For Canadians, these tests which can be sent between borders raise uncomfortable questions. If an expectant mother can know fetal sex at six weeks, and abortion remains legal at any stage, what prevents sex-selective abortion, already documented in parts of Canada’s immigrant communities. This can also happen among non-immigrant communities as well. But consider provinces such as Ontario have seen statistical anomalies showing fewer female births in certain populations — a pattern associated globally with sex-selective practices called female feticide.

Canada once debated legislation that would prohibit abortion “solely for reasons of sex selection,” but no party has touched the issue since — fearing political blowback and the slippery slope of re-introducing limits. Meanwhile, consumer technology is shifting the timeline. What was once a second-trimester question is now a first-trimester decision, made in private, with no doctor involved. The ethical dilemma is not theoretical because it is already happening.

As these tests spread and become cheaper, Canada will eventually need to confront a difficult truth: technology has moved faster than policy. And for now, the companies profiting from the trade bear none of the responsibility — leaving society to navigate the consequences. Reddit forums have users discussing accuracy of the test and who uses it. They can even determine if your twins are identical or not, with 99% accuracy at 10 weeks. (Twin zygosity testing exists, but not all companies offer it — depends on the lab).

One user writes: “12 weeks and had ultrasound. I was hoping I would feel differently after it. I have four boys that I love. I have had gender disappointment with each. I’m pregnant again and did a sneak peek clinical test that was a vein draw and a home test that was a snap test and had both come back boy. I cannot stop hoping for a miscarriage. I am debating termination. I hate myself for this and feel like a terrible mother. I am so depressed. Has anyone been through this? Please don’t judge me.”

A responder writes: “It’s 100% up to you whether you choose to terminate, and that being said, I’m curious as to why a specific set of genitalia matters. There’s a chance that one of your kids could be transgender, and that means one of your current kids could be a girl, and she just hasn’t told you yet.”

Another suggests IVF to select gender “next time”

The post Sex selection kits for embryos available in the US and Canada appeared first on Green Prophet.

Has your little one felt sniffly lately? If so, he or she may have caught a cold. While you may not be able to prevent your child from getting sick, there are some natural strategies you can implement that could potentially help your child get over the cold faster while preventing the spread of his or her germs.

Procedures To Avoid Spreading a Cold

During cold season, it’s more essential than ever to stock up on baby cold syrup and to try to prevent the spread of the cold. You help keep your child from getting sick and from spreading colds when you:

• Teach your child to wash his or her hands often or to use hand sanitizer throughout the day
• Instruct your child to avoid sharing glasses, eating utensils, towels and other personal items with those whom they suspect may be sick
• Keep your child at home if you think he or she may have caught a cold and help him or her rest and recover before returning to school
• Encourage your little one to practice healthy habits in public, such as sneezing into his or her elbow instead of hand, staying away from those who may be sick and wearing a face covering when needed

How To Ease Cold Symptoms in Your Child

If you’ve already read up on some core facts about the common cold, your next question may be what you can do to ease your child’s cold symptoms. Although common symptoms such as fever, coughing and a stuffy nose may not be fun to deal with, they are, thankfully, treatable. To help your little one feel better right away, you could:

1. Heat up some herbal tea or milk for your child before bedtime and mix in a teaspoon of honey to help soothe his or her throat and ease any coughing. Always check with a trusted herbalist before you give your baby herbal tea to make sure it’s safe. Children under a certain age should not eat honey.
2. Keep your child hydrated with warm soups and broths (barley soup is good) – and try our 10 winter soups list for some great starters), teas, water and other healthy liquids throughout the day;
3. Give your child a sponge bath or a cold compress to help bring down his or her fever;
4. Make your child’s resting and sleeping environment as comfortable as possible by adjusting the room temperature as needed, installing a humidifier, giving him or her extra pillows or blankets and keeping aromatherapeutic oils handy;
5. Provide your child with plenty of tissues and help him or her use saline mists or suction bulbs to clear out a stuffy nose.

You might not be able to prevent your child from occasionally catching a cold, but when he or she does come down with the sniffles, you can pull out all the stops to speed up recovery time and help him or her feel better quickly. With these core eco-friendly and natural tips, you’ll be equipped to help your child get healthy again.

The post 5 Tips To Help Your Child Get Over a Cold appeared first on Green Prophet.

My life, for the past few years, has been anything but common. So when I found out of was expecting a baby – roughly 32 weeks ago – I knew my pregnancy wouldn’t go by the book either.

Any pregnancy is a rollercoaster ride of hormones and emotions, causing amazing and unexpected changes to your body and mind. Add to that some extra ingredients, like a foreign daddy and a nomadic lifestyle, and you’re in for a wild ride. This is the story of my pregnancy and how my lifestyle influenced the way I prepared for the birth of my baby boy.

New life: chapter one

The story started roughly four years ago when I gave up my regular 9-to-5 existence and decided to travel the world. I quit my job and home, sold my belongings, and bought a one-way ticket to Asia. Little did I know my adventure would forever change my world views and turn into a lifestyle. I was planning on traveling for six months. I never quit. After years of happily roaming around, I found love in Indonesia and temporarily settled down there. Then, life took another unexpected turn and announced a new phase: I was pregnant and to become a first-time mommy.

A few months into my pregnancy, I felt the need to go home and see my family and friends. And so it happened that I spent the first half of my pregnancy in Indonesia and the second one in my home country, the Netherlands. As a result, I got to experience a whole range of cultural practices related to pregnancy. Like any cross-cultural learning experience, it has been confusing at times but enriching in the end. Ultimately, it enabled me to see and pick the best of both worlds.

Staying healthy while pregnant

During the first half of my pregnancy, I went to an Indonesian hospital for my monthly check-ups. After I arrived in the Netherlands, the regular check-ups were performed by a midwife. Not much of a difference there. Bigger differences appeared in the way Indonesian and Dutch society treat pregnant women an expect them to stay healthy during those nine months.

In Indonesia, people were generally pretty relaxed about the whole thing – as they are about everything. Their pregnancy rituals are guided by traditional beliefs and customs. Some of those made a lot of sense to me (pregnant women have to walk a lot and cover their heads from the sun), while others just didn’t (pregnant women can’t wear a wristwatch or sit on the doorstep). Lucky for me, as a foreigner I wasn’t expected to abide by all the cultural rules.

Life in the Netherlands, on the other hand, tends to be very organized and structured. As I found out, this applies to pregnancy as well. After having spent years in Asia, arriving back home meant I experienced some sort of reversed culture shock – in my own country.

Pregnant women in the Netherlands receive lists with baby items they should purchase, get overwhelmed with books and magazines, and are more or less expected to take some kind of pregnancy course to prepare for childbirth. More than anything, it made me feel nervous, as if giving birth and taking care of a baby wasn’t a natural thing that I should be able to do without having studied for it.

Fortunately, I had a pretty down-to-earth midwife, who assured me I would be fine with or without pregnancy yoga. I decided to simply take things as they came. I skipped the opinions of Internet experts and ignored my mom’s well-meant but counterproductive advice. Instead, I chose to trust in the strength of my own body and mind to guide me through it all. I did my own at-home yoga, went for nature walks, and made sure I ate healthy food and got plenty of rest. Listening to my body and staying calm were my main mantras.

Baby stuff overload

Back in the Netherlands, I was also confronted with another reality that had not been part of my world for a while: that of a society built around consumerism. While abroad, I learned to appreciate a simple life, free of most materialistic possessions. I watched my partner’s little nephew grow up with few toys, but endless opportunities for playing on the beach. I’m convinced he’s no less happy for it.

The Dutch way of life is different though. A visit to a baby store left my mind dazzling. There were just so many products to choose from. I saw baby strollers the price of small second-hand cars – and people were actually buying them. Future parents apparently feel like they have to get their baby top-of-the-line products, in order to fulfill their parental duty to the best of their ability. Or maybe they just like being fashionable.

Whatever the reason, I had opted out of that mindset long ago and wasn’t planning on going back to it now. Many baby products have an ultrashort lifespan and get tossed after having been used for a short period of time. As I’m planning to go back to Indonesia after the baby is born, I would only really be using them for a couple of months. Nope, my baby wouldn’t be showered with stuff, but with love. 

Getting ready for the baby, minimalist-style

In practice, making green and sustainable pregnancy choices turned out to be easy. I’m at that age where all my friends have babies and young kids. Many of them were more than happy to get rid of the baby furniture they no longer needed. Presents from family and friends did the rest. Within a few weeks, I managed to gather all the necessities for a complete second-hand baby room, including a closet bursting with perfectly fine used baby clothes.

As I moved in with family, I don’t actually have a separate baby room, by the way. The baby’s crib is standing right next to my own bed. While born out of necessity, I feel good about having my baby close to me for the first few months. And guess what: I found out it’s what the experts recommend too.

I figured it was no use investing in a baby stroller, as I won’t be able to bring it on a plane or use it on the island in Indonesia. Instead, I invested some money in good quality, ergonomic baby carriers, which are convenient when traveling and can be used anywhere.

When I picked up one of those very Dutch checklists to check if I really had everything I needed, I took a practical approach. I resolved to buy the remaining items that seemed essential to me, but skip the items I wasn’t sure I would need. I could always buy those later, if necessary.

After all the essentials were in place, it was time to think about baby cards. I decided to not send any traditional paper cards. Instead, I designed my own virtual cards online, which can be sent through Whatsapp or e-mail. The designing process was a lot of fun and honestly, the end result is more personal than any ready-made card could be.

Finally, there was the diaper issue: reusable diapers, yay or nay? My green heart bled but lost the battle. The traveler in me decided to go with the most practical solution. In Indonesia, I won’t have a proper washing machine at my disposal and washing diapers by hand won’t get them clean. Disposable diapers it is. If I were to stay in the Netherlands, I would probably have decided differently.

Riding the waves of change

With eight weeks to go, I’m pretty much ready for my baby boy to arrive. The countdown has started. Throughout the past seven months, I have been going through all kinds of emotions, ranging from happiness to panic. Perhaps the most prominent emotion has been uncertainty. Uncertainty about the future and my own capability to be a mom, provide for my baby and give it everything it needs.

The way I see it, it is all part of the nine-month process of becoming a mom. Whenever major life changes occur and require you to transform, this is accompanied by a certain amount of uncertainty. Becoming a mom is definitely a major life change, requiring a major transformation. Becoming a mom in a non-standard situation demands even more flexibility and adaptation. But in the end, the principle is the same. It’s all about learning to ride the waves of change. No matter how big the waves. And there’s nobody who can tell you how to do it. You have to do it your own way.

10 breastfeeding products you do not need to buy

The thing about pregnancy and becoming a mom is this process of change is designed by Mother Nature herself. Because you’re a woman, everything you need to know is already there inside you. So I only have one piece of advice to other moms-to-be: stay true to yourself. Don’t let other people pressure you into buying stuff you don’t need and don’t let so-called experts talk you into doing things that feel unnatural to you. You know what is best for you and your baby. Have faith in that. 

The post Pregnant as a global nomad appeared first on Green Prophet.

Among those sweet baby scents have lurked not so sweet ingredients like formaldehyde, claim activists.

If there is a signature scent associated with babyhood, Johnson & Johnson’s baby shampoo could win that prize. It’s a longstanding favorite with parents around the globe and has been for decades. Though the consumer products giant shut down their Israeli offices in 2009, the company’s cosmetic brands in Israel netted them close to $50 million that same year, reported Ynetnews.com. Their products are sold throughout the Middle East including Israel, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, according to the website.

That means babies have been exposed to what activists have referred to as the ‘toxic tub problem.’ Fortunately, a concerted effort by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics has led to a activist victory. Johnson & Johnson, makers of Aveeno, Neutrogena, and Johnson’s Baby Shampoo, announced this month that it will be removing some of these toxins from its baby and adult products globally.

“This is a major victory for public health,” said Lisa Archer, director of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics at the Breast Cancer Fund, a co-founder of the campaign. “We applaud Johnson & Johnson for its leadership in committing to remove cancer-causing chemicals from its products. We will be vigilant in making sure it meets its commitments and will continue to encourage it to remove other ingredients of concern.”

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics is a US coalition of more than 175 nonprofit organizations working to protect the health of consumers and workers by eliminating dangerous chemicals from cosmetics.

Johnson & Johnson, one of the largest companies in the world, told the Campaign it will reformulate its hundreds of cosmetics and personal care products in all the markets it serves in 57 countries around the world. Specifically, it will:

•    Reduce 1,4 dioxane to a maximum of 10 parts per million in adult products;
•    Phase out formaldehyde-releasers in adult products;
•    Limit parabens in adult products to methyl-, ethyl- and propyl-;
•    Complete phase-out of triclosan from all products;
•    Phase out Diethyl Phthalate (DEP) from all products (no other phthalates are currently used);
•    Phase out polycyclic musks, animal derived ingredients, tagates, rose crystal and diacetyl from fragrances.

Johnson & Johnson’s announcement follows the company’s November 2011 commitment to globally reformulate its baby products. This coincided in part with the release of two reports called Toxic Tub and Baby’s Tub is Still Toxic, which showed Johnson & Johnson baby products contain  carcinogens.

Read More Toxic News:
BPA Chemical Banned From Baby Bottles, Cups in the US
BPA Disrupts the Quality of Eggs Retrieved in IVF Treatment
US Study: Toxins in Kids Costing Billions
The author is a regular contributor to Greenprophet.com and blogs at www.tinamariebernard.com.

The post Johnson’s Baby Shampoo Health Risk Ends in Victory for Babies appeared first on Green Prophet.

Do pregnant women who are fasting during the Holy Islamic month of Ramadan have a greater chance of experiencing a pre-term birth? A new study by Lebanese researchers rules out the half-day fast as cause for an earlier than expected birth. With Ramadan continuing until Friday, pregnant Muslim everywhere want to know if it’s safe to fast. Of course it’s always wise to consult your doctor and heed their advice, but for those who might be worried about the health effects on pre-term birth should pick up one point worth considering: the researchers ruled out that women who were fasting during their pregnancy have a greater chance of giving birth to smaller babies. And this effect was something they called “alarming.”

The Holy month of Ramadan falls during the ninth lunar month in the Islamic calendar. During this month Muslims do not eat or drink from sunrise to sunset.

The fast is compulsory in Islam, and in some countries against the law if you do not fast; this new study may shed some new cautionary tales on how fasting, pregnant women should be treated in their communities and homes. The researchers, headed by Dr Anwar Nassar write that fasting when pregnant may be “a relative exemption if reasons for maternal/foetal hardship are suspected.”

A professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at the American University of Beirut Medical Center, many women approach him asking if it’s okay to fast.

Previously other studies just focused on pre-term birth, and not the size of the baby when born. Recruiting women from medical centers, the researchers followed the 402 women during their third trimester over the month of Ramadan.

Some 21 women in each group gave birth before their 37th week, a time period considered pre-term. Those babies born from fasting moms were smaller, on average – at about 3 kilograms versus 3.2.

A causal effect could be the reduced weight gain in fasting mothers. Heart disease and other health effects later in life might be linked to lower birth rates. The researchers add that there could be other consequences.

Depending on the time of the year and where the woman is living fasting can last from 10 to 19 hours.

It is worth consulting your gynecologist if you are planning any sort of fast while pregnant, for health or spiritual reasons.

Image of newborn baby from Shutterstock

The post Fasting Pregnant Women During Ramadan Give Birth to Smaller Babies appeared first on Green Prophet.

Before I gave birth, I was sure it would be all-natural. For the sake of my baby, and my back, I decided to not take an epidural. The tune changed when the contractions attacked me like a lion, giving me no-where to run. Was this a smart decision to take the epidural, and do the short-term effects of it outweigh the other problems, like difficulties in breastfeeding, or lower back pain? According to a new study from Tel Aviv University, women who opt for the natural, pain-relief-free birth are at a much higher risk of developing full blown post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It’s no trivial matter as PTSD is associated with serious health effects like depression and in the worst cases suicide. This news will no doubt get the La Leche League women fired up. Read on.

In the new study Prof. Rael Strous and colleagues found that about one third of all post-partum women develop PTSD, and among them a smaller percentage develop the full blown version of the condition. It usually develops in individuals who experience highly traumatizing situations such as terrorist attacks and car accidents, but symptoms can also come about after normal life events — including childbirth.

Looking deeper at the cases of women who developed PTSD, some 80 percent opted for natural childbirth without pain relief. Other significant factors that pointed to whether or not they’d develop the condition include the woman’s body image (including discomfort with being in an undressed state for the relatively prolonged period of labor and undergoing elective Caesarean sections), fear during labor, and complications in the present and earlier pregnancies and labors, the researchers found.

Published in IMAJ, the Israel Medical Association Journal, the researchers assess that the trauma is unlike others, in that it’s not unexpected. Still mothers feared their own safety as well as the health of their new babies.

In the study researchers interviewed 89 post-partum women between the ages of 20 and 40, first within 2 to 5 days after delivery and then again one month after delivery.

They discovered that of these participants, 25.9 percent displayed symptoms of post-trauma, 7.8 percent suffered from partial post-trauma, and 3.4 percent exhibited symptoms of full-blown PTSD. Symptoms included flashbacks of the labor, the avoidance of discussion of the event, physical reactions such as heart palpitations during such discussions, and a reluctance to consider having another child.

Is an epidural the key to stopping PTSD?

According to Strous, one of the most influential factors for developing PTSD or not was pain management during delivery. Of the women who experienced partial or full post-trauma symptoms, 80 percent had gone through a natural childbirth, without any form of pain relief.

“The less pain relief there was, the higher the woman’s chances of developing post-partum PTSD,” he said. Of the women who did not develop any PTSD symptoms, only 48 percent experienced a natural childbirth.

A full 80 percent of the PTSD group reported feeling discomfort with being unclothed, and 67 percent had previous pregnancies which they described as traumatic. Fear of the labor itself, both in terms of expected pain levels and danger to themselves and their children, was also influential.

The researchers discovered to their surprise that support during labor, in the form of a midwife or doula, had no lasting impact when it came to avoiding post-traumatic symptoms.

Factors such as socioeconomic and marital status, level of education, and religion also had no effect.

Reading the warning signs

There are some immediate steps medical professionals can take, Strous says, including better counselling about pain relief and making sure that patients’ bodies are properly covered during delivery: “Dignity is a factor that should be taken into account. It’s an issue of ethics and professionalism, and now we can see that it does have physical and psychological ramifications,” he says.

This research certainly makes me think again about going natural for the next birth. Or should I start smoking pot? (It’s supposed to be a good way to fight PTSD).

Image of epidural in process from Shutterstock

The post Is Natural Birth Connected with Post-trauma Stress in New Moms? appeared first on Green Prophet.

America, next to some European countries, has the most stringent environmental policies on health and safety. In 2008 America’s Food and Health Administrations (the FDA) declared BPA, or bisphenol A, an estrogen mimic used in plastics, as safe. But in 2010 it started backpedaling over concerns that it might have health risks, especially in children. Yesterday it was announced that BPA is now banned in baby bottles and sippy cups across America. What does that mean for the health of babies around the planet?

“FDA is amending the food additive regulations to no longer allow BPA in the plastic used to make baby bottles and sippy cups,” said Curtis Allen, an FDA spokesman in an official announcement. “As a result, consumers can be confident that these products do not contain BPA.”

Many manufacturers in America and around the world have stopped adding BPA to their plastic products. Usually those companies that have made the effort to stop using BPA in their products widely advertise it as “BPA free.”

For women in the Middle East who might not have regulatory bodies guarding them and their children, be on the lookout for BPA-free products when buying anything for your baby or small child. That includes a BPA-free label in bottles, sippy cups, soothers, and even in the plastic used in breast pump containers and pipes.

BPA is an industrial chemical that has been present in many hard plastic bottles and metal-based food and beverage cans since the 1960s.

According to the FDA, studies employing standardized toxicity tests have thus far supported the safety of current low levels of human exposure to BPA.

But now they admit, that there is “some concern about the potential effects of BPA on the brain, behavior, and prostate gland in fetuses, infants, and young children.”

Women who are pregnant or who are thinking about becoming pregnant should also consider refraining from using BPA products, this Green Prophet suggests.

Environmentalists in America agree that even more vigilance should be taken on making sure that BPA is removed from all our food and beverage containers.

Where can you find BPA? It’s in a type of clear and hard plastics called polycarbonate which is used in water and soda bottles. It is in the resin linings of food and beverage cans as well as in the containers of infant formula. It’s ubiquitous and some experts warn that the ban for baby products is largely symbolic, and that wider bans need to be enforced.

Image of baby and bottle from Shutterstock

The post BPA Chemical Banned from Baby Bottles, Cups in the US appeared first on Green Prophet.

Non-biodegradable diapers are not only an environmental nightmare, but they often cause terrible rashes and cost a fair sum too. Cloth diapers are one viable alternative, but washing them is time consuming, requires energy and water expenditure, and frankly doesn’t look like an awful lot of fun. So how about mitigating all of these problems by building a Beshik cradle from Uzbekistan? Hit the jump to learn more about baby’s first bed pan.

After sleeping with their mothers for six weeks, Uzbeki babies are treated to their first major celebration — the Beshik Toyi. This involves a gathering with family members who show up with armfuls of food and other essentials, and baby’s new cradle.

The elder women leave the younger generation to create a festive environment while they bed baby down in this unusual contraption using blankets and straps. The cradle is decorated with all sorts of colorful tassels and trinkets, and they come in varying degrees of opulence.

There’s a hole at the base of the Beshik, which appears to be an exit point for baby’s number two, while a bucket at the end of the cradle catches urine transported via a short pole that looks like a very thin and hollow eggplant.

Since boys and girls have different apparatus, it stands to reason that different mechanisms are used to capture their waste.

Having met a handful of talented Uzbeki musicians, I can attest that they seem perfectly normal and not at all traumatized by starting out life strapped to a cradle.

That being said, we are uncertain how long they stay in their Beshik or how they stay clean and dry when running free.

Still, we are big fans of indigenous solutions to daily needs and this is no exception.

More on Diapers and Babies:
Are Cloth Diapers Green Even in Water-Scarce Middle East?
Going Halfway on Kushies Washable Diapers
All About Cloth Diapers

The post Uzbek babies don’t use diapers appeared first on Green Prophet.

When mothers want to give their little ones the best (and most environmentally friendly) nutrition there is – breast milk – but can’t, they can turn to the breast milk bank.

The health benefits of breastfeeding have been praised by health care professionals for years, and breastfeeding is obviously a healthier choice than formula.  What is lesser known, though, is that breastfeeding is also much healthier for the environment.  It comes down to being a local food issue.  Breast milk does not need to be imported, transported, or wrapped with packaging before it reaches its destination.

Not all mothers are able to breastfeed, however, and for health and/or environmental reasons they may want to supplement their baby’s formula with some mom-made milk.  A newly founded communal breast milk bank in Israel helps mothers obtain the precious material.

Founded by two social work students, the idea for Mom Milk was born when they could not find breast milk donations for their son (who was having a negative reaction to formula).

The breast milk bank claims to be the first such online bank in Israel, and perhaps in the Middle East.

Mom Milk provides a forum for new mothers to donate and request breast milk, all based on the mothers’ good will.  No money is exchanged.

Women from all over the country have already registered on the site, and the idea is receiving publicity in the local press.

:: MomMilk

Read more about breastfeeding:
10 Common Misconceptions About Breastfeeding Your Baby
A Fading Art: Understanding Breastfeeding in the Middle East
Breastfeeding Moms More Aggressive Than Those Who Use Bottles
Breastfeeding and Judaism: Why Moses’ Mother Didn’t Put Bottles Into the Ark of Bulrushes

The post Communal Breast Milk Bank a Resource for Eco Friendly Baby Food appeared first on Green Prophet.