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July: Children With Special Needs
An estimated
13.3 million children, or 18% of all children in the U.S., have special health care needs. Children who are at risk for or have been diagnosed with a disability or other special need that may affect their development are best helped when they start receiving services as early as possible.
WIC Can Help families get critical services for their children with special health care needs.
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Foods to Help Cool Down on Hot Days
Jalapeno peppers, spinach and melons are three foods that can promote cooling and hydration on hot summer days. Spicy foods can lead to thermogenesis, which prompts the body to cool down, and melon and spinach have water for hydration, while meat is difficult to digest and raises the body's temperature. So this summer, kick back with a spinach salad and some grilled peppers with a side of watermelon!
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Federal Budget
It looks as though a deal will be in place before the August recess, and more importantly before theUS defaults on our loans, that approves increased spending caps for FY 2020 and 21, and raising the debt ceiling, without which would result in funding cuts, known as sequestration, as required by the FY 2011 Budget Control Act. The funding above the spending cap, is expected to be equally shared between defense and non-defense spending. Some funding cuts would be expected to offset the additional spending, which is predicted to impact programs that are non-discretionary, but not, annually funded discretionary funds, like WIC appropriations. Both houses still need to complete individual spending bills, 10 of 12 now completed by the House and none by the Senate.
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Surplus on Top of Surplus: CA State Earnings 2018-19
The Dept. of Finance reported last week that state earnings were $1 billion beyond predictions. California's general fund revenue, largely impacted by personal income taxes, was $523 million higher than expected, with sales and use, corporate and insurance taxes income also much higher than expected. This is after the Governor's $215 billion budget was approved just weeks ago, in late June, tapping into a large reserve, and also paying down debt and protecting a rainy day fund.
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Congressional Report on Child Separations at the Border
The House Committee on Oversight and Reform has published a report on family separation at the border, Child Separations by the Trump Administration, based on subpoenas served to the Depts. of Justice, Homeland Security, and Health and Human Services. The preliminary findings of the report are that the child separations are more harmful and chaotic than previously known, the Administration has not been candid about its purpose, and that child separations continue to take place. The report found that at least 18 infants and toddlers under two years old were taken away from their parents at the border and kept apart for 20 days to half a year. The Committee will continue to analyze additional information produced from DHS, HHS, and DOJ and will consider additional investigative steps to fully evaluate the damage caused by this policy.
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Share Your WIC News!
CWA is seeking submissions for the Fall edition of the WIC Watch! WIC Watch articles highlight CWA's education events, local agency partnerships, what to expect with eWIC, staff changes, breastfeeding events, and WIC Worksite Wellness strategies. Do you work for a California WIC agency? We welcome your contributions! Tell us about your best practices, events, and success stories. ACTION: Contact Sarah with your article ideas, photos, and best practices any time. For the 2019 Annual Conference Edition, the deadline is September 6.
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Global Cost of Not Supporting Breastfeeding
A new website created by breastfeeding researchers suggests that, on a global scale, failing to support breastfeeding is costing an estimated $341 billion a year. The Cost of Not Breastfeeding tool was developed by Alive & Thrive, an initiative to save lives and prevent illness worldwide through "through optimal maternal nutrition, breastfeeding, and complementary feeding practices." The site isn't targeted at individual parents who are unable or choose not to breastfeed their babies. Rather, it's a tool that illustrates the global economic losses that might be attributed to the low percentage of breastfed babies. The researchers behind the tool hope policymakers will look at it and decide to commit more resources to support parents. In the U.S., where only 24% of children are exclusively breastfed, the tool estimates that it costs more than $28,000,000 in healthcare just to treat diarrhea and respiratory infections in children that could be prevented if more mothers were supported in breastfeeding.
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U.S. Ranks Last for Family-Friendly Policies
A new study from UNICEF dives into four different categories measuring a country's "family friendliness." These included paid leave available to mothers, paid leave reserved for fathers, childcare enrollment for kids under 3 years old, and childcare enrollment between age 3 and school age. UNICEF measured 41 high- and middle-income countries on these indicators. Out of 40 other developed countries, the U.S. came in last in terms of paid leave available to mothers and fathers. It was the only OECD (Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development) country that offered zero federally-mandated weeks of maternity leave. The minimum paid leave available should be 6 months, according to a report published by The New America Foundation. The House Ways and Means Committee held a full committee meeting with bipartisan interest in early May to address paid family and medical leave policies, but progress and agreement on what policies and programs should look like are slow.
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Good Learning at Home During Preschool Years Boosts School Performance Down the Road
New research shows preschoolers whose parents regularly read and talked about books with them scored better on math tests at age 12. The study is one of the first to provide detail on the importance of early years home learning on children's development up to early adolescence. Researchers studied 229 German children from age three until secondary school and participants' literacy and numeracy skills were tested annually in their three years of preschool (ages 3-5), and again when they were 12 or 13 years old. They found that children gained from home stimulation in their preschool years in literacy, language and arithmetic skills which, in turn, led to higher outcomes in reading and mathematical skills in secondary school, regardless of the home learning environment then.
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Many Baby Foods Have Sugar, Inappropriate Marketing
A World Health Organization report showed that nearly one-third of about 8,000 foods and drinks for young children ages 36 months and younger contained sugar, fruit juice concentrates and other sweeteners, while 50% had more than 30% sugar-sourced calories. The report also found that up to 60% of the products were marketed toward babies younger than 6 months despite American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations for exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months of life.
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Pregnancy & Cannabis Use
Cannabis legalization, and recent increased social acceptance, presents new challenges for pregnancy and breastfeeding women and those who advise them. During pregnancy, cannabis crosses the placenta and reaches the fetus. Recent findings from the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research provides concerning data on cannabis use during pregnancy. Between 2009-2017, cannabis use in pregnancy among 367,400 women, increased from 1.95% to 3.48%, mostly among women who report daily use, and among lower-income women, including African American and younger women. This rate is likely higher, as women may be uncomfortable disclosing the information to a medical provider. With recent legalization, CDPH has taken steps to provide guidance and materials for education, but packaging warnings, required to state that cannabis use can be harmful during pregnancy or breastfeeding, are not as stringent as tobacco warnings.
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World Breastfeeding Week Updates
The World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action has published the "#WBW2019 Social Media Kit," which includes promotional material for World Breastfeeding Week, social media activities for the week, and a pledge map. World Breastfeeding Week is August 1-7, with the theme Empower Parents, Enable Breastfeeding. On Thursday, August 8th, Ifeyinwa V. Asiodu, PhD, RN, IBCLC and Robbie Gonzalez-Dow, MPH, RD, CLE, of the CA Breastfeeding Coalition will provide an update on National and State breastfeeding data to highlight successes, challenges and opportunities to further support California families in their infant feeding goals.
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Supporting Children's Social, Emotional, Mental, and Developmental Health in CA
Children Now in partnership with California Children's Trust has released a new brief, Financing New Approaches to Achieve Child Well-Being. Whether measured by risk, symptoms, utilization, or cost, California is underserving its children and youth's social, emotional, mental and developmental health needs. This is despite the fact that almost all children in California have an insurance plan with a mental health benefit. This brief outlines fiscal opportunities to initiate and invest in a fundamental re-imagining of how public child-serving systems approach and support children's social, emotional, mental, and developmental health in California.
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