Mountain Views News          Saturday, August 7, 2010

6

EDUCATION & YOUTH

Mountain Views News Saturday, August 7, 2010

Pediatric Food Allergies on the Rise in US

By Justine van der Leun 

Pediatric food allergies are on the rise in 
the United States, and it may be due to our 
Westernized lifestyle.

 These days, it seems that most kids have 
allergies to eggs, wheat, milk or nuts. In 
fact, between 1997 and 2007, pediatric food 
allergies increased by 18 percent, according 
to a study published in the journal 
Pediatrics. In 2007, approximately 3 million 
U.S. children reported a food or digestive 
allergy. 

 In a Journal of Allergy and Clinical 
Immunology study, researchers found 
that between 2001 and 2006, visits to the 
emergency room for allergic reactions at 
Children's Hospital Boston more than 
doubled. Moreover, the severity of reactions 
increased sharply, resulting in more 
children experiencing anaphylaxis.

 Dr. Susan Rudders, the author of the 
Children's Hospital study, suspects her 
findings at the local ER reflect a national 
trend, according to CNN. Though Rudders 
studied only 1,255 children, her theory 
is supported by the experience of other 
physicians across the country. Doctors at 
the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles and 
the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia have 
seen a rise in the severity and number of 
cases coming into their emergency rooms. 

 Dr. James M. Rubin, chief of the Division 
of Allergy and Immunology at Beth Israel 
Medical Center in New York City, has also 
perceived a rise in pediatric food allergy 
cases, though he cautions that it may be 
due to "better detection on part of parents, 
pediatricians and primary care physicians."

While nobody is certain as to why there 
seems to be a food allergy epidemic, theories 
abound.

 Some doctors and scientists wonder if 
children should be exposed to allergens like 
nuts and shellfish earlier than age two or 
three -- the age many doctors recommend -- 
so that they can avoid developing allergies. 
In a 2008 study in the Journal of Allergy and 
Clinical Immunology, researchers found 
that Jewish Israeli children were far less 
likely to develop peanut allergies than were 
Jewish children in the U.K. -- a difference 
that was linked to with the fact that while 
69 percent of Israeli children ate peanuts by 
the age of nine months, only 10 percent of 
the British children had.

 "In terms of diet, there's a lot of controversy: 
Should you avoid certain things when you're 
pregnant? Should you avoid things when 
breastfeeding or not?" says Rubin. 

 Another fledgling theory is that a Western 
diet makes children susceptible to allergies 
and illnesses. A recent study out of the 
University of Florence in Italy shows that 
meat and junk food may make kids prone 
to allergies. Researchers compared the 
fiber-rich diets of 14 children from a rural 
African village in Burkina Faso to the diets 
of 15 children from Florence. The African 
kids ate mostly grains, beans, nuts and 
vegetables that had been farmed or raised 
near their homes, while the Italian kids ate 
far more meat, fat and sugar. The scientists 
found that the African children had 
flourishing "good" bacteria in their guts -- 
cutting down their risks for obesity, easing 
their ability to digest food, protecting 
against bugs and limiting inflammation. 
They also had an abundance of fatty acids, 
which guard against inflammation, asthma, 
allergic eczema and other allergic reactions.

 But it's not just American and European 
diets that could be the culprits. There's also 
the popular "hygiene hypothesis," which 
posits that growing up in a sparkling-
clean environment doesn't allow a child's 
immune system to properly develop. 
Modern medicine and sanitation have 
eliminated many infectious diseases but 
have also limited a child's exposure to 
immune system-building bacteria, which 
may ultimately protect a child against 
allergies, obesity, asthma, inflammatory 
bowel disease and autoimmune diseases. 

 "The substance in the immune system 
that's associated with allergies was put in 
people to defend them against parasites," 
says Rubin. "There are no parasites in 
more civilized environments, so it seems 
that [the substance] may react to pollen or 
food." Multiple studies in European rural 
areas have shown that the children raised 
on farms have a decreased prevalence of 
hay fever and allergic rhinoconjunctivitis, 
implying that growing up in a nonsterile 
environment can help ward off some 
allergies.

 Ultimately, Rubin believes little can be 
definitively done to prevent children from 
developing allergies. Allergies, he notes, 
are hereditary -- when one allergic person 
marries another, their odds of having 
allergic children rise 90 percent. "If they're 
destined to develop allergies, they will 
develop allergies," he says. "Can you prevent 
them from occurring? The answer is no."

SCHOOL DIRECTORY

Alverno High School

200 N. Michillinda Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024

(626) 355-3463 Head of School: Ann M. Gillick 

E-mail address: agillick@alverno-hs.org

Arcadia High School

180 Campus Drive Arcadia, CA 91007

Phone: (626) 821-8370, Principal: David L. Vannasdall

Arroyo Pacific Academy

41 W. Santa Clara St. Arcadia, Ca, 

(626) 294-0661 Principal: Phil Clarke

E-mail address: pclarke@arroyopacific.org

Barnhart School

240 W. Colorado Blvd Arcadia, Ca. 91007

(626) 446-5588 Head of School: Joanne Testa Cross

Kindergarten - 8th grade

website: www.barnhartschool.com 

Bethany Christian School

93 N. Baldwin Ave. Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024

(626) 355-3527 Principal: James Lugenbuehl

E-mail address: jml@bcslions.org

Carden of the Foothills School

429 Wildrose Avenue, Monrovia, CA 91016 626/358-9414 
626/358-5164 fax office@cardenofthefoothills.com

The Gooden School

192 N. Baldwin Ave. Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024

(626) 355-2410 Head of School: Patty Patano

website: www.goodenschool.org

High Point Academy

1720 Kinneloa Canyon Road

Pasadena, Ca. 91107

626-798-8989

website: www.highpointacademy.org

LaSalle High School

3880 E. Sierra Madre Blvd. Pasadena, Ca. 

(626) 351-8951 Principal: Patrick Bonacci

website: www.lasallehs.org

Monrovia High School

325 East Huntington Drive, Monrovia, CA 91016 

(626) 471-2000, email: schools@monrovia.k12.ca.us

Norma Coombs Alternative School

2600 Paloma St. Pasadena, Ca. 91107

(626) 798-0759 Principal: Dr. Vanessa Watkins 

E-mail address: watkins12@pusd.us

Odyssey Charter School

725 W. Altadena Dr. Altadena, Ca. 91001

(626) 229-0993 Head of School: Lauren O’Neill

website: www.odysseycharterschool.org

Pasadena High School

2925 E. Sierra Madre Blvd. Pasadena, Ca. 

(626) 798-8901 Principal: Dr. Derick Evans

website: www.pasadenahigh.org

Pasadena Unified School District

351 S. Hudson Ave. Pasadena, Ca. 91109

(626) 795-6981 website: www.pusd@pusd.us

St. Rita Catholic School

322 N. Baldwin Ave. Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024

(626) 355-9028 Principal: Joanne Harabedian

website: www.st-rita.org

Sierra Madre Elementary School

141 W. Highland Ave, Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024

(626) 355-1428 Principal: Gayle Bluemel

E-mail address:gbluemel220@pusd.us

Sierra Madre Middle School 

160 N. Canon Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024

(626) 836-2947 Principal: Gayle Bluemel

Contact person: Garrett Newsom, Asst. Principal

E-mail address: gbluemel220@pusd.us

Weizmann Day School

1434 N. Altadena Dr. Pasadena, Ca. 91107

(626) 797-0204

Lisa Feldman: Head of School

Wilson Middle School

300 S. Madre St. Pasadena, Ca. 91107

(626) 449-7390 Principal: Ruth Esseln

E-mail address: resseln@pusd.us

Pasadena Unified School District

351 S. Hudson Ave., Pasadena, Ca. 91109

(626) 795-6981

Website: www.pusd@pusd.us

Nature is the Best Kind of Nurture: 

So Grab Your Kids and Head Outside

Fun with Sign Language 
for Children at the 
Library

An Introduction to ASL for 
Hearing Children

Emmy-Lou Thomas-Smith, teacher 
of “My Smart Hands” children’s 
sign language classes, will share 
her expertise with parents and 
young children in an active and fun 
program at the Sierra Madre Public 
Library’s Preschool Storytimes on 
Monday, August 16 at 10:00 a.m. and 
Wednesday, August 18 at 7:00 p.m. 

Ms. Thomas-Smith, a Sierra Madre 
resident, is herself hard of hearing, 
and teaches “My Smart Hands” and 
“Sing & Sign” classes using American 
Sign Language for hearing children. 
Although most babies start talking 
between 1 and 2 years of age, they 
are able to understand and want to 
communicate much earlier. Because 
they have control over their hands 
before they develop verbal skills, 
signing helps them express what they 
are not yet able to say, which has the 
added benefit of reducing frustration 
and temper tantrums.

Emmy-Lou explains, “Research shows 
that babies who use sign tend to speak 
and read sooner and have larger 
vocabularies. Signing gives them a 
bridge of meaningful communication 
while they transition to speaking 
language. Our mission is to bring 
to parents, educators and children a 
better understanding of the value of 
visual communication early in life.” 

In addition to the special presentation, 
each storytime will also include the 
regular program of stories, songs and 
crafts.

The Sierra Madre Public Library is 
located at 440 West Sierra Madre 
Boulevard in Sierra Madre. For more 
information please call (626) 355-
7186, or visit our website at www.
sierramadre.lib.ca.us. This program is 
free and open to the public.

NWF Whole Child Report Examines 
the Health Impacts of an Indoor 
Childhood and Benefits of Time 
Outside 

 Some say it takes a village to raise a child. 
The National Wildlife Federation contends 
it takes a backyard, a playground, a park. 

Washington, DC (Vocus) August 5, 2010 

For American parents who want their kids 
to be fit, focused and feeling good, the first 
step is out the front or back door. National 
Wildlife Federation (NWF) has issued a 
health report, Whole Child: Developing 
Mind, Body and Spirit through Outdoor 
Play, which reveals how our kids are on 
techno overload and it’s seriously affecting 
their physical and mental health.

 Reviewed by an independent panel of 
medical experts, the report begins with a 
day in the life of the average kid in 2010, 
immersed in technology. It suggests that 
Americans wake up to the reality that 
children today spend only four to seven 
minutes outside each day in unstructured 
outdoor play. While their parents spent free 
time in activities like a neighborhood game 
of tag, building forts, or climbing trees, the 
modern child’s day includes far more screen 
time than green time.

 “As this report reveals, nature may indeed 
be the best kind of nurture,” says NWF 
Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice 
President Jaime Berman Matyas.

The Body:

According to Deputy U.S. Surgeon General 
Dr. David Rutstein, lack of outdoor time is a 
key factor in the childhood obesity epidemic 
and, if trends aren’t reversed, may contribute 
to a generation with not only unhealthier 
but also shorter lives. “Overweight and 
obese adolescents have a 70 percent chance 
of becoming obese adults,” he says. “If this 
problem is not addressed, we will leave our 
children a legacy of shorter life spans for the 
first time in history.” In addition to obesity, 
the report highlights the precipitously 
rising rates of childhood diabetes, vitamin 
deficiencies, asthma, and vision problems, 
all of which can be reduced with adequate 
outdoor time.

The Mind:

While not considered a cure, exposure to 
natural settings may be widely effective 
in reducing ADHD symptoms in kids, 
according to researchers. Sadly, children 
with ADHD may get even less outdoor 
time than their peers, as children with 
attention problems are more often held 
in for recess due to misbehavior in the 
classroom. Regular outdoor time can be a 
scholastic boon to children with attention 
problems, but research reveals connecting 
all kids with nature can help them excel 
academically. According to a March 2010 
survey by NWF of nearly 2,000 educators, 
78 percent feel students who spend regular 
time in unstructured outdoor play are better 
able to concentrate and are more creative 
and better problem solvers. Their test scores 
are better too. 

The Spirit:

An increasing number of experts are 
recognizing the role of playing outside in 
enhancing kids’ mental health by helping 
to better connect them to self, to others and 
to the natural world. Children who spend 
much of their time indoors 
watching television or playing 
video games can become 
isolated and withdrawn, 
even if they think they are 
connecting on-line. Nature 
helps kids feel less stress and 
interact in positive ways. One 
study shows kids are more 
caring when they’re around 
nature. 

Doctors Understand 
Connection between Health 
and Outdoor Time

The medical profession is 
starting to take note. 

“I would rather write a 
prescription for safe, outdoor 
play for my pediatric patients 
than see them five years later 
with depression, anxiety 
and obesity,” says Wendy 
Kohatsu, MD, with Santa 
Rosa Family Medicine and 
assistant clinical professor at 
the University of California 
in San Francisco.

Whole Child includes 
recommendations for 
caregivers, healthcare 
providers, local, state and national leaders, 
and educators so that, together, they can 
begin changing American children’s indoor 
habits. Recommendations include asking 
parents to model “un-plugging” from 
technology and taking the Be Out There 
pledge to go outside with their children and 
advising pediatricians to write prescriptions 
for regular outdoor time for kids. 

Some say it takes a village to raise a child. 
The National Wildlife Federation contends 
it takes a backyard, a playground, a park. 

The complete report, as well as 
recommendations and a downloadable 
poster may be found at www.beoutthere.org


Sierra Madre UMC 
Vacation Bible School

A One-Day Praise and Worship 
Event

On Saturday, August 14, from 9:00 
a.m.-3:00 p.m., the Sierra Madre 
United Methodist Church will be 
having a one-day Vacation Bible 
School for children, teens and adults. 
Amber-Poteete-Marshall, Director 
of Christian Education, will take 
youngsters on a “Galactic Blast” 
adventure, combining faith and fun 
in a series of Bible lessons, crafts and 
lively praise music. 

In addition to gaining a new perspective 
on the wonders of creation, children 
will learn the importance of being 
good stewards of the earth’s resources, 
and the importance of developing a 
personal relationship with God.

Adults are invited to attend morning 
and afternoon Bible Study, and 
praise and worship sessions, led by 
Rev. George R. Crisp, pastor of the 
SMUMC. 

Lunch, provided by Adult and Family 
Ministries, will be served at 11:30, at 
a cost of $5.00 per person. There is 
no additional charge to attend the 
Vacation Bible School, which is free 
and open to all.

The Sierra Madre UMC is located at 
695 W. Sierra Madre Blvd. in Sierra 
Madre, on the northeast corner of 
Michillinda and Sierra Madre Blvd. 
Sunday morning worship services are 
at 9:30 a.m., with an open Communion 
on the first Sunday of the month. 
There is ample parking in the church’s 
lot, accessed off Michillinda. For more 
information or directions, please call 
the church office at 626-355-0629.