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Dolly Parton Has Spent 30 Years Sending Free Books To Kids Across The US And World To Improve Literacy

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Dolly Parton is a country music legend who’s become a major figure in the fight to improve literacy throughout the US and the world. Within the past three decades, she’s worked through her book giveaway program, Imagination Library, to provide free books to various areas throughout the nation.

One of the biggest initiatives that initially pushed Parton to start this program was the fact that she grew up rather poor, and her own father never had the opportunity to learn to read. As the fourth child of 12, Parton stated that her father “was one of the smartest people I’ve ever known,” but was often embarrassed by the fact that he couldn’t read, according to the Associated Press. 

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There are currently 21 states where all children under the age of 5 can register to have books mailed to their home monthly. Missouri and Kentucky were recently added to that last, and to celebrate, Parton made stops in both states to tell the story of her father and promote the work of Imagination Library. 

Unfortunately, Parton’s father, Robert Lee Parton, passed away in 2000, but his legacy lives on through the initiatives of Parton’s giveaway program. 

“In the mountains, a lot of people never had a chance to go to school because they had to work on the farms. They had to do whatever it took to keep the rest of the family going,”  Parton said at the Folly Theater in Kansas City, Missouri. 

Parton initially launched the program in 1995, and at the time it was only operating in a single county in her home state of Tennessee. As of today, through the program over 3 million books are sent out each month. Throughout the past 30 years of the program, more than 240 million kids in the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, and Australia have received books. 

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Missouri as a state covers the full cost of the program, and most of the other states provide money through a cost-sharing model. 

“The kids started calling me the ‘book lady.’ And Daddy was more proud of that than he was that I was a star. But Daddy got to feeling like he had really done something great as well,” Parton said. 

At an event on Tuesday in Kentucky, Governor Andy Beshear and Dolly Parton announced that the Imagination Library will be able to help children in all 120 counties. They also stated that more than 120,000 children in the state are enrolled in the program; that’s about half of all the preschoolers in Kentucky.

“It’s really a great way to teach children when they’re very young to learn to love books and to learn to read,” Parton said during the event.

Parton’s goal is to see the program implemented in every state in the US. The program does have a presence in all of the states currently, however, 21 of them have official legislation that guarantees kids under 5 can enroll.

“That was kind of my way to honor my dad, because the Bible says to honor your father and mother, and I don’t think that just means, ‘just obey.’ I think it means to bring honor to their name and to them,” she stated.

nestle

Nestlé Adds Sugar To Infant Milk Sold In Poorer Nations, According To New Report

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A new report has found that Nestlé, the largest consumer goods company in the world, adds sugar and honey to infant milk and cereal products that are sold in poorer nations. This directly contradicts international guidelines that are implemented to prevent childhood obesity and chronic diseases, according to The Guardian. 

The report itself came from Public Eye, a Swiss investigative organization. The organization sent samples of Nestlé’s baby-food products sold in Asia, Latin America, and Africa to a Belgian laboratory for testing. 

After testing the products and examining the packaging, the report revealed the presence of sugar in the form of sucrose, or honey in samples of Nido, one of Nestlé’s milk formula brands intended for infants aged one and up. They also found it in Cerelac, a cereal that is aimed for kids aged six months and two years. 

In the main European markets for Nestlé, there are no added sugars in formulas for young children. Some cereals that are advertised for older toddlers have added sugar, but none in any product targeted at babies between six-months-old to a year. 

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“Nestlé must put an end to these dangerous double standards and stop adding sugar in all products for children under three years old, in every part of the world,” said Laurent Gaberell, the agriculture and nutrition expert for Public Eye. 

Obesity in general is an ongoing and growing problem in lower and middle income countries. According to the World Health Organization, in Africa specifically the number of overweight children under five has increased by nearly 23% since 2000. 

The Guardian reported that worldwide, more than 1 billion people are living with obesity. 

In many countries it can be difficult for consumers to tell whether or not a certain product contains added sugar or how much is present due to how the nutritional information is printed. The labels also often have natural sugars found in milk and fruit under the same heading as any added sugars.

For European regions, the World Health Organization has guidelines that says no added sugars or sweetening agents should be permitted in any food for children under three. 

The UK recommends that children under four should also avoid food with added sugars, because of their risk of gaining weight and developing tooth decay. The US government has guidelines that simply recommend children under two avoid food and drinks with added sugars. 

The Public Eye report was written alongside the International Baby Food Action Network. Public Eye stated that data from Euromonitor International, a market-research company, showed that global retail sales for Cerelac exceeded $1 billion. The highest of those figures came from low and middle income nations; 40% of sales were within just Brazil and India. 

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Dr. Nigel Rollins, a medical officer at the World Health Organization, said this new report shows “a double standard that can’t be justified.”

Researchers found that biscuit-flavored cereals for babies six months and older contained 6 grams of added sugar for every serving sold in Senegal and South Africa. The same exact product sold in Switzerland has no added sugars. 

In India, tests performed on Cerelac products had, on average, more than 2.7 grams of added sugar for every serving. In Brazil, two out of eight products were found to have no added sugar, but the remaining six products had about 4 grams in each serving, according to The Guardian. In Nigeria, one product had up to 6.8 grams.  

Additionally, tests on Nido brand products showed a significant variation in sugar levels, much like with Cerelac. Worldwide retail sales for Nido products have grossed more than $1 billion. 

In the Philippines, no added sugars are in products aimed for toddler consumption, however, in Indonesia, Nido baby-food products all contain around 2 grams of added sugar per 100 gram of product in the form of honey. 

“We believe in the nutritional quality of our products for early childhood and prioritize using high-quality ingredients adapted to the growth and development of children,” a Nestlé spokesperson stated. 

“[Within the] highly regulated category of baby food, Nestlé always complied with local regulations or international standards, including labeling requirements and thresholds on carbohydrate content that encompasses sugars and declared total sugars in its products, including those coming from honey,” The Guardian reported. 

“Variations in recipes depended on factors including regulation and availability of local ingredients,” the spokesperson said.

Child Vaccine

FDA Says Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 Vaccine Safe And Effective For Children Under 5

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Staff for the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), said on Sunday that the Covid-19 vaccine made by Pfizer and BioNTech is safe and effective for children under the age of 5. Staff members said the vaccine is effective in producing a virus-blocking response without any major safety concerns, now the results will be studied by a group of independent advisers for the FDA.

Independent experts working for the agency will review a request for emergency use authorization for the vaccine in children under the age of 5. The group will also review a similar request from Moderna for the use of their vaccine for children under the age of 6. 

After the advisers make their recommendations, the FDA will then decide whether or not to follow the panel’s advice, which it likely will. If the agency approves, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) do the same, the vaccines could be available for young children and infants as soon as the beginning of next week. 

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According to the FDA, “overall preliminary data indicated the vaccine was 80.4% effective in preventing symptomatic covid-19. The rate was 75.6% for babies and toddlers six to 23 months old, and 82.4% for children 2-to-4-years-old.

It’s still too soon, however, to reach definitive conclusions on the vaccine’s effectiveness.”

“Side effects were minimal and included irritability and drowsiness for children 6-to-23-months-old, and pain at the injection site and fatigue for children 2 to 4. Babies and children younger than 5 — a group numbering 19 million — remain the only age group in the United States not yet eligible for a coronavirus vaccine.”

The FDA also emphasized with these findings that they believe vaccines for the youngest group of Americans are critical for navigating the rest of the pandemic. 

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“Given the uncertainty of the pandemic and likely continued virus transmission in coming months, deployment of the vaccine for use among children 6 months through 4 years of age will likely have a beneficial effect on COVID-19 associated morbidity and mortality in this age group,” the agency said.

Assuming that both Pfizer and Moderna receive an emergency use authorization, most children will likely be able to receive their shots at their pediatricians office, however, many states and communities are already gearing up to set up vaccine clinics and make the shots available throughout local pharmacies. 

Sallie Permar, an expert in pediatric vaccines, said that her facility will offer both vaccine options to ideally make it easier for the parents to choose what they want their child to receive. 

“While there may be some confusion over the difference between the two vaccines, offering both gives you more flexibility. Parents can weigh all the information and decide,” she explained. 

Kids using technology

Excessive Screen Time Can Stunt Children’s Brain Development, Study Shows

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The use of personal devices by kids has been a debate since the birth of iPhones and growth of technology within the past decade. Parents everywhere have often found that putting a tablet in front of a screaming toddler’s face will most likely get them to be calm, even if it is for a fleeting moment. Onlookers can judge, but unless you’re a parent yourself, you probably wouldn’t understand how much of a saving grace and distraction these devices can be. However, most parents are also aware that screen time needs to be done in moderation as to not create too much of a dependency with the technology. Now, a new study conducted by pediatricians at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital shows that excessive unsupervised screen time can stunt a child’s brain development when they’re the ages of 3 – 5, according to Chicago’s WGN-TV.

“This is the first study to document associations between higher screen use and lower measures of brain structure and skills in preschool-aged kids. We found that those who used screens more than the recommended one hour a day without parental involvement had lower levels of development in the brain’s white matter — an area key to the development of language, literacy and cognitive skills. This is important because the brain is developing the most rapidly in the first five years. That’s when brains are very plastic and soaking up everything, forming these strong connections that last for life,” said lead author Dr. John Hutton, a pediatrician and clinical researcher at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. 

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The study also discussed how an excess of screen time can cause children to have issues with paying attention, developing basic language skills, sleep patterns, and engaging with their parents. These patterns can be caused by a myriad of things. Families in general often are in homes with multiple personal devices. While a child may be getting a couple hours of general screen time every day, their parent or guardian most likely gets double the amount of time, leading to an overall decrease in interaction and connection. In addition, parents who use their devices specifically to take pictures of their kids constantly are indirectly showing their kids that the excessive use of a phone is definitely normal, and often rewarded. 

The study used a special type of MRI machine that pays extra attention to scanning the white matter of the brain. This piece of the brain is what’s responsible for the lines of communication between the grey matter of our brains. The grey matter is responsible for pretty much everything. It contains a majority of our brain cells and those cells are what communicate with our body and tells it what to do when we want it to. 

“Think of white matter as cables, sort of like the telephone lines that are connecting the various parts of the brain so they can talk to each other. A lack of development of those ‘cables’ can slow the brain’s processing speed; on the other hand, studies show that reading, juggling or learning and practicing a musical instrument improves the organization and structure of the brain’s white matter,” Hutton said.

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The study worked to measure the specific scenarios of 27 girls and 27 boys all five years old or younger. They recorded the frequency these kids were exposed to screens along with what they were specifically engaging with on the devices. Pediatricians only recommend that children of this age get a maximum of one hour of screen-time a day. The kids in the study who exceeded that had scans that showed their brains were less developed and were often more disorganized. Saying that children aren’t developing their brains at the proper rate is a hugely loaded statement, so the doctors involved with this study emphasized how preliminary their findings were, and not to worry about your child’s brain function, but definitely be aware of how much screen time their getting daily, and if you find it to be excessive, cut it down. 

Slowing down the brain development process can stunt how quickly your child picks up basic skills such as proper communication, social cues, organization, etc. So the pediatricians who conducted this study also laid out how to properly divide up screen time for children five and under. First, for any infant that’s 18 months or younger, no screen time at all is the way to go. Babies that young need to be interacting with their family, and environment. They need to become comfortable with their new world outside of the womb and get used to basic human interaction, a screen will completely stunt that development. By the time the child is two years old, that one hour of screen time can begin to be incorporated into the child’s routine. Screen time at that age should always be monitored and strictly for educational purposes. There’s plenty of resources online that children can use to help develop their language skills, and tactile ability through touch screen interaction. Hutton recommends whatever your two year old learns from their screen time should be immediately worked through again without the screen afterwards with a guardian. 

Once the child is in the 3 to 5 range, they can go unsupervised with their device use, however, screen time should remain at one hour a day, and strictly for educational purposes, which can include watching hit TV Shows like Sesame Street. This is the time in your child’s life where brain development is imperative of them learning basic skills they need to be a human. Don’t delay it with excessive use of a tablet.