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THIS WEEK'S
HEADLINES
NEWS IMPACTING CHILDREN 0-5 AND THEIR FAMILIES
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Here is a quick look at some headlines from this week impacting the lives of kids 0-5 and their families. The purpose of these stories is simply to inform, and they do not necessarily reflect First 5 Kern's areas of support or efforts towards these issues.
Follow First 5 Kern on social media (@First5Kern) for more kids news, as well as information about our funded programs and initiatives.
Now for the headlines........
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EARLY CHILDCARE & EDUCATION
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TEMPERATURE CHECKS, MASKS FOR TEACHERS: CALIFORNIA RELEASES STRINGENT SCHOOL REOPENING RULES
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When California’s more than 6 million K-12 students return in a few months, they will face a starkly different learning environment.
Students should have their temperatures taken every morning, with no-touch thermometers. Teachers should wear face masks or shields. Desks should be spaced 6 feet apart, separated by partitions or staggered to avoid face-to-face contact.
Those changes are included in the state’s long-awaited strongly recommended
guidelines
for reopening schools that the California Department of Public Health released Friday. (SF Chronicle)
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COLLEGE REQUIREMENT FOR CHILD CARE WORKERS FACING LAWSUIT
Day care workers suing over a D.C. requirement mandating college degrees for childcare workers scored a victory in federal court last week.
Two child care workers and a parent are suing the District, arguing that the rules requiring bachelor’s degrees for day care directors and associate degrees for teachers and caregivers are too onerous for many workers.
(WAMU)
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COMPLEX HEALTH CONDITIONS ARE A CHALLENGE FOR SCHOOL OPENINGS
Schools are facing a complicated array of health considerations as they decide whether and how to reopen this fall.
Because so much is unknown, schools need to take extra precautions to ensure students, teachers and staff remain healthy, according to an
article
signed by 17 pediatricians and researchers published last month in the Journal of Pediatrics. (EdSource)
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ZEROTOTHREE ANNOUNCES THEIR ANNUAL
"STATE OF BABIES YEARBOOK"
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The State of Babies Yearbook: 2020 compares national and state-by-state data on the well-being of infants and toddlers.
The current state of babies tells an important story about what it is like to be a very young child in this country, and where we are headed as a nation. By nearly every measure, children living in poverty and children of color face the biggest obstacles, such as low birthweight, unstable housing, and limited access to quality child care.
The Yearbook includes a map to look at each state's data. (Zero to Three)
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PARENTS NEED TO START TEACHING KIDS ABOUT RACE EARLY
"Other studies show that by age 2 and 4, kids can already internalize racial bias," says Natalie Weder, M.D., a child and adolescent psychiatrist at the
Child Mind Institute
. "As parents we might love for our kid to be colorblind, but that's not something that actually happens. Children notice. If we don't have these conversations with our kids ourselves, they will happen, and they will happen in ways that we might not want them to." (Good Housekeeping)
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12 BOOKS TO HELP CHILDREN UNDERSTAND RACE, RACISM, PROTEST
Children and teens are not
colorblind
. When we talk about race, we honor who children and teens are as learners. A conversation with a caring adult allows children to feel safe and ask questions instead of drawing conclusions about race and racism based on implicit and explicit messaging from the world around them and their own limited knowledge.
Reading is a powerful way to nurture a child’s sense of curiosity and build a foundation for having bigger conversations about race over time. (Smithsonian)
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CORONAVIRUS HAS HAD A SERIOUS EFFECT ON POSTPARTUM CARE
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The coronavirus pandemic has dramatically transformed giving birth and the postpartum period.
Virtual care and video consultations have stepped up to replace face to face appointments to cut down on the people entering hospitals. A neonatologist explains how
postpartum care has changed because of Covid-19
and, while virtual medicine has been good for this period, it will never replace the emotional support that new parents need in person. (Forbes)
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BABY MASSAGE 'MAGIC BUTTON' THAT HELPS SOOTHE A BABY
Baby massage has long been advised by experts as a way for parents to calm and bond with their newborn child.
The gentle, rhythmic stroking has been found to have numerous benefits.
According to the NCT,
a 2004 study found that intensive care unit babies who were massaged spent less time in the hospital and had fewer postnatal complications. (Yahoo!)
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HOW TO RECOGNIZE COVID-19 IN BABIES
While COVID-19 tends to be
less severe
in children, this protection does not extend to babies, who may be as vulnerable to severe illness as older adults.
A
Chinese analysis
that included more than 2,000 children with COVID-19 found that 10.6% of infants under 1 year of age had severe or critical symptoms. All of these infants survived, but a small number of infants in the United States have died following diagnosis with COVID-19. (Medical News Today)
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LIVING NEAR OIL & GAS WELLS LINKED TO LOW BIRTH WEIGHT
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Living near active oil and gas wells during pregnancy increases the risk of low-birthweight babies, especially in rural areas, according to the largest study of its kind.
Researchers analysed the records of nearly 3 million births in
California
to women living within 6.2 miles (10km) of at least one oil or gas well between 2006 and 2015. It is the first such study to look at birth outcomes in rural and urban areas, and to women living near active and inactive oil and gas sites.
Proximity to a well and the level of production were found to be significantly associated with poor birth outcomes. (The Guardian)
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DRINKING FRUIT JUICE IN EARLY YEARS CAN HAVE LONG-TERM DIETARY BENEFITS
A new study from Boston University found that drinking 100% fruit juice early in life was associated with healthier dietary patterns in later childhood without adversely impacting weight gain.
The study found that consumption of 100% fruit juice during the preschool years was associated with higher intakes of whole fruit and total fruit as well as better diet quality through childhood and into middle adolescence. (EurekAlert)
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PUBLIC HEALTH PROVIDES WATER SAFETY TIPS
A
s temperatures rise and families take to their backyard swimming pools and utilize other water outlets, Kern County Public Health Services urges safety.
According to the county, since 2014, 32 Kern County children have died because of accidental drowning, and 27 of which were under 6 years old. In 2019, seven children died from accidental drowning.
Commonalities in these instances include lapse of supervision, safety mechanism failures, lack of CPR initiation and deaths occurring in pools. (Bakersfield Californian)
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First 5 Kern was established in 1998 when California voters passed Proposition 10, which levied a 50-cent tax on tobacco products. Revenues generated from the tobacco tax are used to fund local programs in the areas of health and wellness, early childcare and education, and parent education and support services that promote early childhood development for children ages zero to five.
For more information on First 5 Kern and the agencies we support, please visit
www.First5Kern.org
and follow us on social media.
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Special thanks to
Vecteezy
for assistance on graphics
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