It’s a funny headline that invokes funny images – toddlers running down the halls of congress, infants putting on their best diapers to impress and teenagers texting about a critical vote.
It’s a funny image, because this could never happen. Children – from the youngest to the oldest – don’t get opportunities to speak up on issues that impact their lives. Think of the numerous laws that impact children – abuse, neglect, reimbursement or disability, to name just a few. Yet who do we rely on to make sure those affected are heard?
Advocacy efforts rely on the strength and action of volunteers who care about kids and want to make a difference. Children are not able to represent themselves on issues that directly impact their care. (more…)
Have you ever been told that you have your father’s nose or your mother’s brown eyes? Many of us look like our parents or one of our siblings, but did you ever wonder what else you inherited from your parents besides their physical traits?
Most of us know that cancer, diabetes and high blood pressure can run in families. However, most families have never tried to gather or write down their health history. There are many reasons that knowing family health history is important.
Top 10 reasons to know your family history
:
- Because it doesn’t cost a thing, and it could save your life.
- Because you owe your mother a phone call anyway.
- Because every family has a story, but not every family has YOUR story.
- Because sometimes with a little help from the past, you can change the future.
- Because the best present you can get for your children this year is a family tree (no batteries required!).
- Because if you don’t know, who will?
- Because personalized medicine is in. One-size-fits-all medicine is so last century.
- Because when you need to know, they may not be there to ask.
- Because it’s not just recipes that get passed down in families.
- Because what you don’t know CAN hurt you.
Because family health history is such a powerful screening tool, the Surgeon General has launched a national public health campaign, called the Surgeon General’s Family History Initiative, to encourage all American families to learn more about their family health history.
The Family Health Portrait, a new computerized tool, helps make it fun and easy for anyone to create a family health portrait. You can enter your family’s information, print it and save it so you have a place to add future information. This tool also will help your doctor offer more personalized medical recommendations based on specific risks related to your family history.
-Heather Radtke, MS, CGC, genetic counselor, Genetics Clinic, Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin
Learn more about Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin at chw.org.
Who says learning about health can’t be fun? Betty Brinn Children’s Museum in Milwaukee has teamed up with Children’s Hospital and Health System to build a new exhibit, Kohl’s Healthy Kids: It’s Your Move! And it is cool!
You’ll be able to jump into a giant, interactive board game with your kids and play your way to a healthy lifestyle. This exciting, new exhibit features action-packed activity stations and fun health challenges about nutrition, activity and rest, safety and personal hygiene.
Visiting this exhibit is a great way to get kids interested in learning what being healthy is all about. The exhibit highlights the benefits of making good decisions and the consequences of making poor choices. All the while, kids are moving, crawling, climbing and sliding through the exhibit – discovering the winning combinations that will help keep them healthy and safe.
The exhibit’s grand opening is Saturday, Feb. 27. Check out Betty Brinn’s Web site for more information.
This new feature exhibit was developed in partnership with Children’s Hospital and Health System and brought to you by Kohl’s Department Stores.
-Colleen Schultz, education manager, Children’s Health Education Center
Learn more about Children’s Hospital and Health System at chw.org.
Become a fan
Follow us
Watch us
Subscribe to our e-newsletters
Subscribe to our RSS newsfeed
