BPA-Free Plastics Are Still Scary — Here's Why

By Mariah Blake, March/April 2014 Issue Mother Jones

The Scary Evidence About BPA-Free Plastics — and the Big Tobacco-style campaign to bury it.

Each night at dinnertime, a familiar ritual played out in Michael Green’s home: He’d slide a stainless steel sippy cup across the table to his two-year-old daughter, Juliette, and she’d howl for the pink plastic one. Often, Green gave in. But he had a nagging feeling. As an environmental-health advocate, he had fought to rid sippy cups and baby bottles of the common plastic additive bisphenol A (BPA), which mimics the hormone estrogen and has been linked to a long list of serious health problems. Juliette’s sippy cup was made from a new generation of BPA-free plastics, but Green, who runs the Oakland, California-based Center for Environmental Health, had come across research suggesting some of these contained synthetic estrogens, too.

Wi-Fi Especially Dangerous for Young Children—Cell Phones Too

(Alliance for Natural Health) Should we be concerned about radiation from our cell phones (which we carry with us everywhere) and our Wi-Fi (which is nearly ubiquitous these days)?

A review of recent studies shows reasons for caution, pointing to evidence which demonstrates that children absorb more microwave radiation (MWR) than adults. The authors also note the shortcomings in current federal regulatory policy in regard to MWR exposure.

Food allergy vs. food sensitivity: what 21st century families need to know

By Robyn O'Brien

(Prevention) According to UCLA Health System, “The occurrence of allergic disease is skyrocketing, and some estimates are that as many as one-in-five Americans have an allergic condition.”

You don’t have to tell that to parents.

Today, a food allergic reaction sends someone to the emergency room once every three minutes.  One in ten children struggle with asthma, and one in four are affected by allergies. The incidence of allergy has increased significantly over the past two decades, and allergy to peanuts more than doubled from 1997 to 2002.

The National Association of Nurses now says 19% of school age children have a food allergy.

Flowersorri: Sensorial, Montessori-inspired ergonomic furniture for kids

(TreeHugger) by Kimberly Mok

Alternatives to conventional schooling like Waldorf and Montessori schools often focus on educating the whole child, allowing the child's innate curiosity to guide their studies, rather than imposing methods of rote memorization and misguided one-size-fits-all ideas behind standardized testing. The concept of a specially "prepared environment" -- an orderly atmosphere complete with child-sized items and furnishings -- is a key component that Italian educator Maria Montessori pioneered back in the turn of the twentieth century, and something that we actually see translated in most modern kindergartens today.  Read more here.

Edible schoolyards and healthy cooking lessons - Growing fresh solutions for childhood obesity

(NaturalNews) Purple carrots, raspberry bushes and a bounty of schoolyard-grown vegetables are sprouting up around the nation. Edible schoolyards are teaching children about sustainability, nutrition and the fun of growing, cooking and eating their own food. As more of these gardens germinate from an idea to a full fledged classroom, children learn about wholesome food choices -- helping to curb childhood obesity. Continue »