Breastfeeding is a foundation of a healthy life. For the past 27 years, the first week of August has been declared World Breastfeeding Week. Breastfeeding helps to prevent malnutrition, ensures food security for infants and young children, and helps to bring people out of the hunger and poverty cycle. Breastfeeding is one of the most [...]
Today we're celebrating International Board Certified Lactation Consultants Day and recognizing the important role the consultants have to improve the lives of breastfeeding families. International Board Certified Lactation Consultants are healthcare professionals who specialize in the clinical management of breastfeeding and work in a wide variety of settings, including the Arizona WIC Program. When a [...]
The infants who come to work with their mothers and fathers as part of the Infants at Work program had a special visitor this week when Governor Doug Ducey met with participating parents and their babies. Governor Ducey announced in his State of the State address Monday that the Infant at Work program will be [...]
Supporting breastfeeding mothers and babies is an important part of the Arizona Department of Health Services efforts to decrease childhood obesity. The United States Preventive Services Task Force has just updated their recommendations for primary care providers to include breastfeeding support during pregnancy and after birth. Evidence shows that these steps can increase the duration [...]
We will be celebrating World Breastfeeding Week August 1 through 7. The week is an opportunity to showcase the benefits of breastfeeding, and what international support looks like for pregnant and breastfeeding women all over the world from various organizations and community groups. We will be hosting an event called LATCH-AZ, which will offer breastfeeding education [...]
Hospital support for breastfeeding has improved since 2007, both across the nation and here in Arizona, according to a recent Vital Signs report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In terms of hospitals implementing more than six of the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding, Arizona has gone from less than one in five [...]
Director Cara M. Christ, MD, (center), along with WIC Breastfeeding Coordinator Anne Whitmire, PHS Assistant Director Sheila Sjolander and Nutrition and Community Services Manager Linda Yee, present the award to Yavapai WIC Director Willa Miller (far right). Congratulations to Yavapai County Community Health Services WIC Program. They will be recognized for their [...]
The latest CDC obesity data published in this week’s Journal of the American Medical Association found a significant decline in obesity among kids aged 2 to 5. Obesity prevalence for this age group declined by 43% in the last 8 years (from 14% in 2004 to 8% in 2012. While the precise reasons for the [...]
Home visiting programs are highly effective at coaching new parents to be better parents. Home visiting is particularly effective in building skills needed to be an effective parent as well as providing support for breastfeeding, nutrition, child development, fussy babies, oral health, and access to community resources. Arizona has a long tradition of supporting home visiting. Arizona's coalition of partners [...]
One of the ways we create good public health interventions is by studying outcomes. This week, the 20th Annual Child Fatality Review report came out- which examines all 854 deaths of children under the age of 18 in 2012. The Report reviews the circumstances of each child’s death, determines preventability and makes recommendations to save children’s lives moving forward. Although the number [...]
