Health & Safety

Summer 2009

Tips for Parenting in a Commercial Culture — a Superb Resource

New research suggests that aggressive marketing to kids contributes not only to excessive materialism, but also to a host of psychological and behavioral problems, including depression, anxiety, low self esteem, childhood obesity, eating disorders, increased violence, and family stress. It is very difficult to raise children who are bombarded with enticements to eat, buy, covet, dress! Here is a remarkable booklet (in pdf form) that could prove very useful to you as a parent or grandparent, and that you can share with others. Tips for Parenting in a Commercial Culture was written by The Center for a New American Dream (www.newdream.org, 1-877-68-DREAM).

Park Your Car Keys Beside Your Bed At Night

By Jenna Collier

This tip comes from a neighborhood watch coordinator: If you get into the habit of putting your car keys next to your bed at night, you can use the panic button on your car key the next time you hear a noise outside or someone trying to break into your house. The alarm will be set off and the horn will continue to honk until you turn it off.

The great thing about it is that it’s a security alarm system that requires no installation. It will go off from almost anywhere inside your house and odds are the intruder won’t stick around because, after a few seconds, all your neighbors will be looking out their windows to see what’s going on.

And, remember to carry your keys in your hand while walking to your car in a parking lot because the alarm can be used to scare off unwelcome attention there as well.
It could also be useful for emergencies, such as a heart attack, when you can’t reach a phone. Elderly people with stability issues can carry their car keys with them in case they fall outside the home. They can activate the car alarm and alert family or neighbors that there’s a problem.

Beverage Consumption Is a Big Factor In Weight Gain—You are what you Drink!

When it comes to weight loss, what you drink may be more important than what you eat, according to researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Researchers examined the relationship between beverage consumption and weight change and found that weight loss was positively associated with a reduction in liquid calorie consumption and liquid calorie intake had a stronger impact on weight than solid calorie intake.

“Both liquid and solid calories were associated with weight change, however, only a reduction in liquid calorie intake was shown to significantly affect weight loss during the 6-month follow up,” said Benjamin Caballero MD, a professor with the Bloomberg School’s Department of International Health. Of the seven types of beverages examined, sugar-sweetened beverages were the only beverages significantly associated with weight change.

Researchers divided beverages into several categories based on calorie content and nutritional composition: sugar-sweetened beverages, diet drinks, milk, 100 percent juice, coffee and tea with sugar, coffee and tea without sugar and alcoholic beverages. They found that, at 37 percent, sugar-sweetened beverages were the leading source of liquid calories.

Earlier studies project that by 2015, the number of overweight or obese adults in the U.S could increase from 66% to 75%. Researchers recommend limiting liquid calorie intake in general and reducing sugar-sweetened beverage consumption as a means to accomplish weight loss or avoid excess weight gain.

The results are published in the April 1, 2009, issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

New SLV Group Concerned with Pedestrian and Biker Safety

As a result of a recent car accident that killed a pedestrian, a Boulder Creek woman has organized a new group called “Safe SLV Streets.”

Rachael Montague says she was prompted to do something after a teenager was killed while walking along the shoulder of Highway 9 in Boulder Creek several months ago. She began by reading the study completed by the county in 2006 examining ways to increase safety for both bicyclists and people on foot in the San Lorenzo Valley.

Montague says the group has decided to start by focusing on one project: trying to increase pedestrian and biker safety along the segment of Highway 9 between the high school and downtown Felton.

If you’re interested in supporting this important effort, the group meets on the 3rd Thursday of the month at 6:30PM at the Felton Firehouse. Please come to offer your help.

Cautions about Enjoying our Parks and Forests

By Lyse McGilvery

It’s not as much of a concern this time of year, but when the rains return, people look to the forests as a source of a favorite food, mushrooms. It is remarkable how similar some of the most toxic mushrooms are in appearance with some of the common food favorites. Our Parks, like Henry Cowell, are popular sources for wild mushrooms. If you visit the Emergency Room at Dominican Hospital, there is usually a warning sign up about them, and virtually every year someone collects, cooks, and eats mushrooms that kill them or make them severely ill – damaging their livers. Enjoy how they look and take photos, but leave collecting to the experts.

Another reminder is to not feed wild animals in any park, as they may start to frequent places where people toss leftovers. This:

1) lessens the likelihood of their searching for food in their normal spots, which

2) subjects them to the health hazards of refined foods, colorings and preservatives used in human food, or inappropriate foods that do not support their well-being, and

3) increases their chances of becoming roadkill as they gather where people do.
Our local Rangers are adamant about this. You may want to avoid this experience. One day, a man who prefers to remain anonymous was with his daughter watching a deer who “appeared to be interested” in the food on their picnic blanket. Totally alone and in full view of a “Do Not Feed the Wildlife” sign, they offered the deer part of a banana. Seconds later, a park ranger drove up, and saw a banana peel sticking out of the deer’s mouth. Caught!

Remember, don’t feed the wildlife.

Grants Fund Two Important Projects

Update of Watershed Brochure

Thanks to Tai Stills, the first Watershed Festival brochure, mailed to every SLV resident about five years ago, and very popular because of its charming map of the Valley, has been updated and reprinted. Tai wrote a grant request to the Santa Cruz County Fish & Game Commission, which was granted and funded earlier this year. Tai contacted our talented Newsletter graphics artist, Laurel Becker, who made the changes to the original brochure. Community Printers printed the new brochures with a significant and welcome discount. And now the new brochures are being snapped up at every event where they are on display!

These wonderful, informative brochures, give residents guidance on how to prevent their lives from adversely affecting our fragile hillsides, important plant communities, and vital waterways.

Do you have a neighbor, or neighborhood, or Church or other group to whom you would like to give copies of the brochure? Contact Nancy Macy (345-1555)! Or, click here for a .pdf version (1.3 MB).

Watershed Nature Walks and Articles

One of the most popular activities in our on-going Watershed Festival of events is the walks led by talented and informed experts into important parts of the Watershed. This year, Environmental Committee member (and immediate past Co-Chair), Carol Carson, felt it was important to provide an honorarium to the walk leaders, and had the inspiration to write articles for local publication about each of the walks. She wrote a grant around these ideas to the SLV Water District’s Watershed Education Grant Program and, at press time, the grant request has been recommended for approval by the District’s Watershed Education Commission – the Board will vote on it at its next meeting.

The first walk will have taken place Saturday, June 6. Hopefully you all received the email about it, or saw the announcement in the paper, since this Newsletter is now out in time. Docent Judy Hill was to lead the walkers up into Fall Creek to explore the wildflowers, birds, lime kiln history, and some other Secrets Judy has learned in her years of research of Fall Creek. The other walks are in the planning and will be announced soon, and soon after Carol’s articles will be in the Press-Banner and online at the VWC website.

For further information about the walks, please contact Carol at 338-6343.

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