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Focus for Health Stays Connected During the Covid-19 Pandemic…
Dear Focus for Health Family, The Coronavirus has made its way stateside, and we are all doing our part to mitigate exposure and prevent further spreading of this novel disease. Here at Focus for Health, we hope to continue to provide unbiased, science-based articles on our topics of interest. While we are “socially distancing” physically,…
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Bullying and Suicide
Not a day goes by without another direful tale of bullying making headlines. Last month 9-year-old Quaden Bayles was bullied at school for his dwarfism. A Facebook live video of him sobbing uncontrollably – saying to the camera: “Give me a knife, I want to kill myself” in the back of his mother’s car went…
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Time Poverty: A Relentless Thief of Good Health
Time is one of humanity’s most precious resources, but for many Americans, lost time is an unfortunate cost of living in poverty. A 2014 study by Harvard and Berkeley researchers found that commutes lasting 15 minutes or less had a greater impact on intergenerational mobility than any other enviro factor, including crime and/or single-parent status….
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Why is Weed Killer in My Child’s Food?
Late January 2020, Kellogg’s, the multinational food manufacturer, announced the company’s commitment to phase out wheat and oats treated with glyphosate (as a drying agent) by 2025. Kellogg’s Company is not unique. Major food companies like General Mills and Pepsi Company (owner of Quaker Brand Products) also sell popular children’s breakfast cereals and other foods…
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The Relationship Between Trauma and Resiliency in Children
Children are forced to face things every day that are hard to imagine; death of a loved one, incarceration of a caregiver, living with an addicted parent, enduring incest or sexual abuse by the hands of a family member, and the list can go on and on. Research on Aversive Childhood Experiences (ACE’s) have brought…
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Can Baby Teeth Predict Neurodevelopmental Disorders?
Most humans have two sets of teeth: a set of 20 primary teeth that are shed and replaced by 32 permanent teeth. Primary teeth begin to mineralize at approximately the fourth fetal month, begin to erupt at approximately 6 months of age, and are completely formed by 2 to 3 years of age. These time…
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Thoughts on Income Inequality
I read “Blink” by Malcolm Gladwell and it describes how a Chicago attorney, Ian Ayres, did an experiment on racism and auto selling. Participants (18 white men, 7 white women, 8 black women, and 5 black men) were trained to go into car dealerships in Chicago and negotiate in a standard way for a car…
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Weathering and its Affects on Marginalized Communities
The Appalachian Mountains on the Eastern coast of the United States once stood taller than the Himalayan mountains do today. A geological process called weathering reduced the Appalachians to their current stature. “Weathering” refers to the slow erosion of rock over time by rain and snow. The phenomenon is imperceptible on a short-term scale. Each…
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FFH’s February Fail: The NFL
For an organization that committed $250 million to combat systemic racism, they might start by looking at home. Minorities are abysmally present in their coaching staff and management positions, which flies in the face of the over 70% of players who are of color. But that’s not the only crack in the veneer. How it…
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Climate Change Discriminates
There is a long history of environmental racism in the U.S. and climate change will continue to compound those issues. January 2020 marked the end of the hottest decade on record and Antarctica just reached a balmy 65 degrees. Alarm bells are going off and we ought to act responsibly to preserve the health and…
