~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MCMCH LOGO       Michigan Council for Maternal and Child Health
                 Friday Notes

Friday Notes is intended to share current information, resources and notices.

If you have information or announcements that you would like to have included in an upcoming issue, please forward them to MCMCH.

                         August 19, 2011
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In this issue
KIDS Count Data Puts Michigan 30th for Child Well-Being
Michigan Hospitals Implement Parental Consent for Newborn Screening
Obesity and Infant Mortality Summits Planned

KIDS COUNT Data Book: Michigan 30th for Overall Child Well-Being 

One in every eight Michigan children is living in a household struggling with job loss and one in every 20 kids is affected by foreclosure, according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation's annual KIDS COUNT Data Book released this week.

 

The report ranks Michigan 30th among the states for overall child well-being, the same as last year. The ranking slipped from two years ago when Michigan was 27. Between 2000 and 2009 an additional 75,000 children in the state fell below poverty level (roughly $22,000 for a two-parent family of four in 2009) as the state child poverty rate escalated by 64 percent--one of the largest increases in the nation. Michigan's child poverty rate stands at 23 percent, up from 14 percent at the start of the decade.

 

The Data Book looks at 10 key areas of child well-being across states. Parental unemployment and foreclosure data were also included in this year's report, which focuses on the recession.

 

"While there are bright spots in the report, it does show with startling clarity how deeply the recession has affected families across Michigan,'' Jane Zehnder-Merrell, director of the Kids Count in Michigan project at the Michigan League for Human Services, said in a press release.

 

Michigan's best ranking is No. 13 for teen births, with 33 births for every 1,000 teens ages 15-19. That compares with a national average of 41 births per 1,000 teens. It also ranked No. 15 for child death rate and No. 19 for teen death rate with big improvements in those areas since 2000.

 

A troubling ranking is No. 40 for infant mortality. Nearly 8 of every 1,000 Michigan babies do not live to their first birthdays, compared with just under 7 of every 1,000 nationally. Michigan also ranked poorly (No. 37) for the percent of low birthweight babies - with 8.6 percent of infants born too small, under 5.5 pounds, compared with 8.2 percent nationally. In Michigan roughly 10,400 babies were affected-putting them at higher risk of developmental delay, chronic disease and even death.

The report is available at kidscount.org. The Michigan profile can be viewed here.
____________________________________________________________________________________  

Michigan Leads by Implementing Parent Consent Process for Newborn Screening 

Newborn Screening is an important and successful population-based public health program that has prevented disabilities and saved the lives of over 4,000 Michigan babies since the program began in 1965.

The potential public health "good" of newborn screening has been expanded by making residual newborn screening dried blood spots available for population-based health research. On June 1, 2009, the Michigan Department of Community Health with university partners launched the Michigan BioTrust for Health, an initiative to make residual newborn screening dried blood spot specimens more useful for health research while ensuring better public understanding and transparency of policies and procedures that govern their use.

 

As of October 1, 2010, all Michigan birthing hospitals are now obtaining written permission from new parents who want to allow their newborn's residual dried blood spots to be made available for potential health research through the BioTrust.

MDCH worked diligently to prepare birthing hospital staff to implement the BioTrust consent process. Newborn screening kits were re-designed to contain a BioTrust consent form, and multiple educational materials were created to ensure parental understanding of newborn screening, the BioTrust, and consent process to allow use of residual dried blood spots in the BioTrust.

MDCH continues to emphasize community education about newborn screening and the BioTrust. To learn more visit michigan.gov/biotrust.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Upcoming Summits Examine Obesity and Infant Mortality 

Registration is now open for two upcoming summits tackling the topics of obesity and infant mortality.

Michigan Call to Action to Reduce and Prevent Obesity will be held from 8:30am to 4 p.m. on September 21 at the Lansing Center. Register online here. Registration deadline is September 16.
 
The purpose of the summit is to share an assessment of prevalence, disparities, and factors that contribute to obesity and unhealthy weight; highlight best practices, including those underway at the state and local community level in Michigan; identify a limited number of priority strategies for addressing the issue with a focus on reducing disparity; and engage and mobilize partners across multiple sectors in efforts to reduce obesity.
 
During the summit, participants will break into work groups to review the information presented and develop a list of the top three to five priority strategies for Michigan in each setting. Each work group will focus on a particular point of intervention: early childhood, school, worksite, healthcare, and family & community. Please indicate your first and second choice for the work group you would like to join during the summit.

Michigan Call to Action to Reduce and Prevent Infant Mortality will be held from 8:30am to 3pm on October 17 at the Ann Arbor Marriott Ypsilanti at Eaglecrest. Register online here. Registration deadline is October 12

The purpose of the summit is to share an assessment of prevalence, disparities, and factors that contribute to infant mortality; highlight best practices, including those underway at the state and local community level in Michigan; identify a limited number of priority strategies for addressing the issue with a focus on reducing disparity; and engage and mobilize partners across multiple sectors in efforts to reduce obesity.
 
During the summit, participants will break into work groups to review the information presented and develop a list of the top three to five priority strategies for Michigan in each setting. Each work group will focus on a particular point of intervention: healthcare, social issues, individuals & family circumstances and medical conditions. Please indicate your first and second choice for the work group you would like to join during the summit.
 
Detailed agendas will be available prior to each summit.

____________________________________________________________________________________
Contributors to this Issue
AHIP HI-Wire
HealthDay
Michigan League for Human Services
Michigan Department of Community Health
__________________________________________________________
Quick Links . . .

 

Parent Leadership Training in Detroit: Openings Still Available 

The Parent Leadership in State Government Training Project provides leadership training for Michigan parents who want to help impact local, state and federal program planning and policy development. The training covers improving leadership skills, making meetings more effective, how to successfully handle conflict, and many other topics. The two-day training will be held September 19 and 20 in Detroit. Each parent will develop an individual action plan that will put his or her new leadership skills to use. Our staff helps put these action plans into place by providing assistance to newly trained parents seeking positions on advisory boards, committees and projects. Learn more.
___________________________________________________________________________________________  

 Webinar on Preventing Infant Suffications

Rock a Bye Baby, Now Safely Lay Me Down to Sleep: Infant Suffocation Deaths in the Sleep Environment will be held

Thursday, September 8, 2011 from 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM EDT.  Reserve your webinar seat by clicking here.

 ___________________________________________________________________________________________    

Breastfeeding counteracts risk for a type of cancer, study says

African American women have higher rates of a type of breast cancer that isn't dependent for growth on the hormones estrogen or progesterone. They also have a higher rate of childbearing than do white American women. A new study finds there is likely a link between those two facts -- that bearing a baby to term raises the risk for this type of cancer, called estrogen or progesterone receptor-negative breast cancer.  

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Obesity Before Pregnancy May Raise Child's Asthma Risk

Teens of mothers who were overweight or obese when they became pregnant may be at increased risk for asthma symptoms, according to a new study.

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

Job Posting: State School Nurse Consultant
MDCH and MDE have posted a position for a State School Nurse Consultant. This will be a joint position between the Adolescent & School Health Unit at MDCH and the Coordinated School Health and Safety Programs Unit at MDE. The position is full time, with benefits, and is housed in downtown Lansing. Deadline to apply is September 2. Learn more. 

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Nearly 1 in 10 U.S. Kids Diagnosed With ADHD Over the last decade, an increasing number of American children have been diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a new government survey reveals.  

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Many More Kids Hospitalized for Mental Illness: Study Short-stay hospitalizations of children with mental illnesses surged between 1996 and 2007, according to a new study examining changing patterns in psychiatric hospitalization in the United States. Admissions for children aged 5 to 13 surged 81 percent in that time period-- from 156 per 100,000 children in the general population each year to 283 per 100,000 children, the study found. Psychiatric admissions for teenagers aged 14 to 19 rose by nearly 42 percent. 

____________________________________________________________________________________________

    
Join Our Mailing List            Become a MCMCH Member at PayPal                 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Michigan Council for Maternal and Child Healthblur image MCMCH is made up of
member organizations who share a commitment to the health of
Michigan's women, children and families.
To learn more go to http://www.mcmch.org or email info@mcmch.org.

             Amy Zaagman - Executive Director - azaagman@mcmch.org
     Jennifer Gorchow - Communications Manager - jgorchow@mcmch.org 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~