Maharlikan Times

DOH taps Ajinomoto in promoting healthy lifestyle

MANILA, Feb. 9 --The Department of Health's (DOH) Healthy Lifestyle Campaign has tapped Ajinomoto Philippines Corp. (APC) as a committed partner in promoting good health and nutrition throughout the country through the Crispy Fry School Caravan.

Crispy Fry Senior Brand manager Peñafrancia Alvina said, “The Crispy Fry School Caravan is one of the many ways that Crispy Fry, along with the rest of APC to develop initiatives to nourish Filipino homes.”

Seventy schools around the Philippines -– 20 in the National Capital Region, 30 in Luzon, 10 in Visayas and 10 in Mindanao –- were treated to fun-filled, informative sessions on nutrition and health.

The Crispy Fry School Caravan began with an introductory talk by a health expert, who gave the students a refresher on the basics of good nutrition and personal health care.

Students and faculty then joined different games that reinforced healthy lifestyle habits.

For regions struck by typhoons, a stress debriefing session was included at the start of the program to encourage traumatized children unload their bad feelings about the tragic incidents that they experienced.

These sessions helped to relieve some of their emotional burdens.

Another medical mission set in Tagbilaran City

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, Feb. 9  -- The office of the consultant on health social services has arranged with partners to hold another surgical-medical mission on Feb. 22-26 here.

Fancy Baluyot, consultant on health social services and chair of the Provincial Medical Surgical Mission Committee will meet with other committee members on Wednesday at her office to discuss the preparations for the free medical mission.

Baluyot has tapped the Association of Filipinos of Southern Illinois to offer their services during the medical mission that will be held at Borja Family Hospital.

The provincial government, the Philippine Gift of Life and the Department of Health will host the volunteers.

Dr. Renato Rivera will lead the medical team to be composed of specialist surgeons, anesthesiologists and highly-experienced nurses coming the different states of America like Arizona, West Virginia, Florida and Souther Illinois, together with the Knights of Columbus of Breece Illinois Council 2869.

The free medical and surgical services will include thyroidectomy, hysterectomy, oophorectomy and reconstructive surgeries for breast, hernia, gallbladder, colon, cleft lip and palate.

Working on the preparations for the medical mission are members of the Provincial Medical Surgical Mission Committee --Provincial Board Members Cesar Tomas Lopez and Amalia Tirol, Executive Assistant for Fiscal Management Primitiva Ontong, HRMDO Head Romeo Teruel, AMHOP president Dr. Jude Doblas, Office of the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Head Constancia Tuñacao, Prima Obligado and Judith Ang of the Governor’s Office, Nenital Briones of the Philippine National Red Cross, Provincial Administrator Handel Lagunay, Provincial Health Office Head Dr. Reymoses Cabagnot, PGSO Head Engr. Rosalinda Yu, Felix Mejorada of GO., GO Chief of Staff Antonieto Pernia, Dr. Mary Ann Ruiz of BHO, PDCC Executive Officer retired Col. Raul Mendez, and Josephine Cabarrus.

Researchers find older mothers more likely to have autistic kids

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 9 -- Children born to older moms are more likely to develop autism, U.S. researchers suggest.

Researchers from University of California, Davis, came to the conclusion after analyzing data of the nearly 5 million births in California between 1990 and 1999, a decade in which autism incidence increased 600 percent statewide.

A woman who gave birth at age 40 or older had a more than 50 percent greater chance of having a child with autism than a woman who gave birth between 25 and 29, and a 77 percent greater chance of having an autistic child than a woman who gave birth before the age of 25, according to the study published in the Feb. 8 online issue of the journal Autism Research.

The researchers reckoned that a woman's risk of having a child diagnosed with autism rose by 18 percent for each five-year increment in her age.

But dad's age didn't matter unless father was older, and mom much younger, the study found. This contradicts with previous researches which indicated that older dads are more likely to have a child with autism

Men over 40 who had a child with a woman under 30 had a nearly 60 percent increased risk of having a child diagnosed with autism compared to men aged 25 to 29 who fathered a child with a young woman, said the study.

Among mothers over 30, the increased risk associated with having a baby with a man older than 40 dissipated, according to the study.

"Advancing maternal age is contributing only a very small proportion of the increase in autism cases," said study author Janie Shelton, a UC Davis doctoral student. Geraldine Dawson, chief science officer for Autism Speaks, praised researchers for using such a large database to uncover the impact each parent's age can have on autism risk. But she also urged older mothers not to worry unnecessarily.

"We need to look at this finding in context," Dawson said. " This study is important, but we are not going to find one factor that can explain this dramatic increase in the prevalence of autism. We are going to find multiple factors, and advanced maternal age appears to be one of them."