On June 18, we held a news conference with the Arizona March of Dimes and the Arizona Perinatal Trust to officially launch a new campaign to reduce preventable preterm births. We got great coverage this week, including a FOX News interview that aired in several other cities across the country. We’ve joined a national challenge issued by [...]
Obesity, injury prevention, teen pregnancy, and substance abuse are all border health priorities. Our prevention team put together an inventory identifying current programs addressing these priority areas in AZs border communities. Our WIC program and Arizona Nutrition Network reach thousands of low-income women and kids along the border- improving nutrition and reducing obesity. Programs like our Sexual Violence Prevention & Education and Safe Kids [...]
A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that Dr. David Lakey, this year’s President of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials has selected the Healthy Babies Project for his national initiative- challenging each state to implement strategies to reduce prematurity and infant mortality based on successful national, regional, and state efforts to improve [...]
Being born too soon is the number one killer of infants in Arizona and in the nation (birth defects is a close second). Death rates from prematurity are declining but babies born too soon (before 37 weeks) often face medical, developmental and social challenges as they get older. More than 8,000 babies in Arizona were born too soon [...]
This week is National Folic Acid Awareness Week and a great time to start taking a multivitamin with 400 micrograms (mcg) of folic acid every day. So, whether or not you’re planning to have a baby this year, you can start the New Year with healthy habits that will help give a baby a healthy start [...]
Each year in the U.S., 2,500 babies are born with neural tube defects (NTDs). These include such conditions as spina bifida and anencephaly, which can lead to paralysis or even early childhood death. Many of these birth defects can be avoided by simply remembering to take a multivitamin every day. A daily dose of 400 [...]
