5 Products Your Children May Be Using That Impact Their Health

As parents we do everything we can for our children. We love them, we support them, and we do everything in out power to keep them safe. Unfortunately, every year, our duty to protect our children becomes more and more difficult.
If you have three and a half minutes, this video courtesy of Healthy Child Healthy World, is more than worth your time. This is why:[embedit snippet="7th-gen"]
As you saw in the video, it truly is the smallest choices that you make each and every day that go so far and have a major impact on the health of our children. Also, sharing this information with others can help these tips spread from parent to parent and better the world that our children and our children's children will live in.
Here are five products your children may be using that impact their health:1. Face paint: In a study of 10 children’s face paints, all 10 tested positive for lead.
2. Toys and children's jewelry: The Consumer Products Safety Commission has recalled children’s toys and jewelry for high lead content.
3. Children's bath products: The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics was the first to document the widespread presence of both formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane in bath products for children, including baby shampoos, bubble baths and baby lotions.
4. Sunscreen: Research from the Centers of Disease Control and Protection showed that 97% of people had the chemical sunscreen Oxybenzone (benzophenone-3) in their urine, which is related to allergies, hormone disruption, and cell damage. Also, mothers with high levels of oxybenzone in their bodies were more likely to give birth to low birth weight baby girls.
5. Canned foods: Canned foods contain bisphenol-A (BPA), a hormone disruptor that has been linked to everything from obesity to cancer, unless they are specifically marked as being BPA-free.
Thankfully, there are companies like Seventh Generation that offer safe products for our children. We personally use many of their products including their diapers and wipes.
Healthy Child Healthy World offers 5 easy steps to making your home a safer place for your children:

5 Easy Steps1. Take off your shoes at the door: 85 percent of the dirt in our homes is tracked inside on the bottom of our shoes. It’s not just dirt, but toxins like lead, pesticides, gasoline residue and more. Keep your home safer by taking off your shoes. It’s the public health equivalent of washing your hands.2. Buy safer body care: Children are exposed to an average of 27 care product ingredients on a daily basis that have not been found safe for developing bodies. Protect your family’s health by avoiding products that ingredients like parabens, synthetic fragrances, triclosan and more. For a list of the most toxic offenders, download our free eBook, “Easy Steps to a Healthy & Safe Nursery” at Healthychild.org/resource-center.3. Open a window: People spend about 90 percent of their time inside, but indoor air is typically far more polluted than outside. So, open those windows! Even a few minutes a day can improve indoor air quality.4. Eat more whole foods: Processed foods may be convenient, but they’re also loaded with sweeteners, artificial flavors and colorings, and synthetic preservatives. These lack nutrients and many are also linked to health issues like ADHD and even cancer. Reduce by eating more whole foods.5. Ban the can: Bisphenol-A (BPA), a hormone disruptor that has been linked to everything from obesity to cancer, is in the plastic resin that lines most canned goods—from soups to sodas. Avoiding canned food for significantly lowers exposure. Look for foods packaged in glass or eat fresh, dried, and frozen options.

If you would like to learn more, please join us on Thursday, November 14, 2013:
What: Join Seventh Generation for a fun, informative Twitter party to talk about all-natural baby product options! We'll also talk about the Healthy Baby Home Party which give moms an interesting and engaging way to educate friends and family on topics like creating a healthy environment for the next generation.Hashtag: #HealthyBabyHomePrizes: Join the party to win a month's supply of baby diapers and wipes!! We will be awarding prizes to five lucky winners, all chosen randomly from the U.S. participants who answer the Twitter party trivia questions correctly.Hosts: @TheMotherhood, @TheMotherhood25, @CooperMunroe, @EmilyMcKhannSign Up HereWe hope to see you there!Disclosure: I participated in this program on behalf of Seventh Generation and The Motherhood. All opinions are my own.