It was only a matter of time: School bans kids from giving each other Valentine's Day candy

[mountaineer]

Breastfeeding isn't the magic cure-all and - please don't take this personally - I am more than a little tired of the tit-fascists, La Leche being one of the worst, in this country who basically try to browbeat exhausted mothers who gave birth only hours before that they're going to be rotten mothers and destroy their newborn's life if they don't breastfeed.  The tit-fascists even got NYC to forbid the discussion of, or provision of, formulas in the hospitals.

My daughter wasn't breastfed - not even once - and she's doing quite well, thank you very much. ... The mania for sterility in the home, especially for newborns and toddlers, is almost certainly a bigger factor in the (apparent) increase in allergies.

I agree. A little dirt is a good thing! With regard to breastfeeding, I find it interesting that my siblings and I - born in the 1950s and 1960s - who were fed nothing as infants but cow's milk laced with Karo corn syrup - did not have the allergies, ear infections, ADD/ADHD, etc., that seem so common today.

[happyg]

I agree. A little dirt is a good thing! With regard to breastfeeding, I find it interesting that my siblings and I - born in the 1950s and 1960s - who were fed nothing as infants but cow's milk laced with Karo corn syrup - did not have the allergies, ear infections, ADD/ADHD, etc., that seem so common today.

I remember the milk with Karo syrup. Mom would put a tad in water bottles, as well. I have twin sisters who are 11 months younger than I. The doctors said they would have a hard time and might not make it. Mom fed them Carnation canned milk because of the fat content. They were never sick. Also, back then, baths were a weekly event or twice weekly event. I remember Mom getting mad at me for washing my hair so often.

[Right_in_Virginia]

I'm curious: Do posters here over the age of 40 recall anyone in their elementary schools having food allergies?  I sure can't.

Nope, not one. 

No food allergies among any students through high school (even college).

But maybe we were a stronger lot--thanks in large part to all that water we drank directly from the garden hose.    

[Gazoo]

Breastfeeding isn't the magic cure-all and - please don't take this personally - I am more than a little tired of the tit-fascists, La Leche being one of the worst, in this country who basically try to browbeat exhausted mothers who gave birth only hours before that they're going to be rotten mothers and destroy their newborn's life if they don't breastfeed.  The tit-fascists even got NYC to forbid the discussion of, or provision of, formulas in the hospitals.

My daughter wasn't breastfed - not even once - and she's doing quite well, thank you very much.  She gets a rash if she's exposed to dirty hay or really old, brittle alfalfa - and so do a lot of other people who spend time around horses - which she can easily control with a long-sleeved shirt and gloves, and making sure she cleans off the dust as soon as possible.

The mania for sterility in the home, especially for newborns and toddlers, is almost certainly a bigger factor in the (apparent) increase in allergies.

Breastfeeding is superior in most cases, period.  I agree with the cleanliness mania it is ridiculous. The anti-bacterial soap makers had to stop. The crap that makes sure everyone wins is also ridiculous. There was study put out a few years ago on these kids when they hit the workforce. They are lazy and expect to get time off for the most trivial self interest issues.

[happyg]

Nope, not one. 

No food allergies among any students through high school (even college).

But maybe we were a stronger lot--thanks in large part to all that water we drank directly from the garden hose.   

We went a few steps further than the garden hose. We kids would slip off and swim in the local canal, or any place with enough water to swim. We had to wear our tennis shoes to protect our feet in a couple local watering holes. We never got sick, and no one ever drowned.

When we did get sick, we didn't go to the doctor unless Mom thought we were dying. I don't remember ever going to the doctor, though did have my tonsils taken out when I was seven. My twin sisters had problems, and since Mom told the doctor I had an earache, he took mine out, too. That was it!

[Luis Gonzalez]

When we did get sick, we didn't go to the doctor unless Mom thought we were dying. I don't remember ever going to the doctor, though did have my tonsils taken out when I was seven. My twin sisters had problems, and since Mom told the doctor I had an earache, he took mine out, too. That was it!

Here's an idea that I've been floating around for a little while.

I'm not exactly sure what health insurance was like when I was growing up (mid 1960s through mid 1970s) but it was the same with us. We went to the doctor when limbs were falling off, or death was imminent. I always wrote that off as being a side effect of money being scarce, and visits to the doctor expensive.

Flash forward to the present, and I know parents who (literally) rush their kids to the doctor (or the ER if the doctor's office is closed) over the child having "a temperature", vomiting, or even just "feeling sick".

These are highly educated people, with good jobs and good health insurance.

I ask myself why they would do that? I keep coming back to this:

Imagine car insurance being structured the same as health insurance.

Any maintenance (tune ups, oil changes, etc.) would be "covered" by your insurance, and you'd only be responsible for a minimal co-pay. I'd do an oil change and a tune up every 2,000 miles.

What if replacing your tires only cost you a $50 co-pay?

I'd replace my tires every six months. 

Kids may very well be over-medicated and lacking in natural defenses against disease for the same reason that I'd have new tires every six months.

It's cheap to go to the doctor and get a pill for anything and everything that ails you, or even stuff that really isn't.

[NavyCanDo]

Nothing says "I love you" like a box of Crayolas.

[NavyCanDo]

I don't remember Valentine's Day being a real big candy day. The only thing I remember were those boxes of candy hearts that tasted like chalk or suckers that a kid would tape to the envelope.   The real candy happened when I got home after  I found where my mom hid her box of chocklets my dad gave her.

[Rapunzel]

Here's an idea that I've been floating around for a little while.

I'm not exactly sure what health insurance was like when I was growing up (mid 1960s through mid 1970s) but it was the same with us. We went to the doctor when limbs were falling off, or death was imminent. I always wrote that off as being a side effect of money being scarce, and visits to the doctor expensive.

Flash forward to the present, and I know parents who (literally) rush their kids to the doctor (or the ER if the doctor's office is closed) over the child having "a temperature", vomiting, or even just "feeling sick".

These are highly educated people, with good jobs and good health insurance.

I ask myself why they would do that? I keep coming back to this:

Imagine car insurance being structured the same as health insurance.

Any maintenance (tune ups, oil changes, etc.) would be "covered" by your insurance, and you'd only be responsible for a minimal co-pay. I'd do an oil change and a tune up every 2,000 miles.

What if replacing your tires only cost you a $50 co-pay?

I'd replace my tires every six months. 

Kids may very well be over-medicated and lacking in natural defenses against disease for the same reason that I'd have new tires every six months.

It's cheap to go to the doctor and get a pill for anything and everything that ails you, or even stuff that really isn't.

I happened to come across one of my husbands pay stubs from 1993 the other day.  This was right before Hillary Clinton screwed up healthcare industry with Hillarycare (yes, I know it didn't pass but she still managed to do a lot the public never realized). Now my husband was salaried and made a decent amount of money back then..... his pay stub for his dental insurance was $3.50 a month.  his Health Insurance (I had my own policy) was $75 a month with a 80/20 plan, $100 deductible.   One of the biggest line items on his stub was Social Security tax - (401K being the other which was fine).....  In 20 years the cost of health insurance has far exceeded the inflation rate and this is attributable to the government screwing with the health care industry.

As far as us going to doctors when we were kids - when we lived in Texas the doctor who delivered my middle sister lived across the street from my grandparents... he just crossed the street to see us when we had the measles.   When we all three ended up with viral pneumonia (living in California at the time) we all three were hospitalized with my youngest sister in an oxygen tent.  When we were living in Palos Verdes and all got the flu our pediatrician made a house call in pouring rain to check us..... today doctors almost never make house calls - some do on rare occasions. 

I was breast fed, so was my husband, but the canned milk, Karo Syrup formula was very popular for a lot of years, today they used canned poweded soy milk and a lot of this comes from China... given the option of breast feeding or a formula made in China I would opt for the breast or a goats milk forumula.  Goats milk is closest to human breast milk in the food chain.

[Gazoo]

I happened to come across one of my husbands pay stubs from 1993 the other day.  This was right before Hillary Clinton screwed up healthcare industry with Hillarycare (yes, I know it didn't pass but she still managed to do a lot the public never realized). Now my husband was salaried and made a decent amount of money back then..... his pay stub for his dental insurance was $3.50 a month.  his Health Insurance (I had my own policy) was $75 a month with a 80/20 plan, $100 deductible.   One of the biggest line items on his stub was Social Security tax - (401K being the other which was fine).....  In 20 years the cost of health insurance has far exceeded the inflation rate and this is attributable to the government screwing with the health care industry.

As far as us going to doctors when we were kids - when we lived in Texas the doctor who delivered my middle sister lived across the street from my grandparents... he just crossed the street to see us when we had the measles.   When we all three ended up with viral pneumonia (living in California at the time) we all three were hospitalized with my youngest sister in an oxygen tent.  When we were living in Palos Verdes and all got the flu our pediatrician made a house call in pouring rain to check us..... today doctors almost never make house calls - some do on rare occasions. 

I was breast fed, so was my husband, but the canned milk, Karo Syrup formula was very popular for a lot of years, today they used canned poweded soy milk and a lot of this comes from China... given the option of breast feeding or a formula made in China I would opt for the breast or a goats milk forumula.  Goats milk is closest to human breast milk in the food chain.

Wow that shows how the COLA have skyrocketed but wages frozen in time.

I did not know that about breast milk AND GOATS MILK. I had one CHILD I did not breast feed, he projectile vomited his powdered formula. Never would have dreamed allergies. He would have done better on breast milk.

[Rapunzel]

Wow that shows how the COLA have skyrocketed but wages frozen in time.

I did not know that about breast milk AND GOATS MILK. I had one CHILD I did not breast feed, he projectile vomited his powdered formula. Never would have dreamed allergies. He would have done better on breast milk.

I was also raised on raw, unpasturized milk (my grandparents had a dairy ranch and sold milk to just about everyone in town). George and I drank raw milk when we lived in California, today I buy non-GMO milk at my local health food store.

Raw goats milk is full of the same antibodies that are in breastmilk. it is nutrient rich and a natural probiotic. Raw goats milk is similar to breast milk, it's easily digestible (20 minutes whereas pastuerized cows milk takes over 3 hours to digest).