on feeding young children

Guidelines Help Parents Decide What's Best to Feed Baby By Alfredo Flores

Guidelines to help parents determine what's best to feed their infants and toddlers are being developed by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists and cooperators.

The new guidelines, developed by the Children's Nutrition Research Center (CNRC) in Houston, Texas, the American Dietetic Association and Gerber Foods Products company, fill an information gap. That's because much of the available nutrition information has been intended mainly for children ages 2 years and up, or for infants under 6 months. The new guidelines are meant for toddlers between those ages.

Called the "Start Healthy Feeding Guidelines," the recommendations complement and expand--not replace--early-feeding recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other expert groups. The guidelines provide practical and useful recommendations based on scientifically sound evidence.

Taking the lead for CNRC are Nancy Butte and William Heird, both professors of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine and the CNRC. The two were part of the panel of leading pediatric experts who developed the new guidelines, which were prompted in part by the growing problem of childhood obesity. Health care providers need a better foundation for making infant and toddler feeding recommendations, and they need better tools for communicating the importance of establishing healthy habits in early childhood.

The guideline's website, gerber.com/starthealthy, provides content from the expert panel, including a comprehensive brochure with tips and information on feeding young children. Guideline topics include coping with food allergies and sensitivities, how to feed infants and develop children's self-feeding skills, and the importance of physical activity.

The CNRC is operated by Baylor in cooperation with Texas Children's Hospital and ARS, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific research agency.

Read more about the research in the June 2005 issue of Agricultural Research magazine

June 3, 2005 Agricultural Research Service, USDA. Communicating news and information about scientific research

Rumsfeld: U.S. Welcomes Chinese Influence in North Korea

Rumsfeld: U.S. Welcomes Chinese Influence in North Korea
By Kathleen T. Rhem, American Forces Press Service

SINGAPORE, June 5, 2005 – Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld this weekend urged China to become more involved in persuading North Korea to return to six-nation talks -- among the United States, China, Russia, Japan and both Koreas -- and to abandon its nuclear ambitions.

Rumsfeld's comments came during his June 4 keynote speech at the Asia Security Conference sponsored by the International Institute for Security Studies. The event is known as the "Shangri-La Dialogue" because of its location in the Shangri-La Hotel here.

"One nation can make a notable contribution in persuading North Korea to return to the Six-Party Talks, and that is China," Rumsfeld said in his speech. "The United States and many other nations in the region seek to cooperate with China in many fields: diplomacy, economics, global security."

It has been one year since North Korea has participated in the Six-Party Talks. The country announced in February that it had manufactured nuclear weapons and would not participate in the talks for an indefinite period.

"It's no secret that we have attempted to ... encourage the Chinese to find new ways to deal with their North Korean friends," a senior defense official traveling with Rumsfeld said today. "And there is broad consensus among all of the other four parties (of the talks) that China is indeed the party that possesses the greatest amount of leverage over the whole situation."

The official noted that there has been "a significant increase" in economic activity between China and North Korea. "North Korea is probably today much more dependent on the flow of economic benefits across that border with China than it has ever been in the past," the official said.

He attributed this increase in trade with China to "other resource bases drying up" for North Korea as the country continues to further isolate itself from the international community, and specifically its Asian neighbors.

"I think over the years, these controls have had the net result of reducing the pool of revenue flow," the official said. "And so what happens is China ends up having a much higher degree, I think, of control over the economic lifeblood of North Korea."

The official also suggested that China stepping up in the North Korean issue would demonstrate that the Chinese government is interesting in building up international goodwill.

"We have consistently held out to the ... Chinese that if they want to find one subject, one area in which they could demonstrate real strategic partnership and strategic cooperation, it is on the North Korean issue," the official said. "It is low-hanging fruit waiting to be plucked, as far as I am concerned, if China were to be interested in deepening the discussion on North Korea."

Some countries participating in the Six-Party Talks have political disagreements with each other, but North Korea's stance on international relations brings the other countries together, the official said.

North Korea as a nuclear power has "a galvanizing effect" on countries in the region, he said.

Appearing today in a short combined media briefing with Rumsfeld, Australian Defense Minister Robert Hill said that he plans to visit China next week and that he will "be urging China to be more proactive on the issue as well."

"They have considerable influence (over North Korea)," Hill said of the Chinese. "And we would like them to use all of that influence to encourage North Korea to return to the table."

Biography: Donald H. Rumsfeld
Related Site: Shangri-La Dialogue
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