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Black Women in Politics: Janelle Bynum Makes History and Becomes Oregon’s First Black Member of Congress – Essence

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Photo: ALYCIA SANDERS

Oregon House Representative Janelle Bynum made history with a landmark victory in Oregon’s fifth Congressional District race. She will turn out to be the primary black lawmaker to represent Oregon in Congress.

After a decent battle with incumbent Republican Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Bynum becomes the district’s first black representative, a major achievement in an area where black residents make up just 3% of the population.

Bynum led Chavez-DeRemer 47.8% to 45%as of Friday, he had a lead of greater than 10,000 votes in a district that covers parts of six counties. It would allow Democrats to retake the district that Chavez-DeRemer, the previous mayor of Happy Valley, flipped to Republican control in 2022 after being rezoned in the 2020 census.

Bynum expressed gratitude to her voters. “I am extremely honored that my neighbors have chosen me to be the next congresswoman from Oregon’s Fifth Congressional District,” she said in a press release after Oregonian/OregonLive called a race. “My work has always been a love letter to the children of Oregon. I ran for office to brighten their futures, and I will do just that in Washington, D.C. – for their education, reproductive freedoms, job opportunities and so much more.”

At 49, Bynum entered the race with an exceptional advantage after defeating Chavez-DeRemer twice in the previous state election. Her campaign gained strong financial support, raising over $1 million greater than her opponent, signaling strong local and national support.

This victory is personal for Bynum, who was born in Washington. “As a minority in many rooms, I am used to having to listen to multiple points of view and build consensus,” she said in a recent interview with ESSENCE. “Oregon would hire someone who solves problems, someone who shakes up the status quo.”

The daughter of two teachers and one generation faraway from segregation, Bynum brings a dual commitment to public service and business. She is a wife, mother of three and owner of 4 McDonald’s franchises in Oregon, combining her commitment to community with local entrepreneurship.

The centerpiece of the election was Oregon’s fifth Congressional District, stretching from the suburbs of Portland, through the Willamette Valley, the Cascade Mountains and into the high desert. President Joe Biden carried the district in 2020. Bynum’s campaign resonated with voters by prioritizing community-based solutions for public safety, education and economic equity.

With over 543,000 voters in the district – a few third Democrat, third Republican and third unaffiliated – Bynum’s victory shows how vital swing voters were. While each parties had strong bases, her victory reflects the political divide in the district and strengthens Democrats’ hopes for changing the balance in Congress.

This article was originally published on : www.essence.com
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Health and Wellness

6 things to do if your baby’s weight is outside the ideal range – and 1 thing to avoid

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One of the most significant challenges we face as parents is ensuring that our kids develop at a healthy pace.

To combat this, we take them to regular check-ups with our GP or nurse, where vital measurements, including weight and height, are recorded and compared to the ‘ideal’ range.

But how accurate are these measurements? What to do if your baby’s weight is outside the ideal range?

How is kid’s weight measured?

It is vital to help our kids maintain a healthy weight. Around 80% of kids People who’re obese during adolescence will struggle with their weight throughout their lives.

GPs and nurses frequently measure your baby’s height and weight and use growth charts to visualize your baby’s growth over time. They often use two charts covering:

  1. birth to two years of age, which it assumes World Health Organization standards. They were developed based on studies in six countries that measured the growth of healthy breastfed infants

  2. from two to 18 years old, which takes the charts from US Center for Disease Control for kids and adolescents, body weight, height and body mass index (BMI).

These charts use percentile lines to plot a toddler’s measurements in the type of a growth curve, which is then compared to the expected – or ideal – range of weight and height taken from children of the same age and sex.

A baby’s development is considered healthy if his or her measurements consistently follow percentile lines. Poor growth is characterised by a bent for a toddler’s weight or height to decline at each percentile.

For children under two years of age, a body weight above the eighty fifth percentile is considered extent of obeseand weight-for-age above the 97th percentile is included in the obesity range.

In children over two years of age, a BMI above the eighty fifth percentile is taken into consideration overweight and a BMI above the ninety fifth percentile is classified as obesity.

But height and BMI charts are usually not perfect

Growth charts provide a straightforward yet effective indication of our child’s growth and development. They may help healthcare employees detect potential health problems early in order that they might be examined by a specialist.

However, growth charts could cause parents numerous anxiety and stress because they do not understand that every child grows and develops at a unique rate.

That’s why it is so vital to assess trends and changes in body weight over time and not react to measurements that will show outliers.

1 thing to avoid if your child is above the ideal range

NO limit your child’s food intake or restrict your eating regimen if they fall outside the ideal range. Although this may increasingly help them lose weight initially, it’s going to be harmful later.

Putting a eating regimen on a young child affects their ability to metabolize food and their innate ability to regulate their food intake as they grow and develop. This may have an effect their relationship with food and over time they speed up the weight problem.

Holding on to your child’s weight may also lead to anxiety, low self-esteem, and eating disorders body image problems.

6 things you may do

If your child’s weight is outside the ideal range, proceed to monitor his or her growth over time and deal with allowing her or him to “grow” to a healthy weight. You can do this by:

1. Focus on health, not weight

Each of us has a predetermined weight: a set value that our body protects. It is programmed in the early years of life – especially in the first 2,000 days of life – from conception to age five.

Our genes play a task in programming our weight setpoint. Just as DNA determines whether we’re shorter or taller than others, this is what it is be born with a bent to be slimmer or larger. But our genetic makeup is only a predisposition, not an inevitable fate.

Developing healthy habits and a positive approach to eating, exercise and body image in the family home will help your child achieve an optimal body weight throughout their life.

This includes:

  • teaching your child about nutrition by discussing the importance of the foods we eat and why certain foods are only eaten sometimes

  • finding time for each day activity that focuses on having fun with movement moderately than exercising to lose weight or change your appearance

  • being attentive to how we discuss our bodies and avoiding negative comments about weight and appearance.

2. Reach for nature first

Provide your child with loads of “nature delicacies” – for instance, fresh fruit and vegetables, honey, nuts and seeds. In their natural state, these foods trigger the same pleasure response in the brain as highly processed junk and fast food, and additionally they provide the nutrition your body needs.

3. Eating a full rainbow

Offer your child a large range of foods with different colours and textures. Cook your family’s favorite dishes in alternative ways, e.g. spaghetti bolognese with lentils as a substitute to spaghetti bolognese with beef.

Being a more adventurous eater helps kid’s development palate and provides them with the nutrients their bodies need for healthy growth and development.

4. Making meals relaxing and enjoyable

Involve the whole family in meals. Improve your baby’s innate characteristics appetite regulation slowing down and eating together at the table. Slowing down your eating means there is enough time for appetite hormones to be sent to your brain and signal that you’ve got had enough.

Meals which are calm and enjoyable also help create positive associations with healthy eating and help overcome dietary problems.

5. I play day-after-day

Consider (*1*)national business guidelines to understand your child’s movement needs at every stage of its development. For most age groups, this is about 60 minutes of physical activity or vigorous play, which might be divided into several smaller series.

Schedule regular time for activities that involve movement and play, resembling lively games, sports, and family walks and bike rides.

6. Back to screen time rules

Ensure your child has a healthy exposure to screens and a very good night’s sleep by developing healthy technology habits and implementing easy rules, resembling setting screen-free zones at mealtimes and in the bedroom.

Create positive entertainment alternatives that bring the family together.

This article was originally published on : theconversation.com
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Health and Wellness

Car exhaust fumes can be linked to autism, a developmental disorder increasingly diagnosed in black children

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Autism, ASD, car exhaust, autism risks, autism in Black children, theGrio.com

New research has found that exposure to automotive exhaust fumes in utero or in the early stages of a child’s development may cause autism.

According to a study published Tuesday, November 12 in the journal Brain medicineexposure to nitric oxide (NO) – produced during fuel combustion – while pregnant or in the primary months of the mother’s life may pose a “significant risk” of developing autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the kid.

“NO is a common air pollutant, produced mainly by vehicle emissions and the combustion of fossil and industrial fuels. Exposure to NO and its NO2 derivatives while pregnant and early childhood may disrupt normal brain development,” the study authors wrote.

The authors added that “the timing of exposure is key.”

According to the researchers, exposure to these pollutants while pregnant and early development “constitutes a significant risk of ASD because these periods are essential for brain development.”

The study also found that folks with a family history or genetic history of autism spectrum disorder may be at increased risk of developing the condition, affecting the best way individuals communicate, learn, interact and behave.

It’s not nearly automotive exhaust fumes. The study examined other air pollutants, including ozone, wonderful particles and other emissions, and located that every one of those toxins combined increased the danger of developing autism.

In particular, it listed benzene as a “volatile organic compound commonly found in vehicle exhaust, industrial processes and tobacco smoke” that, when combined with NO2, can also increase the danger of ASD.

Air pollutants may promote the event of ASD because they cause inflammation. Experiencing neuroinflammation brought on by exposure to NO over an prolonged time frame may “impact” brain activity related to social and cognitive functions which might be typically impaired by ASD.

“Exposure to air pollution during pregnancy may activate the mother’s immune system, leading to inflammation and abnormalities in fetal brain development,” the authors wrote, adding: “Elevated concentrations of inflammation-related cytokines in maternal serum in utero and early infants have been associated with their lives. with poorer neurodevelopmental outcomes.”

One sec nearly 40% of Americans live without healthy airautism disproportionately affects black and Latino children in the US. This condition can be on the rise in this country.

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention1 in 36 children were diagnosed with ASD – a rise from 1 in 44 just two years earlier. Predominantly, the condition still affects boys more often than girls, although this too has been established girls are frequently diagnosed with ASD later in life.

Holly Robinson Peete was

For generations, white children seemed to have the disease at higher rates than other children, but in recent years this risk has modified as more black and brown families gain access to quality health care and earlier diagnoses .

As increasingly black families select to live with an autistic member of the family, several organizations have emerged to help spread awareness, advocate and supply support. These organizations include The color of autismthat gives families with culturally competent support and care; Autism in blackwhich offers educational and counseling services to Black parents raising autistic children; and Black Autism Support Societywhich goals to fill gaps in support for the black community.


This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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Health and Wellness

Perfect Imperfection of Wabi-Sabi Makeup – Essence

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Fairchild/Penske Media archive via Getty Images

Perfection is an addictive ideal of beauty that we have now all fallen victim to. This is clear in every thing from our drugs cabinets full of “anti-aging” skincare products to standardization Botox parties. What’s more, we even see it in horror movies (think: ) – revealing our insatiable desire to research and abandon perceived flaws.

This season, nonetheless, perfection is an outdated trend. Wabi-sabi— a Japanese worldview characterised by finding beauty in imperfection — is gaining popularity as a crucial antithesis to the fear of perfection. While aesthetic surgery is entering itsThe undetectable era” in response to the improvements of the watch, the makeup world is questioning whether beauty even exists in perfection.

“Don’t stress about imperfection. Embrace it. Relaxed, vibrant makeup feels more real and authentic” – MAC Senior National Artist Fatima Thomas says ESSENCE. “Things that are a little bit uneven, like a little blurry or a little bit uneven, can actually be quite visually pleasing.”

Below, Thomas explains the impact of Wabi-sabi beauty and her skilled techniques in achieving this look.

The rise of Wabi-sabi makeup

“A lot of people are taking a less stringent approach to makeup,” says Thomas. “When you worry less about having every line be perfect, every blend being perfect, you can actually enjoy applying and wearing makeup.” With beauty tricks like showering after punching to set the look with steam or sleeping in eyeliner for a soft grunge aesthetic, “Wabi-sabi allows for greater freedom and self-expression.”

Why now’s the proper time to adopt this mindset

“Do you really need to spend an extra 10 minutes to get your eyeliner perfect, or is it already good enough,” she asks. “After the pandemic and global inflation, people don’t want to stress about their makeup,” she continues, as TikTok’s viral “dopamine menu” trend turns beauty right into a form of therapy. “Wabi-sabi is about doing your best, and if it’s a little shaky, it’s okay.”

What does imperfect makeup appear like?

With airbrushes and editing apps distorting our view of achievable beauty: “I believe [imperfection] it is an opposition to digital filters and Photoshop,” he says. “It could be intentional or accidental, but it takes away the urge to rush and refine everything to look photoshopped.”

According to Thomas, the wabi-sabi approach relies more on philosophy than on any particular view. However, the important thing to imperfections is in nuances: “Do your makeup quickly and refrain from fixing minor imperfections.”

This article was originally published on : www.essence.com
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