WFMD-AM & WFRE-FM - Text Transcript

WFMD/WFRE: HI thanks so much for joining us this morning.

SG: Well what it's all about is we're looking at the Year of the Healthy Child. This past year we've done everything we can to highlight the issues involved with the health and safety and welfare of our children. And this month of August is the National Breastfeeding Month, which fits perfectly in with the Year of the Healthy Child. What we're trying to do this month is to emphasize the importance of breastfeeding; that all of our children do better when they are breastfed. So getting that information to moms and dads and to our society in general that will accommodate and support and encourage moms to breastfeed, so that their children have a better chance of reducing infection: ears, respiratory, diarrhea. And also for improved chances of not becoming overweight or obese. There's a lot of reasons to breastfeed, but all of them relate to improving the health of your child.

WFMD/WFRE: Now what about women who for whatever reason can't breastfeed. What should they do?

SG: Well depending on the reasons, and there are many, some are cultural, some of them are personal, some are medical. They need to have the discussion with their primary care provider to look at what the alternatives are for them. Some moms can bank their breast milk...but there are options for those moms and they represent a small portion of moms who can breastfeed. What we want to make sure is that all moms who are able to breastfeed have the information and are within an environment that encourages them to breastfeed their children.

WFMD/WFRE: It just seems to me that if you are able to breastfeed it's the more natural way to do things, but it sounds like there are women out there who have the ability and just decide not to?

SG: There are some because of personal reasons. There are some because of cultural reasons. I mean we are a country steeped in diversity with hundreds of different cultures from all over the world that make up the United States. And sometimes we have to ask a few questions to find out if there are barriers and so on. But where possible we want to make sure that every mother that has the ability to, does breastfeed because the chances of raising healthier children are increased.

WFMD/WFRE: Now you have some other tips here that I see. What are some other things that moms should be doing to make sure their children are as healthy as possible?

SG: Well that's great and that fits perfectly within the Year of the Healthy Child. The first thing is, when you're pregnant, even before you're pregnant, if you're within the age of pregnancy or contemplating becoming pregnant, make sure you're eating healthy, take a multivitamin, have folic acid in your diet or take a supplement, because there are 150,000 birth defects in this country every year and about 80 percent of them are preventable with just good prenatal care, good nutrition and some vitamin supplements in some cases. So that's real important and you have to have the discussion with your primary care provider. Next is when the baby is born, make sure you're hooked into a primary care provider, pediatrician, someone who's going to follow the growth and development of your child. Make sure they get the immunizations on time. Make sure that you are taking all safety precautions, that the car seat is appropriate for your baby when you transport. As they grow make sure the car seat is appropriate. Make sure that seat belts are worn. For the child that is growing, make sure that the house is safe proof so they can't get into things that could harm them. As they grow older make sure they're wearing a helmet when they ride their bike or are on their skateboard. Make sure they're wearing appropriate seatbelts in the car. Most of the disease and disability that our children suffer from can be prevented by proactive moms and dads and family members.

WFMD/WFRE: Anything else you'd like to add on that?

SG: No, but I'd like to say thank you very much for getting the word out for us. I realize I'm only one Surgeon General. The staff and I work very hard to try and increase awareness within society, but it's really through all of you and the partnerships we've formed. So, thank you very much for taking the time to get this very important information out.

WFMD/WFRE: No problem, but before you go we did want to ask you one more thing. There was an article in the New York Times last week talking about how the New York City Health Department wants all its restaurants to stop serving food that contains trans fats. Do you see this as something as...it seems for someplace like New York City...is that possible? How should that be done maybe even for the federal government, the federal work force?

SG: I think what needs to be done. First of all is there's a general lack of awareness for what trans fats are. And of course these are fats that have been shown to be not helpful in maintaining optimal health. They are primarily fats that are generated artificially in foods to preserve foods. And so we have come over the last several years to understand that you should minimize the amount of trans fats in your diet. The average person doesn't understand this. The average person struggles to read a food label. And it's very difficult to know what foods you're eating, whether you prepare it yourself or you purchased it already prepared, if it has the trans fats. So one of the things we have to do is increase the health literacy in our society, if people can understand and then make good informed decisions. As we move along though we see that various workplaces, governments, advocacy groups are taking action on their own to encourage people to decrease the amount of trans fats and New York is one of those areas that decided they wanted to discourage the use of trans fats.

WFMD/WFRE: So you see it as something that's going to become sort of a growing trend in cities across the country, and in say, federal work places?

SG: I think that the growing trend is going to be that we're pushing for improved health literacy so that all Americans understand the consequences of all the decisions they make that affect their health and therefore can make prudent decisions. I think the market will be driven by healthy consumers who reject certain added fats in their diets, certain things that are not nutritional. That if they don't purchase that the manufacturers will change their manufacturing habits and accommodate the needs of society who don't want to purchase things that are bad for their health.

WFMD/WFRE: One of the problems is that if you go to a place like McDonald's for example, a lot of what their healthier choices are, are more expensive than things you can get on the dollar menu. Granted there are a couple things, but most of stuff on the dollar menu, it's the cheapest stuff, it's the worst for you, and if you can't afford the healthy food, most people are going to be like “forget it. I'll take the cheaper stuff.”

SG: You're right, and those things are in transition in our society. Since you mentioned McDonald's I'll tell you. My former boss, Secretary Thompson and I went to McDonald's a couple of years ago. Actually, it was almost three years now when I was a new surgeon general. And, we went to many other food manufacturers; fast food and regular food manufacturers and spoke to them about partnering with us to try and change eating habits. Providing information for the public; not wanting to impede the open market, but to say look, you all are moms and dads and grandpas also, help us to make America healthier. What we've seen is that the Supersize went away, for instance at McDonald's. They were willing to entertain making their food differently. They were willing to provide more information to the consumer to make healthy choices. The dollar menu does have some salads that are healthy. The child's menu now has as a snack no longer fatty foods or French fries, but offers fruit options. So we're seeing a change in fast food manufacturing. But still it comes down to the consumer making a healthy choice. We must provide the information to the consumer to help them make healthy choices.

WFMD/WFRE: Anything else you'd like to add on to that?

SG: No, but thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to comment.

Content last updated August 15, 2005.