cdc, surgeon general join Mother's day celebration....

[The Straight Story]

Office of the Surgeon General, CDC, and Eva LaRue Join Mother's Day Celebration; Highlight Steps Women Should Take To Give Children a Healthy Start

Moms and would-be moms will receive an early Mother's Day gift when the Office of the Surgeon General; Dr. José F. Cordero, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities and Eva LaRue, daytime drama actress and celebrity spokesmom, come together on May 4, 2005, at 10 a.m. ET at the New York Hall of Science in Queens, New York, to highlight steps women should take to give children a healthy start.

CDC is sponsoring this event as part of the Surgeon General's 2005 - the Year of the Healthy Child, focusing on improving the body, mind, and spirit of the growing child. This starts with the importance of healthy life choices before pregnancy, while pregnant, and during a child's early development.

The importance of learning about developmental milestones and early warning signs cannot be underestimated. In fact, recent data presented at the Society for Research in Child Development meeting showed that 55 percent of parents with children younger than 4 years of age reported they do not know the early warning signs of autism, one of the more severe developmental disabilities. In a related study with data from DocStyles, 9 of 10 physicians agree that autism interventions are best if started before school age, however 50 percent of autism cases remain unidentified until children are in kindergarten.

"People say that children are our future. I say that children are also our present," said Surgeon General Carmona. "Their dreams are today's dreams. Their hopes are today's hopes. Their needs are today's needs. Because of that, we cannot put off their needs until tomorrow."

http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/pressrel/r050503.htm