Family and Consumer Sciences
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I’m excited to announce the opportunity to present your research, teaching and/or outreach at the Housing Education and Research Association (HERA) Annual Conference in Lowell, Massachusetts on October 8-11, 2017. This year’s conference theme is: “The Beat Goes On: From Boardinghouses to Gen Alpha.” HERA is a small dynamic organization of research, teaching and outreach professionals…
Posted in: Housing -
Not too long ago, I had the opportunity to travel to Malta to present a paper on healthy housing (definition of healthy housing) at the International Federation for Home Economics (IFHE) conference. It was a great conference, with researchers from around the world sharing their research and insights into issues that impact individuals and families around the world.…
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Today I am celebrating World Home Economics Day in Malta at the International Federation for Home Economics (IFHE) conference. This is a day to focus on Home Economics Literacy. This year the theme is “Sharing Food: Healthy and Sustainable Choices.” Home Economics, or Family and Consumer Sciences as we refer to this profession in the…
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In 2013 there were 16,655 reports of children under 6 exposed to poisons that are easily found in our homes. In most homes you can find batteries, laundry detergent, medications, household cleaners, pesticides, gasoline, and paint, along with other household products. Many of these products, especially those that look like candy, can poison children. In…
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You could be adding to the pollutants in your home with the cleaning products you use. Studies conducted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency show levels of several common organic pollutants are two to five times higher inside homes than outside. These indoor pollutants come from volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released from a variety of…
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Mold is all around us. It grows on any organic substance, as long as there is moisture and oxygen. You can’t eliminate all of the mold and mold spores in your home, but you can reduce mold by controlling moisture. Mold can trigger allergies or asthma attacks in children and adults, so it is important…
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We spend close to 90% of our time indoors, much of which is spent in our homes where we are exposed to a variety of contaminants and allergens that can trigger asthma attacks. In the U.S. almost 25 million people are affected by asthma. This includes about 7 million children. The asthma triggers in your…
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Where did you walk today? Think about all the places your feet have been in the last 24 hours and then imagine the contaminants found in those places. Every time you walk into your home with your shoes on you are tracking in the contaminants you encountered throughout the day. About 30 to 40 percent…
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Compared to adults, babies and children have a higher breathing rate and less developed lungs. This means babies and children can be more susceptible to environmental damage to the lungs than adults, like in the case of radon. Radon is the leading cause of lung cancer among non-smokers. It’s a naturally occurring, radioactive gas that…
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Injuries in the home are the number one killer of children in the U.S. Most of these home injuries could have been prevented. An example is single-use laundry detergent, also known as Laundry pods. They are convenient to use, but can be very dangerous to children. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFbPnYXeBGk What can you do to make your home…
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Here comes company… It is a given fact that every one of us has visitors in our home throughout the year. Sure, some of us entertain more than others, but whether we like it or not we all have the occasional house guest. If it’s not family visiting during the holidays, then it’s the delivery…
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I am posting this for my colleague Sharon. This is the first in a series of 3 postings on gifting and children. Today as I was driving back from Thanksgiving with family I started to think about why some people seem to be very generous with their time, talent and resources while others are not. …