November 2nd, 2005
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The raw vegan Andressohn Family trial will end tomorrow. Will they receive 25 years in prison for manslaughter or be reunited with their children who they have not seen in three years since the death of their baby! Were they negligent parents trapped by their idealism or were they simply trying to do their best for their children?
People said the Andressohn children looked emaciated. Are we so fat as a nation that we have lost touch with the difference between emaciated and thin? See pictures of the Andressohn children below and judge for yourself.
by Jinjee and Storm Talifero
I expected to have another two weeks until the trial ended and I was compiling these notes for an article about the trial. However I just found out that the trial will be ending tomorrow so I am releasing my un-edited notes below. Forgive the rushed and unprofessional format. I hope the information will help in your opinion of this trial. If you are moved to share your own thoughts now is your chance to speak out about this trial and about the raw-vegan diet on the court tv message boards at http://boards.courttv.com/ and you may write Court TV at bothsides@courttv.com and tell them your comments. Use your name and city you live in. You may want to pass this onto other raw vegans! You may also want to discuss this in the garden diet forum to which you can find a link from our main page here: thegardendiet.com
While many people said the Andressohn children appeared healthy some people including their Aunt who now has custody of them testified in court that the Andressohn children looked malnourished like "a child you see in the commericals for third world starvation aid"! But was Aunt Mary really "paying attention" when she was watching those commercials? Compare the third world children on the left with the four Andressohn children on the right. Can you see the differences?
If you can't see the attached picture here try the bottom of this email or http://www.thegardendiet.com/andressohntrial.html
"The Andressohn Trial" by Storm Talifero
I'm both saddened and disturbed by the unfolding of events surrounding the manslaughter trial of the Andressohn family in Florida. In case you have not been following the sequence of events the Andressohns had a child die due either to a birth defect or as the state is saying to neglect. They had their other children taken away and they have not seen them for three years.
I myself have five children and a grandchild so of course my sympathies lie with the Andressohn family. I feel that the death of any child for whatever reason diminishes us all. And of course I see many parallels between their family and my own.
Any child at any time can be born to any family on any diet with a birth defect. It is one of the worst things that can happen to any family. When you have a situation like this and you don't know all of the facts then the only thing to do is to have a fair trial.
The prosecution of course is trying to paint a picture of the Andressohns as totally weird monstrous beasts who starved their child to death. And the defense is trying to portray them as a deeply loving spiritual family who have experienced one of the worst tragedies a family can experience. This is the way our American legal system works. I feel that in spite of the frailties of human nature it is a pretty good system founded on fairly sincere principles by learned men of integrity.
I have been following the Andressohn's story for months now and some aspects of it have left me deeply disturbed. The first is the fact that this case is now being tried in the media. The second is that this family has now come to represent the Raw Vegan Movement. And the third issue that I have is that once major corporations get involved behind the scenes with their ability to manipulate the media that it will be impossible for the Andressohns to get a fair trial.
The reason that I'm saying this is because of the parallel between their family and mine. We don't use any supplements, we don't use any dairy products or any drugs if we can possibly use a natural herbal remedy. We don't cook our food and we just eat organic fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. This is because we don't feel it is healthy to ingest the chemicals formed in foods when they are heated. We also homebirthed all of our children and we too homeschool our children. If this diet and lifestyle takes hold on a national level then there are major corporations that stand to lose billions of dollars collectively.
I believe it is possible that this is why there is such an intense focus on this trial. It saddens me that hundreds of children die every month from the effects of obesity related diseases and many other children have their quality of life diminished from the mass consumption of what we call or label "junk food" which is marketed and sold en-mass to children by major corporations. There are no charges being brought against parents who feed their kids junk food thereby endangering their health and quality of life. This is all common knowledge.
But my main concern is that I don't think the Andressohns are getting a fair trial. And once again I think it is because of the media. For instance they brought in a witness for the prosecution who was very corporate looking with a degree in nutrition who stated all of the reasons why we need to consume milk, meat, and basically the standard American diet. Then they showed pictures of how messy the Andressohn's house was.
I have five kids and on any given day depending on what time you bring the camera crew in you could find my house in total chaos or if we just had a cleaning party we could be the model American Family. If you came the day before Market Day then you would find my cupboards bare, because I don't think we need to stuff ourselves every day of our lives. But if you came after Market Day then you would find the horn of plenty. I know that all of these things must come out in a trial. My concern is that when it is played in the press then it creates an atmosphere of prejudgement making it impossible to get a fair trial.
And lets face it we now live in a time where all you have to do is be accused and even if you are later found innocent you will never be able to clear your name. So it seems to me that it would only be fair that all the facts and the names of the accused were kept confidential until the trial was over. That way the jury pool could not be contaminated and if in the event that a person or persons were found innocent then their lives would not be totally destroyed by "Trial by Press".
Or as is the case with this trial a whole movement in the collective consciousness of food is on trial. The headlines are reading "Raw Vegan Child Starves to Death, Parents on Trial for Murder". This is after the fact that it was already established early on in previous legal proceedings that the Raw Vegan diet was not in and of itself the cause of death.
I have been a raw vegan for over thirty years and my children have been raw vegan from birth and we all enjoy an incredible level of health and I'm sure that there are many other raw vegan families who also enjoy the same who will never make the news unless something goes terribly wrong.
I guess the thing that disturbs me most is that this trial will turn into a witch hunt and people will be so afraid that their children will be taken out of the home that they will not follow their own hearts or make decisions based upon their own research.
Jinjee's Note on Feeding Raw Vegan Children a Balanced Raw Vegan Diet:
Just wanted to add some thoughts to this. There are cases when raw vegan children become undernourished and seriously depleted. This happens when the parents don't feed their children enough food or a good balance of foods. A balanced raw vegan diet will include fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, sprouted grains, oils, honey, and salt. It will include fatty fruits such as avocados, coconuts, olives and purslane. It will include dark leafy greens for adequate mineral content. It will include high calorie foods such as bananas, dates, honey, tahini (ground sesame seeds) and nut butters. It will include the essential fatty acids found in flax seeds and flax oil. It will contain calcium rich oranges, kale, chard, spinach, tahini and nut milks (milk made from germinated nuts blended with water and honey). And it will include a wide variety and an abundance of fresh in-season locally grown fruits and vegetables for maximum nutrition.
As a raw vegan parent it is necessary to chart your child's growth using standard height and weight charts that you can find online. If your child is significantly under these charts then you need to see a doctor to ensure that the child is healthy and developing properly. It is natural to be slightly under the national averages considering the national average is affected by the large percentage of overweight children in this country. It is also natural to be slightly under height when you don't drink cow's milk. Cow's milk is designed to grow a 1000 lb. cow. So being under the national averages is not necessarily a bad thing. The important thing is that your child is developing mentally and is physically healthy. If your child is not doing so then you may need to adjust your diet to include more of the foods mentioned in the previous paragraph. If you are unable to follow the program above then your child may be better off eating a standard american diet than a highly restricted raw-vegan diet.
On the other hand you must be careful if introducing raw vegan children to cooked foods. Start with very natural and healthy items such as rice and steamed vegetables. You may progress to beans and rice. And then only cautiously add essene bread or other sprouted breads. If you immediately give a raw vegan child heavily processed foods, deep fried foods or animal products (meat and dairy) then that child may fall seriously ill as its body is not used to dealing with these foods. I believe this happened to the Andressohn children after they were taken from their parents.
I would advise the Andressohns' lawyer to ask the judge and jury what if the Andressohn's baby had died while eating a cooked food diet. Would they be there on trial right now. Of course not. Thousands of babies die every month of diseases related to the standard american diet. According to the CDC 350,000 people die each year of obesity related diseases. Should we be taking all obese children away from their parents? Should parents of obese children be sentenced to jail? Is it not our right to feed our families as we think best? And if we are sincerely trying to live a healthy lifestyle and if we are as obviously dedicated to our children as the Andressohns are should we be sentenced to jail for making a mistake? Should we be sent to jail when the coroner's autopsy report states that our baby's death was "accidental"?
I think the Andressohns' lawyer should call attention to the fact that there is no law saying that we can't feed our children a raw-vegan diet. And that there is no law saying that we have to take our children to the doctor when they are sick. We have the right to treat an illness with alternative remedies. We have the right in this country to decide if we believe in the medical profession or not. We have the right to question authority. We have the right to question corruption in institutions and take alternative measures. We have the right to think for ourselves. Did the Andressohns make the right choice? Perhaps not. If it had been my baby I would have availed myself of the diagnostic abilities of the medical community. I do not know if the Andressohns did so or not. But if they did not do so did they break the law? I believe that they did not.
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Letter to Steven Gibb, my contact person to the Andressohns and their lawyers:
HI Steven,
I've been following as much as I can of the abundant material on CourtTV.com - I signed up to get the total access and can view the entire trial via streaming video download. And I have a couple more ideas.
1. They say the kids were like third world kids. They should have to prove that with photos. Just being able to see kids' ribs is pretty normal for skinny kids. I was a skinny meat eating child with visible ribs up until I was 14 years old when suddenly at 15 I filled out. I've put together a graphic showing those lovely pictures of the kids that you have up on your website with their chubby little faces next to some emaciated faces of third world children. Scroll to the bottom to view the picture.
(And how is it that Aunt Mary would see these kids without their clothes on during a Thanksgiving visit anyway! That sounds "made up" to me.)
2. If you think it might provide "Expert Testimony" I could send portions of our documentary (we are in post-production now and can't share the whole thing) to show a normal raw vegan family. Our kids all run below average heights and weights too but they can out-run and out-hike most adults. The footage shows this. I don't know if you can show film footage in court.
Love and Hugs,
Jinjee
A Raw-Vegan Mom's Comments About The Andressohn Trial
by Jinjee Talifero
The Key Point:
Your honor and ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the United States government agency called the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) have declared an obesity epidemic in this country because 350,000 people a year die from obesity related diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Over half of all adults in the U.S. are overwieght or obese! Over a third of all children and teenagers in the U.S. are overweight or obese! Childhood diabetes, cancer, leukemia and heart disease are increasing at alarming rates. Almost a thousand people a day are dying of these diseases. So I think it would be conservative to estimate that at least a thousand children a month are dying of these diseases. That's over thirty children a day dying from the diets their parents feed them. If we are to jail the Andressohns then must also jail the parents of these thirty children who died today from the diets their parents fed them. If we are to keep the Andressohn children from their parents then we must also take the siblings of the thousands of children who have died this year from diet-related diabetes, heart disease, leukemia and cancer.
The parents of obese children know from the media that they are endangering their children's lives! The Andressohns on the other hand were trying to find an alternative to the standard american diet. They were amongst the many people who are attempting to lead a healthy lifestyle. If they were misguided or made a mistake it was not for lack of doing their best. Why do these people have to pay for the mistakes of our society. With the raw vegan movement being one of the fastest growing diet movements today it is the government who should be doing research on the raw vegan diet, who should be testing raw foods vs. cooked foods for nutrient content, who should be conducting research and making knowledge available on how to eat a balanced raw vegan diet and how to feed your child on a raw vegan diet.
If such studies were available raw vegan parents would be overjoyed. However most studies are funded by the industries with the most money - the cattle, dairy, and pharmaceutical industries. The government and medical industries should not accept funding from the cattle, dairy and pharmaceutical industries. Until this is not allowed we will not have real "science", real scientific research, or even really make any progress in our search for the highly complex scientific truths about food and our bodies.
Hippocrates is the originator of the Hippocratic Oath that doctors swear when they graduate to "first, do no harm". Hippocrates is also the author of the quote "Make food your medicine and medicine your food". Most supplements are made from foods and most pharmaceuticals are made from herbs. However you can't patent a food or an herb and own it. Therefore the medical industry has thrown out the study of nutrition in its relation to disease. When you ask your doctor "do you think my colitis has anything to do with my diet?" and they say "absolutely not" then you know its time to think for yourself. This is why so many people are trying alternative diets and why they are forced to as you say "experiment" on themselves and their families. In reality they are just doing what they believe is the best thing they can do. And they continually do research and improve their diets based on the information available.
When the government itself is funded in part by pharmaceutical corporations and the medical industry, when diabetes is not a disease but a billion dollar industry, then is it not the government and the medical industry who should stand trial here today for what has happened to these people. Millions of Americans are pouring billions of dollars into alternative therapies each year as they are disillusioned by the medical industry. When you go to the doctor and they don't even have time to listen to your problem before they write out a prescription and tell you to see the secretary and make another appointment on your way out is it any wonder that more and more people are trying to take more responsibility for their own health and the health of their families?
The medical industry is slow to accept alternative health therapies. However the two extremes are starting to come together. Doctors do sometimes prescribe the raw vegan diet to their patients. (I have had people visit my raw food website on their doctor's recommendation that they research this diet for themselves). Doctors are prescribing exercise rather than operations more frequently for many conditions. Is this because they are too inundated with patients? Or are they finally embracing holistic techniques of building health.
When we see a thin child in these times when a third of all children are overwieght then by contrast the thin child seems too thin. But being thin and short is not necessarily a sign of ill health. In fact the longest lived people in the world the orientals are generally much thinner and shorter than Americans. This may be due to their diets which are significantly lower in animal products.
Our youngest child at fifteen months old was two pounds underweight yet our doctor examined him and told us that he is perfectly healthy. She said being underweight is not necessarily a sign of ill health. In fact many people who are underweight are healthier than average. Often when people are sick they can become underweight at which time being underweight may indicate that there is a health problem. But being underweight is not in and of itself a health problem. On the other hand being overweight is in fact a health problem. It puts a strain on the heart, the elimination organs, and all the systems of the body from the skeletal system to the respiratory system to the digestive system. Some overweight people like to look at being underweight as a health problem because it can make them feel better about themselves and it can feed into their denial about their weight being a serious problem.
As I look around the court room and I see all the fat people working within it and sitting in the stands watching the trial I wonder if all these fat people feel threatened by the raw vegan diet. Does it challenge them somehow. Does it make them wonder if they need to change their ways. Do they worry subconsciously that this diet might become mainstream and then they will be called upon to throw off their food addictions? Do they fear that they will not be able to do so? Who is really on trial here? Is each one of you on trial, are your beliefs on trial, is your lifestyle on trial?
Lamoy appears beautiful, thin, calm, loving, humble, and good. Her husband appears strong, steady, poised, comforting and supportive. Her children are obviously intelligent, witty, honest, and loveable. This is not something they could have gained in three years if they did not have an incredibly solid beginning. They also have that special something, a special quality that I see people respond to in my four raw vegan children. Whereas most children walk around in a sort of hazy stupor, drugged out on junk food and television, these kids have a brightness, a quickness, - they "connect". Even after all they have been through. I am so proud of them. As I can see their parents are too.
Can you imagine loving your child so much and not seeing them for 1000 days! I can hardly imagine one day without seeing my children. And to have to go through this on the eve of the death of ones infant! This is unimaginable horror. Such a crime has been commited against this couple I can only hope that things are put to right as soon as humanly possible. These people are obviously not murderers. At worst these people made an honest mistake. That's the bottom line. Set them free! Reunite this family! Ask the children if they want to return to their parents and their raw food diet. I am 99% sure they will say YES! And if they say no ask the parents if they will agree to feed their children some cooked food. I am 100% sure they will say YES! But end this ridiculous persecution! It is as bad as the witch hunt of Salem!
The truth will come out. This is no longer a movement of solely hippies. I have a mailing list of over 10,000 raw vegans and people interested in the raw vegan lifestyle including fortune 500 corporate executives, celebrities, government workers, educators and military! I received over $100,000 in funding last year from private individuals to produce a documentary film about the raw vegan diet. The film is completed and we are going into talks with major distribution companies for its theatrical release.
Another Point:
There are some wonderful things in the police report which is available online on CourtTV.com. The police interviewed many people who knew the Andressohns and said that their children were thin but seemed to be very healthy, always had lots of food to eat, and were never hungry. People who knew them said that the parents seemed like good parents, very attentive and loving.
Important Question:
The children's Aunt Mary Andressohn said that the children were sickly and in diapers at night when they came to her. We need to know were they sickly and in night-diapers on the night they were taken from their parents or did these conditions develop during their traumatic time in foster homes during the weeks between leaving their parents' home and moving in to their Aunt's home. We did hear that the children were rushed to emergency several times during their first weeks of eating cooked food (this would correspond with the time they were in foster homes).
Please visit http://www.thegardendiet.com to see The Talifero raw vegan family.
Jinjee Talifero
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Growth Charts
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http://www.kidsgrowth.com/resources/articledetail.cfm?id=687
CDC Announces Publication of Updated Growth Charts
For the first time in 23 years, the government has updated the charts used to track children's growth. These charts are a staple in the offices of pediatricians and school nurses around the country. Growth charts are a reference point for health professionals and parents as their children grow into adolescents and adulthood.
The new charts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also should more accurately reflect the average height and weight of U.S. children from birth to age 3, because they are based on more recent and much more comprehensive data than the old charts for babies and toddlers. The new research found babies and toddlers to be slightly heavier and shorter than in the previous charts, and also found infants in the first few months have larger head circumferences than the older charts showed.
For example, in a previous chart, a 3-year-old girl at the 50th percentile - or the chart's halfway point - would be 32.6 pounds and 38.4 inches in length. On the new chart, the 50th percentile is 33.3 pounds and 38.7 inches. As a result, pediatricians will classify more babies as underweight and fewer as overweight, said officials at CDC's National Center for Health Statistics, which published the charts. On the new charts, a 22.5-pound 2-year-old girl would be in the 5th percentile, which is considered underweight by many doctors depending on how long the child measured. On the old chart, the same child would have been in the 10th percentile, lean but not necessarily underweight.
The new charts use government data from the last three decades about formula- and breast-fed children from all racial and ethnic groups. The old charts were based on a private study during the 1960s and 1970s that looked only at white, formula-fed children in Ohio.
The new charts were released in May of 2000 and can be found on our site.
notes:
Rayah was 16 lbs. at 18 months and it says above the 22.5 lbs at 2 years old was considered lean but not underweight. Therefore Rayah would have been considered lean but not underweight.
Due to the government's new updated average height and weight charts based on a population in which over a third of U.S. children are overweight "pediatricians will classify more babies as underweight and fewer as overweight, said officials at CDC's National Center for Health Statistics, which published the charts".
----Study of Weight Charts----
CDC growth charts, year 2000, set 2 (most recent available, used by doctors)
Case: raw-vegan 18 mo. old boy Adagio Talifero (http://www.thegardendiet.com) weighs 18 lbs. and doctor says he is healthy. The CDC growth charts say an average 18 month old boy weighs around 25 to 26 lbs. An average boy weighs 18 lbs. at 7 months of age. So you could technically say "At 18 months of age Adagio is like a 7 month old baby". It sounds awful yet the doctor says he is healthy and he acts like any other 18 month old except rather stronger and more co-ordinated than many. At 18 months 3% of boys are as low as 21 lbs. So my raw vegan son Adagio is really only 3 lbs. underweight at 18 lbs and 18 months old. At 11 months old 3% of boys are as low as 18 lbs. So you could also say that Adagio is like a small 11 month old.
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Case: raw-vegan 18 month old girl Rayah Andressohn
Rayah at 18 mos was 16 lbs. The average weight for an 18 month old girl is 24 lbs. The average girl weighs 16 lbs. at 6 months. So you could say that at 18 months old Rayah is like a 6 month old. That sounds awful too. Yet people who saw her at that age said she looked small but healthy, never sick. At 18 months old 3% of girls are as low as 20 lbs. So Rayah was 4 lbs. underweight at 16 lbs. at 18 months old. At 10 months old 3% of girls are as low as 16 lbs. So you could also say that Rahyah was like a small 10 month old at 18 months. This sounds far worse than it is because of how rapidly and differently children grow in their early years. Also because weight charts are affected by the large percentage of overweight children in the U.S.
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Case: 6 month old raw-vegan girl with birth defect and no longer breastfed Woyah Andressohn. Woyah at 6 mos was 6.9 lbs. Average weight for girl at 6 months is 16 lbs. Average girl weighs 6.9 lbs. at birth to 1 month old. At 6 months Woyah was like a newborn to 1 month old. At 6 months 3% of girls are as low as 12 lbs. (so Woyah was 6 lbs. underweight at 6.9 lbs. at 6 mos.). At 1 month old 3% of girls are as low as 6.9 lbs. (Many preemies or premature babies are in the same condition and yet are allowed to remain with their parents who are not jailed. This is probably better for the child).
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More CDC Statistics:
http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/obesity/index.htm
16% of U.S. children are overweight. The average weight charts are affected by this. Newer reports show that 20% to 30% of children are overweight.
According to the CDC overweight children are at risk for heart disease and many other problems listed on the website above.
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Info for the attorneys (things that may help them in court):
Study of the Autopsy Report and Police Narrative Online:
1.) --- http://www.courttv.com/trials/andressohn/docs/autopsy.html Study of Autopsy Report on CourtTV.com revealed the following positives---
page 8:
http://www.courttv.com/trials/andressohn/docs/autopsy.html?page=8
-"two have rickets" (older children) ...according to doctor's statement in trial this was not true. One appeared to have rickets but upon the actual test did not.
-page 8 (last sentence) autopsy report says: "It is best to classify manner of death as 'accident'". Autopsy report classifies death as "accident" ....so why send parents to jail?
----
--- http://www.courttv.com/trials/andressohn/docs/policenarrative.html Study of Police Report on CourtTV.com revealed the following positives---
page 8:
http://www.courttv.com/trials/andressohn/docs/policenarrative.html?page=8
-they were folding clothes (that's why there were clothes strewn about)
-they were folding clothes on the floor (that's why they lay the baby on a blanket on the floor)
-when Mr. Andressohn did CPR the victim's stomach raised (perhaps this is why the baby had distended stomach)
-the victim was taken to hospital (it doesn't say she was dead although elsewhere I read that the victim's heartbeat was nonexistent when the fire department arrived).
page 10 and 11:
http://www.courttv.com/trials/andressohn/docs/policenarrative.html?page=10
-neighbors state the kids always have something to eat in their hands, never saw anything abusive
-(bottom of page 10) On March 10th 2003 a relative told DCF that the kids were not fed enough. A DCF investigator (Nora Calle) found that there was plenty of food (continues on page 11) and the children did not appear abused or malnourshed. The case was closed on March 11th 2003. Detective Poitier stated that a similar allegation in 2002 was also unfounded.
http://www.courttv.com/trials/andressohn/docs/policenarrative.html?page=11
-page 12
http://www.courttv.com/trials/andressohn/docs/policenarrative.html?page=12
-Joseph's sister's husband Mr. Quinones says the children were small but they appeared healthy and were never sick.
-Ms. Butler a pediatric nurse at Memorial Regional Hospital who knew the family says (continues on page 13) that the kids appeared healthy and were never sick (Ms. Butler is the person who called DCF in 2002 believing that the kids would not survive on their diet)
page 14
http://www.courttv.com/trials/andressohn/docs/policenarrative.html?page=14
Mr. Abreu, former landlord states that the children looked healthy, were never sick, that the parents seemed attentive and loving, good parents.
page 15
http://www.courttv.com/trials/andressohn/docs/policenarrative.html?page=15
- (last sentence of page) Mr. Jorge Torres who Joseph helped make cabinets saw the kids a month before this investigation and said the kids all looked fine.
page 17
http://www.courttv.com/trials/andressohn/docs/policenarrative.html?page=17
-DCF investigator Rose Lesniak was called (see page 16) to investigate a report that a child looked too thin. She was told to report to the Wild Oats Market where Lamoy worked. Lamoy welcomed her to come to her home and see her children. Ms. Lesniak reported that the Andressohn children were small but appeared healthy, and that ample food was present. Ms. Lesniak asked the children if they were hungry and none of them advised that they were.
page 18
http://www.courttv.com/trials/andressohn/docs/policenarrative.html?page=18
-Ms. Lesniak also did two surprise visits and advised that everything looked fine and there was plenty of food. Ms. Lesniak stated that the case was unfounded and there were no signs of neglect.
page 20
http://www.courttv.com/trials/andressohn/docs/policenarrative.html?page=20
Mr. Tucker who worked in the vitamin department at Wild Oats saw the victim many times and stated that she looked small but healthy. According to Mr. Tucker coconut milk is the closest liquid to break milk. Mr. Tucker knew that the victim was being fed coconut milk. According to Mr. Tucker the other children were small during infancy and the parents spent what little money they had to buy the best foods. Mr. Tucker stated that the children had healthy appetites and were never "not fed".
page 21
http://www.courttv.com/trials/andressohn/docs/policenarrative.html?page=21
-Mr. Tucker said the Joseph and Lamoy were always educating their children on how to behave and that they were well behaved
page 22
http://www.courttv.com/trials/andressohn/docs/policenarrative.html?page=22
-On June 5 2003 Joseph and Lamoy were charged with Aggravated Manslaughter of a Child and four counts of Child Neglect. (how could that be legal when the autopsy report showed cause of death as "accidental"?)
page 24
http://www.courttv.com/trials/andressohn/docs/policenarrative.html?page=24
-The victim expired at Homestead Hospital (The victim expired after being taken from the parents. Was the shock of being taken from her very attentive parents what caused the delicate child to expire? If so who should be on trial for manslaughter here? The parents wanted to go with the victim to the hospital and were not allowed to do so)
-Dr. Motte classified the cause of death as malnutrition and the manner of death as accidental.
low birth weight stats
135 deaths due to birth defects in Florida from 1996-2001
source: http://www.marchofdimes.com/peristats/level1.aspx?reg=12=6=109=1=4=1
----
http://www.marchofdimes.com/peristats/tlanding.aspx?reg=12=4=0=4
Low birthweight is defined as less than 2500 grams or 5 1/2 pounds. It is also common to classify low birthweight births into moderately low birthweight (1500-2499 grams) and very low birthweight (less than 1500 grams or 3 1/3 pounds). These classifications are useful because they often correspond to clinical characteristics - increasing morbidities or illnesses with decreasing birthweight. Babies born too small are often born too soon. While the causes of low birthweight and preterm birth may be different in some cases, there is significant overlap within these populations of infants.
In 2003, 1 in 12 babies (8.5% of live births) was low birthweight in Florida.
In 2003, the low birthweight rate in Florida (8.5%) had not met the Healthy People 2010 objective of no more than 5.0% of live births, set by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Black infants (12.6%) were about 2 times as likely as Hispanic infants (6.6%) to be born low birthweight during 2000-2002 (average)
Compared with singleton births, multiple births in Florida were about 9 times as likely to be low birthweight in 2002.
For more detailed data, click one of the Subtopics on the left side of the screen (light blue). Here you'll find graphs, maps, and tables that pertain to this topic.
Footnotes
All race categories exclude Hispanic births.
Low birthweight is less than 2500 grams (5 1/2 pounds).
Multiple deliveries include twin, triplet and higher order deliveries.
Source
National Center for Health Statistics, final natality data.
Retrieved November 02, 2005, from http://www.marchofdimes.com/peristats.
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Wohyah Andressohn's weight at death was 6 lbs 15.8 ounces according to the police narrative report. Remember that this is just 2 ounces shy of 7 lbs. (there are 16 ounces in a lb.).
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low birth weight affects affects 1 in every 13 babies born in the U.S.
See: http://www.marchofdimes.com/professionals/681_1153.asp
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Compiled by Jinjee Talifero
TheGardenDiet.com
