Bald Barbie

This is a doll I think will make all the difference to children in the cancer fight.

This is a doll that will help comfort and support a child while losing their hair.

I remember my friend shaving his head in a show of solidarity for his son that sadly lost the battle to cancer. It meant everything to that boy.

I am grateful to Mattel for providing this support to families with children battling cancer I know first hand what it can mean to a child a fighting cancer.

Though at the same time I am also saddened that now we need a bald Barbie.

So now here we are in the year 2012 and looking back when Richard Nixon first launched the War on Cancer in 1971 we have suffered untold incidences of cancer and spent billions of dollars on research. For me it seems we live in a time when cancer has become so commonplace that the news of new cases seems almost expected.

Brain cancer has increased by nearly 40%, and leukemia by over 60% in children under 14 Between 1975 and 2004. (Source
Mt. Sinai Children’s Environmental Health Center.)

Our work for Less Cancer is all about the Next Generation – Less incidences of cancer. While we are so grateful for Mattel doing all they can to comfort children and families in the cancer battle -I am also interested in seeing prevention be part of the cancer conversation.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2012/03/29/mattel-to-produce-bald-friend-of-barbie/

Mattel, the maker of Barbie, will produce a bald fashion doll for children who have lost their hair because of illness or cancer, the company announced today.

“These dolls, which will be a friend of Barbie, will be distributed exclusively to children’s hospitals and other hospitals treating children with cancer throughout the U.S. and Canada, directly reaching girls who are most affected by hair loss,” said Mattel Company spokesman Alan Hilowitz in a statement.

The announcement comes after a Facebook movement urging Mattel to produce a bald version of its famously blonde Barbie doll earlier this year. To date, the page has had more than 150,000 “likes.”

The bald doll would include “hats, scarves and other fashion accessories to provide girls with a traditional fashion play experience. For those girls who choose, the wigs and head coverings can be interchanged or completely removed.”