Spring Time and Children's Health

Spring time is now here. For most children, this means more outdoor activities (swimming, camping, bike riding, etc.). For all parents, this means being extra vigilant to keep your child safe and healthy.

This article discusses some tips to keep your child safe and healthy this spring, including:

• Avoiding and Treating Spring Allergies, which can cause your child to have a lot of sneezing, plus a clear runny or stuffy nose, itchy and watery eyes and a cough, especially when he has spent a lot of time outside.
• Water Safety to protect your children when they are swimming or boating. Most importantly, always supervise your children around the water.
• Sun Safety to prevent damage from too much exposure to the sun. Regular use of sunscreen in children can lower their risk of skin cancer by almost 78%. But remember that sunscreen only works if you use it correctly and it does not substitute for limiting too much sun exposure. Many parents make the mistake of using sunscreen and then allowing unlimited sun exposure.
• Using Insect Repellents Safely to prevent bites from mosquitoes, etc. which can make your child miserable.

Help your child enjoy Spring by following the basic health and safety tips that are described in the rest of this article.

By Vincent Iannelli, M.D., About.com Guide

Keep Kids Healthy As Winter Gives Way to Spring

When days get longer and the weather begins to warm up, it's a sure sign that spring is around the corner. After months of cold temperatures and gray skies, just about everyone looks forward to spending time outdoors taking in the sights, sounds and scents of the season. But with temperatures rising and flowers, trees and grasses beginning to bloom, it's also time to protect kids from seasonal allergies and sun exposure. Here are some tips for keeping kids healthy all spring long.

* Look out for signs of seasonal allergies. Hay fever, also known as allergic rhinitis, is a common problem in both infants and children. Common symptoms include repeated sneezing, a stuffy or runny nose with clear drainage or congestion, itchy eyes and nose, throat clearing, sore throat, and/or a cough that tends to worsen at night and in the morning. Kids with seasonal allergies also tend to breathe through their mouth a lot and may have dark circles under their eyes.

* Limit kids' exposure to common allergens. While it's impossible to keeps kids clear of all outdoor allergens, there are some common-sense steps that can help minimize their impact, such as keeping kids indoors and closing windows in the early morning when the spring tree pollen count is highest, not hanging clothes outside to dry and bathing kids at bedtime to help minimize nighttime allergies.

* Protect skin from the damaging effects of spring sun. After being indoors for much of the winter, kids are eager to spend as much time outdoors as possible. To protect their skin during the spring months, break out the sunscreen and their favorite hats. When choosing a sunscreen for a baby, toddler or young child, look for a product that offers broad-spectrum UVA and UVB protection with a minimum SPF of between 15 and 30. Also consider a product that is water resistant and one that is hypoallergenic and free of fragrance.

* Don't forget about eye protection. The lenses of children's eyes are extremely sensitive. Just as taking care of kids' skin can help prevent skin cancer in adulthood, eye protection can protect kids' eyes from developing certain conditions, like cataracts and macular degeneration, later in life. Everyone, including kids, should wear sunglasses year-round, but especially during spring and summer. Make sure to choose sunglasses that provide 100 percent UV protection. Hats with brims large enough to shade the eyes, while not as effective as sunglasses, also offer moderate protection from the sun.

Information by: http://fwnextweb1.fortwayne.com/adv/special/2010/springfever/article0014.html

Christmas Tree Safety

Tips to Keep Your Holidays Safe and Enjoyable

A Christmas tree is a sight to behold by the families who take the time to decorate one. Here are some tips to keep your tree from becoming a safety hazard for your kids.

As the holiday season approaches, you will fill your home with pretty decorations, lights and gifts that will catch your toddler’s eye and insatiable curiosity. When you have a little one in your home, you always make sure that you have covered electrical outlets and that you keep candles out of reach, but have you considered Christmas tree safety as well? Here are some tips to keep your child safe around the Christmas tree this season.

Consider Using an Artificial Tree

It is true that real Christmas trees look and smell fabulous, and it is hard to duplicate that with an artificial tree. However, when you have young children in the home, an artificial tree may be in order. If your child suffers from allergies, then he or she may develop respiratory problems around a real tree. Also think about the needles that a real tree drops to the floor. Even if you find the freshest tree you can, you will still have sharp needles falling. Young children may choke on these needles or if you have a crawler, then they can get poked. In addition, a real tree becomes dry and brittle after awhile and can pose a fire hazard, especially with all the lights on your tree. There are many beautiful artificial trees that will look just as good.

Off the Hook

The next thing you will want to consider when you are thinking about Christmas tree safety around your children are the hooks that are often used on your decorations. While these are inexpensive and easy to use, they can hurt your child. Now is the time to get rid of those sharp hooks and use something else for hanging. Consider using pretty ribbon instead. Not only will this be much safer, but it enables your child to hang decorations on the tree without help.

Pack Away the Breakables

Chances are that you have Christmas tree decorations that you love. Maybe they were handed down to you from your grandmother or mother. If they are breakable, then you will want to pack these away until your children get a little older. Instead of using your most expensive or collectible ornaments when your child is small, use this as an excuse to decorate your tree with plenty of child-made (and non-breakable) ornaments. All young children will be curious about those pretty balls and baubles. Accidents do happen, so make sure that falling ornaments will not break. The same goes for ornaments with very small pieces. These could pose a choking hazard to your child. Keep them off the tree for now.

Read more at Suite101: Christmas Tree Safety for Kids: Tips to Keep Your Holidays Safe and Enjoyable | Suite101.com http://homemanagement.suite101.com/article.cfm/christmas_tree_safety_for_kids#ixzz0ZydNmCFE

Winter Nutrition!

Good food for high-performance health:

With the right foods, your kids can stay happy and healthy all winter long. Here’s good advice on power-packed foods that help kids perform at their peaks — and how to get your kids to love them.

Beat the bugs:

Since winter is the season for sniffles and coughs, help your kids beat the bugs by boosting their immune systems through nutrition. Vitamin C scores big in the fight against the common cold. At mealtime, add garlic and onion — two potent anti-cold agents — to sauces and soups. Zinc fends off colds, too, and kids will eat it up when you serve it via whole grain breads, nuts, beans, peas and hard cheeses. Also, vitamin-rich fruit smoothies satisfy cravings for sweets, and pectin-rich apple dishes fan cold-fighting flames in young bodies.

Add mental muscle:

Good nutrition is about more than revving up your kids to run through their daily paces. When you add mental muscle — teaching them the whys of healthful eating — you raise children who will run the race with wise eating habits.

Fix fun foods:

You need to make smart choices for kids at this stage. Left to their own devices, they’ll eat anything — trust us! Plan creative snack times. Young children need smaller, more frequent meals, so think of snacks as meals. Choose healthful foods such as dried fruit or cereal in fun shapes. Use cookie cutters to transform whole grain breads into fun animals (anybody want to nibble on a dinosaur?) and show your child that healthful choices can also be fun.

Stash wisely:

Teach these eager learners the whys and hows of smart eating to encourage a lifetime of good food choices. Stash nutritious snacks they can enjoy between meals. Stock your kitchen with fresh and dried fruit, cut-up veggies, whole grain cereals, whole wheat crackers, pretzels and cheese. Add 100 percent fruit juice to seltzer water as a fizzy replacement for soda. Try new foods together. At mealtime, fill kids' plates with small servings of all foods offered at that meal. Tell them they don't have to clean their plates unless they want seconds.

Reinforce goals:

Give older kids plenty of structured opportunities to practice what you have taught them about healthful eating. Talk about nutrition together. Have family members take turns being the official "Family Food Coach" in setting lifestyle goals that support good health. Get everyone thinking by asking, "What’s a fun way to eat more vegetables?" Focus on manners, too. Teach your kids how to graciously say "no" to poor choices with comebacks such as, "Would it be OK if I had more carrots and dip instead?"

All activities should be parent supervised. Parents, please make sure that the tools and items needed for a project are appropriate for your child.


This information brought to you by:
http://www.nesquik.com/adults/healthandnutrition/articles/nutritionignition.aspx

Winter Fitness - By Kelly Burgess

Winter can make staying fit a real challenge. While playing in the snow is fun, sometimes it's too cold to even do that safely. Sometimes there isn't even any snow – it's just cold! Parking yourself in front of the TV or video games not only leads to weight gain, but kids can get pretty rowdy if they're cooped up without a physical outlet for their energy.

No one knows that better than Debi Pillarella, M.Ed., C.P.T., a nationally recognized expert on children's fitness and the mother of two boys, ages 8 and 10. "My sons are typical boys; they like video games just like other kids, but they do have a time limit," she says. "I use timers a lot, and I'll just tell them it's time to go and get some physical activity. I've made it a habit, just like brushing their teeth or going to bed."

In the House
If you have an unfinished basement, as the Pillarella's do, kids can rollerblade and even play soccer or baseball with some softer equipment. Pillarella also suggests the following:
Create a Bucket O' Fitness Fun:

Jump ropes
Resistance bands
Hacky sack balls
Nerf balls
Light weights
Hula hoops
Bouncing balls
Cones
Bean bags
Create a Gym-like Atmosphere:

Mats
Fitness stations
Fun music
Weights (empty milk jugs filled with water)
VCR/CD player and TV with fitness tapes

Play Fun Fitness Games:

Balloon relays
Cotton ball (as "snow" balls) fights
Indoor Olympics
Fitness Jar Fun (pick an activity out of a jar)

Many of the above activities can be done as a family or just by the children. When the kids are younger, Pillarella says it's very important to get involved in the physical activity. Parents are important guides and teachers in how to be active. However, as they get older, say older elementary to middle school, parents can step back a little more and expect children to be active on their own, so they know how without always having Mom right there. This is particularly important as they move into their teen years and become naturally more sedentary. At that age, it's not wise to force them because they'll resist, but if they have the tools they may continue an active life.

Imagination Station

Melinda Sothern, a licensed clinical exercise physiologist and a research faculty member and director of the Pediatric Obesity Clinical Research Section at the Louisiana State University (LSU) Health Sciences Center in New Orleans and the author of Trim Kids™: The Proven 12-Week Plan That Has Helped Thousands of Children Achieve a Healthier Weight (Harper Resource, 2001), agrees that kids need to be directed to fitness activities and given plenty of opportunity to be active. She invented the concept of the Imagination Station, which can be set up anywhere in the house. Sothern says the Imagination Station should include these things:

A couple of old mattresses on the floor so everyone can jump from one to another
Boom box for dancing to the music
Hula hoops
Jump ropes
Skip it
Foam mats and wedges to jump and roll around on
Cardboard boxes for imaginative play
Hopscotch mat
An action game like Twister™
A plastic tub filled with costumes and other dress-up accessories
Toy musical instruments for a marching band
Microphone to imitate the cool moves of your favorite singer
Batons, small flags, pom-poms
Play tents or make one out of furniture and sheets
Indoor basketball hoops with soft basketballs
Soft, indoor baseball mitts and gloves
Juggling balls
Kid-safe dart boards and other target games

Sothern also says that exercise equipment, such as treadmills, traditionally used by adults can be used by older children, as long as they're well-supervised. She cautions that it will become boring to them fairly quickly. Pillarella also notes that studies show that because a child's thermo regulatory system works differently than adults, short bursts of activity, such as they get when they play, are more effective to achieve fitness than longer sessions, such as 30 minutes on a treadmill.

While exercising at home is always handy and can be done even with only short amounts of free time, sometimes it's fun to get out and do something different. One ideal way for everyone to get active would be to join a gym, either one that targets the whole family or one that is just for kids.
Matthew Hendison, executive vice president of marketing and entertainment for My Gym Enterprises, says kids love the activities offered by gyms targeted specifically for them. "When kids can't get out to play, either because it's not safe or is too hot or too cold, a gym targeted to their age group can be a great benefit," he says. "Everything is focused on their abilities and size."

Gyms for kids are a good choice if the local gym doesn't have any programs for kids; they are also a good choice for city dwellers. Pillarella says that if families are looking for a gym membership everyone can use, be sure they offer programming for all ages. Here are some things to look for:

Children's programming. Be sure this is targeted toward specific fitness activities and is not just a supervised play area or daycare.
Be sure the personal trainers have certifications in working with children.
Family activities, or not. If parents prefer working out alone while their children work out elsewhere, be sure this is not a gym where everyone works out together.
Same advice for those who do want to work out with their children.
Programming for teens. This should be less structured and more fun. Tennis, for example, is an activity most teens enjoy.
Not everyone can afford a gym membership, but there are plenty of other out-of-the-house activities that can be done indoors with little or no cost. Pillarella suggests one of the following activities:

Mall walking
Bowling
Indoor water park/pools
Climbing walls
Fun centers
School gyms (open after school gym time)
Indoor skating rinks
Also, don't forget just old-fashioned outings that don't seem like exercise; going to a museum, for example. Pillarella says to wear a pedometer, and you may be surprised how far you've walked on a day when you just thought you were having fun.

Information found at:
http://www.iparentingfitness.com/articles/family-fitness/fit-as-a-family-4428/

Thanksgiving and Children

Get kids involved in Thanksgiving planning and cooking

Most young children enjoy being a 'helper' and its a fun way to spend time together. They also enjoy cooking and will be proud to share the healthy dish they helped prepare for Thanksgiving. As you prepare for Thanksgiving you can use this time to get kids involved and teach them about new foods and healthy eating. There are plenty of ways to get kids involved.

Kids can:

help come up with the menu
find items on the grocery list
find different colored seasonal vegetables
wash vegetables and fruits
help measure and mix ingredients
add fresh fruits and vegetables to platters
make cute Thanksgiving decorations
set the table

Quick Thanksgiving nutrition facts and tips to keep your family healthy

This holiday season is a great time to take steps to keep your family healthy. Kids are developing their habits through the daily experiences. Since Thanksgiving is the kick off for the holiday season, demonstrate healthy holiday habits. This Thanksgiving you can teach the kids how to prepare for Thanksgiving by making healthy choices.

Don’t forget breakfast. Start the morning with a healthy pumpkin smoothie.
Don’t starve. Avoid trying to save your appetite for dinner or you will tend to overeat.
Cook with natural ingredients. The first Thanksgiving celebrated in 1621 had no processed foods and no access to sugar
Shop smart. Buy fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables for a better price such as squash, carrots, turnips, and pumpkins.
Go for Veggies! Cook healthier, low calorie seasonal vegetables for a nutrient packed meal.
Cook healthy. Look for healthier substitutes for your recipes by substituting whole grains and low fat items whenever possible. See our list of healthy Thanksgiving substitutes.
Think out of the box! Consider fish or a vegetarian meal for your main entrée.
Start the festivities with healthy choices. Offer some tasty and healthy appetizers with low fat dips to keep the calories down!
Use low fat creams for soups and desserts.
Get moving! After dinner, get the family active with fun indoor or outdoor activities.
Don’t beat yourself up! If you feel like your family forgot their healthy habits, then just get the family back on the healthy track.

Tips on Thanksgiving Portion Control – Avoiding overeating

The average person will eat about 4500 calories on Thanksgiving Day! With so many delicious foods and the excitement of the holiday it is easy to get carried away and over eat. But with a few portion control tips, you can eat less and teach your children to eat sensibly, even during the holidays.

Think small - serve in smaller serving dishes to encourage smaller portions
Use smaller plates and bowls to help portion control
Plan for leftovers to reduce the chance of over-eating- you’ll save time on future meal preparation too!
Make a low fat vegetable based soup as a starter
Limit starches such as potatoes, stuffing, and rolls, instead fill your plate with more vegetables
Drink plenty of water.
Avoid seconds. If you can't resist the second helping, focus on refilling your plate with vegetables and other lower calorie choices
Enjoy desserts however, slice your pie into 16 slices and use nonfat whipped cream.
Use small plates or tea cups to reduce portion size when serving the desserts
The Thanksgiving holiday can be the start of a hectic holiday season. We get into such a rush that we might be tempted to throw all our healthy habits out the window. But it can also be a time to take steps to simplify, slow down and enjoy the simple pleasures of family. It can be a time when the whole family can remember to be thankful for healthy foods and a healthy family. And isn’t being thankful about our blessings what this holiday is really about.

We hope you have a wonderful, enjoyable and healthy Thanksgiving.

Credit to:
http://www.nourishinteractive.com/parents_area/healthy_family_nutrition_newsletter/planning_healthy_thanksgiving_tips_healthy_eating_portion_control_easy_thanksgiving_foods_kids_cooking

Tips for Raising Heart-Healthy, Active Children

• Help your children develop good physical activity habits at an early age by setting a good example yourself. Practice heart-healthy habits.
• Limit television, movies, videos and computer games to less than two hours a day. Substitute the rest of leisure time with physical activity.
• Plan family outings and vacations that involve vigorous activities such as hiking, bicycling, skiing, swimming, etc.
• Give your children some household chores that require physical exertion, keeping in mind their levels of strength, coordination and maturity. Mowing lawns, raking leaves, scrubbing floors and taking out the garbage not only teach responsibility but can be good exercise.
• Observe sports and activities your children like, then find out about lessons and clubs. Some children thrive on team sports; others prefer individual activities. Some activities, like tennis and swimming, can be enjoyed for a lifetime and are much easier to learn during childhood.
• If it's safe to walk or bike rather than drive, do so. Use stairs instead of elevators and escalators. Increase the distances you and your children walk.
• Stay involved in your child's physical education classes at school. At daycare, make sure the kids exercise at least 20 minutes a day. Ask about frequency of classes and activity, class size, curriculum (instruction in lifetime fitness activities as well as team sports should be emphasized), physical fitness assessments, qualifications of the teacher (should hold appropriate certification in physical education and be an appropriate role model for students). Physical fitness should be measured at the beginning and end of each year, and goals should be established for each child. Encourage your school board to emphasize skills students can use for the rest of their lives.
• Discourage homework immediately after school to let children find some diversion from the structure of the school day. Kids should be active after school and before dinner.
• Choose fitness-oriented gifts -- a jump rope, mini-trampoline, tennis racket, baseball bat, a youth membership at the local YMCA or YWCA. Select the gift with your child's skills and interests in mind.
• Take advantage of your city's recreation opportunities -- from soccer leagues to fun runs. Check out the various camps or organizations like the Sierra Club that sponsor outdoor activities such as camping, hiking trips and bird watching.
• Free your infant from mechanical restraints as much as possible. Strollers and playpens are high on convenience but low on activity potential. Try to unleash your diapered dynamo whenever and wherever he or she can safely move around.
• When your children are bored, suggest something that gets them moving, like playing catch or building a snowman in the yard.

This information brought to you by the American Heart Association:
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=825