Entries Tagged as 'Children's Health'

Making the Grade With Brain-Healthy Foods

Parents can help their child make the grade by coupling brain healthy supplements, a good multi-vitamin and brain-smart foods. Properly nourishing the brain will ultimately set the child up for success in the classroom by improving focus and concentration, managing behavioral problems and keeping them healthy.

The daily diet starting with a solid breakfast is highly important to the school success equation. A Harvard University study and a Massachusetts General Hospital study both showed that children who regularly ate breakfast perform better on standardized test scores, have better behavior, and are less hyperactive than children who skip breakfast.

Sugary breakfast cereals or white-flour pancakes with syrup will leave your child hungry and tired half way through the morning. A solid protein-based breakfast is always a better alternative to highly refined carbohydrates. Eggs, whole grain toast and a piece of fruit is one example of a healthy start to the day that will keep your child satisfied until lunch time. The protein in the egg and lower-starch whole grain bread and fruit will support the physical needs while also supporting brain function.

Now on to lunch… The typical school lunch of pizza, french fries and canned fruits and vegetables are poor quality food choices. However, the parent-packed “cold lunches” can also fail the grade. According to one study, only 25 percent of parent-packed cold lunches meet minimum dietary standards. Additionally, most parent-packed lunches are filled with saturated fats, sugar and salt. Here are a number of healthy lunch tips to keep your child’s mind sharp and body fueled throughout the school day.

- Use whole wheat bread or multi-grain bread instead of white bread.
- Bypass processed lunch meats. Instead, use meat from the pervious night’s dinner. For instance, chop up leftover chicken to make a chicken salad sandwich.
- Add diced fruits or vegetables with a small container of healthy dipping sauces like low-fat yogurt, sour cream or hummus.
- Yogurt with active live bacterial cultures (probiotics) provides a good source of protein and calcium.
- Instead of snack cakes or other sugary desserts, pack canned fruit packed in water instead of sugar or dried fruit.
- Forget the fruit drinks, fruit punch and soft drinks and pack water and milk instead.

Pick from the following mix and match food list for a healthy lunch. Ideally you will choose one fruit, one vegetable, one snack, a sandwich or non-sandwich food and a beverage.

Vegetables: Cherry tomatoes, sliced cucumber, carrot sticks, celery sticks, green salad.
Fruits: Apples, bananas, blueberries, cherries, grapes, nectarines, orange sections, peaches, pears, pineapple, strawberries.

Dips for fruits, vegetables, sandwiches and crackers: Almond or apple butter, apple butter, mashed banana, low-fat cream cheese or brie cheese, honey, hummus, fruit jam, peanut butter.

Snacks: Nuts, dried cranberries, cheese slices or sticks, cottage cheese with fruit, hard-boiled egg, dried fruit, granola, popcorn, pretzels, trail mix, wheat crackers, vanilla yogurt with fruit.

Beverages: Bottled water, skim or 1% milk. If you do choose to pack a juice box on occasion, make sure the juice is 100 percent fruit juice.

Sandwich Fillings: Chicken, chicken salad, egg salad, organic peanut butter and all-fruit jelly, roast beef, chunk light tuna fish, tuna salad, turkey, turkey salad.

Sandwich Add-ons: Sliced apples, shredded carrots, cheese, sliced cucumber, lettuce, spinach leaves, sprouts.

You have healthy breakfast and lunch ideas but let’s face it, kids can be picky. If you have a finicky eater, supplements to provide the nutrients not received in the daily diet are an absolute must. There are a number of quality Attention Deficit supplements available that will support the brain while also reducing the symptoms of ADD and ADHD. When looking for a quality ADD supplement, look for one that provides a full complex of amino acids and fatty acids.

Numerous studies show that ADHD children have lower levels of essential fatty acids. Studies also show that lower levels of essential fatty acids can result in problems with learning, behavior, temper, sleep, and immune function.

Amino acids quite literally feed the brain. Amino acids, the building blocks of protein, promote the production of various neurotransmitters and enzymes needed for communication between brain cells and a smooth transition from thought to disciplined action.

About the Author

Freelance journalist Jeannine Virtue moderates the Attention Deficit Disorder Help Center, a web site dedicated to natural alternatives for ADHD, depression and stress. Go to http://www.add-adhd-help-center.com/adhd_diet.htm for more information about the role of diet in easing Attention Deficit Disorder symptoms and for brain-boosting supplements for Attention Deficit Disorder.

 

Tags: Children's Health · ADD/ADHD · Brain Health

The Stranger in Your Child’s Life

Would you let a stranger spend several hours with your child, communicating values, distracting them from homework, creating separation and distance from family? Even worse, would you let a stranger into your child’s bedroom?

“No way,” you say? Well, you’d better look again. Because if you are like most parents, there is indeed a stranger who is influencing, guiding, directing, and enticing your child. And yes, some of these strangers are even in your child’s bedroom. This stranger looks innocent enough at first glance, but has the potential to influence your child in ways you may not even suspect.

The danger that is enticing your child is electronic media, and its presence is growing. Children in America now spend, on average, 6 ½ hours a day exposed to electronic media. Their connection to this influence includes TV, computers, listening to music, playing video games, and other electronic devices. Two-thirds of children, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation report, now have a TV in their bedrooms. This doesn’t account for the hand-held electronic devices many children carry with them wherever they go.

Not alarmed yet? What about this? Children with TVs in their bedroom watch 90 minutes more a day than children without a TV in their room. They also do less reading and less homework. According to the facts, the more kids watch TV, the more likely they are to be overweight. Obesity in children is a national crisis. Turning a child’s bedroom into a media arcade does not help your child one bit.

Many parents say they care about what their children watch and listen to. Yet, children consistently report that their parents do not have any rules, create no conditions, and set no limits on the amount or type of media they use. Those who do create restrictions don’t always enforce them. Children report that parents do not know what type of music they’re listening to. Parents seldom check the rating on CDs or invest the time to check out the lyrics. They pay little attention to the elaborate TV rating scale and do not use it to make choices about appropriate viewing content for their children.

Violent video games and glorified violence on TV spur aggression in children. While watching violence does not make someone violent, research shows that children who are exposed to more visual violence engage in more aggressive behaviors. Isn’t that reason enough to set limits on a youngster’s television viewing and video game habits?

Allowing a TV in a child’s bedroom or putting electronic media like Game Boys and cell phone video games into their hands is tantamount to putting the fox in the henhouse with the chickens while pretending the fox is of no danger. It is an example of child neglect at worst and gross misunderstanding on the part of parents at best.

Electronic media in a child’s life increases isolation. It creates an environment in which the child can stay disconnected from family members. It severely limits family interaction. TV, the internet, and video games are creating an emotional gap between parent and child. What possible reason is there for a child to carry a video game with him wherever he goes, or for a parent to make a child’s bedroom so attractive and so media friendly that she wants to spend most of her time there by herself?

What about family solidarity? What about creating feelings of belonging by doing things together? Yes, children need privacy. Yes, they need some solitude and some time away from us. But do they need 6 ½ hours a day of “plug-in” contact?

Recently, while attending a soccer registration day, we heard a mother comment about her son, “I don’t know why I bother to bring anything else for him to do. All he does is play that Game Boy.” Sitting next to her was a child oblivious to the world around him. He was so engrossed in his video game that he was unaware of the rest of the world. And yet the mother went on to say, “The good thing about it is it keeps him busy and I don’t have to worry about him getting into things.”

Do you really want your child playing video games that glorify violence and numb him to real life events? A recent study revealed that 65 percent of seventh- through twelfth- graders played the controversial video game Grand Theft Auto. This game, rated for mature audiences, is loaded with larceny and violence. It shows the killing of police officers and the beating of prostitutes. Is this the way you want your child to learn what it means to be a responsible, caring, cooperative adult?

What about the strangers who are teaching your child through their appearance on television? Is TV really where you want your children to learn about values, attitudes, behaviors? Do you like the messages they get from soap operas? Do you want them exposed to beer commercials? Is the television really the best forum to teach your children about dating, intimacy, and sexuality? How do you feel about using sex to sell products? Have you seen any television talk shows lately? Is their model of disagreeing, which includes interrupting one another, increasing the volume, and not listening to the other’s point of view the way you want your children to handle disagreements?

What about the computer? Who are your children talking to in chat rooms? What sites do they visit? Are they being bullied or talked to with inappropriate language? Are they bullying others? Do you know? Are you sure?

What are American parents thinking? What possible reason could there be for putting a TV or X-box in a child’s bedroom or within easy access? Does the child have so many things that this is all that the parent can come up with for a birthday present? Do the parents dislike being with the child so much that they want to purposefully isolate the youngster? Or are the adults simply so busy with their own lives that they don’t have time for their children?

The frenzy to connect to electronic media has created the Great Family Disconnect of our time. Don’t parents realize that 6 ½ hours a day of being plugged into media leaves children little time to plug into their family? Do the parents like it that way? Is family dialogue of such little value that it can be squeezed in between headphones and email? Has Monopoly, checkers, shooting baskets, skipping rope, and bike-riding together become obsolete? Do parents like that?

In 63 percent of homes a television is on during mealtimes. Is it too much to ask family members to take a 20-minute break from media noise to share a quiet dinner with meaningful conversation? Or would you miss your favorite program? Couldn’t our children become our favorite program for part of the evening?

The Great Family Disconnect is increasing in direct proportion to the degree of connection of our children to their favorite electronic device. TV, computers, and video games have become the plug-in drugs of our times. They are creating family distance, isolation, and a decrease in feelings of belonging and connectedness.

The stranger enticing your children needs to be unplugged, kicked out of their bedroom, and sent packing immediately. This is your home, not his. This is your family, not his. Take back the influence this stranger has usurped in your family. Commit to being the parent you always wanted to be. Establish guidelines. Set limits. Enforce those limits. Do it consistently. Implement consequences if needed.

Disconnect from the Great Family Disconnect. Flip the switch. Bring prime time back to your family.
About the Author

Chick Moorman and Thomas Haller are the authors of The 10 Commitments: Parenting with Purpose. They also publish a FREE email newsletter for parents and another for educators. Subscribe to them when you visit www.chickmoorman.com or www.thomashaller.com. Chick Moorman and Thomas Haller are two of the world’s foremost authorities on raising responsible, caring, confident children. For more information about how they can help you or your group meet your parenting needs, visit their websites today.

 

Tags: Children's Health

Healthy Alternative to Crying

By Lois Grasso

Frustrated or embarrassed when your kid starts to cry? While it seems a fact of life that you must teach kids not to cry, that could be the worst thing to do. Crying is a healthy breathing exercise designed to express (ie., “move out”) the overwhelming feelings caused by physical or emotional stress or trauma.

Instead, teach your child to take a few big belly breaths when they feel the need to cry. This will eliminate or reduce the noise without damaging your child’s health and self-esteem. Consider the friendly advice commonly given to an upset adult to “take a deep breath”. We instinctually know that a deep breath can calm you down, yet we seldom offer this advice to our kids.

Here’s why we need to start. When we threaten, tease, plead with or in any way shame or stifle a crying child, there are numerous damaging consequences. The only way to prevent themselves from crying is to hold their breath and “choke down” the feelings. Soon they are well-trained to do this at the slightest sign of stress, fear or discomfort.

* Breathing is the body’s number one method for clearing out waste. Up to 70% of toxins can be eliminated with healthy breathing. Imagine forbidding your child from urinating? In the long run, forbidding crying is far worse. We are truly handicapping our children when we teach them not to cry, because it is a breathing exercise that eliminates toxins caused by emotional and physical stress.

In addition to suppressing toxic feelings, (which are then stored in the body as tension and biochemical toxins, and stored in the mind as self-loathing and anger), the child also suppresses oxygen intake, toxin release, the ability to focus, and self-awareness. These resources are necessary to respond to life’s many challenges.

We were all kids once. How has it affected you? Most adults take in only a third of the oxygen they need, due to restricted breathing patterns formed during childhood. This causes a build up of unexpressed feelings, known as ‘emotional baggage,’ just waiting to unload any minute. Given the high level of stressors present in modern culture, it is common for most people to be on “red alert” all day. You may be experiencing undue stress, anxiety, depression, panic attacks, lack of energy, lack of meaning, as well as physical illness. Without a healthy outlet for expression, things can, and do, go awry.

Keeping yourself “together” by stuffing down emotions makes it excruciating to listen to anyone else crying, because, like yawning and laughter (also breathing exercises), crying is contagious. Since we are so committed to not feeling and not crying, the vicious cycle continues as we desperately try to keep our kids from crying.

What can we do to avoid burdening our children while maintaining our own composure as parents?

Try this easy solution: When your child begins to cry,

* take your own deep breath,
* pause and relax,
* look him in the eyes (getting eye level with them helps) and in a sincere, supportive tone say, “Wow, you’re really upset/angry/sad. You know what? If you take some deep breaths into your belly, you’ll feel better soon.”
* Children under age six may need help focusing on their breathing. Just put your fingertips about an inch away from the child’s belly button and say, “Take a breath in through your mouth until your belly button pushes my hand up.” Saying this calmly and quietly in their ear will help comfort the child and will help them hear you over the sounds of crying.
* Then tell them to let the breath gush out, right away, through their wide open mouth, like a big silent sigh.
* Tell them they’re doing well and ask for another.
* Continue until the episode subsides. It shouldn’t take more than a few breaths.

For young children, you might even tell them their belly button is the “smiley button” that can make them feel better if they breathe into it. Tell them that they can do this for themselves if you are not around or are busy. This exercise allows your child to release her tension/fear/anger without feeling judged for it

For yourself, just put your hand on your own “smiley button” and push it outward with your inhale. This engages the diaphragm, and helps you catch your breath. Just let the exhale gush out in a relaxed sigh and let your body go limp. You might also want to add some noise to the exhale – a strong steady tone. Be sure to let go of the exhale as soon as the inhale feels full – no pausing between inhale and exhale. If this is difficult for you, or you find yourself getting dizzy, look into breathing therapy. It’ll be the best thing you can do for yourself and your family.

Lois Grasso is a professional Breath Therapist and founder of the OxyGenesis Institute in West Hartford, CT (www.oxygenesis.org). For more information on programs for adults, teens and children five years and up, call 860-796-1480.

 

Tags: Breathwork · Children's Health