Month: September 2013

While summer is not entirely gone, the first crisp, cool breezes of autumn have slipped through some parts of the United States. September is here and so is school. Even after the first day begins, though, parents may be wondering if they have prepared their children with everything they need. So, while kids may have already had their first day in class, families should double-check that there won't be any problems throughout the year.

Backpacks
In 2012, the Consumer Product Safety Commission reported that 13,700 kids needed to see a doctor due to backpack-related injuries. Too many children are carrying more than they should on their shoulders. To avoid injury, they should not tote more than 10 to 15 percent of their body weight.

There are a few things parents should do to help this. One is to ensure that their children wear an appropriately sized backpack. If it is too large, then more can be put into it, and the chance of an injury is greater. Additionally, they should always wear both arm straps and the waist strap if the backpack has one. This distributes the weight more evenly.

School lunches
While most schools provide lunch to students, they do not always have the healthiest options. The California Report recently noted that federal lunch reimbursement requires schools to serve vegetables to children, but that does not guarantee that everything else they offer is particularly healthy. Additionally, kids can occasionally be picky eaters, so preparing their lunch can improve the chance that they will eat right.

Another thing for parents to keep in mind is that the school may not be providing enough time for students to finish their lunch. The Report noted that while many states and organizations recommend a minimum of 20 minutes to eat, not all education providers follow that suggestion. So even as parents try and prepare healthy meals, they may also want to pack food that their kids can finish eating before heading back to class.

Sleep
This may seem obvious, but after a few months of enjoying the sun and free time, children may not be used to going to bed and waking up at a certain time. To make sure that they get to school on time – without missing the bus – parents should set a bedtime and be there to help kids wake up in the morning. Limiting television and video game time at night can also encourage them to sleep when they should. If they are active right up until their bedtime, they will have a more difficult time settling down for the night. A full night's rest is an important part of children's health and wellness, so families should try and shift from the summer schedule and back to the school one. 

Medication
When parents have children with chronic pediatric medical conditions, it is extremely important that they ensure that their kids take their medication throughout the day. Even if a family has discussed self-treatment in past school years, the summer months may have changed their routine, so it is helpful to remind children of their responsibilities again. Parents should also speak with the school about the disorder, since the staff may be unaware of it. Even if a kid is going to the same place he or she did last year, the medical professionals may have changed, and new teachers may not have been informed about the child.

One way that parents can encourage their children to take their medication is to give them an additional incentive that makes them want to use it. Making medicine taste better can turn what was once a chore into a treat.

Everyone's heard of the concept of the sugar rush, and some parents try not to give their kids sweet food and drinks to avoid affecting their children's health and wellness. However, the culprit may not be sugar, but caffeine instead. This is somewhat understandable – many people wake in the morning to a fresh cup of coffee to start the day. It revitalizes them, regardless of whether they've had a full night's rest or only a nap. So it makes sense that children would receive a similar burst of energy and act excited while under caffeine's influence. 

However, the effect of caffeine may extend beyond an energy boost, according to recent research published in the Journal of Pediatrics. The study found that kids who drink soda are slightly more aggressive than other children, based on the analysis of 2,929 children from 20 sizable U.S. cities. Mothers were asked to rate their children's aggressive behavior on a scale of one to 100 during the two months preceding their survey, and kids who drank four or more soda servings per day averaged a score of 62. Non-soda drinkers rated only a 56, while those who drank between one and three servings fell into a range between the non-drinkers and heavy soda drinkers. 

Children who drank four or more soda servings per day were also found to be twice as likely to fight and destroy people's belongings than kids who don't drink soda. 

"In children who consume sodas on a daily basis, we see an increased level of depression, anxiety, hyperactivity, and acting out," Judy Gaman, a health and wellness expert at Executive Medicine of Texas in Southlake, told the Dallas Morning News. "Caffeine is a drug and sodas are addictive, so don't be surprised if you and your family have to go through a detox period when you wean off. During such time, headaches, moodiness, and anxiety will rise, but should be gone in three to seven days." 

Soda on the decline, but parents may want solutions now
The Dallas Morning News also noted that soda sales have been declining for the past eight years. Although the popularity of the beverage may be decreasing, this does little good for parents who want to address the problem now. Gaman, as well as Wendy Rice, a Tampa-based psychologist, offered a few recommendations to families who want to remove soda from their diet. 

Gaman suggested not buying soda, regardless of where the family is, and that parents should also keep an eye out for artificial sweeteners. Rice added that substitutions such as seltzer water mixed with fruit juice can also help. However, the source noted that alternatives like diet soda are not a good answer, as the problem is with the caffeine, not the sweetener. 

Reuters reported that the study is not definitive, as the craving for soda may be tied to chronic pediatric medical conditions such as low blood-sugar levels, and that may result in the heightened sense of aggression. However, it added that soda still provides little nutritional value to children. 

Most people know how to live a healthier life. They need to exercise, eat right and take their medicine. Yet many individuals do none of these activities. They do not exercise, they overeat and, according to a recent survey from Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, about two-thirds of Americans sometimes miss taking their medication. This can result in a hospital visit or worse.

For a child, there is the added difficulty of trying to convince the kid to take his or her medicine, and the parents need to oversee the child's treatment. With many adults not taking their prescriptions when they are supposed to, the chance exists that kids may also miss their scheduled dosages. They are also less likely to monitor their own schedule, particularly if they don't like their medication.  Depending on their age, they may also not understand the importance of not missing a pill or injection. 

Give kids a reason to take their medicine
By encouraging children to take their medicine, parents can minimize the risk that they will forget about the treatment and increase the chance that their kids will remind them about the medication. This can be especially important when treating chronic pediatric medical conditions, as convincing someone to do the same thing every day can be problematic when he or she does not want to do it. 

By creating a fun situation for a child, routine activities can become more enjoyable. Medicine-flavoring services such as those offered by FLAVORx partner pharmacies provide a number of better-tasting options for children and can make taking their medication a joy. Different taste options can offer variety to an otherwise familiar medicinal experience, while more than a dozen flavors can help kids find something they like. 

Though most physicians and pharmacists are intent on maintaining children's health and wellness, improving how regularly kids take their medicine can also provide a considerable amount of savings. According to the 2012 Express Scripts Drug Trend Report, the United States loses about $317.4 billion in medical costs every year that could have been prevented by patients more rigorously taking their medicine. 

Chronic pediatric medical conditions like autism can be hard for parents to manage, but being prepared for these issues can create a better, healthier environment for the family. When mothers and fathers know what to expect and how to care for their child, they can avoid frustration related to not knowing what to do – and the earlier they know, the better. 

Parents with autistic children should be aware that there is an increased chance that younger siblings will also experience the condition. Reuters Health recently reported on a study from Aarhus University in Denmark that looked into the likelihood of autism occurring among multiple siblings. Researchers discovered that younger siblings are seven times more likely to have an autistic disorder if their older siblings were diagnosed with one. This includes half-siblings, who are more likely to have an autism spectrum disorder if they share the same mother. Half-siblings with the same father were only 1.5 times more likely to share an ASD. 

While there may be a genetic predisposition to ASDs, Therese Gronborg​, who led the study, noted that there would be a greater recurrence rate if it were solely a hereditary, biological issue. Lifestyle, environment and upbringing were all noted as possible reasons for why children may have ASDs. Researchers suggested that the parents' ability to recognize autism's symptoms may also be why their kids are more likely to be diagnosed with the condition. 

However, Reuters highlighted the fact that past studies actually found a stronger link between autism and sibling relationships. The Aarhus University research still found a correlation between the two, but it is not as likely as once thought. While younger siblings to autistic children have a greater chance of being diagnosed with the condition, this still only amounts to a 7 percent chance – rather than the 18 percent chance similar projects have found. 

Helping raise an autistic child
For parents to maintain their children's health and wellness and their own, the Mayo Clinic provided a few suggestions. This included working with social workers, doctors and teachers to find the best way to raise and educate the child. Meeting with other families that have autistic children can also help. As always, knowledge is power, so the source recommended staying up to date about the disorder and the most recent technologies and therapies devoted to managing it. 

For many parents, obesity is the most pressing issue for their children's health and wellness. The prevalence of fatty, sugary foods mixed with an increasingly sedentary lifestyle has caused many kids to gain excess weight with more frequency than ever in history. 

However, various communities have different needs and concerns. According to a recent poll from the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital, most U.S. adults rank obesity as their main health concern. But when the results are segmented by racial and ethnic backgrounds, the issues troubling parents about their kids take on a different slant. For white and Hispanic parents, childhood obesity is their greatest health concern. Among white respondents, the condition was ranked the top problem by 38 percent of parents, while 47 percent of Hispanic respondents felt the same. However, their priorities quickly shift after that point. 

After ranking childhood obesity as the top problem troubling kids, white respondents to the survey stated that drug abuse and smoking were the most important issues to them, while Hispanic parents ranked bullying and drug abuse after obesity. 

Smoking of greater concern to African-American parents
Conversely, African American respondents ranked childhood obesity as their sixth main concern about their kids' health. They were more worried about their kids smoking, abusing drugs, being involved in school violence, testing positive for a sexually transmitted disease and teen pregnancy. 

"Childhood obesity remains a top concern, but it is essential to look at differences in perception based on race and ethnicity," Matthew Davis, M.D., director of the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health, said in a press release. "Medical and public health providers should be aware that different communities could have different priorities about what health problems are most important."

Taking preventative measures against these problems
Just as communities differ based on their history, environment and other factors, individual families can experience similar disparities from wider racial and ethnic trends. Paying attention to the needs of the child can also enable parents to take better care of their kids, or work together to avoid health hazards. Finding healthy alternatives to their favorite food can help with issues like obesity and potentially achieve better results than outright denying them the things they enjoy. Thankfully, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention believes that awareness about the problem may be leading to a decrease in its frequency. 

Smoking and drugs are more difficult to find safe substitutes for, but the American Lung Association suggested that parents keep smoking out of their home – which may mean they must quit the habit themselves. The association also recommended against issuing threats or ultimatums, but instead talking with the child about the problem. Due to nicotine's addictive nature, it noted that parents should be patient while trying to get their kids to quit the habit. Meanwhile, the CDC listed tobacco use as a chronic disease, so preventing its use can stop a chronic pediatric medical condition early on.