Monthly Archives: September 2013

Child Health, Child Safety, SYN Digital Enrollment Director

The Best Techniques For Helping Your Kids Floss

Cassie Costner, guest contributor

As parents we know what’s best for our kids. Even if they argue and fight it now, flossing their teeth will be immensely important throughout their lives. Teaching kids to floss from a young age will not only keep their teeth healthy now, but also set them up for good habits for years to come, keeping their mouths clean and free of cavities.

Setting up these habits is difficult to begin with, but worth it in the long run. Learn the best methods for teaching your kids good dental hygiene, and the steps that need to be taken to ensure they will use these skills throughout their lives.

 

Incentives

Sometimes with kids, it’s easiest to reward them for doing what they should. Make a chart that they can only check off after they brushed their teeth and flossed. These two tasks seem to be difficult for kids to remember, but with a chart in place, they will have what they feel to be a good reason to floss.

On a weekly or monthly basis, offer your child a reward for flossing every day. If you don’t want to do candy, small toys or even a trip to the movies, park, or arcade would be beneficial. Find the best motivation for your kids. Even making the chart fun with stickers and cartoons, personalized to your child’s personality will help make flossing more enjoyable.

 

Use the right products

For kids to enjoy it, it generally has to be fun. Using the same boring generic floss isn’t going to keep kids excited to use it. Instead get the right products and make it fun for them.

There are different flavors of floss that can be purchased. Choose one that kids enjoy, making it a less intrusive experience. Besides taste, frustration from figuring out the best way to wrap the floss around their fingers, and then placing the small line between each tooth may be discouraging to some kids, and even adults. There are floss sticks that make it easy to floss. These keep the string tight to go through every tooth. Kids who learn how to use these have an easier time developing good flossing habits.

 

Be encouraging

The most difficult thing is to keep kids in the habit. The best way to keep this going is by setting an example. You don’t realize just how much influence you have over your kids. Show them that you use good flossing habits by doing it with them. Not only will this be encouraging to them, but will help your teeth stay healthy as well.

Work hard to reinforce the importance of flossing by establishing it in your own daily routine. If you set up a time every night to do it, your kids will become accustom to the process, keeping it with them for years to come.

Teaching your children proper dental care is important. Be aware of the influence you have on their oral hygiene. Establish regular flossing in their routine early on through positive reinforcement, using the right products, and setting the best example.

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By Cassie Costner

Cassie writes on getting the best pediatric dental care. She has written for http://www.burgpediatricdentistry.com on the best methods for brushing children’s teeth, the best floss, and encouraging your kids to visit the dentist.

Child Health, Child Safety, SYN Digital Enrollment Director

Tackling Childhood Asthma – 5 Things You Need To Remember

Angel Carmichael, guest contributor

If your child is diagnosed with asthma, it becomes an unfortunate condition you and your baby have to live with, it is a challenge one faces every day. But that doesn’t mean you let it dominate you and your child’s life. There are a number of ways to tackle your child’s asthma, control the triggers, sort out your resources and help your child. Here are some of the ways you can do the same:

 

Avoid smoking in front of them: This one is a no-brainer. Smoking harms people normally as well, so an asthmatic patient will suffer far worse. If you are not a smoker, don’t pick up the habit, if you are, then try quitting already. Nicotine patches have been encouraged in reducing the urge to smoke so try switching to that. The deal with tobacco is that it is particularly harmful for an asthmatic patient as it blocks off the much needed oxygen to reach the lungs, causing acute breathlessness. Cigarette smoke is right up on the list of triggers which cause asthma attacks. Therefore if your kid has asthma, quit the habit or else avoid smoking near him/her; also keep the child away from a smoking area.

 

Install an air purifier at home: This will be one of the best decisions you make as a parent/guardian of an asthmatic child. An air purifier will deem your home to be fit for the upbringing of your child. It will remove the contaminants from the air which are usually the biggest triggers for an asthma attack. The air purifier will help eliminate second-hand tobacco smoke, dust, pollen, mold spores and other triggers which lead to allergies. Buy and install one which will purify the air of the entire house and will not be restrained to one room.

 

Avoid certain cleaning products: Surprising but true, some ingredients in cleaning products cause increased sensitivity to asthma patients. Such chemicals irritate the patient’s lungs and make breathing difficult. Thus, if you are planning to clean up your residence then make sure you purchase natural products which are less likely to trigger your child’s asthma attack.

 

Stress free environment: Any form of stress in the house, mental or physical affects the child in every way. More importantly, if your child is suffering from asthma, then a stressful environment becomes a kind of trigger for an asthma attack. So try to keep the atmosphere of your house as lively and fun as possible. It helps a lot. A stress free environment has also proved to reduce the intensity of the asthma in patients.

 

Make an action plan: Devising a plan to combat your child’s asthma attack is a smart way to avoid triggering an attack.

  • Firstly you can track your child’s symptoms on a chart. You can note down his/her coughing and wheezing, the number of times it occurs, the time of the day when the symptoms interrupt school, playtime and sleep and also the number of times your child needs an inhaler.
  • You can record the peak flow readings on your child’s inhaler every day so that you know if your kid’s condition has become better or worse.
  • You can set up schedules to vacuum, dust and clean your home when your child is not around. If there isn’t enough time for that, you can do simple things like replacing pillow covers and bed sheets with hypoallergenic covers which help remove triggers.
  • Understand the symptoms of a full-blown attack and treat it with medication for short term basis.
  • Also understand symptoms of an asthma emergency which can be determined by using of abdomen muscles to breathe or having low peak flow readings on the inhaler.
  • This action chart that you have so painstakingly made, should be also given to the child’s teacher, nurse, babysitter and so on, so that they are aware of the symptoms and the appropriate medicines to give the kid.

Most importantly, discuss the chart and other things you do to avoid triggering your child’s asthmatic symptoms with your doctor on a regular basis. Updating and modification of the steps you take in tackling it are very important.

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This post has been authored by Angel Carmichael, an employee at Airpure Australia, a company dealing in an extensive range of carbon filters. She is an outdoor person and she enjoys going trekking and camping with her family when she isn’t busy with work.

Child Safety, Discipline, SYN Digital Enrollment Director

Home Safety Guidelines Every Parent Should Know

Barbara Johnson, guest contributor

When I was thirteen years old, two young neighborhood boys were playing cowboys in their basement. One found his daddy’s handgun and thought it would be the perfect prop for catching the bad guy. He ended up accidentally shooting his 2-year-old brother, who died instantly. It was traumatic for everyone in the neighborhood. I have lived in rural areas, and I have known three families personally who have had small children drown from accidentally falling into the canal or ditch near their yard.

Home is supposed to be a place of safety and comfort, yet one of the leading causes of accidental death in children is home injuries. These have been extreme examples I have given, but your home can be a dangerous place if the right precautions are not taken. Here are a few tips so you can avoid a traumatic accident, and ensure your home and yard are a place of safety for your children.

1. Never leave your child alone near water. Any water. It only takes four inches of water for a child to drown. This includes all sinks, tubs, buckets, toilets, swimming pools, kiddie pools, ponds, canals, and ditches. Constantly watch children who are near water; if your child is in the tub and the doorbell rings, wrap them in a towel and take them with you. It only takes a few seconds unattended for them to drown. Make sure all buckets are stored upside down, child locks are on the toilet seat, kiddie pools are emptied after use, and there are fences and locks around all other standing water.

 

2. Keep all chemicals and medications out of reach. This includes all pills, cough syrups, bleach, cleaner, detergent, yard fertilizer, weed killer, lighter fluid, and all others.

 

3. Know the possible hazards in your yard and neighborhood. Does your neighbor have an unfenced pool? Is there construction down the street? Are there storm drains? Check to see if there are any poisonous plants in your area. In your yard, keep hoses and all tools and equipment cleaned up when not in use, and keep fire pit and grill areas secure. Also make sure your children know to stay out of the street, and how to cross safely.

 

4. Keep all dangerous items locked away. Keep all firearms unloaded, and lock up ammunition and firearms separately. Keep all knives—kitchen or otherwise—in a locked drawer. Keep all potential weapons locked and out of reach. Children love to put things in their mouths, so all small items are a choking hazard and should be kept far out of reach.

 

5. Install and maintain smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors. They may be annoying when they start chirping with a low battery, or when you burn dinner and set them off, but the extra time they give you when there is an emergency will save lives.

 

6. Place plastic covers into unused electrical outlets and secure all wires and extension cords—inside the house as well as outside—to keep children from sticking things in outlets or chewing on wires and getting a shock.

 

7. Keep furniture away from windows, and use window stops to keep them from opening far enough to let a child through. Keep doors locked, block stairways, have corner protectors on sharp wall or furniture edges, and keep blind cords out of reach.

 

8. Keep beds clear and as bare as possible. Too many blankets and stuffed animals can cause suffocation in babies and small children if something accidentally covers their face. Use only one small blanket, and never let it get higher than the baby’s chest. If baby is too cold, put them in warmer pajamas rather than using more blankets. Also, remember to always lay babies on their backs when sleeping to keep their faces clear as well.

 

9. Watch children closely when the stove or oven—or any other appliance, for that matter—is on, and teach them as soon as they are old enough to stay away from hot pans and stoves. Turn down the water heater to 120 degrees, which is still warm enough for bathing, but not hot enough to scald little fingers.

 

10. Be prepared for anything that might happen. Stay certified in child CPR, make plans for what to do in case of a fire or other emergency and make sure the kids (if old enough) know their part. It is also a good idea to have emergency numbers stored in an easy-to-see place, and for the children to know about them. Have friends and family’s numbers listed as emergency contacts, as well as poison control, your doctor, the police, and any other number you may need. Keep a first aid kit in an easily accessible spot, and make sure you know how to use the equipment in the kit.

While following these tips may not prevent every single accident from happening, they will certainly lessen the seriousness of the injuries caused by the accidents In addition, they will give you a little more peace of mind knowing that your home and yard are as safe as possible for your growing children.
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Author Byline

Barbara Johnson is a home improvement enthusiast. From plumbers in Vancouver to roofers in Santa Barbara, Barbara has helped many home improvement experts perfect their niche.

Child Fitness, Child Obesity, SYN Digital Enrollment Director

Childhood Obesity – Getting Our Kids Healthy

Mark Aselstine, guest contributor

Nearly every community in America has made getting our kids healthy a priority, as we’ve seen the continual rise in childhood obesity rates gain momentum over the past two decades.  While reasonable people can argue about the cause of this rise in childhood obesity, be it the rise of indoor games like video games, or a general lack of healthy food choices, what matters is that virtually everyone agrees that a continued rise in childhood obesity is one of the major issues facing this country.

I’m lucky to live in the community of Berkeley California, a highly urban area just east across the bay from San Francisco.  Berkeley is certainly known for many things, from our internationally recognized University, aptly named California, to being the center of the hippy movement in the 1970’s. What hasn’t received as much attention of late is Berkeley’s role as the American center for the slow food movement.  The concept is pretty simple, we should be cooking food more often than we eat fast food because of the nutritional quality as well as the cost.

 

It takes a village…

In Berkeley, eating healthy food has become something of a focus in the fight against childhood obesity.  Over the past few years, we’ve seen the city outlaw new fast food restaurants and encourage an even greater focus on Farmer’s Markets and other local food choices.  Since the city is highly urban, not everyone has the space and yard (if they have a yard at all, the average size of a single family home’s property is under four thousand square feet) to grow their own food, there has been a huge focus on the creation of community gardens and centralized places for people to grow their own food.

The county of Alameda had a program which provided close to three million dollars a year to allow gardening to happen at every school campus in the Berkeley School District.  Of course, as they often do, budget cuts ended that program and left a huge hole in its wake.  That’s where we can truly see the community’s commitment to the program, Alice Waters and her famous Chez Panisse Restaurant held a $2,500 per plate fundraiser, while other businesses donated 10% of their proceeds over a given month, raising the money to continue this important educational program which also provides lettuce and other fruits and vegetables for school lunches.

 

 

Making exercise accessible

Of course, no commitment to fight childhood obesity would work without the ability to encourage children to burn more calories through play.  We’ve all heard that most kids should have sixty minutes of free play per day, but how can that happen with the end of Physical Education in schools and a condensed school schedule which sends children home, sometimes without more than a fifteen minute recess?  In Berkeley, the answer has come again through community support and involvement.  Berkeley has certainly gone all in, so to speak, with National Night Out.  Held every year on August 6th, National Night Out encourages the blocking of streets to allow children and their parents to enjoy playing outside.  Additionally the city shuts streets on a rotating basis on weekends to allow children an easy place to play.

 

Creating healthy citizens through city planning

Of course, a weekly event hardly allows children a space to gain sixty minutes of play per day.  Berkeley has continued to focus on adding park space, but also in building bicycle boulevards which in essence give bicycle riders streets to themselves, encouraging the biking of place to place. With a city of about one hundred thousand all packed into a three by four mile area, giving families the ability to get from home to the grocery store as an example, without driving, is a worthwhile and achievable goal.  The city and its business backers are focusing on allowing children to gain part of their exercise through their regular daily schedules.

Thank you for taking the time to read about the city of Berkeley and its fight against childhood obesity.  It’s certainly a hard problem to solve and the solutions which Berkeley is finding aren’t perfect for all cities across the country, but with a large amount of community involvement and government backing, answers are out there.

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Mark Aselstine is the owner of Uncorked Ventures, an online wine club and high end gift basket business.  With a toddler at home, the issue of childhood obesity is perhaps more important to him than many others, but he believes that with community involvement and smart, common sense solutions we can see improvements in the coming years.

Child Safety, Discipline, SYN Digital Enrollment Director

Children’s Health: Learning more about the Effects of Concussions

Chris Holgreaves, guest contributor

We have all probably seen our fair share of cartoons. You know the ones in which the main character has some kind of head injury and stars magically float around their heads? Well sadly, real life doesn’t treat children in the same way as this. The side effects of a nasty “bonk” on the head aren’t always as easy to notice as in your favorite cartoon.

Of course, the above might is likely to be fairly amusing in a cartoon; however when it happens for real your young one will probably take a different view. Being knocked out or even feeling dazed for a moment or two can be symptoms of a concussion.

If you are worried about the effects of concussions then this blog post is definitely for you. Here we will be taking a closer look at just what to expect.

Just what is a Concussion?

It would probably make sense to try to understand a little more about what makes a bang on the head a concussion.

The simplest way to think about things is that a concussion occurs when there is a temporary change to the way that the brain operates. Sudden movements or indeed jarring are the most likely reasons for this to occur in children.

In normal conditions the soft tissue of the brain is protected by the blood and spinal fluid that surrounds it. However, when the head receives a blow it can sometimes have the effect of the brain knocking against the bony surface of the skull.

Many concussions only last a relatively short time. But, it should be noted that some can stick around for days, weeks or even longer. Even the shortest of concussions can still be serious.

Warning Signs

Concussion can manifest itself in many different ways. Some of these will include:

  • Vomiting
  • Blurred or double vision
  • Attention difficulties
  • Confusion
  • Headache

The list above isn’t extensive and there are likely to be other possible symptoms. The important thing is to keep a really close eye on your child in the immediate aftermath of a bang to the head. Rest is another key part of the recovery from a concussion.

Rest is Vital

All head injuries will take an element of time to heal; therefore a period of rest is vital. Of course, this isn’t always easy to achieve.

The hardest part is that aside from the noticeable effects that your child might be experiencing there could be other things going on that aren’t seen. Trying to persuade a fanatical sports fan not to take to the football field for a week or so might not be the easiest of tasks. However, nonetheless it is vitally important that rest is administered.

As well as a rest from sporting or physical activities you should also help your child to avoid completing cognitive activities. This means a break from schooling or other academic activities.

Medical Treatment

Doctors are highly skilled when it comes to dealing with and treating head injuries. With this in mind it is essential that you get your child checked out as soon as possible. Very often a few short questions skilfully posed to the patient will allow the doctor a greater understanding of the situation.

In some cases the doctor will ask what seem like routine questions which serve to test the child’s memory functions. Additionally some might even prescribe an element of physical exertion to see how the brain reacts after a work-out.

More precise information can be found by using specialist equipment. One of the best known types is of course a CAT scanner. This machine has the power to take a 3 dimensional x-ray of the brain and can create a wealth of usable information.

Patient Follow-Up

Even after the all clear is given it is usual for a follow up to be scheduled. Only after this time will the doctor be satisfied that there is no lasting damage caused.

One big worry from a concussion is that the child goes out and repeats the injury. This is especially serious if it is happens during the initial healing process. For this reason the doctor will be keen to reinforce the value of making sure the patient gets plenty of rest.

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Prior to becoming a professional writer, your author (Chris Holgreaves) worked in a children’s care unit for his local hospital. He recommends the involvement of a specialist case manager wherever possible, especially when dealing with children’s head injuries.

Child Fitness, Child Obesity, Self-Esteem, SYN Digital Enrollment Director

The Link between Anxiety and Childhood Obesity

Ryan Rivera, guest contributor

There have been a number of studies that linked childhood obesity and anxiety. Childhood obesity has become a very serious medical condition.

The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention said that the incidence of childhood obesity has doubled in children and tripled among adolescents in the last 30 years. In 2010, more than 33 percent of children and adolescents are either overweight or obese.

Childhood obesity sufferers have higher cardiovascular disease risk due to high cholesterol and high blood pressure. It is also associated with increased risk of cancer and osteoarthritis. That is why there is a pressing need to understand the relation of anxiety with childhood obesity and find ways to curb this impending health menace.

 

Sad children tend to be heavier

A new study shows that children that have been overweight or borderline obese from kindergarten to the third grade are also showing signs of anxiety or depression. The negative feelings have become worse overtime said researchers from the University of Missouri. MU researchers examined the social development and the behavior of about 8,000 school-age children.

Girls that have been obese or overweight, said the researchers, are viewed with less favor compared to girls that have near normal weight. Obese girls are seen to be less sociable and have shown less self-control. The appearance-based social behavior has created artificial pressures that have caused anxiety.

 

Sad children have altered dopamine signaling

Dopamine is one of the feel-good chemicals in the brain that makes the person calmer and less anxious. However, a study conducted by the University of Illinois said that there is a link between high-fat diets and some mental disorders. The study’s results on obese and juvenile mice saw a sharp decline in the dopamine metabolism that led to the emergence of anxiety symptoms and even learning difficulties.

Mice that are stout have increased their burrowing and even shown reluctance to go to open spaces and even developed memory impairments and other mental disorders. Switching to a low-fat diet showed signs of improvement in the learning difficulties of mice, the study said.

 

Sad children are caught in the middle

In a 2006 study, it was not established if obesity is causing anxiety or vice versa. It is possible that there is more than one factor that is involved showing the links between anxiety and obesity.

The fact that people tend to eat more and choose unhealthy food when they are suffering from anxiety and stress is an indication that there is a direct link. There are also people that would not eat anything when they are sad or anxious.

The fact that being obese tends to be socially undesirable and even a sudden target for bullies causes children to have negative thoughts thus making them sadder compared to other children.

 

Sad children are unhappy over their physical appearance

In a research study in Australia, it was shown that it is not the obesity itself that is causing the anxiety. It is the impact of obesity on the physical appearance making children less socially acceptable.

This leads to negative thoughts and emotions that eventually impacts mental health. That is why children with poor physical health tends to show signs of anxiety or worse progresses towards childhood depression.

In reality according to the study it is the underweight people that are more prone to have mental health problems compared to overweight people. It is just that since underweight people have less physical problems they are able to mask anxiety symptoms well.

 

Sad children will not get happiness right away with weight loss

According to some studies, losing weight among obese children does not guarantee immediate turnaround from anxiety problems. Losing weight may help improve the physical health and also the anxiety but it would not immediately cause any improvement in mental health.

 

Sad children have to wait for answers

Studies conducted recently showed that there is a link between anxiety and obesity but there is still confusion if obesity causes anxiety or the other way around. It is possible that obesity is not the contributor but the problems that are linked with obesity causes people to feel anxious and depressed.

Schools play a vital role in building their children’s confidence and create a healthy environment both physical and mental. As we move to better understand the links between obesity and anxiety, it is best to teach children how to eat healthy and to encourage more physical activities.

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Ryan Rivera loves to share all his learned tips and tricks for conquering anxiety through his writings.  If anxiety plagues your child, try to get some help by visiting calm clinic account.