MELANOMA RATES DROPPING AMONG CHILDREN AND TEENS

Melanoma, characterized by mole-like cancerous growths, is on the rise in the U.S. The most serious form of skin cancer, it’s particularly rising among women and seniors. But what about kids?

While melanoma is significantly less common among children, five to six kids in every million develop melanoma in their youth. It takes just a few blistering sunburns to double the chance a child will develop skin cancer in her lifetime.

But while studies in years past suggested the rate of melanoma in children was also rising, the newest research says the opposite. Last summer, researchers at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland and its affiliated medical center reported in the Journal of Pediatrics that the rate of melanoma diagnoses in children and adolescents is actually declining.

Researchers analyzed data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results registry of the National Cancer Institute on more than 1,100 people under 20 years old who were diagnosed with melanoma between 2000 and 2010. Melanoma rates dropped by nearly 12 percent from 2004 to 2010, with the largest decline among teens and boys.

The researchers can’t pinpoint one particular cause of this trend, but growing awareness about sun safety may be responsible. Research indicates that teenagers are taking more steps, such as applying sunscreen, to protect themselves from damaging sun exposure. The authors also suggest that parents are becoming more proactive in safeguarding their young children.

They speculate that a negative trend may contribute to the decline as well: children, particularly boys, are spending more time playing video games and watching TV. That’s nothing to celebrate, as playing indoors may mean less harmful sun exposure, but also less exercise and other physical activity.

Whatever the cause, we hope the rates of pediatric melanoma keep dropping. The National Cancer Institute estimates more than 75,000 cases of adult melanoma in the U.S. this year. A lower risk of pediatric melanoma could mean fewer diagnoses when these children reach adulthood.

We encourage parents to continue to take healthy steps to protect their children from harmful sun exposure. Here are some helpful tips for the whole family:

Cover up

Wear protective clothing such as hats, visors, dark sunglasses, long sleeves and pants to block harmful UV rays.

Stay in the shade

While outdoors, seek shelter under overhangs, canopies, trees and awnings. Stroller hoods and umbrellas offer extra protection for little ones. Keep infants under six months out of direct sun.

Wear sunscreen

Look for sunscreen lotions – not spray or sticks – with zinc or titanium as the active ingredients (avoid oxybenzone or retinyl A). Apply liberally and reapply frequently, especially when swimming, sweating or playing in water.

Watch the clock

Harmful UV rays peak midday, so schedule errands and playtime during morning or late afternoon.

Be safe on the go

Pack diaper bags, purses and backpacks with sun safety essentials such as hats and sunscreen. Keep extra at your school, office or in the car.

IS MY FAMILY’S TAP WATER POLLUTED?

 The drinking water crisis in Flint, Michigan, has people across the country wondering: how can I tell if our tap water is polluted with lead?

As has been widely reported, lead pipes or the solder that connects them may leach lead into tap water. Municipal water utilities may be responsible for these pipes, or they may be inside your home.

How much lead is in your family’s tap water can vary considerably, from tiny amounts to concentrations well above the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s action limit – 15 parts per billion in water. That’s the level at which public utilities must inform the public about lead contamination and take steps to stop it from migrating from pipes into water.

But even water contaminated at lower concentrations than 15 parts per billion can be harmful, especially to kids and pregnant women. The U.S. Centers for Disease Prevention and Control says that “No safe blood lead level in children has been identified.”

Here are the questions you need to ask:

Is the plumbing in my neighborhood or home exposing my family to lead?

Ask your water provider if your tap water enters your home through a lead service line. Although most utilities stopped installing lead lines decades ago, the nation’s aging infrastructure still counts between 3.3 and 6.4 million lead service lines, particularly in older neighborhoods in the Northeast and Midwest.

A 1986 amendment to the federal Safe Drinking Water Act banned the use of lead in plumbing materials, but nearly all houses and apartments built before then still use copper pipes connected by lead solder. As these older pipes and fixtures corrode or the soldering breaks down, lead particles can get into your tap water.

Check your utility’s water report or independently test your water if you live in a structure built before 1986. Newer houses pose less risk but could still harbor lead in the plumbing: the 1986 amendment to the Safe Drinking Water Act allowed “lead-free” pipes to contain up to 8 percent lead, or solder and flux up to 0.2 percent. Congress did not tighten these restrictions until 2011.

Does my water utility test its output and take measures to reduce lead contamination?

Since lead gets into water after it leaves the treatment plant, the EPA requires water utilities to test lead content in customer residences and take action if the lead level reaches 15 parts per billion in more than 10 percent of tested homes.

But the EPA regulations contain some important loopholes: they exempt water systems serving fewer than 25 people and well water from the residential lead testing requirement. This exemption affects some 40 million to 45 million Americans.

How do I get the test results for my water?

Public drinking water utilities that regularly test water for contaminants are required to disclose their results. If you live within a utility’s boundaries and do not receive this information by mail, call its local office to request a copy of the report or look for it on the utility’s website. You can call EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline at (800) 426-4791 to learn how to get your results.

Consider testing your own tap water if: any homes in your community test positive for lead, if your family lives in a remote or small community that does not test tap water, or if you drink well water.

Test your water through a state-certified commercial laboratory. Labs generally recommend that you collect a sample of cold water that has sat overnight and another sample of cold water after you have run the tap for one minute. The EPA sets its action level at 15 micrograms per liter (ug/L) or parts per billion (ppb), a measurement equivalent to 0.0015 milligrams per liter (mg/L) or parts per million (ppm).

Author,

Megan Boyle

Q&A: ARE CHILDREN SAFE PLAYING ON ARTIFICIAL TURF?

Is artificial turf safe? The debate is heating up:

The Connecticut legislature is reviewing a new bill to ban crumb rubber playgrounds across the state.

California state scientists are evaluating the “potential human health effects associated with use of recycled waste tires in playground and synthetic turf products.”

Last month three federal agencies launched a joint investigation into the safety of popular crumb rubber surfaces on playgrounds and playing fields.

Dr. Robert Wright, chair of the Department of Preventive Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, in New York City, answers our questions about how artificial turf may pose concerns for children’s health.

HCHW: The Mount Sinai Children’s Environmental Health Center has called for a moratorium on the use of artificial turf made from recycled rubber tires. Why?

Robert Wright: We are advising against the use of crumb rubber fields until safety is proven. This is because the product is made from recycled automobile tires, which are well known to contain metals and other toxic chemicals. Some components of tire rubber are linked to cancer and others are toxic to the nervous and other systems.

The risks of exposure have not been fully studied, especially in the context of the wide range of potentially harmful chemicals, which are found in rubber tires. Ironically, if a field was filled with discarded tires it would be considered a hazardous waste site. The primary difference is that the tires were ground up in the crumb rubber field.

What makes children uniquely vulnerable to harmful exposures from crumb rubber surfaces?

RW: There are many reasons to think children will be more vulnerable:

Children on average are lower to the ground and therefore closer to the source of off-gassing.

Children have higher ventilation rates relative to adults and if significant off-gassing occurs, they will inhale a larger amount relative to their body size.

If ingested, a crumb rubber pellet would represent a larger per kilogram dose in a child versus an adult, because of their smaller size.

Many of these fields are in schools and therefore used almost exclusively by children.

Young children are not able to regulate their body temperature as well as adults, making them more vulnerable to injury from the extreme heat exposures that are possible on crumb rubber fields.

Children are commonly more susceptible to environmental chemicals, biologically, because their bodies are developing and the chemicals or toxic insults can offset the normal developmental trajectory.

What responsibilities do schools, communities and sports organizations have in making play surfaces safe for kids?

RW: The decision to purchase a particular type of field is not in the hands of parents, which we believe means that these organizations must take these issues into consideration.

At a minimum, these institutions need to address the concerns of parents and whether there are alternatives that can be mutually agreed upon as safe. There are such alternatives for fields – cork, for example. In addition, while grass fields can have pesticide applications, such applications are not mandatory and can be controlled or minimized with proper planning.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Consumer Product Safety Commission have teamed up to investigate the safety of crumb rubber surfaces on playgrounds and playing fields. What do you hope their investigation achieves?

RW: The research on off-gassing and exposure is very incomplete, and does not consider the full spectrum of chemicals that are found in crumb rubber, either individually or as a mixture.

We hope to see comprehensive studies that consider, at a minimum, exposure assessment under realistic playing conditions, all possible routes of exposure (inhalation, ingestion and absorption through skin) and potential health effects not only of individual chemicals, but also of mixtures of chemicals. Mixtures are the real life scenario.

What can concerned parents do to safeguard children who play on crumb rubber surfaces?

RW: Concerned parents should spring into action even before a crumb rubber field is installed. The most effective strategy is for parents to join with each other and also to form alliances with medical societies, nursing organizations, elected officials and anyone else in the community who is in position to raise vociferous opposition to the installation of these untested products.

Once a field has been installed, parents can minimize their children’s risk by always making their children shower as soon as they return home from playing on the fields in order to remove any crumb rubber.

A second step is to avoid playing on the field on very hot, sunny days when temperatures can reach dangerous levels.

A third step is to meticulously clean any cuts or abrasions caused by the field, because there have been outbreaks of [staph bacteria] skin infections associated with such cuts and scrapes.

FEEDING ANTIBIOTICS TO HEALTHY ANIMALS RISKS CHILDREN’S HEALTH

The influential American Academy of Pediatrics, which numbers 64,000 pediatricians, has added its voice to the growing movement of public health professionals who are demanding an end to the dangerous overuse of antibiotics in meat and poultry production.

A new technical report by Dr. Jerome A. Paulson and Dr. Theoklis E. Zaoutis of the AAP Council on Environmental Health and Committee on Infectious Diseases described how the widespread agricultural practice of dosing healthy, if overcrowded, livestock and poultry with antibiotics to induce weight gain and prevent disease has contributed to the proliferation of antibiotic-resistant microbes.

“Infants and children are affected by transmission of [antibiotic-resistant, disease-causing pathogens] through the food supply, direct contact with animals, and environmental pathways,” they wrote. “…For most [food-borne] infections, incidence was highest among children younger than 5 years.” And when antibiotics fail, these children are in a fight for their lives.

Paulson and Zaoutis took aim at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, whose guidelines urge meat producers to take voluntary measures to curb the use of antibiotics on well animals. “Because the lines between disease prevention and growth promotion are not always clear,” they wrote, “the current FDA policy may allow drug manufacturers to continue using ambiguous language on labels of antibiotic drugs.”

“The message is to change the practice of agribusiness, either through government changes or marketplace changes, so everybody is safer,” Paulson told CBS News. “I think if people vote with their pocketbooks, then industry will be required to change. Hopefully the USDA and the FDA will require them to change. I think this is something that with a large enough movement in society, the industry will be forced to change.”

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria cause about 23,000 deaths and 2 million illnesses in the U.S. each year, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And about one in five antibiotic-resistant infections are caused by germs from food and animals.

The public community’s demands for action intensified recently, when, according to the Reuters news agency, Chinese scientists reported that they had discovered a new “superbug” gene in people and pigs that could render useless “last resort” antibiotics called polymyxins. Medical professionals consider polymyxins, widely used in agriculture, the last line of defense against certain antibiotic-resistant pathogens that cause serious illness in humans.

What can families do reduce their risk?

Take antibiotics only when necessary and use them precisely as instructed by your doctor. Click here to learn more tips from the CDC about antibiotics use.

Children, who are especially vulnerable to pathogens, can be exposed to antibiotic-resistant bacteria by eating contaminated meat or through contact with the animals. Treat all meat as if it is contaminated: cook it thoroughly and avoid cross-contamination in the kitchen.

When shopping for meat, look for labels that confirm no antibiotics have been used on healthy animals. These include:

USDA Certified Organic

Certified Humane

Animal Welfare Approved

American Grassfed Association

Food Alliance Certified – Grassfed

Global Animal Partnership

When dining out, ask restaurants where they buy their meat and their suppliers’ antibiotics policies. Some fast food chains such as Panera have already begun serving meat exclusively from animals that have not been treated with antibiotics.

What's Best for Baby Brain Development?

" Dr. Laura, Now that my daughter is seven months old, I'd like to know how to best spend each day with her: how much alone play, interactive play, what activities, are there any essential toys, and so on. I pretty much follow her lead throughout the day, but I want to make sure I'm including beneficial activities for her. She is bright, and I'd like to help cultivate that without being overly structured. I'd like to ensure that every moment spent with her is a quality one. Thank you!"

How lucky your daughter is to have a mom so committed to her healthy development. I admire your intention to make the most of every moment with her.

Babies need the presence of an adult who is responsive to their needs, but it doesn't benefit them to have all of life revolve around them. Human babies are designed to develop by interacting with their loved ones and observing family and community life. That means that what your little one most needs is to interact with you in a loving, warm, joyful way, and to observe as you go about the tasks of daily life. So please share your life with your baby, but don't focus on her every single moment.

In other words, she needs to know that you'll be there for her if she needs you. But it's not helpful to her to feel that she's always the focus of attention. You might think of this as responsively parenting your baby. You respond to her needs and set up her environment so that she can explore and thrive. But you don't make every moment about her -- that kind of pressure would make any child anxious!

So being responsive to your daughter's needs is important, in the sense that you feed her when she's hungry and create the opportunity for her to nap when she's tired, and let her explore by watching the bug on the sidewalk. But you don't want her to feel that you're often looking at her and saying "What shall we do now?" She needs to know that someone bigger than her is in charge; it would feel scary to her to feel like she's calling the shots. Instead, set up a schedule that will work for her, and be sure she has the security of knowing what to expect ("In the morning mom does the dishes while I play nearby with my toys; then we go out to do errands.")

Then, while you go through your day, warmly engage with your baby. A baby's brain does not need sensory bombardment; she will find plenty to stimulate her cognitive development in the activities of daily life. But a baby's brain does need to be interacting with her special people during most of her waking hours. She uses you as her secure base from which to explore the world, and she looks to you to know how to interpret what she experiences. As she interacts with you, her brain makes the neural connections that will shape it for life.

So a baby's intellectual development is built on the foundation of emotional security. That means your primary attention needs to be on enjoying her, engaging with her, responding to her, showing her the world, and reassuring her when she expresses concern about things. Studies show that infants who are the most advanced intellectually, emotionally and physically are the babies whose mothers are more attentive, responsive, and warmly engaging with them.

She definitely does not need you to focus on her intellectual development in the sense of counting, ABC's, or any conventional intellectual tasks. She will find great intellectual stimulation in games of hide 'n seek, in pulling all the pans out of your cupboard, and in seeing the world from the safety of a backpack or baby carrier as you grocery shop or interact with other people. You may have heard that reading to a baby is good for her, and it is. But even better is talking to and with her. Involve her and speak with her as you move through your daily tasks: folding laundry, washing dishes, cooking dinner.

Soon your daughter will be at the crawling stage, and she'll want to explore everything. It's worth mentioning that babies who are told "No" a lot learn not to think inside the box. If you want to give your daughter's intellect a boost, baby-proof well and supervise, but give her curiosity free reign to explore. It will mean a couple of months of restoring your books to the shelves every day, but she'll soon be past this stage and onto the next, having concluded that the world is well worth exploring and nothing need stop her.

Babies love changes of scenery. If she's tired of sitting in her seat mouthing her toys, take her for a walk. If she's squirmy in her sling, let her play on the floor, practicing turning over and hoisting herself up onto her hands and legs. If she's not happy being left to her own devices while you clean the bathroom, take a break and let her play with the water with you. Babies love to see how things work, which is second in fascination to them only to interactions with their parents.

Should you play brain development games with her? There's certainly no harm in it, but make it interactive and age appropriate--which means sensory, not just cognitive. Sing to her, play pat-a-cake type games, massage her, play music of different kinds for her, dance with her. Make sure that she gets plenty of opportunities to see other babies and children.

If you run out of ideas, spend half an hour at the bookstore browsing the baby shelves. There are a lot of books out there that offer specific ideas for games, that you probably don't need to own to be inspired by. I did notice recently that used copies of Julie Hagstrom's classic Games Babies Play were on sale online. (She also wrote Games Toddlers Play.)

Should you let her watch Baby Einstein videos? Experts warn against it. First, babies who watch any video are spending less time interacting with actual humans, so studies show that their language development is delayed and we suspect there are other delay effects. Second, watching screens changes brain development. We don't know enough yet, but screen use in the early years when the brain is taking shape so rapidly has definitely been associated with shorter concentration spans.

Making every moment count is an admirable idea, but you don't want to teach your baby that being productive every moment is what matters most. Making every moment with your daughter high quality should not mean making every moment busy. Babies don't benefit from over-stimulation. They need plenty of interaction with us, but they also need plenty of time to play with their toes, listen to music, stare at the dust motes in a shaft of light, and just figure out how their own muscles work. They don't need us at those times to rush in and justify our own existence by teaching them anything or occupying them; they're already occupied. All babies need time to play in the security of our presence, but without our interference. Learning to do that is an important developmental accomplishment.

Your daughter is a lucky baby. Since you follow her lead, you will be able to attune to what she expresses, and able to give her what she needs. Enjoy her, and treasure this time with her. Knowing we enjoy them is probably what babies need from us most of all.

Fun Bonding Activities for Dads and Babies

It’s easy for dads to feel a bit left out as they watch Mom do so much of the baby care. If Mom is breastfeeding, dads may feel even more shut out. But it’s important for dads to bond with their infants, say experts, as this sets the stage for closer relations as the child grows. Besides, it gives Mom a break and may help dads discover their inner teddy bear.

Here are some ideas for fun bonding activities for dads and babies.

Super-Baby

This fun game gets baby laughing almost every time. Lie on your back and lay your baby on your stomach, baby’s stomach down. Pick baby up and hold him up over your chest and face, making fun flying sounds. Rotate baby with a gentle back-and-forth, up and down motion – don’t forget to make funny noises and faces at him!

Changing Diapers

Yes, this is not exactly the most fun thing, but it’s part of having a baby, and it’s surprisingly a good time to bond. You can sing to your baby, talk to her, and play fun games like bicycling her legs.

Dancing

Babies love to move, even when they can’t move on their own yet. Hold baby over your shoulder or on your hip, and move and dance around the room. Put on music and/or sing. This is also a good way for dad to burn some extra calories!

Patting

When you hold your baby, pat his back and rear. Babies like rhythmic patting, and you may find a secret dad activity that gets baby to sleep.

Take a Walk

Load baby in the stroller and take a walk in the park, neighborhood, or wherever. If you have a backpack or sling, you can take your baby on a walk or hike “off road.” Experts point out the healthy benefits of getting babies out in nature, even at a very young age.

Read to Baby

Yes, you can read to a tiny baby, and you may find that it establishes a pattern that you will love later. Research shows that reading aloud to babies and children helps them get a head start in reading later in life. And it provides some wonderful bonding time for dad and baby.

While we’re on the topic of things to do with your baby, it’s worth mentioning some things not to do. Sources agree that it’s just not safe to toss babies up in the air and catch them. Don’t run with baby or carry her while you’re riding a machine like a riding mower or ATV. Use your judgment, and don’t do anything that could cause harm to baby.

Biting In The Toddler Years

Biting is very common among groups of young children, for all types of reasons. But whatever the reason for biting, most parents find it shocking and disturbing, and they want it to stop – quickly! Understanding why the young child bites is the first step in preventing biting as well as teaching the child alternatives to biting.

Most common reasons and solutions for biting

The Experimental Biter: It is not uncommon for an infant or toddler to explore their world, including people, by biting. Infants and toddlers place many items in their mouths to learn more about them. Teach the child that some things can be bitten, like toys and food, and some things cannot be bitten, like people and animals. Another example of the Experimental Biter is the toddler who wants to learn about cause and effect. This child is wondering, 'What will happen when I bite my friend or Mommy?' Provide this child with many other opportunities to learn about cause and effect, with toys and activities.

The Teething Biter: Infants and toddlers experience a lot of discomfort when they're teething. A natural response is to apply pressure to their gums by biting on things. It is not unusual for a teething child to bear down on a person's shoulder or breast to relieve some of their teething pain. Provide appropriate items for the child to teeth on, like frozen bagels, teething biscuits, or teething rings.

The Social Biter: Many times an infant or toddler bites when they are trying to interact with another child. These young children have not yet developed the social skills to indicate 'Hi, I want to play with you.' So sometimes they approach a friend with a bite to say hello. Watch young children very closely to assist them in positive interactions with their friends.

The Frustrated Biter: Young children are often confronted with situations that are frustrating, like when a friend takes their toy or when daddy is unable to respond to their needs as quickly as they would like. These toddlers lack the social and emotional skills to cope with their feelings in an acceptable way. They also lack the language skills to communicate their feelings. At these times, it is not unusual for a toddler to attempt to deal with the frustration by biting whoever is nearby. Notice when a child is struggling with frustration and be ready to intervene. It is also important to provide words for the child, to help him learn how to express his feelings, like "That's mine!" or "No! Don't push me!"

The Threatened Biter: When some young children feel a sense of danger they respond by biting as a self-defense. For some children biting is a way to try to gain a sense of control over their lives, especially when they are feeling overwhelmed by their environment or events in their lives. Provide the toddler with nurturing support, to help him understand that he and his possessions are safe.

The Imitative Biter: Imitation is one of the many ways young children learn. So it is not unusual for a child to observe a friend bite, then try it out for herself. Offer the child many examples of loving, kind behavior. Never bite a child to demonstrate how it feels to be bitten.

The Attention-Seeking Biter: Children love attention, especially from adults. When parents give lots of attention for negative behavior, such as biting, children learn that biting is a good way to get attention. Provide lots of positive attention for young children each day. It is also important to minimize the negative attention to behaviors such as biting.

The Power Biter: Toddlers have a strong need for independence and control. Very often the response children get from biting helps to satisfy this need. Provide many opportunities for the toddler to make simple choices throughout the day. This will help the toddler feel the sense of control they need. It is also important to reinforce all the toddler's attempts at positive social behavior each day.

As with almost all potentially harmful situations involving children, prevention is the key. Adults must be active observers of children to prevent biting. in those times when close supervision doesn't work, the adult must intervene as quickly and as calmly as possible.

When intervening before the potential bite has occurred…….

• Talk for the child by offering words like, "I see that you wanted that toy!"

• Demonstrate patience and understanding for the frustration the child is experiencing.

• Offer solutions like, "We have another red truck right over here. Let's go get it."

• Demonstrate alternate ways of interacting and say something like, "She likes it when you rub her arm." Try to stay focused on the positive behavior you want to see, without reminding the child of the negative behavior.

When your child bites……

• Comfort the child who was bitten.

• Cleanse the wound with mild soap and water. Provide an ice pack to reduce pain and swelling.

• Provide comfort for the wounded child by saying something like, "That really hurt! You don't like it when your friend bites your arm!"

• Calmly approach the child who bit. Many times these children feel overwhelmed and afraid after they bite. They need comfort, too.

• Comfort the child who bit by saying something like, "You seem sad that your friend's arm is hurt from the bite."

• Help the child who bit to understand the hurt their friend is feeling by offering to let her talk with her friend. Say something like, "Would you like to see Sally now? You can tell her that you hope she feels better soon." Older toddlers can learn a lot from being allowed to comfort their friend after a bite has occurred. The child who bit may want to see the injury. That's okay if the injured child wants to show it. But do not force either child to have this interaction, unless both are willing.

• Reinforce the rule that we don't hurt people. Help both children understand that your job is to keep everyone safe. Say, "I know you are angry. But I can't let you bite people."

• When the environment is calm again, remind the children what they can do to assert themselves, like say "No! That's mine!" or "Back away!" or if they are preverbal, teach them to 'growl like a tiger' to express themselves. The goal is to teach assertiveness and communication skills to both the child who bites and the child who gets bitten.

Never hit or bite a child who has bitten. That will teach the child that violence is OK.

Young children need lots of practice to learn the fine art of interacting with their friends in a positive way. They need positive guidance and support from parents. When children gain maturity and experience, and become preschoolers (3+ years old), they will likely have developed more appropriate ways of interacting.

Generation next: Are you a better parent than your parents?

When you become a parent you have no previous work experience in the field of child raising to reflect upon in working out whether you’re doing a good job or not. So it is only natural that you will judge yourself by comparison to the people whose parenting you had the most contact with: your own mum and dad. While it might sound like sacrilege to some, it is probably a healthy exercise to stop every now and then and ask yourself, 'Am I a better parent than my own parents?'

My own parents were a cartoonish mix of the saint and the sinner. Dad worked all day and drank all night while mum’s entire life was about attending to the wants and needs of her eight children. Whatever it is about the way they parented they must have done a good job because we all turned out happy and healthy. Conversely, Mr Drummond on Diff’rent Strokes did everything by the book but, by all accounts, the kids never quite lived up to the expectations. But even though my parent’s unorthodox methods produced good results, I’m not so sure I would want to repeat them. 

For my part, I don’t think I parent like either my mum or my dad but I'm not always sure the way I do things is always better. I know that actually coming home in the evenings is a good thing to do, so I beat my dad there. But, unlike him, I’m not the sole bread winner and have the luxury of working part-time, so I don’t have a fraction of the stresses he had. Dad could also quote Shakespeare liberally and no doubt contributed to our dramatic bent. I can quote liberally from This Is Spinal Tap and have probably contributed to my daughters’ love of trash TV. One point to dad.

My mum was, and still is, the best cook I’ve ever met and her school lunches were incredible. She also made time to make each one of us feel special and loved, which is no mean feat when you are one of eight children. Mum also didn’t believe in seat belts, saw squeezing eight kids into a hatchback as a fun challenge and was a renowned lead-foot. She also sent me to school once wearing my sister’s shoes and told me no-one would notice. They did.

While I don’t spend eight hours a day baking like my mum did, I do make the girl’s their lunches every morning and take the time to chat to each of them about the things they would like. They both like my chocolate brownies so I make those as often as I can, while Frances asks every day (without fail) if I’ll make her a cheesecake. I also sneak in an unhealthy amount of processed cheese-flavoured snacks which would horrify my mum but seems to make the kids very, very happy. I’d say mum’s ahead on points.

While I try not to obsess about whether I am a “good parent” or not, I do take the time every now and then to try and work out whether I am doing things the right way and if I can do them better. My quick rule of thumb is if mum did it then it’s probably OK (provided I add an element of 21st century OH&S safety standards), while if it something my dad would have done then I could probably lift my game. But ultimately the greatest test of how well I am parenting comes from the girls themselves, and no doubt they’ll tell me exactly what they think of my parenting when they hit their teens!

Author

Joseph Kelly

Importance of Child Health Care

With their youth and vitality, most children are relatively healthy. Issues, however, can arise that impact a youngster's wellbeing. To ensure that you discover any problems quickly, schedule regular child health care appointments with a practitioner. An active relationship with a physician will enable you to quickly address concerns.

Importance of a Healthy Childhood

Kids are vital to the overall future of society. For humankind to continue to prosper and grow, kids must be alive and well to carry on the race. Youngsters will play a vital role in the ongoing creation of families, filling positions in the workforce, and participating in democracy. To achieve these lifetime goals, kids need to have good health. Wellbeing during childhood often carries over into adulthood, resulting in healthier adults.

Keeping Kids Healthy

Parents play a vital role in child health care. To maintain wellbeing, offer a variety of whole foods containing vitamins and minerals. Ensure that offspring get sufficient sleep every night. A lack of sleep can lead to both physical and emotional problems. Everyone needs regular exercise every day to maintain a strong cardiovascular system and to burn calories. A lack of exercise could lead to the development of diseases and obesity. Children also need ongoing supervision to ensure safety. Parents must oversee activities to keep kids from injuries.

Importance of Care

Because of their dependence on adult caregivers, youngsters need parents or other responsible adults to seek appropriate services to maintain wellbeing. Kids cannot make their own decisions about care, they cannot purchase it independently, and they cannot evaluate services to judge necessity. The rapid growth and development of bones and muscles may place young bodies at an elevated risk level for some illnesses and injuries. Without ongoing evaluations, problems may not be identified and treated in a timely fashion. Kids may experience marked physical, cognitive, and emotional issues if an undiagnosed condition continues. Some of these issues could impact long-term development and growth, even having a permanent effect on a youngster.

Wellness Exams

Wellness exams are examinations that occur at regular intervals to assess physical development and growth. Youngsters are generally well when they receive these examinations. During infancy, babies often receive wellness exams at increased intervals due to rapid growth. As growing slows into childhood, the frequency lengthens to once each year or longer. During these examinations, a physician will evaluate growth, administer immunizations, assess or identify conditions, answer questions, and give recommendations for care. Follow physician recommendations for the frequency of these wellness exams.

Reasons to Seek Additional Care

Kids of school age should see a physician if unusual symptoms occur. These symptoms include a significant change in weight, disturbances in sleep or behavior, a fever higher than 102 degrees Fahrenheit, skin rashes, recurring sore throat, and issues with breathing.

By seeking child health care on an ongoing basis, you ensure that any underlying issues are discovered and addressed. Your youngster's overall wellbeing can be impacted by the level and frequency of physical examinations.


Author,
Andrea Avery