Your Children's Health Articles

Back to School: Planning Healthy Lunches for Your Child

Your child's healthy lunch doesn't begin at noon when they join their friends at the cafeteria and sit down to enjoy their meal. Instead, a healthy lunch begins with the trip to the grocery store to purchase the best foods to create a nutritious and well-balanced lunch.

Supermarkets are filled with nutritious choices nowadays and by enlisting the help of your child when shopping for their lunch foods, he or she can learn how to make the best choices as they grow up and create meals of their own. Be sure to check out the following areas of your supermarket and your child's lunch will not only be filled with great tasting foods, but it will also create a healthy lunch.

The Produce Section: The produce section is always a good place to start when it comes to a healthy lunch. Choosing fruits and vegetables that your child enjoys and even some they may have never tried is a great idea and is always a good place to find those important vitamins and minerals that every child needs.

The Drink Aisle: While many children would love to enjoy a sugary soft drink with their lunch, a better option is a 100 percent fruit or vegetable juice, low-fat milk, water or lightly sweetened tea instead. Be a label reader and avoid juices with high-fructose corn syrup, artificial colors and artificial flavors.

The Bakery Section: According to Nutrition.about.com, sandwiches are a popular choice for school lunches but instead of white bread try whole grain bread, wraps or pitas. If your child resists whole grain breads, use bread that is made with whole grain but still has the flavor and texture of white bread.

The Dairy Section: The dairy section is also an area where you can find some great foods. Try low-fat dairy options, like cottage cheese, string cheese and yogurt.

The Snack Food Aisle: Many parents would avoid this aisle completely, but there are still some great lunch items that can be found in the snack food aisle. Be on the lookout for baked and not fried snacks, avoid Tran's fats, choose whole-wheat over non-whole grain snacks, and grab some all natural granola bars that offer whole grains, nuts and pieces of fruit all in one snack.

Here are some other ideas for healthy snacks that you can easily send your child to school with:

Send a salad in a small plastic container. Keep the dressing on the side in a separate smaller container. Cheese sticks go well with sandwiches and are a good source of calcium. Whole grain snack crackers add a nice crunch and lots of healthy fiber. Make a fruit salad with grapes, melons chunks, and blueberries. Dried fruit, like raisins, dried cranberries or banana chips Nuts like almonds, cashews, or walnuts Pack a cold pasta salad, cole slaw, or potato salad. Baby carrots with a small container of vegetable dip Crunchy raw green beans with a small container of ranch or French onion dip Prepackaged, flavored low-fat yogurt

Just by paying some attention to the labels and what is going into your child's lunch each day; your child will have the nutrition and energy necessary to get through his or her day, the healthy way.

Back to School and Back to Sleep: How to Get Your Child Back on a School Sleeping Schedule

As parents and their children enjoy their last few weeks of summer, school is looming right around the corner. Now is the time to get back into a school sleeping schedule, after having such a lax sleeping schedule over the summer months. According to the Federal Citizen Information Center, adequate sleep will boost your child's energy and enthusiasm and can also help your child learn more easily and may reduce behavioral problems. Children between the ages of 6 and 9 require at least 10 hours of sleep per night and older children require at least 9 hours.

Here are a few ways to get your child in the school sleeping schedule:

Create a regular bed time and make sure you and your child stick to it. Make sure your child avoids eating a heavy meal before their bed time. Make sure your child avoids caffeine at least 6 hours before their bed time. Allow for play and relaxation time before their bed time. However, make sure this a calm and relaxing time, meaning no TV or video games Set up a bedtime routine possibly including a bath, a snack, or a bedtime story. According to healthcentral.com, laying out the next day's wardrobe could also be a part of the routine.

It's also helpful to realize that each child's approach to sleep is different. Some take extra time to fall asleep, while others may wake more during the night. After a little trial and error you should be able to successfully find the sleep routine that best suits your child and family.

All of these pieces of advice will help to make the transition to a school sleeping schedule a smooth one for you and your child.

Back to School 101: Ten Back to School Health Tips

It's already that time of year again when your children will be heading back to school. While it may be a time of relief for parents, it can also be a time of stress when you are dealing with all of the illnesses and germs that children are susceptible to at school.

So, how can you help keep your child healthy throughout the school year? Follow these tips to keep your child in school and out of the doctor's office:

1. Remind your child of the importance of washing their hands, not only before lunch and after using the rest room, but also when they get home from school.

2. Remind your child to keep their fingers and hands out of their mouth. So many germs are spread this way and infections could ensue.

3. According to an article found at AssociatedContent.com, make sure you child is up to date on all shots. Review your child's shot records as there are several immunizations that are elective that a parent should look into getting for their child. One such elective is the Hepatitis A vaccination.

4. Make sure your child gets a physical before the school year starts. This will help to target any health problems prior to the start of the school year.

5. Give your child a daily vitamin. This will help them to build their immune systems and fight infections better.

6. Remind your child not to drink from other children's cups or use their utensils.

7. Instruct your child not to use other people's combs/brushes. While sharing is a great concept to be taught, children should not use their friends' combs or brushes as this can cause the spread of head lice.

8. Do not send your child to school with a fever. Even if your child is feeling fine, a fever is an indicator that their immune system is trying to fight something off and they are at their most contagious when running a fever. This puts all children and adults around your child at risk.

9. Make sure that your child gets 8 to 10 hours of sleep each night. Getting the right amount of sleep is important to keeping your child healthy.

10. Make sure to feed your child a nutritious and balanced diet each day. Getting the appropriate vitamins and minerals in their diet will also aid in building their immune systems and will lead to an overall healthier child.

Backpack Safety: Take a Load off Your Child's Back with the Right Backpack

It's almost that time of year again,.back to school! As the new school year approaches, parents and students shopping for back to school supplies are urged to keep backpack safety in mind.

As a child I remember lugging a backpack full of books as well as my cello six blocks to and from school (up-hill both ways of course) without even realizing that this type of weight and stress could have resulted in back-related injuries spanning my entire life.

According to health.msn.com, each year about 6,000 children in the United States experience back-pack related injuries.

At the start of the school year last year, the popular magazine Consumer Reports sent a survey team to a number of schools to find out how much weight kids were lifting , in their backpacks. Parents were shocked to learn that of the students surveyed, the average weight hauled by second-graders was 5.3 pounds, fourth-graders carried 4.6 pounds and sixth-graders averaged a whopping 18.4 pounds.

To help alleviate some of the back pain and stress on your child, health.msn.com suggests that instead of going the “cheap route” or choosing a backpack by the character on it, parents should instead keep the following factors in mind when choosing a backpack:

Choose a lightweight backpack that doesn't add too much to your child's load. The pack should have two wide, padded shoulder straps and a padded back that will improve comfort and protect your child from being poked by the sharp points and edges of pencils, pens, rulers and other objects they need to carry.

Shoulder straps anchors should be about 1- to 2- inches below the top of the shoulder and the bottom of the backpack should go along the curve of the lower back. The backpack itself should not fall more than 4 inches below the waist.

Check for good stitching that is able to hold a decent amount of weight.

Select the proper size backpack for your child. It should cover no more than three-quarters of the length of your child's back.

Load backpacks carefully. The maximum weight of a loaded pack should not be more than 15 percent of a child's body weight. Place the heaviest books closest to the back as they require the most body support. If a child has to lean forward to carry a pack, it's too heavy.

Have your child wear the pack correctly. He or she should use both shoulder straps. Carrying a backpack on one shoulder puts too much strain on one side of the upper body. The straps should be snug, but not too tight. If a backpack has a waist strap, use it to help better support the load.

Best Vitamins for Kids: Giving Your Child the Essential Vitamins They Need

So what are the best vitamins for kids to consume in order to sustain a healthy lifestyle? It's vital for parents to consider the essential vitamins that children need in order to grow and nourish a healthy body. By starting to consider these things early on, parents will be able to instill in their children the importance of a healthy lifestyle that will hopefully carry on through adulthood.

If given the choice, kids would live on a steady diet of macaroni and cheese and hot dogs that's why it's up to us as parents to make sure that we're providing the best vitamins for kids when choosing their daily meals. Besides giving your child a daily multi-vitamin keep these tips in mind when label reading to make sure that they are getting all that they need from their food:

• Calcium: Getting enough calcium is important to everyone, especially children. That's why children require at least 800 mg of calcium for children ages 4 to 8, and at least 1,300 mg of calcium for children 9 and older.

• Iron: Many multi-vitamins do not contain iron, so be sure to supplement your child's meals with iron-rich foods to be sure they get the recommended 10 mg of iron a day.

• Folic Acid: Important for so many reasons, including the production of red blood cells and healthy skin, hair and gums, a typical child's dose of folic acid is 75 to 150 mcg daily.

• Vitamin C: Especially during cold and flu season, be sure to increase your child's daily intake of Vitamin C to at least 1 gram per day.

• Vitamin D: Children's growing bones require plenty of Vitamin D, so many pediatricians recommend that children take a supplement with 800 to 1,000 IU of Vitamin D daily.

• Vitamin A: Vitamin A is also important for a growing child's body, but too much Vitamin A can also be toxic, therefore many pediatricians suggest increasing your child's beta carotene intake, which is converted into Vitamin A in the body.

Another trick to ensuring that your children are consuming the best vitamins for kids is to make sure that they are eating fruits and veggies in an array of colors. According to msn.com the colors represented in foods are indicators of nutritional value and different colors mean different vitamins and minerals.

Red Red-colored fruits and veggies offer an essential antioxidant called lycopene. Lycopene is a carotenoid that is associated with a multitude of health benefits, including protecting the skin from sun damage and decreasing the risk of heart disease and certain forms of cancer. It's also been shown to decrease symptoms of wheezing, asthma, and shortness of breath in people when they exercise. Good red sources of lycopene include red tomatoes, bell peppers, guava, watermelon and pink grapefruit.

Orange Beta-carotene is the nutrient responsible for fruits and vegetables' dramatic orange color. Once beta-carotene is inside the body it is converted to vitamin A which contributes to immune-system health. Orange foods also help improve eyesight and night vision due to the fact that vitamin A is vital for creating the pigment in the retina responsible for vision in low-light situations. A few good orange fruits and veggies rich in beta-carotene include winter squash, oranges, sweet potatoes, carrots and cantaloupe.

Yellow Yellow foods are close relatives of orange foods and are likewise rich in carotenoids. The more common yellow carotenoid is beta-cryptoxanthin, which supplies about half the vitamin A as beta-carotene does. Studies show it decreases the likelihood for such diseases as lung cancer and arthritis. Research also shows that foods rich in beta-cryptoxanthin help decrease inflammation in the joints and improve the functioning of the respiratory system. Yellow foods high in beta-cryptoxanthin are yellow bell peppers, pineapple, corn, bananas, and yellow squash.

Green Green foods are among the most abundant sources of lutein and zeaxanthin which promotes healthy vision. They're also capable of strengthening bones, muscles and brains. Green fruits and veggies get their color from chlorophyll, which studies show play an important role in stimulating the growth of new tissue and hindering the growth of bacteria. As a topical treatment, it can speed healing time by 25 percent. Green fruits and veggies high in vitamins and nutrients include avocado, zucchini, Brussels sprouts, asparagus, romaine lettuce, broccoli, kale, spinach and green peas.

Blue and Purple Blue and purple foods get their color from the presence of flavonoids called anthocyanins. These are known to improve cardiovascular health and prevent short-term memory loss, but the deeply pigmented anthocyanins go even further. Blueberries have been found to make brain cells more responsive to incoming messages and might even spur the growth of new nerve cells. Purple and blue foods high in flavonoids include eggplant, blackberries, beets, blueberries and plums.

Here are a few suggestions for making sure that your children are consuming the best vitamins for kids. By following these tips your child will be well on their way to a healthy lifestyle.