Your Children's Health Articles

Building a Smarter Child

In the News

Every parent wants to believe that their child is a genius or has the genius potential.  While intelligence clearly has a genetic component, there are some things you can do to boost learning and intelligence in your child.

Play brain games : Games like chess, cryptograms, riddles, and crosswords all train the brain to perform harder than other games.  These games promote strategic thinking, problem-solving, and complex decision making.  If you keep these games on hand and challenge your children with them you will help boost their intelligence, in a fun way.

Encourage them to play an instrument : While the early days of your child learning an instrument may not be the most pleasing to the ears, by encouraging your child to take up playing an instrument they learn to utilize their right brain more than others who do not play an instrument.

Avoid junk food : Cut out (or significantly reduce) the amount of sugar, trans fats and other junk food in your child's diet and replace them with high-nutrient alternatives for early childhood mental and motor development.  Pay attention to what your child is eating and good grades will come in time!

Encourage curiosity : Allow children to explore new ideas and become interested in different hobbies and interests to foster intelligence.  Ask your child about their interests and allow them to try a number of different hobbies and activities throughout the course of their childhood.

Read : While this method often gets lost in today's hi-tech world, reading to your child and/or encouraging them to read may be the oldest, easiest and one of the most effective ways to boost your child's brain power.

Giving Your Child the Essential Vitamins They Need

When given the chance to choose their own meals, many children would opt for foods that don't necessarily make a complete meal with all of the vitamins and nutrients that they need.

That's why as parents we need to make sure that they are getting all of these important vitamins when we are 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.

While these are just some of the main vitamins that your school-aged child needs on a daily basis, be sure to check with your own pediatrician to see what vitamins and minerals they suggest specifically for your child.

Make sure that your child is eating balanced meals and taking a daily multi-vitamin and your child will be well on their way to healthy lifestyle.

Sugar Hangover: Tips for Parents and Children to Avoid Sugar Overload this Halloween

Long gone are the days when young trick or treaters travel from door to door getting fruit and popcorn from their neighbors. Instead, the new “normal” is to give out as much candy as possible and at the end of Halloween night the children's bags are chock full of sugar-filled, unhealthy items.

Nutrition experts (and dentists) cringe every time October 31 rolls around, but this year parents can not only do their part in giving out healthier treats, but they can also be sure to monitor what their children are eating, too.

We all know that too much sugar is bad for anyone, but do we know what effects too much sugar can have on our children? Nutrition experts offer the following points:

Children that consume too much sugar and too many carbs, can suffer from hypoglycemia causing fatigue, poor concentration, mood swings and frequent illness.

Too many “empty calories” can mean that children aren't getting the nutrients they need on a daily basis.

A new diabetic is diagnosed every 8 minutes, a threefold increase in the past 5 to 6 years when a new diabetic was diagnosed every 23 minutes.

Recent research has shown that more than 20% of school-aged children are obese and more than 50% are overweight.

Too much sugar can cause chronically elevated blood insulin levels triggering inflammatory problems and elevated cholesterol.

Now don't get us wrong, this Halloween doesn't have to be all “doom and gloom” when it comes to having a few treats.

Parents need to be very careful in monitoring what their child puts into their mouth and how often they are turning to sugary items.

Ration the sugary products over a longer period of time and incorporate them with a protein snack.

Having a protein, especially before the sugar snack, will slow and reduce the rate and quantity of insulin secreted by the pancreas, thereby reducing many of the risks stated above.

Here is to a Healthy and Happy Halloween. Enjoy!

Tips for Packing Nutritious School Lunches

Today's parents constantly worry that their children aren't getting the right foods in their lunch. That's why the right lunch begins well before noon. The right lunch begins at the grocery store and carries over in every meal they eat. Here we breakdown the grocery store for you section by section.

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 juice instead. Be a label reader and avoid juices with high-fructose corn syrup, artificial colors and artificial flavors.

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 trans-fats, choose whole-wheat over non-whole grain snacks, grab some all natural granola bars that offer whole grains, nuts and pieces of fruit all in one snack.

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.

Additional Good Grocery Shopping Tips

Shop the perimeter of the grocery store, where fresh foods like fruits, vegetables, dairy, meat, and fish are usually located. Avoid the center aisles where junk foods lurk.

Choose "real" foods, such as 100% fruit juice or 100% whole-grain items with as little processing and as few additives as possible. Stay clear of foods with cartoons on the label that are targeted to children. If you don't want your kids eating junk foods, don't have them in the house.

Avoiding foods that contain more than five ingredients, artificial ingredients, or ingredients you can't pronounce.

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

As parents and their children enjoy their last month 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, 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. 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.

Create a bed time routine that is relaxing for your child, instead of stressful.

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.