3 Ways Every Mom Should Try to Better the Mental Health of Kids

It’s often noticed that kids don’t even cross adolescence but go into depression. You must be very worried as a mother, perplexed to figure out how can you care for mental health of kids so that they don’t develop any mental health disorder.

Here are 3 tips that you can follow to keep children healthy:

Encourage them to play board games:

As a mother you must be understanding how much pressure kids go through these days: Be it parental pressure or academic pressure or something else. You also find yourself helpless sometimes as you can’t compromise on kids’ education for their shining future, but you can always try to lessen their burden in some other way. Playing board games is a great way to lessen the stress of kids. Bring educational board games at home and start playing with them. They will have fun playing such innovative games. More they will enjoy the happiness of playing together, especially with parents. Your kids will be learning playfully without even their knowledge. If you are confused about which game to buy, let me get you the solution:

A brand new, interactive board game is going to be launched in market soon, which is designed with the purpose of developing STEM skills of children. This family-friendly tabletop game will take your kid on a journey to a tree squirrel’s world. The animal loving nature of an aerospace engineer, named Randy Hecht, inspired him to invent this game. He even wants to donate a certain percentage of proceed to local animal charities. This game will truly inculcate confidence and competitive spirit in your child as well as will improve their cognitive skills. It’s a fun game that will make your kids happy, hence will reduce their pressure and stress. Your kids will learn about squirrel behaviors. Moreover, the game will improve their verbal and communication skills as well as logical and reasoning skills. Children also will get the opportunity to practice math and negotiation skills through this educational game. Do you intend to support the creators of this board game? You can surely do so, theres a kickstarter campaign being created for you to go and pledge for the project and contribute for the noble cause. It’s not a bad idea because they’re giving back to the community in a positive way.

Make them Eat Healthy

You must be wondering what connection does our brain have with healthy eating. Let me give you a clear picture. Human body needs vitamins and nutrients in order to make the brain function. If you don’t feed your kids correctly, their brain will not function properly. It will affect their academic performance as well as mental health. So, don’t forget to give them energy drink, meat, fish, milk, vegetables, nuts, seeds etc.

Encourage them to do physical activity

Physical activity is very important for kids to keep their brain active. You should encourage them to practice yoga or play in parks. When your kids are physically active interacting with others, they will develop social skills and will learn how to deal with emotions. Physical activity will help them with healthy mental growth. As a mother, you must be the role model of your child. What can be better than if you accompany him in playground or yoga? Think about it.

Chloe Paltrow, MD, is a psychiatrist with more than 20 years of experience. She is also a researcher in the field of neurology. Dr. Paltrow sees patients with different neurodevelopmental disorders and intellectual disabilities. She has shared her knowledge in various websites and blogs like Collective Evolution, PsychCentral and Pick The Brain. Currently, she is studying how brain injury and brain disorders can be treated with hyperbaric chamber, of which OxyHealth is a leading provider.

3 Ways Every Mom Should Try to Better the Mental Health of Kids

Pets Help Kids Build Immunity Even Before They’re Born, Study Finds

If you’ve been considering adopting a dog or a cat, this new study might help you make up your mind: According to research published in Microbiome, children born into homes with pets have higher levels of gut microbes that protect against allergies and obesity. Researchers say that indirect exposure to furry friends is especially beneficial to babies in their first three months of life, and even while they’re still in the womb.

This period appears to be a “critical window of time when gut immunity and microbes co-develop,” says lead author Anita Kozyrskyj, PhD, a pediatric epidemiologist at the University of Alberta. Disruptions to this development process—for example, the introduction of foreign bacteria—can change immunity and have implications for long-term health, she adds.

Kozyrskyj’s study compared fecal samples from 746 Canadian infants. Some of the infants were from families with pets (70% of which were dogs), some were from families who had pets during their pregnancy but not once the babies were born, and some had no recent pets.

The researchers found that babies from households with pets had twice the amount of two specific bacteria, Ruminococcus and Oscillospira, that have been linked with reduced risk for childhood allergies (such as dermatitis and asthma) and obesity, respectively.

Even when pets had been given up for adoption before the babies were born, this benefit was still seen. This shows that pet exposure affected the babies’ microbiomes indirectly, with influential bacteria transferring from the animal to the mother to the unborn child.

This bacterial exchange occurred regardless of the type of birth (vaginal versus C-section), regardless of whether the babies were breastfed, and regardless of whether antibiotics were used during birth. This is important, say the authors, as previous research has shown that C-sections, antibiotics, and not breastfeeding can all negatively impact babies’ immunity.

The presence of pets in the house during a woman’s pregnancy was also associated with a reduced likelihood that she would transmit group B strep bacteria—which can colonize in the vagina and cause pneumonia in newborns—to her baby during birth.

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The study builds on decades of research showing that exposure to dirt and bacteria can help children build up immunity, and that kids who grow up with pets have lower rates of asthma and allergies, says Kozyrskyj. (This effect is strongest with dogs but is true with cats, as well.) “Pets have always been our best friends and they appear to be good for our babies too,” she says.

But further studies are needed to provide definitive evidence that a “dog intervention” during pregnancy can actually prevent allergies. “Our next step is to pursue the ‘does it matter’ question, to determine the allergy and obesity outcomes of studied infants at ages 1, 3, and 5,” Kozyrskyj says.

And of course, allergies and obesity aren’t products of the environment alone; genetics also play a role. It also makes sense that kids with pets have natural protection against allergies, since parents with allergies are less likely to have dogs and cats in the first place.

RELATED: 13 Fun Ways to Work Out With Your Dog

But the study’s results were adjusted to account for whether the mothers had asthma or allergies, and still held true. Kozyrskyj says her team’s findings “are independent of these two possible explanations.”

It’s not far-fetched to think that pet exposure during pregnancy could one day be an official recommendation from doctors, Kozyrskyj says. It’s even possible that scientists could develop a “dog in a pill” supplement, she adds, for mothers to take as a preventative measure against allergies and asthma.

More research is needed for these scenarios to actually happen, however. For now, families have have another reason (on top of plenty already!) to snuggle up to their fur babies—and that includes moms-to-be.

Pets Help Kids Build Immunity Even Before They’re Born, Study Finds

Co-Parenting: Tips to Ensure that Your Kids are Healthy and Happy

Separation or divorce is never easy on kids. Parents can improve their children’s mental and physical health by implementing simple routines that will keep kids healthy and happy.

Kids are frequently caught in the middle of their parent’s separation or divorce. Unfortunately, this can impact negatively on their mental and physical health. However, it doesn’t have to have to be this way. It is possible, albeit difficult, for both parents to sit down and decide on healthy eating, exercise, access to the internet, and bedtime routines amongst others.

Our children’s physical and mental health

We live in a consumerist, throwaway society that discourages healthy living. It’s far easier to sit in front of our electronic devices and order fast food than it is to cook our own food using healthy, natural ingredients.

It is also a well-known fact that kids need consistent structure and routine as “routines give them a sense of security and help them develop self-discipline… Children’s fear of the unknown includes everything from a suspicious new vegetable to a major change in their life.”

We can, therefore, conclude that co-parented children need both parents to implement the same structure and routines. Here are some simple tips to help you negotiate structure and routines that suit both parents:

Eating Healthily

We may or may not realize it, but kids do what their parents do; ergo, if we eat healthy, nutritious food, then our kids are more likely to follow a nutritious diet. However, if they see us eating take-outs, then they will be inclined to refuse to eat properly and insist on eating take-outs as well.

It might take a bit of effort in order to transition from purchasing fast foods to cooking your own food; however, the results are worth the effort.

Exercise and outdoor living

The whole family will benefit from spending time outdoors every day. There are many activities, such as hiking, camping, swimming, sailing, and walking on the beach, that the whole family can participate in together.

Limit time in front of electronic devices

Children love to play computer games and can spend hours in front of their gaming devices, living in the fantasy world that the game provides. The positive and negative effects of playing PC games are well documented. “Many scientists and psychologists find that video games can actually have many benefits – the main one is making kids smart.  Video games may actually teach kids high-level thinking skills that they will need in the future.”

On the other hand, the American Psychological Association “concluded that there is a consistent correlation between violent game use and aggression.” Spending too much time in front of an electronic device can also socially isolate kids – why must they deal with uncontrollable real world issues when they can disappear into a world that they can control?

Final words

These are just a few of the many issues both parents will have to negotiate shared rules over. Stumbling blocks will pop up along the way. Both parents might be loath to negotiate with the other parent. They might also have new families, and new friends, making it challenging to find common ground with each other. Finally, this begs the question: How important is my children’s wellbeing to me?

Author bio: The article on divorce has been written by Ignacio D. Pena who is a very active blogger and loves to write in the legal niche.

Co-Parenting: Tips to Ensure that Your Kids are Healthy and Happy

Kids May Get a Surprising Health Benefit From Thumb-Sucking and Nail-Biting

If your kid’s nail-biting or thumb-sucking habit drives you nuts, you’ll be happy to hear that a new study suggests those habits may have a health benefit.

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By Amy Norton
HealthDay Reporter MONDAY, July 11, 2016 (HealthDay News) — If your kid’s nail-biting or thumb-sucking habit drives you nuts, you’ll be happy to hear that a new study suggests those habits may have a health benefit. Children who suck their thumb or bite their nails past preschool age may be less prone to allergic reactions when they reached adolescence, researchers said. What’s more, the study found that the protective effects seemed to last into adulthood. Still no one is suggesting that kids be encouraged to take up the habits, said senior researcher Dr. Robert Hancox, of the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. With thumb-sucking, in particular, there’s some concern that it can interfere with the alignment of the teeth as they come in. “We don’t wish to dismiss these concerns,” Hancox said. “But,” he added, “if a child has a habit that is difficult to break, maybe there is some consolation in the fact that there may be a reduction in the risk of allergies.” How could chronically putting your fingers in your mouth affect the risk of allergies? According to Hancox, it all relates to the “hygiene hypothesis.” The theory is that exposure to bacteria and other microbes early in life helps steer the immune system toward infection-fighting mode, and away from a tendency toward allergic reactions. But the study can’t prove that either habit directly lowered kids’ risk of becoming sensitized to allergens, Hancox acknowledged. However, he said, his team accounted for a range of things that influence kids’ odds of sensitization—including whether they were breast-fed, exposed to secondhand smoke, lived with pets, or had a family history of allergies. It’s “difficult to imagine” what other factors would explain the findings, Hancox said. At least one expert agreed that the hygiene hypothesis might explain the study’s results. Dr. Mika Hiramatsu, a pediatrician who reviewed the study, said, “This is another piece of evidence in support of the hygiene hypothesis.” She’s a spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics. Hiramatsu pointed to similar connections seen in past studies: Kids who are in day care, live with pets, live on farms, or have older siblings tend to have a lower risk of allergies and asthma—suggesting that relatively germ-filled environments offer some protection. “I think this study adds weight to the idea that kids do better when they’re exposed to a variety of microbes,” Hiramatsu said. “Being in a ‘sterile’ environment is not actually the best thing for us.” That doesn’t mean parents have to let their kids “roll around in the dirt,” according to Hiramatsu. But they can “loosen up a little” about cleanliness, she said. The study findings are based on over 1,000 New Zealand children who entered the study at birth. Most were followed into adulthood. Based on parents’ reports, 31 percent of the children were either sucking their thumbs or biting their nails “frequently” between the ages of 5 and 11. Those kids were one-third less likely than their peers to develop allergic sensitization by the time they were 13. That meant they were less likely to test positive when their skin was exposed to allergy triggers like pollen and dust mites. The same pattern was still apparent at age 32, the researchers found. It’s not clear, however, what exactly that meant for people’s daily lives, Hancox said. The skin testing showed whether someone had an allergic response to a particular substance. It doesn’t necessarily mean that person was suffering symptoms day to day. The researchers did ask the study participants whether they’d been diagnosed with asthma or hay fever. And there was no link between thumb-sucking or nail-biting and the risk of having those conditions. Hancox and his colleagues report the findings in the July 11 online issue of the journal Pediatrics.More information The American College of Asthma, Allergy and Immunology has more on children’s allergies.

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Kids May Get a Surprising Health Benefit From Thumb-Sucking and Nail-Biting

When The Kids Get Their Hands On An Energy Drink

Adolescents are the fastest growing population of caffeine users. The latest studies show over 80 percent of teens consume caffeinated beverages regularly, nearly 99 percent partake of the legal drug occasionally. This can be particularly troubling considering the exacerbating impact the substance can have on common behavioral disorders. It can be a difficult but noble endeavor to help your teen ween his caffeine usage to a reasonable or safe amount. Here are three things to know that will help you in your pursuit.

They use it for studying.

In a recent study published in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, researchers found that many teens said they drink caffeine to feel more alert so they will be able to study better. The study investigated 166 young people, of whom 42 percent were male and 72 percent were students in grades 9 and 10. Studying better is certainly a good motive. However, there are definitely other means to achieve that end. For example helping your teen create more structure in their lives–especially getting more sleep–will help them better focus on their studies. Getting 8 or more hours of sleep and staying hydrated can have a huge impact on studying. Check out this infographic for ways help your teen structure his life.

Teens use caffeine because their parents use it.

Most teens learn to use caffeine from their parents. Although the adolescent population is the fastest rising group of users, it’s still catching up to adults. In the same study, many of teens said parental role modeling played an important role in their decision to drink caffeine. Since parents commonly drink coffee in the morning, and many offer it to their children, it appears to be safe and acceptable.

As a result, the findings showed that almost 45 percent of the teens drank caffeinated beverages at least once a week, and over 10 percent consumed a caffeinated beverage every day. To avoid overloading your liver with energy drinks, try starting your day off with coffee, green tea, or yerba mate.

100 mg should be the maximum.

The Mayo Clinic suggests limiting caffeine use for teens to 100 mg per day. This is much lower than the safe limit they set for adults which is up at 400 mg. They say 500-600 mg is in the heavy use zone. In this range, negative side effects can occur, such as nervousness, anxiety, jitteriness and sleep problems. Adolescents typically consumer anywhere between 60-800mg.

It’s important to remember that caffeine can come from many different sources including chocolate, coffee, energy drinks and soda. Although many people see energy drinks as the main culprit, it can sneak in from many different places.

When The Kids Get Their Hands On An Energy Drink

The Magical Thing Disney Is Doing for Kids with Allergies

From peanuts on the plane to dicey local grub, vacations can be a total nightmare for families of the estimated 15 million people with food allergies. But Disney has teamed up with the makers of the EpiPen to provide a safer haven.

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From peanuts on the plane to dicey local grub, vacations can be a total nightmare for families (like mine) with severe food allergies. But Disney wants to provide a safer haven for the estimated 15 million people with food allergies: They’ve teamed up with Mylan—the marketer and distributor of EpiPen epinephrine auto-injectors—to have EpiPen and EpiPen Jr stations in all Disney parks and cruise liners starting later this year. Why this is so amazing: An anaphylactic reaction, which involves multiple bodily systems and typically affects breathing and blood pressure, can lead to death if it’s not promptly reversed with an injection of epinephrine. People already diagnosed with serious food, bee sting, or other allergies know, of course, to carry a self-injectable epinephrine device everywhere they go. But anaphylaxis can strike anyone: a person who has never reacted to a substance (or only broke out in some hives) can have a throat-closing, life-threatening episode out of the blue.RELATED: 7 Vacation Health Hassles, Solved Parents of younger kids, in particular, are often caught off guard. My son Gus’s tree nut allergies were discovered on a vacation to Puerto Rico when he was 3 (we gave him raisins out of a cashew-raisin minibar mix then watched in horror as he started swelling up and gagging; thankfully we were in a downtown San Juan hotel, close to help, and not stranded in a remote rain forest). Keeping epinephrine injectors on hand for all to use, as Disney is doing, saves lives—and not just the lives of “allergic kids.” In one study looking at the Chicago Public Schools, more than half of the epinephrine devices were used to treat first-time anaphylactic reactions. In other words, the majority of kids who ended up needing them had no idea they were at risk. That’s one reason that there’s been a push to require public schools to keep the injectable pens on hand in case of allergic emergencies. In November 2013, President Obama (whose daughter Malia has a peanut allergy) signed the School Access to Emergency Epinephrine Law, which provides financial incentive for states to mandate that schools have universal epinephrine injectors, as well as personnel trained to use them. Still, not many states have laws on the books yet. I’ll admit I’m biased, but I think it’s a cause ALL parents should get behind. And after that terrifying vacation near-miss, this mom just wants to say a huge thanks to Disney—who is already super-solid when it comes to helping food-allergy families–for taking this crucial step. It’s a step that will reduce the odds of a family vacation turning into a family tragedy.RELATED: Your 12 Worst Allergy Mistakes

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The Magical Thing Disney Is Doing for Kids with Allergies

Study: Acetaminophen May Double Asthma Risk in Kids

Teenagers who take acetaminophen—the active ingredient in Tylenol and many other over-the-counter remedies—may be at increased risk of asthma and some allergic conditions, according to a new study.

August 13, 2010

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By Denise Mann

FRIDAY, August 13 (Health.com) — Teenagers who take acetaminophen—the active ingredient in Tylenol and many other over-the-counter remedies—may be at increased risk of asthma and some allergic conditions, according to a new study of more than 320,000 children in 50 countries. Compared with those who never take the popular pain reliever and fever reducer, 13- and 14-year-olds who take acetaminophen at least once a month are 2.5 times more likely to experience asthma symptoms, the study found. Even those who take acetaminophen just once a year are 40% more likely to experience symptoms. Kids who take acetaminophen may also be at greater risk of certain allergic conditions. Once-a-month users were roughly twice as likely as never users to have eczema, a stuffy nose (rhinitis), and itchy and watery eyes, according to the study, which was published on the website of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

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The researchers can’t say that acetaminophen directly causes asthma and these other conditions, however. That will require long-term studies that compare children who take acetaminophen with a control group, says the lead author of the study, Richard Beasley, MD, a professor of medicine at the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand, in Wellington.

“Acetaminophen use may increase the risk of asthma, and randomized controlled trials are urgently required,” Dr. Beasley says. Such trials are already under way, he adds. In the meantime, parents should not stop giving acetaminophen to their children without talking to their doctors, Dr. Beasley stresses. Acetaminophen and ibuprofen are the two main pain relievers approved for use in children. (Aspirin is a no-no.) But Harold Nelson, MD, an asthma and allergy expert at National Jewish Health, in Denver, says that it may not be too soon to cut back on acetaminophen use. “The data is so overwhelming that even in [the] absence of a randomized controlled trial, it would be prudent for parents to avoid the use of acetaminophen in their kids,” he says. “The evidence has been building for a while, and it is very, very convincing.” In 2008, Dr. Beasley and his team reported that children who received acetaminophen as infants were more likely than those who didn’t to experience asthma and allergic symptoms five to six years later.Next page: Unclear why acetaminophen and asthma are linked
Overall trends in asthma prevalence also suggest a link between acetaminophen and asthma, Dr. Nelson says. “The onset of the so-called asthma epidemic in the U.S. was in 1980, and that is about the time that aspirin was recognized as probable cause for Reye syndrome,” he says, referring to a potentially fatal disease affecting the brain and liver. “Cases of pediatric asthma went up when aspirin use went down.” It’s unclear how acetaminophen might influence asthma symptoms. Some experts believe the drug may suppress the immune system and cause body-wide inflammation. (Asthma is a condition in which lung airways are chronically inflamed.) Neil Schachter, MD, a professor of pulmonary and community medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center, in New York City, says that the acetaminophen-asthma link is a chicken-or-egg question. Children with asthma might be more likely to take acetaminophen, rather than vice versa, he points out. “We know that kids with asthma get sick a lot, and they are prescribed a lot of combination medications which contain acetaminophen, so that makes it more likely that children with asthma will use Tylenol in general,” he says. The teenagers in the study were simply surveyed about how often they took acetaminophen and their history of asthma, eczema, or other allergy symptoms, so it’s possible that medications besides acetaminophen—or other, unrelated factors—could explain much of the link seen in the study. Aspirin and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have also been linked to an increased risk of asthma, Dr. Schacter says. These drugs can trigger the production of leukotrienes, a naturally occurring chemical substance that promotes an inflammatory response in the lungs. “The implications that aspirin, NSAIDs, and now Tylenol increase asthma risk doesn’t leave a whole lot of anti-fever or analgesic drugs to treat children who get sick all the time,” he says. “Talk to your doctor or child’s pediatrician before making any changes.”

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Study: Acetaminophen May Double Asthma Risk in Kids

Smart Ways to Handle Internet Addiction in Kids

Smart Ways to Handle Internet Addiction in Kids

Kids on the Edge review – an antidote to the hysteria around gender identity

What a timely programme Kids on the Edge: The Gender Clinic (Channel 4) has proven itself to be. The first of a three-part series that will look at the mental health of children in the UK, this episode focuses in on the work of the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust’s gender identity development services in London. These services are now greatly in demand: the clinic has gone from 40 referrals a year a decade ago to 1,400 in 2015. This rapid expansion of parents seeking help and advice has, depressingly, led to a kind of small-scale hysteria in recent times about what it means when children might be trans, bringing with it rabid front pages about them being “damaged” or “confused” by a TV show featuring a transgender character, for example.

I hope the people who rage about such things might also find the time to watch The Gender Clinic, which does a steady job of dismantling many of the panicked, inaccurate fears around what is clearly a complex process. In it, we follow two families discussing the possibility of hormone blockers for their children, which would pause puberty until, in time, a bigger decision can be made. There is Ashley, a headstrong young girl who was born a boy called Ashton, and her mum Terri, who is attempting to keep her daughter safe from bullying at school. And there is Matilda, who has an autistic spectrum disorder and whose gender identity is less defined, though by the end of the programme he is Matt at school. Rachel, Matt’s mother, is supportive but terrified of making the wrong decision for her child in either direction.

As a documentary, this is courageous enough to do what online discussion is often incapable of: explore the subtleties that get lost in the vicious polemics that can dominate the public reporting of such stories. Part of its effectiveness is down to director Peter Beard, who approaches the families with an obvious tenderness. He tells Terri – who is wondering whether to move the whole family again, to better serve Ash’s needs – that “there’s no instruction manual, is there?” His way with the kids is easy and kind. To get to the heart of what Ash is going through, he asks a simple question, made all the more devastating by the response. “What would be the best thing ever?” he asks her, as she plays. “Not being how I am,” she replies, casually, still playing.

It does not shy away from the trickier parts of the picture. Consultant psychiatrist Polly Carmichael explains that often, people are seeking certainty, and the reality is that in the case of hormone blockers, there is no certainty; research in this area is not far-reaching yet. The Tavistock’s staff sit cautiously in the middle of the many areas of debate. She talks about the impact of social media on young people seeking answers or reassurance. Ash, who declares that she will go to Sweden to get a womb transplant and then have a caesarian, Googles everything, says her mother. Carmichael says her patients understand the ideas but not the implications. Part of her role is to explain that “physical intervention is not the panacea to all things”.

There is a grotesque exaggeration perpetuated by some that the doctors and psychiatrists who treat children questioning their identities are trigger-happy gender-abolitionists, ready to strike every tomboy with a shot of testosterone if they so much as hint at cropping their hair. The reality is that the Tavistock’s team are articulate and circumspect. They deal with impossibly tough situations with a gentle level-headedness. This documentary makes clear that when a child is referred to their care, the process is thorough, considered and done in the best interests of both the child and the family.

What contributes to the wider hysteria about gender identity (a hysteria that can be fatal; I am thinking of the death of Lucy Meadows, the teacher who killed herself in 2013 after her gender reassignment became national news) is, in part, a desperate lack of empathy and knowledge. In showing its complicated workings, in showing that professional decisions may take in many different voices over many years, in telling stories that correct misconceptions simply by giving them a human face, perhaps The Gender Clinic might start to redress the balance. Carmichael ends the documentary by admitting that, right now, this is “an evolving picture”. But, she says, she knows one thing: that the young people who have taken this route feel it was right for them.

Kids on the Edge review – an antidote to the hysteria around gender identity

4 Tips For Encouraging A Nutritious Lifestyle In Your Kids

4 Tips For Encouraging A Nutritious Lifestyle In Your Kids

Five Reasons To Include Fish Oil In Kid’s Diet

The human body produces most of the needed fats, however, the body cannot produce omega-3 fatty acids. Human body usually derives it’s much needed omega-3 fats from foods rich in omega-3 or its supplements. Fish oil is rich in omega-3 fats.

The early stage of a child growth involves a lot of developmental processes. At this stage, they need a lot of nutrients in adequate quantity. They need an adequate amount of vitamins, minerals, fats etc, all of which are essential for a healthy living and development of the organs. Fish oil is one the sources of such essential nutrients needed for kids to enhance their development. It is rich in omega-3 fatty acids which contain nutrients responsible for the development of the brain, eye and also help with the enhancement of memory, vision, and learning. In short, fish oil is essential for kids wellbeing. Here are five reasons for fish oil to be included in kids diet.

1. 
   

   Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

   
   

Although causes of ADHD still remain unknown, many people believe the deficiency of omega-3 fatty might have a role to play in it. For instance, a number of studies are beginning to show omega-3 fatty acid as a viable mechanism for addressing ADHD. Omega-3 fatty acids deficiency have also been linked with many health problems that involve developmental issues in kids. A study conducted in 2012 involving children (ages 6 to 12 years) with ADHD that were treated with some standard form of behavior therapy for six months is another one pointing in this direction. In the study, the kid’s parent reported no significant improvement in learning and behavior. Researcher introduced a random treatment of omega-3 and omega-6 supplements later in the study. Thereafter, a tremendous improvement for the kids in terms of restlessness, completing work and academic performance were recorded.

2. 
   

   Fish Oil Help Boost Immune Function

   
   

Fish oil, when combined with antioxidant astaxanthin, is known to significantly boost the immune power of the body. This is particularly helpful for kids as they need a strong immune system to tackle diseases and infections. Habitual fish consumption is one way to make this a reality. One good example of fish that contain optimum amount of fish oil and the antioxidant astaxanthin is Salmon. Many fish oil supplements are also rich in astaxanthin which make them good candidates for this purpose.

3. 
   

   Skin and hair

   
   

The body’s largest organ, skin, also benefits greatly from fish oil. Essential fatty acids from fish oil improve the beauty and health of the skin in various ways. It is essentially important for kids, as it will enhance the formation of smooth skin. The skin gets fat-soluble vitamins from fish oil which can help prevent wrinkle and giving them a healthy young and glowing skin.

Skin conditions such as dandruff, thinning hair, psoriasis, and eczema have been linked to EPA and DHA deficiency in diets. The skin could be an indication of the condition of the internal health. Thus, taking fish oil helps keep the skin moisturized, which will give the same effect as applying conventional moisturizer. Besides, fish oil does a good job of reducing inflammation, including the one caused by the sun as well.

4. 
   

   Asthma

   
   

Omega-3 acids contained in fish oil helps reduces inflammation in the airways as well. This is a great benefit for kids with asthma. A study involving 29 kids with asthma revealed that those taking fish oil for 10 months had reduced symptoms, compared to those that did not.

5. 
   

   Reduced Risk of Diabetes

   
   

Fish oil is particularly good for people with diabetes. It also helps in reducing the risk of diabetes in kids. Research revealed that kids whose meal is rich in omega-3 diets were less likely to develop diabetes later in life. Another research study revealed that fish oil reduced the risk of oxidative stress which plays a big part of the development of diabetes complication.

Fish oil is really essential for the normal growth and development of children. More important is the omega-3 acids it contains. In order to access this essential nutrient, kids could take fish oil supplements as an alternative to fish oil. For those that are vegetarian, there are alternatives like vegan omega 3 that are made from algae. In one way or another, including sources of omega-3 fatty acids into the diet of your kid is important. However, please note that kids allergic to fish/shellfish should desist from taking it. It will be important to consult the physician before use in such scenarios.

Author Bio: Mike Dan is a freelance writer with great interest in Tech, Health, Sustainable living, and Home Improvement. He just started using vegan omega 3 supplements as an alternative to fish oil and slim eJuice as well.

Five Reasons To Include Fish Oil In Kid’s Diet

And breathe: the computer games helping kids relax

On the unassuming second-floor office of a tech startup in Clerkenwell, London, Simon Fox is teaching me how to breathe. “You’re not trying to shove your stomach out with muscular force,” advises the design director of BfB Labs. “Instead, what you’re trying to do is feel your lungs expanding into your body. You don’t want to breathe hard, but you do want to be breathing into the bottom of your lungs.”

Clipped to my earlobe is a tiny heart-rate monitor, linked to a Bluetooth device that is attached to my T-shirt. I’m here to try out what Fox and his colleagues have dubbed emotionally responsive gaming (ERG): computer games designed to increase players’ resilience to mental health problems by using biofeedback to monitor and reward their ability to remain calm under pressure.

Between rounds in Champions of the Shengha, the company’s first offering, gamers must spend about a minute practising the kind of diaphragmatic breathing that is widely recommended as a relaxation technique; the more successfully they control their breathing, the more gems they win to spend on weapons and spells to defeat their opponents. In fact, it’s not the breathing itself that is tracked, but the player’s heart-rate variability (HRV), which increases in response to diaphragmatic breathing and lower levels of stress. A higher variation shows a body with a healthy ability to relax and respond to events.

That sounds pretty easy, I think, especially as I’m not really bothered how I fare in the fantasy-themed battling game (“Like Top Trumps but with way more interesting stuff going on,” is Fox’s explanation to a non-gamer). On my first attempt, I get four gems out of a possible 10; not bad for a first try, says Fox, who cites his own experiences of chronic anxiety as a driving force in his work. I’m determined to do better next time.

The more successfully players control their breathing, the more gems they win to spend on weapons and spells to defeat their opponents. Photograph: Mark Waugh Manchester Press Phot

Champions of the Shengha began life more than two years ago, when Shift, a charity that works on behaviour change and social problems, was looking for a way to boost young people’s wellbeing in response to growing evidence of mental health issues among school-age children. It hit upon a computer game as a way of making the prospect of being trained in “emotional regulation” an attractive one, and was awarded £200,000 funding by Google’s Impact Challenge scheme.

Shift later incubated BfB Labs, which took on the development of the game. Keeping it genuinely enjoyable and credible as a game in its own right has always been key; ERG is being marketed to gamers not so much on the basis of its health benefits, but as an exciting new challenge.

“Half of all cases of mental health disorder start by the age of 14, and three-quarters by 24,” says Naomi Stoll, the project’s lead researcher. “Meditation, mindfulness and yoga are not the kinds of things that teenage kids, especially teenagers from disadvantaged backgrounds, are going to think are relevant to them and practise. Even 20 minutes of breathing every day is just not fun in any way.”

In a randomised control trial at the Billericay school in Essex earlier this year, more than four-fifths of the 90 pupils who played the game could reliably double their HRV through focused breathing. Three-quarters reported getting better at staying calm within the game, and a quarter said they had started using the techniques in everyday life.

Three-quarters of players reported getting better at staying calm within the game, and a quarter said they had started using the techniques in everyday life. Photograph: Mark Waugh Manchester Press Phot

The school had already seen a good take-up of mindfulness sessions, says deputy head Charlotte Berry, but it has mainly been girls, whereas Champions of the Shengha, which is played on a phone or tablet, has been embraced by both boys and girls.

“They very quickly started talking about how they were using the breathing in other aspects of their lives,” she says – including before important football matches, on occasions when they feared they would lose their tempers, and to deal with stress. Twelve-year-old Ryan Gibson used diaphragmatic breathing before his end-of-year exams and says it has also been handy at home: “I’ve got a younger sister who always annoys me. I use it to stop myself from reacting and saying something that would get me in trouble.”

Although there are a handful of other developers producing computer games that feed players’ emotions back into play, it’s a tool in its infancy. But gaming seems to have a wider role in promoting good mental health, says Dr Paul Cairns, a reader in human computer interaction at the University of York. “We feel better when we have a feeling of competence and autonomy,” he says. And games, unlike real life, present well-defined problems that are designed for people to succeed at: “They offer us the rewards we need.” Crucially, they also provide an escape from isolation, especially when you can play against people around the world online.

BfB Labs is planning future games to appeal to different audiences: Fox describes one as a “noir-y detective thing” where you have to keep your cool through a series of interrogations. Champions of the Shengha has just gone on sale on the crowdfunding site Indiegogo, where a beta version, including the biofeedback sensor, costs about £27, and there are also options to donate the kit to schools.

Back in Clerkenwell, Fox instructs me to place my hands on my chest and stomach to see which bits are moving as I breathe. I may not be engaged with the game itself, but it appears my naturally competitive nature is doing a fine job of ramping up the pressure: I overbreathe noisily. Only on my seventh try do I finally manage a five.

The next week, with multiple deadlines looming, I find myself absent-mindedly moving my hand to my stomach and adjusting my breathing. Something, it seems, has stuck.

And breathe: the computer games helping kids relax

How Foods You Prepare for Your Kids Impact Their Mental Health and Focus

Just the word “teenager” conjures up images of young people laughing and devouring food. Adolescents seem to have voracious appetites, and parents sometimes refer to them as “bottomless pits” when it comes to food consumption. While it’s tempting to keep convenient foods on hand that they can grab on the go, those foods might not give them the fuel that they need for proper mental function. Instead, they need a balance of fats, proteins, amino acids and other essential nutrients in order to focus on their school work.

The Teen’s Developing Brain

Your teen’s brain keeps developing until his early 20s, according to Dr. Neville Golden, the chief of adolescent medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine in California. If a teen doesn’t ingest proper nutrition during this time, he will struggle with learning new tasks and information. In addition to proper hydration and rest, the food he eats will provide him with energy for growth.

An Overview of Essential Nutrients

The American Academy of Pediatrics states that teens need three meals per day and two healthy snacks. Instead of labeling foods as “good” or “bad,” they should be sure to eat foods that help the brain. They emphasize what we have heard for years — the importance of breakfast, especially when teens have a test. That first meal of the day should include protein, complex carbohydrates and healthy fats, carrying your son over until lunchtime. If he doesn’t eat at all, he might feel sluggish and struggle with concentration. This quick guideline will help you plan for your teen’s food consumption needs:

• Calories – Teen boys need about 2,800 calories per day — more than any other group of individuals.


• Protein – Your son should consume between 45 and 60 grams of protein daily, slightly more if he is active or involved in sports. The intake of proteins and amino acids can affect general health, including weight, temperament and sleep schedules.


• Fruits and vegetables – Males need about two cups of fruit daily, which delay aging, and three cups of vegetables to protect decision-making skills.


• Antioxidants – These provide the brain with energy and fight off free radicals.


• Fat – While the AAP places a recommended limit of 30 percent of daily calories — or about 930 calories — for teens, these should come from foods such as eggs, avocados, salmon, coconut oil, nuts and olive oil. While saturated and trans fats compromise brain function, Omegas 3 and 6, the superstars of fats, boost brain performance. These must come from the diet, usually in fatty fish and nuts.


• Carbohydrates – At least half and up to 60 percent of a teen’s calories should come from carbs, or about 130 grams of carbs daily. You can find great sources in whole grains, peas, beans and vegetables. Avoid processed foods, such as sugary drinks, candy and syrup. Another great source of complex carbs, found in whole grains, is brown rice or popcorn.


• Calcium – Teens need about 1,300 mg of calcium daily. They can obtain the necessary minimum requirement in calcium-fortified products and dairy. Kale, an often-overlooked source of calcium, also boasts of plethora of additional vitamins.

Additional necessary nutrients include from 8 to 11 mg of daily iron and 600 IU of Vitamin D, usually found in milk or dairy products but also metabolized from the sun.

How Foods You Prepare for Your Kids Impact Their Mental Health and Focus

Do little kids have options beside vaccinations?

Chicken Pox, Measles, Mumps and Whooping Cough are all waiting to encumber little kids. Before turning to Big pHarma to encumber them further, let’s take a look at what they are, how they come about and alternative therapies.

Chicken Pox is a common acute childhood disease caused be a virus. It presents itself by a small sac filled with fluid that will eventually erupt and crust. Each sac will last 2 to 4 days, leaving a pink scar, which will eventually disappear but the pock mark could remain.

Measles is an acute viral infection that is common is kids from 6 months to 5 years old. It starts out like a cold but includes a cough, fever, and inflammation of the eye area resulting in sensitivity to light. Usually the fever goes down within a day or two but suddenly rises by day 5 or 6. With this rise in temperature comes a blotchy rash on the forehead, then appearing behind the ears and the rest of the body. The rash will fade within 3 to 4 days but the skin affected will peel. Bear in mind that during the first signs of rash the symptoms are at a peak. The fever could be strong and bronchitis may occur. In rare cases, the possibility of an ear infection with temporary loss of hearing, possible pneumonia in the bronchial area and convulsions may occur.

Mumps are an acute viral infection characterized by mild fever lasting only a couple of days, feeling really crappy, having a sore throat, and swollen glands. All this could last from 2 days to a couple of weeks except for the fever.

Whooping Cough is bacterial disease with a real crappy cough. It starts out with a mild fever, cold-like symptoms, and a mild cough that gets worse. This illness could last up to a month. If complications manifest, watch out for convulsions and/or nose bleeds.

Unfortunately, all of the above are contracted by nearly all children, but to varying degrees. Some will show little or no symptoms and the results are passed off as a mild cold or cough. Others, unfortunately, will suffer more and become somewhat permanently damaged by the complications.

It’s this individual difference in resistance and vitality that is the single most important factor in understanding and addressing acute disease.

Germs and viruses are always around us and the body is usually capable of maintaining a proper balance when they attack us because the body’s self-defense mechanisms fight back and remove these dangerous attackers before they can take hold.

The secretions form the protective boundaries, the glands act as filters, and the cell walls act as the barriers. So, the entire cell, tissue, organ and body VITALITY act as our protectors.

But, if we let our defenses down through poor nutrition and deficiency, poor circulation or lack of oxygen, the shit hits the fan. Then, if we continue to clog our tissues with too many toxins or change our pH (acid/alkaline balance), it gets even worse and opens the door for infection.

There is no one factor that opens the door to disease for our kids, but rather a multitude of insults on their bodies. And, diet takes the most blame.

The Rockefellers conning the farmers to switch to the petro-chemical fertilizers, under the guise of spending more time planting and harvesting crops instead of shoveling doo-doo, killed the mineral sulfur in the soil depriving everyone of essential oxygen to keep them well. That’s why the organic sulfur crystals are such a wonderful blessing.

The FDA, banning raw, organic, unpasteurized and non-homogenized milk and only allowing liquid fat full of GMOs, growth hormones, antibiotics, and the remains of the other dead, dying, diseased and decayed animals, contributed to the problem.

The Big Food industry, with their processed foods to extend shelf life for years and pushing refined grains, which are anything but normal, added more insult to injury.

It is not a vitamin deficiency that the kids suffer from but a “green vegetable” and a grain in its “natural state” deficiency.

The poor kids are weaned too soon and subjected to 100 percent crapola made up of soda, candy, cookies and anything else advertised on TV or kept at their eye level in the supermarket. Why? Because understanding that the balancing and cleansing effect of fresh vegetables, fruits, grains, nuts and seeds is essential for good health, is no where to be found.

Dietary habits are just that. Habits! And where do their “habits” begin? From their parents, that’s where.

If the kid is well-fed, don’t you think he/she will be strong enough to deal with an infection in a successful way? If the child is well-nourished they will likely not catch common childhood diseases, only mild cases. And if something takes hold, it won’t last long because of a strong immune system fighting back.

My daughter, who is in her mid 30’s, has never been vaccinated, has been a vegetarian since being in her mom’s belly, and has never had the flu or any of the serious diseases mentioned here. When measles hit her, she had a high fever that was short in duration, she sweated a lot with a good rash formation, rather than having a lower fever, little perspiration, and a slowly developed rash. It allowed her to be over and done with her complaint soon and carry on, instead of dealing endlessly with ear problems and bronchitis.

So, the treatment of many childhood diseases is pretty basic. The first priority is a liquid diet of pure water and fresh juices in the acute stages with the later introduction of fruits and vegetables. The fever should not be suppressed, but moderated according to the needs of the child, with gentle hydrotherapy because the establishment of perspiration with the fever is essential. The bowels must be kept open and herbal laxatives or enemas may be needed and the use of herbal medications can prove useful at various stages of the diseases.

The major concern with chicken pox is the pock scarring, which can be modified by simple baths and applications. And, of course, scratching is a no-no.

The bath should be tepid with baking soda or apple cider vinegar. The applications can include green clay, bentonite clay, goldenseal or burdock. The clay will form a barrier and the herbs should be dabbed on frequently. The botanicals can include nettle, fruit juice, vegetable juice, clear vegetable soups, vitamin C and propolis.

With measles the treatment needs to be treated a bit more vigorously due to the fact that complications can likely occur due to nutritional deficiencies, suppressive treatments, or over feeding during the illness.

Tepid baths are good and hot baths are good to bring out the rash that has not yet manifested. Steam baths to induce sweating work also. Wild clover is good for cough, Yarrow tea is good for sweat, and 15 to 20 drops of Sundew three to four times a day. For diet, the recommendation is fruit juice lemon juice and Himalayan salt, citrus juices, and vitamins A and C to bowel tolerance.

Mumps looks worse than it is. The general therapy is that of any fever with plenty of fluids and bed rest during the acute stage,

Whooping cough need the most attention because any cough is extremely disturbing. A light diet is essential because overfeeding prolongs the whooping cough and could cause complications.

When it is whooping cough, a full fruit juice fast should be started, with lots of citrus juices.

After the fast, follow up with a diet of fruit juices, carrot/apple juice, and fresh clear vegetable broth. Down the road, fresh whole fruits. Vitamins A and C again.

To play it safe, when any of these occur, find a naturopath and keep it simple and natural.

Aloha!

To learn more about Hesh, listen to and read hundreds of health related radio shows and articles, and learn about how to stay healthy and reverse degenerative diseases through the use of organic sulfur crystals and the most incredible bee pollen ever, please visit www.healthtalkhawaii.com, or email me at heshgoldstein@gmail.com or call me at (808) 258-1177. Since going on the radio in 1981 these are the only products I began to sell because they work.
Oh yeah, going to www.asanediet.com will allow you to read various parts of my book – “A Sane Diet For An Insane World”, containing a wonderful comment by Mike Adams.
In Hawaii, the TV stations interview local authors about the books they write and the newspapers all do book reviews. Not one would touch “A Sane Diet For An Insane World”. Why? Because it goes against their advertising dollars.

Do little kids have options beside vaccinations?

Kids" school packed lunches still full of junk food, research finds

Parents are still packing their children’s school lunchboxes with junk food, despite high-profile awareness campaigns on childhood obesity and guidance provided by consumer groups, research has found.

The Leeds University study published on Tuesday found just 1.6% of packed lunches for primary school children met tough nutritional standards set for their classmates eating in the school canteen.

About half of all primary school pupils take a packed lunch to school. Researchers found that only 1 in 5 lunchboxes contained any vegetables or salad, while 52%-60% contained too many sweet and savoury snacks, or sugary drinks (42%), leading to high levels of saturated fat, sugar and salt and not enough minerals and vitamins.

The study, described as “eye opening” by lead researcher Dr Charlotte Evans, saw only a fractional improvement from a decade ago, when 1.1% of lunches passed the standard set for school meals. The minority of children (17%) who eat vegetables and salad had not altered since 2006, it found.

The report found some progress: for instance the majority of packed lunches examined by researchers passed the standards for protein (95%) and vitamin C (75%). There was also a significant reduction in sugary drinks, 46% in 2016 compared with 61%, and a reduction in chocolate-based snacks. But there was no improvement for savoury snacks, such as crisps, found in 60% of packed lunches.

Three out of the 300-odd lunchboxes examined by researchers, in 12 different English primary schools, scored zero – a similar proportion to that found in 2006. One contained blackcurrant squash, a packet of hula hoops and a chocolate roll.

The first statutory school meal standard was introduced in 2006 due to growing evidence linking poor health in adults with obesity or poor diet in children. They limit the amount of foods high in salt, sugar and fats and stipulate that school meals should provide a third of a child’s nutritional requirements. However, although Ofsted says schools must have a policy on packed lunches, there is no law requiring them to abide by the same standards.

Evans, a nutritional epidemiologist, said that she believed the wealth of information on sugar in sweetened drinks may have had an impact on the reduction in the numbers in lunchboxes. But she added that more needed to be done by retailers, food manufacturers and schools if improvements are to be made overall.

Evans said: “I hope the results of the study are an eye-opener, highlighting that more stringent policies need to be introduced if we want to see real change in the nutritional value of children’s packed lunches. New policies for schools, food manufacturers and retailers are needed, which will require strong support from government and stakeholders if progress is to be made.”

The report recommends that primary schools introduce a policy restricting sweetened drinks and encouraging water, salad and fruit. It also suggested parents pack smaller portions of the unhealthy snacks, such as packets of crisps that are around 15g rather than 26g and chocolate cakes and biscuits of 20g. More choices of snacks low in saturated fats and sugars and higher in fibre were needed, it said.

The children’s lunches that met the standard all contained sandwiches with a protein filling and some salad.

Evans said: “Parents struggle, and there are many reasons why children don’t have better quality lunches – cost, peer pressure, convenience, time. Providing information to parents is a start.

“However, we do need to do more than provide information to parents to see a greater impact, such as improving school policies, reformulating products and reducing portions of snacks given to young children. For example, providing a small portion of crisps in a sealed container rather than the full bag.”

Few packed lunches met the standards for energy (12%), vitamin A (17 %), iron (26%) or zinc (16%), due to the lack of fresh salad and vegetables, the dearth of non-processed meat or fish as well as the lack of whole-grain bread.

Sharon Hodgson MP, chair of the all-party parliamentary group for school food, said: “The research highlights the need for more action to be taken on food put in children’s packed lunches, something which the school food APPG has recently called for. Despite positive moves with regards to the food provided as part of a school meal, food brought in by children in their packed lunches is lagging behind. Therefore we need more action to be taken if we want to see positive changes.”

Flora, which commissioned the research, is calling on the government to raise awareness and to do more to ensure the national standards for school food are being met in packed lunches. It has distributed 631,000 lunchboxes containing a healthy lunch planner and made available tips online.

Kids" school packed lunches still full of junk food, research finds

Kids, sport, concussion, and the long lasting effects of minor brain injury | Pankaj Sah

Head knocks in childhood are by no means uncommon, yet they may have lasting negative effects. New research has found a link between concussion in childhood and adverse medical and social outcomes as an adult.

Researchers from the United Kingdom, United States and Sweden looked at data from the entire Swedish population born between 1973 and 1982 – some 1.1 million people – to analyse the effect of experiencing a traumatic brain injury in the first 25 years of life.

Compared to those who had sustained no injury, people who had experienced at least one traumatic brain injury in childhood – around 9% of those studied – were, as adults, more likely to die early or be treated for a psychiatric illness and receive a disability pension, and less likely to have completed secondary schooling.

At first glance, the findings seem unsurprising: common sense suggests, for example, that a child who has sustained severe brain damage in a car accident would encounter more educational obstacles than a child who hasn’t.

Accordingly, the study found that the more severe the brain injury, the worse the outcomes in adulthood (this was also the case for repeated brain injuries). But the research also found a significant link between concussion – the mildest and most common form of brain injury – and subsequent problems.

In the study, concussions comprised more than 75% of the childhood brain injuries recorded. The researchers found being exposed to a concussion, or mild brain injury, was associated with a 18%–52% increased risk of negative outcomes, including early death, low educational attainment, and being on welfare. The most marked increase in risk was found for psychiatric inpatient hospitalisation and the disability pension.

Traumatic brain injury occurs when the brain is damaged by external force such as a fall, car accident, assault or being struck by an object such as might occur during sport. It’s usually classified according to its severity, or based on the anatomy of the injury. Moderate to severe traumatic brain injury can result in irreversible structural damage to the brain, and in some cases death.

A concussion, on the mild end of the brain injury spectrum, results when force causes the brain to twist upon itself or strike the skull. Bruising and cell damage can occur, but any structural damage from the injury cannot be picked up by MRI or CT imaging, which can make diagnosis difficult. Using specialised imaging methods such as functional MRI (fMRI), however, changes in patterns of brain activity are apparent soon after a concussion.

Research shows even a seemingly innocuous knock that wouldn’t qualify as a concussion can trigger changes in brain physiology and affect the functioning of neurons. There is some evidence that repeated concussions could be associated with the development in later life of a neurodegenerative disease called chronic traumatic encephalopathy. More long-term research is needed to determine how permanent or reversible brain changes following a single concussion are.

The new study found an association between the age at first head injury and subsequent health and social outcomes. Children who were older, and particularly those who were older than 15, were substantially more likely to have problems in adulthood.

Although the study findings are yet to be replicated, the authors suggest heightened neuroplasticity – the ability of the brain to adapt and change its networks and behaviour – in younger years may be protective in the long term.

While there are still many unknowns when it comes to concussion, the latest findings point to the importance of minimising head trauma in childhood. Because children have weaker necks and torsos than adults, less force is needed to cause a brain injury. For toddlers and preschoolers, the study’s authors suggest improved parental supervision is key, as falls are the most common cause of traumatic brain injury for young children.

In older children, reducing the incidence of sports-related concussions may be trickier. Wearing hard helmets in sports generally reduces the risk of severe head injuries such as skull fractures and bleeding inside the skull, but is ineffective against the rotational forces – forces that cause the head to turn rapidly and the brain to twist on itself, as can occur with whiplash for example – that can cause concussion. There’s also no evidence that the soft headgear worn in some Australian football codes can protect against brain injury.

Many concussions occur without noticeable signs such as disorientation or slurred speech, and for that reason go undiagnosed. The danger of an unrecognised concussion on the sporting field – which predisposes a player to subsequent concussion – is that it increases the risk of lasting damage. The lack of awareness about the symptoms, treatment and management of concussion is an unrecognised public health problem.

The health benefits of sport are well established and should be supported. However, the nature of contact sports means that head knocks are sometimes unavoidable.

Given Australia’s strong sporting culture, the solution might not be to change the fundamental rules of these sports or prevent children from playing them. Rather, by investing in research and improving awareness at the grassroots level, we can improve the diagnosis and management of concussive episodes in kids.

This article was co-authored by Donna Lu, science writer at the Queensland Brain Institute, and was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Kids, sport, concussion, and the long lasting effects of minor brain injury | Pankaj Sah

Divorce continues to take a psychological toll on kids

In the early 1920s, a list of exceptionally bright children was assembled for a study about growing up as a genius. These individuals affectionately became known to psychologists, affectionately, as the “termites”, after the Stanford researcher – Professor Frederick Terman – who began the study. The termites completed many surveys over their lifetimes, and the vast majority of the group have now died.

Their death certificates reveal that those whose parents divorced before their 21st birthday lived four years fewer than those whose parents stayed together until at least that point. Male termites typically lived to 76 as opposed to 80; female termites made it to about 82, instead of 86.

Although this group was a bit different to the rest of us – they each scored a minimum of 135 in high school IQ tests – brains and possible dweebish tendencies don’t appear to have exacerbated the impact of parental divorce. Overall, the termites handled life no better or worse than the US population as a whole. They committed suicide, developed alcoholism and themselves got divorced at the national rates.

Related: Divorced by 30: why do so many young marriages come to an early end?

So if parental divorce reduced longevity among the termites, it suggested worrying things about how divorce might affect all kids in the long run. The research subjects’ early deaths were pinned on higher rates of smoking, perhaps indicating a greater lifelong psychological stress following parental divorce.

But is this finding relevant today?After all, the termites experienced their parents splitting up during a period when divorce was much less common and much more stigmatized than it is now. Moreover, since that time, the reasons for divorce and the profile of couples most likely to divorce have changed in all manner of ways. So it seems reasonable to expect that whatever may have led these termites to feel stress more intensely than the other termites is no longer part and parcel of watching your parents split.

Researchers have a lot of disagreements about divorce trends. Most agree that divorce is less common today due to a rise in the age at which people first marry. But some experts believe that divorce rates in the US reached a peak among couples who married in the 1970s, and ever since the 1980s marriages have been more enduring. Other researchers, working with a different set of surveys, counter that the drop-off in divorce in recent decades has been overstated. In their view, divorce seems to have declined among younger couples, but it doubled in the two decades before 2008 among people over 35.

Divorce used to be the preserve of the upper classes. But as it has become legally less onerous, and its financial and social costs have been reduced, lower class couples have composed an ever greater share of divorcees.

Similarly, a highly educated wife used to be linked to greater odds of divorce, but that pattern has at least weakened in European countries taken together, and reversed in the most developed ones. In the US, too, women with a college degree are today far less likely to divorce than women who haven’t surpassed a high school degree. College educated women are also happier in their marriages and with their family life.

But what do these patterns have to do with how much divorce affects kids later in life? To answer that question requires comparing divorce trends to divorcees’ kids’ outcomes over time – outcomes that can reveal their levels of stress and how they have responded to stress as they have matured.

Various studies attempt this, but none over as long a period as an analysis of Swedish children. Astonishingly, Swedish records allow for comparison of people born more than a century apart, since face-to-face interviews using the same set of questions have been posed to Swedes born from 1892 onwards. Interviewees have been asked about their living arrangements growing up, about the extent of parental discord that they recall, and all about their mental health issues into adulthood, from insomnia to depression.

Many divorce trends over the 20th century suggest that children, on average, should have experienced noticeably less distress over time from their parents’ marriage ending. As divorce has become more common, it has become more socially acceptable. Female employment has risen and the welfare state has grown, meaning that single mothers are comparatively more able to provide for their offspring today than in the past. Custody arrangements have also changed, and children whose parents divorced in recent years are more likely than ever to maintain relationships with both parents.

But shockingly, divorcees’ kids in Sweden have seen no improvements in their relative educational attainment and psychological wellbeing. To this day, they are worse off by these measures than kids whose parents stay together. (And Sweden is, of course, a country with a far more generous welfare state and more liberal attitudes than most.)

The ongoing gap in educational performance appears to be due to families of a lower economic class becoming more prone to splitting up over the decades. Kids born into lower income families have always tended to do worse at school, so that trend isn’t due to divorce per se.

But the stubbornly lower psychological wellbeing of Swedish divorcees’ kids can’t be pinned entirely on income. Socioeconomics may explain part of it, but, instead, lots of family arguments appear to leave long term traces.

In short, the impacts of parental divorce are often subtle and long lasting. From the Stanford geniuses to Swedes born in the 1990s, the evidence suggests that kids whose parents have or are about to split up need more support than we realize.

Divorce continues to take a psychological toll on kids

My Kids Loved this Very best Ever Cauliflower Pizza Crust

Best Ever Cauliflower Pizza Crust

I’ve been in a bit of a slump lately as far as striving new recipes. Because we have 5 teens and my husband is gluten-free, it is not often easy to not just give in and make two totally different meals.  But I’ve identified an outstanding new loved ones favourite and I was entirely shocked how a lot everybody loved this one. My advice to other moms out there is to not tell the little ones the pizza crust is created out of cauliflower, they don’t need to know!  My 15 yr previous believed I was kidding when I advised him right after he completed his three^rd piece.

There are a lot of variations of this recipe floating all around but here is how I produced ours and it was delightful.

Very best Ever Cauliflower Pizza Crust (serves 4 – Yields two small round pizzas)

1 head of cauliflower (I utilized 16 ozs of birdseye crumbled to make it quick and basic)

1 massive egg, beaten

two ½ cups of Mozzarella (1 ½ cups for the crust and 1 cup for the topping)

3 Tbsp of Shredded Parmesan Cheese

one tsp fresh grated or crushed garlic (omit if you really do not adore garlic)

one pinch of fine sea salt

Nonstick olive oil cooking spray

one jar of all normal pizza sauce

Toppings (we used green and red peppers, onions, olives and mushrooms)

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees even though you prepare the crust. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper (do not use tinfoil).

2. Place the cauliflower in a food processor (I use our dry blender from the Vitamix) till it is the consistency of rice. Spread the cauliflower in excess of the parchment paper and bake in the preheated oven until it’s tender and beginning to brown just a minor around the edges. On my oven this was twelve minutes. Just maintain an eye on it considering that ovens will fluctuate.

3. Put the cooked cauliflower into a large mixing bowl and add the beaten egg and the one one/2 cups of mozzarella cheese, the parmesan cheese, garlic and salt. Stir this all collectively with a fork until finally the mixture is blended. It will be sticky and a bit on the moist side.

4. Now line the baking sheet once more with fresh parchment paper and spray it with the olive oil. Scoop the cauliflower “dough” to the baking sheet into 2 circles of crusts. Use your hands or the back of a fork to type it. It need to be spread out so that it is only about ¼ inch thick. Bake these 2 crusts at 425 right up until they are lightly browned all in excess of and starting up to turn dark brown about the edges. This ought to be roughly 7-10 minutes. Take away from the oven. Note: I produced it into 2 tiny round pizzas so that I could place distinct toppings on each and every, you can also make it a single massive oval.

5. Spread the pizza sauce more than the cooked crust. Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella cheese on prime and put on toppings of your decision. Bake until finally the cheese is melted and commencing to brown, five to 7 minutes.

Let the pizzas cool for five minutes just before serving. Bon Appetit!

Resources:

Wheat Stomach Cookbook

About the Writer: Sandy J. Duncan is a freelance author, wellness coach and soccer mom.  She and her husband have 5 youngsters so existence is never boring. Her organic residing blogs are 10TopHealthSecrets.com and AllNaturalHealthReviews.org.

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Advising girls with depression about having kids isn"t babying them | Hannah Jane Parkinson

If there is one thing that men and women with knowledge of depression worry most in existence, it’s depression coming back. The imagined of becoming dragged again into a moribund swamp of emptiness, ennui and self-hatred is terrifying. Depression frequently returns, so it’s handy to learn how to fend off the black puppy ahead of you find by yourself staring at the back of its open throat and becoming knocked to the ground. It can get a hell of a lengthy time to get up.

To this finish, the Nationwide Institute of Clinical Excellence (Nice) has issued new recommendations to GPs treating women with depression. It suggests medical doctors inquire female sufferers whether or not or not they want youngsters as a prelude to discussing the complications which can come up when women with depression – or history of it – turn out to be pregnant.

The tips, even so, have been deemed a violation of privacy an NSA-design eavesdropping-via-the-bellybutton on likely daily life. A single in 3 ladies are affected by mental health difficulties, according to the Planet Wellness Organisation (WHO). We know that a powerful hyperlink exists amongst ladies with prior mental well being problems and both antenatal and postnatal depression (even though postnatal is the much more publicised) and the risk of psychological well being relapse in pregnancy is substantial. Consequently I do not agree with Roger Goss of Patient Concern that GPs should “thoughts their personal organization”. Their organization is our wellness.

Dr. Shoshana Bennett talks about prenatal depression

Indeed, anything that helps broaden women’s understanding of the dangers of pregnancy relative to their mental well being is constructive. One of the 1st things a psychiatrist mentioned to me when explaining my diagnosis of bipolar disorder, was that I would have to assess aspects of my way of life and moderate them to best deal with the lifelong illness. He reeled off a listing of things that would have to be looked at in order to live a steady daily life: “Alcohol consumption, caffeine consumption, the selection of regardless of whether to have youngsters or not …”.

“What do you indicate about the alcohol intake?” I asked, broad-eyed and panicked, having to pay no focus to the bit about little ones. “I can even now drink, right?” (Reader, I was 20). The truth is, living with depression, bipolar disorder or any other psychological overall health condition is tough. And pregnancy is the most significant modify a woman’s entire body will undergo. The chance of the two collectively is not one thing to be ignored, and it would be remiss of psychological well being pros and care providers to not increase this.

Suicide is a top result in of death to ladies all around childbirth in the United kingdom, India and China, and most other created countries. In the 2008 BBC documentary The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive, the late Gaynor Thomas, a bipolar and puerperal psychosis campaigner, was filmed in conversation with expert Dr Ian Jones, who explained the serious hazards of relapse for the duration of pregnancy. Gaynor was shown deciding towards obtaining a 2nd youngster.

Gaynor Thomas, puerperal psychosis campaigner, talks to Dr Ian Jones (excerpt from the documentary Stephen Fry – The Secret daily life of the Manic Depressive).

There is also the problem of specific medications affecting pregnancy and fertility. Women in their 20s are not recommended to take the anticonvulsant mood stabiliser sodium valproate, for instance, as it is known to reduce fertility (I was not prescribed it for this explanation). Antidepressants are generally not recommended in the course of pregnancy, due to hyperlinks with miscarriage and foetal heart situations, specifically with older tricyclic medicines which preceded SSRIs. There is evidence which suggests a mother’s depression whilst pregnant may well influence the brain structure of her youngster, in distinct advancement of the amygdala, responsible for emotional management. And as we know, mental overall health conditions have traceable genetic causation (in distinct bipolar disorder and depression).

These tips aren’t about warning girls off possessing children, or about currently being nosey, patronising or scaremongering. They are about “spotting what is not standard for each individual girl and guaranteeing she receives the therapy that is appropriate for her”, as Prof Mark Baker, director of the Centre for Clinical Practice, put it.

Ought to I ever want to start a household, I know that there would be a whole lot of factors I would have to think about. Coming off my medicine would be a large deal for me relapse would be a grave concern. I would also worry about passing on the situation. I would come to feel guilty: who needs to hand down hell? I would also be anxious about not currently being capable to look following my little one in instances of my very own ill-health. These are all things that women with mental wellness issues ought to be encouraged to go over, in purchase to make an informed decision. I for one consider it is good that Good are undertaking just that. Far more than great, in reality. It will conserve lives.

Advising girls with depression about having kids isn"t babying them | Hannah Jane Parkinson