Healthy Children

Exergames, games that make the user get up and move, are hardly a new phenomenon.Studies suggest interactive exergames (like Wii Fit or Just Dance, for example) can have a positive health impact, burning calories and getting sedentary gamers more active than traditional games. In terms of calories burned, playing active video games is comparable to mild-to-moderate physical activity. Exergames get kids’ muscles working and their heart rate up, which is definitely a good thing. New exergames are being developed monthly in the pursuit to encourage users to voluntarily choose to be active, while also doing something engaging and fun. Dr. Elizabeth Murray discusses exergaming and whether it's a viable alternative to other exercise routines.

Do you go to garage sales? What items are OK for you to buy for your kids? Are there some things you just shouldn't get second hand?If you're shopping garage sales and second-hand shops to save money on children's items, make sure they're safe. When buying second-hand items, check for products that may have been recalled by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. When buying clothes, hoods and sweatshirts, make sure they have the drawstrings removed. Find out the history of any car seat. If it’s been involved in an accident, don’t buy it. Dr. Elizabeth Murray discusses these and other safety ideas when shopping for second-hand items.

Schools offer healthy choices for your children, but are your kids choosing the salty and sugary foods they offer instead?Fruit, salads and skim milk are all offered at your child's school, but the trick is getting your child to choose them. Since 1995, steady improvements have been made in school meal programs. Schools are serving lunch options with more lean meats, lower-fat milk, and more fruits, vegetables and whole grains. "A good diet is built on highly nutritious foods from each of the main food groups," said Robert Murray, M., FAAP, and lead author of the policy statement, "Snacks, Sweetened Beverages, Added Sugars, and Schools." "Children, like adults, often want their own preferred flavors and textures during meals and snacks," Dr. Murray said. "It's no secret that brown sugar on oatmeal, or salad dressing with cut vegetables, can make these healthy foods more palatable to children, and increase their consumption. This is not a license to give kids anything they want; we just need to use sugar, fat and sodium strategically." Dr. Murray discusses school nutrition and how, as parents, it's up to you to monitor your child's school meals.

It may offer real hope to parents of children with allergies to wheat, peanuts, eggs, milk, or shellfish.So many children develop some type of food allergy, but amazing new clinical trials are showing promise. Over the last 20 years, more studies in the United States, Europe, and Australia have focused on oral immunotherapy. Jen Kim, MD, believes this type of treatment may be the key to one day eliminating food allergies. What is Oral Immunotherapy? Dr. Kim likens oral immunotherapy to an allergy shot. You get injected with hay fever and environmental allergens like pollen and dust mites, with the small concentrated dose gradually increasing until your body becomes desensitized to it. Injections have been proven to work well for environmental allergies, but deemed too dangerous and unpredictable with food. Oral immunotherapy is taken through the mouth, since that’s how food is ingested, and in much smaller doses. Oral immunotherapy studies typically focus on the most common food allergens: milk, egg, and peanuts. Overall, there are about eight foods that cause 95 percent of food allergies: milk, egg, peanuts, fish, shellfish, soy, tree nut, and wheat. There is a lot of information already for milk, eggs, and peanuts, while wheat studies are just beginning and not enough information is available quite yet. The study gave subjects small amounts of allergens and gradually increased the dosage every two weeks until they reached a goal dosage. Once the goal dosage was achieved, the subject would continue to take the allergen for a period of time. Even though results have been promising, the door is still considered “wide open,” because studies tend to use different protocols, dosing, and length of time, says Dr. Kim. Promising, Yet Incomplete Studies Undergoing oral immunotherapy can also be difficult to complete. Almost everyone experiences mild reactions to the food allergens, like oral itching or abdominal pain, but up to 20 percent of children do end up needing epinephrine at some point. Dr. Kim stresses that it’s not a risk-free form of treatment, and can be nerve wracking for parents. Researchers are still unsure if dosages should continue for life, or if there is a point where therapy would not be necessary. Follow-up studies are needed to find out more information regarding length of treatment, chance of redeveloping the food allergy, and how to standardize the oral immunotherapy method. For now though, the slew of recent studies are showing positive results in the right direction, and eliminating or greatly reducing food allergies may be in the near future. In the accompanying audio segment, Dr. Jen Kim shares the latest advancements in oral immunotherapy and the hope it's giving your children's appetite.

A large, national study of food allergies in the U.S. found that more children have allergies, including severe allergies, than previously thought.There has been so much talk surrounding peanut allergies in schools and stories of children overcoming various allergies. Peanut allergies currently affect around one to two percent of the American population, but is becoming a public health issue as the prevalence has more than tripled over the last 10 to 20 years. Large Five-Year Study on Peanut Allergies With peanut allergies increasing, there’s been a lot of attention on treating and reducing the risk of allergic reactions. While the ultimate goal of a cure is still far off, Dr. Jen Kim of the University of Chicago School of Medicine is excited about a recent large study. The study aimed to discover how to prevent peanut allergy in high-risk infants. Jewish children in the UK had ten times the occurrence of peanut allergies compared to Jewish children living in Israel. Upon closer inspection, perhaps the most important variable was found in their diet; the Israeli children were given a peanut puff called Bamba, which is best described as a cheese puff with peanut instead of cheese. The study’s researchers hypothesized that early introduction to peanuts may have helped reduce the chance of the infant developing a peanut allergy. Researchers gathered infants between the ages of four and 11 months who had eczema and/or egg allergies (at high-risk for developing peanut allergy) and instructed half of the group to avoid peanuts until five years old. The other half was instructed to take peanuts three times a week until they turned five. The results were remarkable. Reduction in peanut allergy was up to 80 percent in the group that had peanuts in their diet since infancy. Should You Introduce Peanuts to Your Infant’s Diet? Based on these findings, should you begin giving your child peanuts at an early age? Dr. Kim says that while the study’s results are “exciting and promising,” it only involved a specific type of child. It’s still unknown if the results would be different had the child not had eczema or a preexisting food allergy. Each infant was skin tested before the study to make sure they weren’t already allergic to peanuts. If they were, the infants were removed from the study as the risks were too great. Dr. Kim strongly recommends that your infant has a skin test performed by an allergist if you plan on introducing him or her to peanuts at an early age. While the best age to introduce peanuts is still up for debate, the general feeling is that delaying peanuts until age two or three may not be the best thing to prevent allergies from developing. Instead, earlier (around four months) may be better. If a child already has a peanut allergy, what is the outlook? While there are ongoing trials and studies searching for the best therapeutic options, there is nothing past the experimental stage and no procedures have been standardized yet. Natural tolerance and kids outgrowing their allergies occurs in less than 20 percent of children, so most children will grow up with peanut allergies throughout the rest of their lives. Currently, the best treatment is still avoidance of the allergen, and treatment of accidental ingestion or reaction with epinephrine. Dr. Kim also believes that restricting schoolchildren from bringing foods containing peanuts may not be the best thing to do, since there are many more food allergies. Controlling exposure to peanuts should only be put in place with toddlers and young children, argues Dr. Kim. These young children don’t have impulse control, grab things from other children, and may have fewer adults to monitor them. Most importantly, they may not do as they are told, and might not realize the real danger ingesting peanuts may have on them. With older children, they have better self-control and understand the need to avoid peanuts. In the accompanying audio segment, Dr. Jen Kim discusses childhood alle

If your child wakes up feeling unwell, you’ll need to decide if they should stay home from school.Your child's not feeling well... so, how do you decide if they should stay home from school or "buck up" and go? Keep him home if he has a fever, rash, or eye discharge, or if he’s vomiting, has diarrhea or a disruptive cough. If your child has minor symptoms such as a runny nose or a slight headache, you can send her to school. But, make sure both she and her school's administration have the correct phone number to reach you during the day in case other symptoms develop and she needs to return home. Additionally, you should consider whether your child is energetic enough to actively participate in class, as well as if he or she may be contagious to other children. Dr. Corinn Cross discusses when to send your kids to school and when keep them home for some good old rest and recovery.

Crying serves several useful purposes for your baby. But, sometimes the crying won't stop. It's unnerving at the very least, so what's a parent to do?Crying serves several useful purposes for your baby. It gives her a way to call for help when she’s hungry or uncomfortable. It helps her shut out sights, sounds, and other sensations that are too intense to suit her. And, it helps her release tension. But, sometimes the crying won't stop. It's unnerving at the very least, so what's a parent to do? Try to pay close attention to your baby’s different cries. You’ll soon be able to tell when she needs to be picked up, consoled, or tended to, and when she is better off left alone. You may notice that your baby has fussy periods throughout the day, even though she’s not hungry, uncomfortable, or tired. Wendy Sue Swanson, MD, discusses your baby's crying habits, what they mean, and the best ways to deal with a fussy baby.

Using the toilet is one of the first and most significant skills your kids must learn. But, do can you teach them, or are they simply not ready until a certain age?Toilet training is an uneven process, but it is an inevitable one in nearly every child’s life. By three to four years of age, most children have achieved daytime urine control and full bowel control (both day and night). Your child, too, will move more or less steadily from diapers to underwear, from potty to toilet, and from daytime to full-time management of his elimination processes. Wendy Sue Swanson, MD, discusses the ins and outs of toilet training your child and how to overcome the challenges.

Whether it's a child's nationality or a handicap, is your child tolerant of others' differences?We live in a diverse world. Children come from all other parts of the world, with different skin colors, accents and cultural habits. There are also children who have handicaps. Sooner or later your child will start to notice these differences. As parents, you have to educate your child about all the differences your child is going to face. Some children see a child with a deformity and are unsure how to react. Dr. Corinn Cross shares great advice on how to raise children with understanding and tolerance for all the differences they will face out in the real world.

Sleep is vital to your well-being; as important as the air you breathe, the water you drink and the food you eat.Teens need about 8-10 hours of sleep each night to function at their best. Most teens do not get enough sleep. In fact, one study found that only 15 percent reported sleeping 8.5 hours on school nights. Teens' lives are busier than ever. Not getting enough sleep or having sleep difficulties can limit their ability to learn, listen, concentrate and solve problems. Katherine M. Keyes, PhD, discusses teen sleep deprivation and what you can do to help your teen get the most beneficial sleep they so badly need.