Obesity in Children Often Overlooked by Parents

19 07 2010

We love our kids, no matter what.  We want them to be happy, healthy people, but in the U.S., our children’s health is increasingly at risk from obesity.

A new study “F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America’s Future 2010”  released by the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) found that 1/3rd of American children are now overweight or obese and nearly 10% of infants and toddlers are overweight. That is triple (triple!!) the childhood obesity rate of 1980.

Polls reveal that many parents believe that childhood obesity is a big problem, yet fail to recognize the problem within their own household. Obesity in children (defined as a body mass index, or BMI, between the 85th and 96th percentile for their age and gender) is reaching such epidemic proportions that Dr. James Marks, RWJF’s senior vice president says,“We’re in danger of raising the first generation of children who could live sicker and die younger than the generation before them” [emphasis added].

First Lady Michelle Obama is tackling the issue with the Let’s Move! campaign, a national effort to bring healthier food to schools and to low-income areas, and to get kids exercising.

From a health standpoint, there are few things a parent can do for a child that are more important than introducing a healthy lifestyle and eating habits.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), here are some actions parents and families can take to encourage healthier habits in kids:  

  1. Make sure your child eats breakfast daily
  2. Choose family meals together rather than eating out
  3. Limit screen time (less than 2 hours per day is recommended)
  4. Pay attention – relatively speaking your child may look “healthy,” but keep in mind that he/she may be surrounded by other overweight kids
  5. Encourage your child to get at least one hour  of exercise each day

It’s been shown time and again that too much screen time, whether sitting in front of video games, television, phones, or computers, is linked to insufficient exercise and an overall sedentary lifestyle, which in turn can lead to overweight kids. Along with eating foods overly packed with fat and calories (such as fast food) American kids are spending too much time sitting around.

In the words of a Nike commercial, we need to get our kids up off the couch, get them outside, and inspire them (hopefully with our own active healthy example) to“Just Do It!”


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , ,
Categories : Childhood Obesity, Exercise, Family Interest, General Health, Kids

5 Summer Books for Strong Daughters

7 07 2010

Imagine your daughter relaxing on a hammock, no TV, iPod, cell phone, or laptop anywhere to be seen. Now picture her reading a book without vampires or princesses or Miley Cyrus –a book that empowers and inspires.

Help your daughter enjoy the magic of summer reading by sharing these gems with her. Organized by grade, these five books are full of girl-power and sure to inspire your younger daughters.

1. Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans (Preschool and Kindergarten)

Who can resist the picture-goodness of Madeline, the little French girl with a brave and adventurous spirit?  Madeline makes mischief, but also finds adventure and new friends as she travels around the great cities of Europe, including London, Paris and Rome. Madeline is for all the little girls with brave hearts.

2. Daisy Dawson is on Her Way by Steve Voake (1st, 2nd grade)

Daisy’s tendency to dawdle leads her on a great adventure with animals. Given the gift of talking to animals by a butterfly, Daisy soon grows close to a dog and a horse and many other animal friends. Join Daisy in this first book of a series, as she learns more about friendship on the road to many adventures.

3. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery (3rd, 4th, 5th grade)

Who doesn’t love an orphaned redhead with verbal precocity and a knack for getting into scrapes? Join Anne in the first of the series that follows her as she finds a family and makes friends and mischief on Prince Edward Island at the turn of the last century. Her fiercely independent spirit and creative resiliency are also captured in the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie version of the story, starring Megan Followes.

4. Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh (3rd, 4th, 5th grade)

Harriet is not just a well-off little girl with a strict but loving governess living in Manhattan. She is, more importantly, a spy, with a daily “spy route” and an ever-present notebook. Her wry observations and stealthy adventures, including the often-told “dumbwaiter” exploits, will light the imaginings of any reader.

5. Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L’Engle (6th, 7th, 8th grade)

Many of us come to science fiction through the ominous opening line of this wonderful book by Ms. L’Engle (“It was a dark and stormy night…”). Join heroine Meg Murray, an incredibly bright but awkward girl making her way in a puzzling world, as she and her family are visited by a dark stranger, who has fallen through a “wrinkle in time” (a “tesserac”) on his way to another world. The first in a marvelous series your daughter will remember fondly when she’s older.

Any books we left out that you’d recommend?

Share


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , ,
Categories : Family Interest, Teenagers

PubMed: Obtaining Full-Text Journal Articles

23 04 2010

In our previous PubMed articles, we discussed finding free articles online and conducting more effective searches. In this PubMed post, we discuss ways to get full text articles that are not free online.

Visit Your Libraries

Local Library

Check with your local library to see if they have the journal in question, or if they can get it in for you. This may be your only recourse for getting full articles at no cost, even if you have to wait awhile to get the journal.

Nearest Medical Library

If your local library doesn’t have or cannot get the journal or article you want, contact your nearest medical library. Call the National Network of Libraries of Medicine at 800-338-7657 or visit their website to locate your nearest library. (You can’t call this number to get help finding information, but they can help you locate a library.)

Order Online Through PubMed

Loansome Doc

PubMed is primarily for medical students and professionals, which is why it provides a service called Loansome Doc that enables you to 1) find medical libraries in your state serving the general public, and 2) easily and conveniently order journal articles through PubMed.

When viewing an article’s abstract, clicking on the “Send To” link opens a box from which you can select “Order.” Clicking the “Order articles” button will direct you to enter your Loansome Doc login information.

PubMed Loansome Doc

Ordering option for Loansome Doc

Registration for Loansome Doc is free; you only pay when you order an article. To sign up for Loansome Doc, visit the Loansome Doc signup page.  The first step will help you locate a medical library near you. You will need to contact the medical library of your choice to get signed up with them.

If you are not a healthcare provider or student, the medical library will consider you an “unaffiliated user.” Each library will have different criteria regarding unaffiliated users, pricing, and document delivery formats (hardcopy vs. electronic, e.g.).

LinkOut

If you click on an article’s title in your PubMed search results, you can click “LinkOut” at the bottom of the abstract to see online sources providing full text. You do not need a Loansome Doc account for these, but you may have to set up an account on the website of the online source to place an order.

PubMed - LinkOut

Viewing options for ordering under LinkOut

So to sum up:

  • Try your local library or visit a medical library (if you have one close to you).
  • If you are planning to order articles on a relatively frequent basis, sign up for Loansome Doc so you can place all your orders from within PubMed.
  • If you are planning to order articles relatively infrequently, try ordering from a LinkOut service.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/loansomedoc/loansome_home.html

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , ,
Categories : Family Interest, Health Education, Infectious Diseases, Research

PubMed: Refining Searches with MeSH

5 04 2010

Our previous PubMed article described how you could search for journal articles using simple search terms, like you would on the Internet. However, if you want your search to be more targeted and effective, you should use MeSH search terms.

What’s MeSH? Sounds messy.

MeSH (Medical Subject Heading Terms) terms are medically-oriented keywords. Because PubMed is indexing medical journal articles, you will generate better search results if you use medical terms used by PubMed. Previously, our approach was:

  1. Enter keywords into PubMed
  2. Get results

Using MeSH terms, our approach will be:

  1. Enter keywords in MeSH to find MeSH terms
  2. Enter those MeSH terms into PubMed
  3. Get more targeted results

Great! How do I do this?

First, go to the MeSH homepage. Then enter a keyword in the search box, and click the “Go” button. In this example, we’ve entered “hepatitis” and the results are displayed below the term.

Finding MeSH terms

Click to enlarge

Every term or phrase listed here by number is a MeSH search term. Below each term is the definition for that term. Find the terms that most closely match what you have in mind, and check the box next to them. Then click the “Send to” drop-down box and choose “Search Box with AND.” A second search box appears above your search results with the MeSH term inside.

Sending MeSH terms to the new search box

Click to enlarge

Now you can add additional MeSH terms to further refine your search. Try entering “child” in the field at the top, and click “Go” to get MeSH terms related to “child.” Then click the box(es) next to your desired terms, and send them to the search box as you did in the step above.

If you want to exclude a term, choose “Search Box with NOT.”

If you want to search for articles that contain at least one of the terms you’ve sent to the search box, but not necessarily all of them, choose “Search Box with OR.”

Once you’ve sent your desired MeSH terms to the search box, click the “PubMed Search” button directly below it. You will then see a page of results, like the example below:

Getting results from your MeSH terms

Click to enlarge

You can now interact with the search results as we discussed in our previous PubMed article. Watch the blog for future articles on PubMed searching.


Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Categories : Family Interest, Health Education, Infectious Diseases, Research

Searching Parents…Meet PubMed!

15 03 2010

When you’re a parent searching for information about your child’s medical condition, it doesn’t take long to exhaust the online resources most readily available. MedlinePlus…  Mayo Clinic…  WebMD…  But where do you go when you need more?

If you’re ready to dig deep, you can turn to journal articles for more information and research. One way to search journal articles is to visit NIH’s PubMed website.

You can enter keywords into the search box at the top of the page, and you will get results. But you’ll get a lot of them, and some won’t really be as targeted as you’d like. There are a number of ways to get better results, and we’ll be discussing these in upcoming posts, but today we’re going to show you the most economical: Filter by free text!

First, enter some keywords to search by and click the “Search” button. In our demo shots below, we use “chronic pediatric hepatitis.”

PubMed homepage

The next page will shows you some results. Depending on your personality, you’re either happy to see the 488 results returned by this search, or reeling with shock at the thought of sifting through 488 results! But for today’s purposes, we’re going to narrow our results the thrifty way, by clicking on “Free Full Text” on the right side of the screen.

Search results for "chronic pediatric hepatitis"

Below you can see the 61 free, full text articles available to you. Click on the “Free article” link under the citation.

Search results showing only those with free full text available

PubMed shows you services on the right that provide the article’s text free online. Choose one and start reading!

Links to free full text

Watch the blog for more posts on conducting targeted searches and finding full-text articles both on and offline.

Share


Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , ,
Categories : Family Interest, Health Education, Research

Travel in Good Health – Part 2 of 3

3 02 2010

All the prep and stress of getting out your front door is over. Now it’s fun, sun, and bugs.

Wait. What?

Oh yes, wherever your journeys take you, you can be sure that pesky critters will be flying or crawling around, biting, stinging and more…so much more.

Some bugs carry certain diseases, such as West Nile virus, malaria, dengue and others. Whether you’re in Napa Valley, the Sahara or the Alps, there are steps you can take to avoid infection.

  • Use an insect repellent on exposed skin to repel mosquitoes, ticks, fleas and other arthropods. EPA-registered repellents include products containing DEET (N,N-diethylmetatoluamide) and picaridin (KBR 3023). DEET concentrations of 30% to 50% are effective for several hours. Picaridin, available at 7% and 15 % concentrations, needs more frequent application.
  • DEET formulations as high as 50% are recommended for both adults and children over 2 months of age. Protect infants less than 2 months of age by using a carrier draped with mosquito netting with an elastic edge for a tight fit. There are DEET-free solutions available, but check with the pediatrician for a final recommendation. Protection against mosquito bites is the goal.
  • When using sunscreen, apply sunscreen first and then repellent. Repellent should be washed off at the end of the day before going to bed. Put repellent only on exposed skin and/or clothing and don’t apply repellent to open or irritated skin. Don’t let children handle the repellent. Rather than spraying it directly on children, adults should apply it to their own hands then rub it on the children. Don’t get it near a child’s mouth, eyes or hands and don’t use much around a child’s ears.
  • Wear long-sleeved shirts which should be tucked in, long pants, and hats to cover exposed skin. When you visit areas with ticks and fleas, wear boots, not sandals, and tuck your pants into your socks.
  • Inspect your body and clothing for ticks during outdoor activity and at the end of the day. Wear light-colored or white clothing so ticks can be more easily seen. Removing ticks right away can prevent some infections.
  • Apply permethrin-containing (e.g., Permanone) or other insect repellents to clothing, shoes, tents, mosquito nets, and other gear for greater protection. Permethrin is not labeled for use directly on skin. Check label for use around children. Most repellent is generally removed from clothing and gear by a single washing, but permethrin-treated clothing is effective for up to 5 washings.
  • Be aware that mosquitoes that transmit malaria are most active during twilight periods (dawn and dusk or in the evening). Stay in air-conditioned or well-screened housing, and/ or sleep under an insecticide-treated bed net. Bed nets should be tucked under mattresses and can be sprayed with a repellent if not already treated with an insecticide.
  • Keep baby carriers covered with a mosquito net.
  • Daytime biters include mosquitoes that transmit dengue and chikungunya viruses, and sand flies that transmit leishmaniasis.

Don’t forget to come back for Part 3, where we talk about more fun times for traveling parents.

Share


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , ,
Categories : Bugs, Family Interest, Travel

Travel in Good Health – Part 1 of 3

1 02 2010

Traveling with children, no matter their age, can be a joyful, tiring, exciting, and exhausting endeavor. Traveling with children who get sick on the trip is just plain exhausting and, sometimes, exciting in a way that we don’t want to experience.

Although dealing with illness in the midst of a family trip isn’t ideal, you can take steps to prevent illness before traveling and equip yourself with supplies to make the treatment of illness easier and more comforting.

Prevention is key, and no one does that better than the CDC. This article captures some tips for traveling families from CDC’s website, and a few other places.

If anyone in your travel group has an existing condition that may affect his or her health, it’s important to discuss travel health safety with a healthcare provider.

If you’re traveling outside the United States and you love detail, download a copy of CDC’s Yellow Book . It’s written for healthcare providers, but many people find it useful. Wherever you’re traveling, these suggestions may help you and yours avoid infectious diseases on the road.

There are steps you can take prior to departure that will protect you and your kids, and many things you can do while traveling. First, the pre-departure list:

Time Zones and Rest

If you’re changing time zones, spend a few days just before travel adjusting your sleep/wake periods to match the destination’s time zones. When you arrive, get out during the sunny periods so that you body realizes it’s time to be awake. Good sleep is critical to good health. Make sure everyone gets lots of rest a few days before and then during the trip.

Vaccinations

You and your kids should be up-to-date on currently recommended vaccines in the U.S.

If you’re traveling outside the United States, you need to check the destination country for recommended vaccines for you and your children, and if you have special health concerns, you need to determine which vaccines to get and which you should not have. Not all vaccines recommended for international travel are licensed for children.

Health Notices

If you’re traveling outside the U.S., read the CDC’s Health Notices first to get the latest updates on infectious diseases in various areas of the world. What you learn may affect your travel plans.

First Aid Kits

Prepare a first aid kit for the trip or purchase one from a commercial vendor. This is a sample list, as not all destinations require the same things.

  • 1% hydrocortisone cream
  • Ace wrap
  • Acetaminophen, aspirin, ibuprofen, or other medication for pain or fever
  • Address and phone numbers of area hospitals or clinics
  • Adhesive bandages
  • Aloe gel for sunburns
  • Antacid
  • Anti-anxiety medication
  • Antibacterial hand wipes (including child-safe) or alcohol-based hand sanitizer containing at least 60% alcohol
  • Antibacterial soap
  • Antibiotic for general use or travelers’ diarrhea (azithromycin, cefixime)
  • Antidiarrheal medication (e.g., bismuth subsalicylate, loperamide)
  • Antifungal and antibacterial ointments or creams
  • Antihistamine (such as Benadryl)
  • Antimalarial medications, if applicable
  • Anti-motion sickness medication
  • Commercial suture/syringe kits (to be used by local health-care provider with a letter from your prescribing physician on letterhead stationery)
  • Cotton-tipped applicators (such as Q-tips)
  • Cough suppressant/expectorant
  • Decongestant, alone or in combination with antihistamine
  • Diaper rash ointment
  • Digital thermometer
  • Epinephrine auto-injector (e.g., EpiPen), especially if anyone has a history of severe allergic reaction. Also available in smaller-dose package for children.
  • First aid quick reference card
  • Gauze
  • Ground sheet (water- and insect-proof)
  • High-altitude preventive medication
  • Insect repellent containing DEET (up to 50%)
  • Latex condoms
  • Laxative (mild)
  • Lice treatment (topical)
  • Lubricating eye drops
  • Malaria prophylaxis and standby treatment, as required by itinerary
  • Medications that the child has used in the past year
  • Moleskin for blisters
  • Mosquito netting, if applicable
  • Oral rehydration solution (ORS) packets
  • Personal prescription medications in their original containers (carry copies of all prescriptions, including the generic names for medications, and a note from the prescribing physician on letterhead stationery for controlled substances and injectable medications)
  • Safe water
  • Scabies topical ointment
  • Sedative (mild) or other sleep aid
  • Snacks
  • Sunscreen (preferably SPF 15 or greater)
  • Throat lozenges
  • Tweezers
  • Water purification tablets

Discuss with your family’s pediatrician any special needs your children might have that require you to prepare beyond this basic list. Also, your pediatrician may be able to give you sample sizes of antibiotics and other meds that may be useful for your kit.

Health Insurance

Before traveling, check your health insurance policy to see what it pays for. It will probable reimburse you for most of the cost of emergency medical care abroad, excluding any deductible or co-payment. For non-emergency care overseas, you may be covered, but check with your health plan about this before you leave home. Failure to get authorization may mean denial of reimbursement.

Travel Regulations

Check travel regulations and carry what you can onboard the plane, particularly prescription medication. Put the rest in your checked baggage. Put your first aid kit in a fanny pack or backpack that you take with you everywhere you go. There’s no sense bringing the kit if you don’t have it when you need it.

Now that you’ve done your pre-departure prep, stay tuned for Part 2 for some tips on problems you may encounter on the road.

Share


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , ,
Categories : Family Interest, Infectious Diseases, Travel

Kids and Nutrition

25 01 2010

Nurse Mary Beth tells us what works and what doesn’t when it comes to the foods our kids eat.

Listen now!

Right-click here to download podcast (5mb, 10min)


Share


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , ,
Categories : Family Interest, Nurse Mary Beth, Nutrition, Podcasts

Love Those Critters, But Oh Those Germs.

22 01 2010

We love our pets. They give us unconditional love, cuddle when we want (and sometimes when we don’t), and make us laugh.

They also can be good for our health by reducing stress, improving moods, and lowering blood pressure.

But, our critters can infect us with some nasties – H1N1 is just one (huge) example of that.

To give an idea of what germs may lurk in our pets:

  • There are certain bacteria that live in animals’ guts that can cause infections that bring on diarrhea, abdominal pain, and fever in humans.
  • There is an infection that’s caused by worms that live in dog and cat intestines. People can get these worms by coming into contact with the worms’ eggs in an animal’s infected feces. This is where good hand cleaning can make a big difference in preventing infection. If the eggs get in your mouth and gut, you can get sick with fever, swollen glands, muscle pain, headache, cough, sore throat and rash.
  • A certain parasite is sometimes found in cat feces that can cause an infection that is particularly dangerous to pregnant woman because of the harmful effects to the baby she is carrying.
  • Cat scratch disease (a.k.a. cat scratch fever), tapeworms, and ringworm are also diseases that can be caught from cats and/or dogs.
  • Let’s not forget our avian friends–even those we keep in a cage. You can be exposed to some diseases by inhaling the fungus from bird droppings, ending up with serious problems like brain inflammation and pneumonia.  Parrot fever is transmitted by coming into contact with infected bird poop or dust in bird cages, causing cough, fever and chills. And, let’s not forget avian flu, although that would normally come from outdoor birds.
  • Salmonella can be caught from pets such as lizards, snakes, turtles and frogs.  Most reptiles and amphibians carry Salmonella in their digestive system and feces, and they can also carry it on their skin. People can get sick with Salmonella just from touching the animal or cleaning the cage.
  • Rodent pets such as hamsters, gerbils, and guinea pigs can carry diseases such as rabies and rabbit fever.  Rabies may be transmitted when an infected animal bites you. For rabbit fever and other diseases, you must come into contact with the animal’s urine or feces to get infected.

We need to protect ourselves and our kids from infections. After touching, feeding, or cleaning up a pet’s waste, we should always wash our hands. A good way to protect ourselves is by wearing gloves when we clean the cat’s litter box or a pet’s cage. And, we shouldn’t feed our critters raw meat or let them drink water from the toilet. Doing so can make them sick and they can pass that along to us.

Finally, make sure the pets have all their vaccines!

Share


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: ,
Categories : Family Interest, Infectious Diseases, Pets

Kids Bring Home the Darndest Things!

6 01 2010

Nurse Mary Beth explains how to identify and treat pink eye and head lice – oh my!

Listen now!

Right-click here to download podcast (5mb, 10min)


Share


Comments : 2 Comments »
Tags: , , ,
Categories : Family Interest, General Health, Head Lice, Health Education, Infectious Diseases, Nurse Mary Beth, Pink Eye, Podcasts

« Previous Entries