Getting the kids back outside
So when I was a kid, I’d play football outside from the minute school finished to 9 at night. I would play football in the playground before school, at break and at lunch time. I wouldn’t stop even when my back was tired and my feet hurt. Everyone played football, virtually non-stop, so we must have been fantastically fit for 12 year olds. Ok, the weight of the world has taken away most of my spare time, but I still manage to cycle each evening and sail every weekend.
Is there a link between being a healthy and active youngster and remaining healthy and active when you become an adult? I personally think not, as many of my friends who used to beat me at cross country running now can only beat me in an “eat the pie” contest. However, I still think that it is vital for the long term health and well-being of a child to excercise daily, and know that a kid who truly enjoys sports will continue to participate into adulthood.
Now then, with Playstations, Xboxs, Sky TV and Gameboys being at the top of most kids activities list, what can we do as parents to encourage outdoor activites? To start with, it has to be fun. Not fun for you, the parent, but fun for the kids. If they want to take up a sport, no matter how vague or obscure, we should strive to do what ever it takes to allow them to participate. So many times i’ve seen kids complaining about having to play Rugby because it’s too rough or cold, or Football because the acting is hard. If kids learn to hate sport when they are young and impressionable then they will never have the confidence or motivation to get down to the local sports centre when they are adults.
Rather than telling your kids what they should play, ask them what they want to do. If they say Paintballing, then take them. If they want to try out surfing, then book a holiday to Cornwall. Karate? Get them to the Dojo. If we can encourage our kids to play outside (in safety) then we have done our job.
Courtesy of Mikecraft photography
Is Technology Bad For Children?
I just saw a post on the CNN website that I think raises a vailid issue and that is the long term effects of technology on the younger generations…. 30 years ago computers were only just emerging so no-one knows if the control pads have an adverse effect on the hands dexterity in later life.
the article refers to an american woman’s children.
Her 13-year-old twins, James and Timothy, are avid gamers who own two Sony PlayStations, a Nintendo GameCube and a Microsoft Xbox. Physically, they’re fit however both boys can bend their thumbs all the way back to their forearms, and they constantly stretch and crack their knuckles with ease. For tasks like ringing a doorbell, dialing a phone number and changing the remote, they use their thumbs.
This may just be that they are double jointed or that the use of consoles has mentally trained their brains to make greater use of all of their digits.
Unfortunately, conclusive research on the subject of computer ergonomics for kids has been lacking. But researchers are concerned nonetheless.
“The exposure to ergonomic risk hazards for children is expected to be higher than it would be for adults because of the sheer amount of time that they’re on computers at home and at school,” said Ken Harwood, director of the practice department at the American Physical Therapy Association.
Some physical therapists and pediatricians are already citing cases of RSI in children as young as 8 years old. Kids complain of headaches, neck problems and backaches. And when pediatricians can’t identify the source, they’ll send the child to a physical therapist.
Now to be honest I’m not known for my tact and this to me seems to be an over reaction. When I was young we used to get injured from playing in the park… grazed knees etc. I don’t believe this is any different… if you spend enough time on an activity you are likely to get an injury associated with that activity.
What do you think????
Children and Sweeties
Sugar plays an important role in children’s food. After all it is a known source of carbohydrates.
Glucose is a universal energy source and one of appetite stimulators. At decrease of its level in blood a feeling of hunger appears. There are three basic directions of glucose use in an organism:
1. It is a “fuel” for work of all organs.
2. It is put by in liver cells and muscles.
3. It turns to fat when the quantity of its receipt is superfluous.
Sugar does not carry food value in itself, having thus high caloric content.
Love for sweets is put in a child at genetic level. The first food in a baby’s life is breast milk, which is sweet due to milk sugar — lactose. At artificial feeding a child receives lactose and maltose with formula. Feeding up introduction expands assortment of carbohydrates sources — fruit and vegetable juice, mashed potatoes, porridges, which completely cover requirements of a children’s organism for carbohydrates.
After 1 year parents can enter a small amount of table sugar to foods, and also sweets in allowance. For children from 1 year till 3 years the quantity of sugar makes 40 g a day, from 3 till 6 years — 50 g. You can start acquaintance to sweets with various mousses, cooked on a berry-fruit basis (from fresh and frozen berries and fruits). Then it is possible to try zephyr, fruit candy, and also various kinds of jams.
From 3-4 years (not earlier) it is possible to offer a grown up kid pies and cakes, which do not contain creams on a fatty basis, and low-fat grades of ice-cream. Quantity of sweets is regulated: from 1 year till 3 years — 10 g a day, and from 3 till 6 years — 15 g. Their use should not have a character of encouragement for a child and, of course, you should give them after a basic food intake or for a mid-morning snack.
Before 4-year age it is impossible to give children caramel and sugar candies, as there is a risk to choke. As to chocolate and cocoa, and also marshmallow in chocolate and so on, before three-year age it is better for a child not to face them . Chocolate contains a lot of fat and creates loading for stomach fermentative system and pancreas. If there are no contra-indications since three years it is possible to give a little white and a milk chocolate, and from 5-6 years — its other kinds.
Hope people found this informative. Check out Baby-Health.net as they have more info!
