Healthy drink can pack a punch in preschooler’s lunch

Medical X-Press – Staff Writer

Parents who pack lunches for their young children can dramatically improve the nutrition quality of the meals by including a healthy beverage – either plain milk or 100 percent fruit juice, according to a new study by the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at the University of Connecticut and the Michael & Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living at The University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston (UTHealth) School of Public Health in Austin. (more)

Descriptive phrases for how often food should be eaten helps preschoolers better understand healthy eating

Medical X-Press – Staff Writer

Approximately one in four preschoolers in the US are overweight or obese, and poor nutrition in early childhood has enduring consequences to children’s cognitive functioning. Preschool, therefore, is a critical period for children to begin to make their own dietary decisions to develop life-long healthy eating habits. A new study published in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior found that preschoolers who learned how to classify food as healthy or unhealthy were more likely to say they would choose healthy food as a snack. (more)

Action sport summer camps might even make your kids smarter

The Boston Globe – Meaghan O’Neill

From the coast of Maine to the Berkshires, New England’s terrain and wilderness have long made it a perfect place to send kids to summer camp. Yet the gap between children and the natural world — sometimes called “nature deficit disorder” — is widening, even as more and more evidence shows that spending time outdoors is imperative to mental and physical health. And considering that one in five kids is overweight or obese, triple the incidence in the 1970s, getting kids outside and moving has never been more important. (more)

What parents should know about fainting, heart murmurs and chest pain in children

Delaware Online – Nemours Cardiac Center

Fainting episodes, irregular heartbeats, chest pain – these are symptoms that seem scary for parents and children alike. In most cases, the underlying causes are not serious, but it’s important to recognize when further testing or treatment is needed. Dr. Sam Gidding, Chief of Cardiology at Nemours Cardiac Center, helps explain these worrisome events and how parents can help their children cope with them. (more)

3 foods every parent must exclude from their child’s daily diet

The Health Site – Upneet Pansare

Every parent is always on the lookout to build their child’s immunity, strength and bone health. Sustainability begins at home and therefore everything a parent prepares and serves their child becomes a part of the child’s blood chemistry. Their choices either compliment or hamper their child’s cells, tissues, and organ systems’ growth. Tarika Ahuja, holistic nutritionist, parenting coach and author of Beautiful Children: The Parent’s Essential Guide for Raising Strong, Balanced, Healthy Children, along with Neeti Sarin, founder, Tiffin’s Etc., that caters nutritious food to school children, tells the 3 things parents must drastically reduce from their kid’s daily intake. (more)