Fitness for children with special needs

The Daily Monitor – Joan Salmon

Special needs means various difficulties (such as a physical, emotional, behavioural, or learning disability or impairment) that causes an individual to require additional or special services or accommodation. (more)

z Ensuring children get enough physical activity while being safe is a delicate balancing act

The Conversation – Lisa Nicole Sherwood, David Eager and Ruth Barker

A Sydney playground was closed earlier this year after children and adults suffered a spate of injuries including broken bones, burns and bruises on a giant tube-slide. The Hilltop Playground had been open for less than one month. The injuries were described as “horrific” and the media questioned “how the 30m-long, 14m-tall slide passed safety rules”. (more)

It’s science: Mama’s voice wakes up kids way faster than an alarm

Motherly – Elizabeth Tenety

A new study in the The Journal of Pediatrics tested how responsive sleeping children were to different types of smoke alarms: a smoke alarm that made a traditional loud screeching sound, and a smoke alarm that played a recording of that child’s mother’s voice telling the child to “Wake up! Get out of bed! Leave the room!” (more)

Cut the sugary drinks, up the activity levels

The Register-Herald – Wendy Holdren

Getting kids more active and eliminating sugary drinks from their diets are the two most important ways to curb youth obesity in West Virginia, according to two West Virginia University doctors. (more)