When you play tag, toss a Frisbee, or join in a dance party, you're creating memories your child will treasure.
Be ready for the inevitable call with a snack strategy. If you have a good supply of healthy snacks for kids, you can actually improve your child's diet. Stock your pantry (and your minivan) using these suggestions. Photo: Alistair Berg
This month, the American Diabetes Association observes American Diabetes Month. The ADA says that 57 million Americans are at risk for type 2 diabetes, and that 1 out of every 3 children born today will face a future with diabetes if current trends continue.
Being overweight and leading a sedentary lifestyle are both big risk factors for type 2 diabetes. If you or someone in your family falls into one of these groups, resolve to make some changes now.
Linda K. in South Carolina sent me this question: "One thing I'm trying to find and haven't been able to as of yet are the road rules for families when you have mixed modes of exercising. Dad's walking the dog while kids are on bikes. Or a parent runs, and a child is on a bike. I run, and of course I'm supposed to be on the left side of the road going against traffic. Sometimes, my near-11 year-old daughter accompanies me on her bicycle. As a cyclist, she's supposed to be on the right side of the road. She's faster on a bicycle and will get ahead of me, but then circle back around. We stay in our neighborhood where the speed limit is 25 mph. For car drivers, I could see this as a double distraction with me on one side and her on the other. Should we be on our respective sides of the road, or should one of our modes be the 'rule' that we follow?"
I did some research, and here's what I found out about road safety for kids and parents traveling together. Thanks for the great question, Linda! If you have a family fitness question, please leave a comment here, email me, or stop by my family fitness forum.
Now that Halloween is over, you know what it's time for next, right? Thanksgiving is nice and all, but if you've stepped into any retail establishment in the past week you know it's holiday shopping season now. To make life easier, check out these gift ideas from me (the first one) and all of the About.com Parenting & Family guides!
Did you get your extra hour of sleep this past Sunday morning, thanks to Daylight Savings Time? If you have very young kids, probably not. But if you've reached the Sleeping In era, enjoy--guilt-free. While it may seem decadent to allow kids and teens to sleep late when they don't have school, new research says it might help lower the risk of obesity. Researchers in Hong Kong analyzed the sleep patterns and BMI of more than 5,000 kids, ages 5 to 15, for a study published in the journal Pediatrics.
Their work confirmed that kids often sleep later on weekends and other days off from school, and that those who slept less overall also had the highest BMI scores. But among kids who got less than 8 hours of sleep on school nights, those who didn't make up for it with extra shut-eye on weekends "had significantly increased risk of overweight/obesity compared with those children with sleep compensation."
(Just how much sleep does your child need, by the way? Preschoolers should sleep for 11-13 hours of every 24, including naps. Older kids--up to age 12--need 10 to 11 hours a night. And teens should get 8.5 to 9.5 hours a night.)
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