'teens' posts

With the vague hint of spring in the air, many families are gearing up for the onslaught of practices and games that come with spring sports. As the kids strap on their pads and cleats again, keep in mind that a healthy athlete needs more than just good physical conditioning; fueling their bodies with proper nutrition is just as important to keep them competitive!

Nutrition is vital for the health of people of all ages and activity levels but young athletes have higher fluid and energy needs. Nutrition can also help prevent injury and keep your young athlete competitive. Help your young athlete become a nutrition champion before the starting buzzer even goes off!

• For healthy bones...

ISSAQUAH, WA, Jan. 23, 2013 - With spring sports starting, don't drop the ball on nutrition. Nutrition is just as important as physical conditioning for athletes. So, as spring sports begin, let Swedish help you and your children prepare to hit it out of the park. Join Registered Dietitian Ally Colson for an interactive training on game-winning meals and snacks and help your young athlete become a nutrition champion.

Jingle bells may no longer be ringing in your ears, but the constant barrage of New Year’s resolution pressure probably is! Yet for all the commercials that promise the next great way to shed pounds or get more physically active in the New Year, children are left out of the resolution discussion. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that they shouldn’t be involved in setting healthy goals. Why not turn your New Year’s goals into a family affair?

For children, the goal shouldn’t be “pounds lost” but “healthy habits made.” Set an example for your children by not trying every fad diet but instead making a more concerted resolution to live a healthy lifestyle. Here are some fun ideas to involve your kids in your healthful resolutions...

Most of us are lucky enough to only need to visit the doctor for our yearly check up. For others, chronic conditions may be daily health struggles. With guidance from health care providers and a care plan in place, these conditions can often be managed and life can go on as normal. But what about children with chronic conditions like asthma, diabetes, epilepsy and even cancer?

As parents, it’s often difficult to understand where your child may be coming from—why the temper tantrum? Is blue hair really necessary? Do you have to sleep until noon? This is only heightened when a child has a chronic health issue that you don’t have and therefore can’t fully understand. Healthcare is confusing enough, and it’s even more so for children whose brains may not be developed enough to understand what is happening to their bodies. As a result, it can be challenging for parents to balance empathy with the need to provide structure and discipline ...

When pilots train they learn from a book, and then simulators, then by riding in the co-pilot’s seat. It’s a progression of information that’s built upon the comprehension of the previous set of knowledge learned.

Driving a car is no different. It is not recommended, and by Washington State Law not allowed, that children ride in the front seat until the age of 13 years old. This has to do with the bone structure and how it develops after we go through puberty; how the seatbelt holds onto said bone structure and the fact that in the front seat, in a front-end collision, the engine block is being shoved into the passenger compartment. This is a very safe, reasonable recommendations for keeping kids safe in a car.

If a child starts riding in the front seat at the age of 13 years, they will have 2 to 3 years worth of observation before they start driving the vehicles themselves...unless they’re looking at screens.
Years ago, we started putting DVD players and game systems into vehicles to keep kids happy and occupied. Smartphones, iPods, iPads, and all other handheld entertainment systems have followed those kids up to the front seat, once they were old enough to sit there.

The problem lies with the fact that they’re not learning from observation. The parents are probably not having conversations about ...

If your child is one of the 304 million people who currently utilize an iPod, they could potentially be damaging their hearing. Research in recent years has demonstrated the startling trend that noise-induced hearing loss is on the rise, especially among children and teens.

Today, one in eight children aged 6-19 years has some degree of noise-induced hearing loss, which is twice the rate as seen in 1971. But noise isn’t a new phenomenon for kids. Historically, children have worked on farms, cut down trees, or fired guns without hearing protection. However, personal listening devices, like the iPod, are one of the most significant changes in our culture in the past 15-20 years, and they are here to stay.

Walk around the local park, ballfield, or school, and you will see numerous children and adults connected to earbuds. The extremely popular iPod has the capacity to produce an output of as much as 115 decibels at maximum volume, which is about as loud as a jet airplane taking off. At that level, it takes less than a few minutes to cause permanent damage. Of course, not everybody listens to his or her personal device at that volume. But in many instances the volume is turned up to combat background noise, and those earbuds placed directly into the ear can boost the volume as much as 6 to 9 decibels.

The damage that noise exposure causes is cumulative, permanent, and totally preventable. So what can we do?