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Children's Health Issues

How Children Should Wear Their Backpacks

Posted by Dr. Ben Kim on Sep 05, 2005
Children's Health Issues

With tomorrow being the first day of school for many children around the world, I just wanted to remind all of you parents out there to have your children develop the habit of wearing their backpacks evenly over both shoulders.

This habit will help to prevent the development of a spinal curve from the uneven distribution of weight caused by slinging a backpack over just one shoulder. Young children in particular are susceptible to developing permanent curves because their growing spines are quite malleable. Read more

 

Beware of Lead in Children's Lunch Boxes

Posted by Dr. Ben Kim on Sep 03, 2005
Health Warnings
Children's Health Issues

The Center for Environmental Health (CEH) in Oakland, California filed a lawsuit on August 31, 2005 against manufacturers and retailers of soft vinyl lunch boxes that can potentially expose children to dangerous levels of lead.

The amount of lead found in soft vinyl lunch boxes is not enough to cause acute lead poisoning, but is enough to contribute to health problems now and in the future, the most common of which are: Read more

 

How to Keep Your Children Safe In and Around Cars

Posted by Dr. Ben Kim on Jul 05, 2005
Children's Health Issues

Did you know that even on relatively cool days, the temperature inside a parked car can get hot enough to cause heatstroke? A recent study by researchers at Stanford Medical School found that the temperature inside of a parked car with the windows rolled up can rise an average of 40 degrees Fahrenheit within an hour. 80 percent of of this increase occurs within the first half hour. Read more

 

Improving School Lunches For Children

Posted by Dr. Ben Kim on Jun 12, 2005
Healthy Eating Resources
Children's Health Issues

Here in Canada, a cable channel called The Food Network just began showing a television series out of the United Kingdom, called Jamie's School Dinners. The two episodes that I have watched have been positively brilliant.

This television series follows celebrity chef, Jamie Oliver, as he visits schools around the country with a mission to change the way that the government and parents are feeding their kids. It was both shocking and sad to see Jamie ask a group of elementary students to identify various vegetables, only to have asparagus mistaken for onion and celery mistaken for potato. I thought that I was the only kid to have soda and chocolate bars for lunch. Read more

 

Choosing Baby Names Tool

Posted by Dr. Ben Kim on May 20, 2005
Children's Health Issues

Margaret recently showed me a super cool website that allows you to see how popular different baby names have been over the past several decades. This tool is intended for expectant parents who are racking their melons trying to come up with a name worthy of their future child's destiny. But hey, I think everyone can have fun with it. Read more

 

Cry It Out: The Potential Dangers of Leaving Your Baby to Cry

Posted by Margaret Kim on Mar 22, 2005
Children's Health Issues
Healthy Pregnancy

Among parents of infants these days, there is constant debate about how to respond to a baby’s cries. On one hand, there are proponents of the “cry it out” method, where the baby is left alone to cry in the hopes that he or she will eventually stop. On the other hand, there are the “attachment parents” who respond immediately to their crying babies and attempt to soothe them using various methods including holding and cuddling. While the cry-it-out method (CIO) has been popular in previous years, attachment parenting (AP) is gaining a foothold among new parents today. Read more

 

Must See TV?

Posted by Margaret Kim on Mar 13, 2005
Children's Health Issues
Natural Health Care

According to market research company A.C. Nielson, Americans watch an average of almost four hours of television per day. What are the consequences of spending so much time in front of the television?

Most studies concerning the effects of TV watching focus on television’s impact on children. However, the ways in which television affect us in childhood stay with us as we grow into adulthood. For example, researchers at the University of Otago in New Zealand found a clear link between watching more than two hours of TV per day in childhood and smoking, being overweight, and being physically unfit in adulthood. Read more

 

Antibiotic Use By Infants Can Lead To Dental Health Problems

Posted by Dr. Ben Kim on Feb 23, 2005
Children's Health Issues

On the heels of last week's article on why antibiotics are not good for the common cold or acne, this week saw the publication of an important study that links antibiotic use to dental health problems. Read more

 

What Parents Should Know About ADHD

Posted by Margaret Kim on Nov 10, 2004
Children's Health Issues

With increasing frequency, children who show argumentative and disruptive behaviour are being labeled with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). According to Intercontinental Medical Statistics Inc., an estimated 1.57 million visits were made to Canadian physicians for ADHD in 2001, an increase of 20% from the year 1997. Drug treatment was prescribed in 64% of the cases, most commonly stimulant medication. In 2001, 856,200 prescriptions for Ritalin alone were dispensed by Canadian pharmacists, a 31% increase from 1997. Read more

 

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